Magical Dames and Dating Games

by Amy Boyles

  “And now you have it.” I sniffed the air. “So what are you doing sneaking up on me?”

  His lips curled into a delicious-looking smile. “If you must know, I saw you over here and wondered if you’d like to have dinner.”

  “When?”

  “Tonight. As I didn’t suggest a certain day, I figured the assumption would be tonight. Dinner. You and me.” His eyes narrowed. “But if you’re too busy butting your nose into places I recommended you stay out of…”

  “No,” I said quickly. “I am most definitely not doing that.”

  Please don’t say anything, Eugene. Please keep your mouth shut.

  I waited for the skull to open his mouth and contradict me, but he didn’t. What a relief.

  “So anyway.” Thorne reeled the conversation back in. “About dinner. Are you free?”

  “Yes, I’m definitely free. Absolutely.”

  Should I have been so available? I once read that girls shouldn’t be too available to men but Thorne and I had only gone out once and it wasn’t like we’d even kissed, so what was one more dinner?

  Maybe I’d be lucky and my lips wouldn’t swell to the size of oranges.

  “Great. Pick you up at seven?”

  “Perfect.” I slugged his arm as if we were old buddies. Thorne’s gaze darted to his bicep and then to me. Maybe vampire’s girlfriends didn’t do things like that.

  I laughed nervously. “See you then, pal.”

  He smiled. “Oh, and while I’ve got you…”

  “Sure.”

  “I wanted to make sure you weren’t thinking about talking to Tex. Were you?”

  He had heard that part of my conversation. Crap.

  I clicked my tongue. “Nope. Not going to do that.”

  “Good. Because I’ve posted men at his house to make sure certain people don’t go wandering around. If they do, I’ll find out about it.”

  My chest tightened. I glanced at Watts’s house. Had I been discovered?

  “Don’t worry,” Thorne said as if reading my mind. “I was late showing up to my post today at Watts’s. I saw him go inside after the two of you finished your conversation.”

  I cringed. “Oh. I was asking him about mums.”

  Thorne raked his knuckles down his cheek. “If I catch you at Tex’s house, I’ll lock you up.”

  I scoffed. “You just asked me out on a date and now you’re going to lock me up?”

  He winked. “Gotta keep an eye on you. I figure dinner’s the best way to do that. There are other ways too, but our relationship isn’t that far along yet.”

  His eyes lit like coals as they grazed over my body. A deep flush flared on my cheeks.

  “I don’t think this conversation is appropriate.”

  Thorne took an intimidating step toward me, casting me in his shadow. “I know it isn’t,” he said huskily. “But I kind of like it.”

  Then Thorne turned and crossed the street, getting into his pickup.

  When he was down the street, Eugene spoke. “Is it just me or is it getting hot out here?”

  I watched the truck whip around a corner and disappear. My throat had gone desert dry, and it took a moment before a coherent thought filled my head.

  “It’s not just you, Eugene. It’s not just you.”

  Chapter 15

  “Would you care to share with me what you learned from Watts?”

  Thorne and I sat in a steak restaurant. I had to admit I was slightly bummed—gone was the waterfall and beautiful sunset. But you know, steak and an interior that was cut into a cave, literally, were also pretty cool.

  A cool breeze trickled by and set threads of hair tickling my neck.

  “Oh, like I said, Watts and I only talked about mums.”

  Thorne studied me with an amused smile. “I’m sure you didn’t ask him anything about the fact that he’d only recently moved to Witch’s Forge.”

  “How’d you know that?” I shot out before thinking. “Crap. Okay. You got me. Yes, I asked him about that. He said it was coincidence.”

  “That’s what he told me. Do you believe him?”

  I narrowed my eyes to slits. “I thought you wanted me to stay out of it.”

  “I do. But if you’re going to ask certain people questions, even though I’ve asked you not to,” he growled, “I thought you might as well share the information you gleaned.”

  I scoffed. “So you’re not really asking my opinion. Just trying to pull information.”

  Thorne leaned back in his chair and folded his hands over his flat belly. “And what if I was asking your opinion?”

  “I’d think you must have suffered brain damage between the time I saw you earlier and now.”

  He chuckled. The sound filled my ears like the sweetest music. I did my best not to join in, but it proved impossible. I laughed to the point of tears, which annoyed me because I didn’t want to fix my mascara.

  “Okay,” Thorne finally said. “Let’s say I’ve suffered brain damage. I couldn’t stop you from talking to Watts. So I want to know what you think about what he said.”

  I picked at a roasted brussels sprout on my plate. “He seemed to genuinely care about Frankie. He saw it as fate that they wound up on the show. He cried pretty hard about her death, which makes me think he might be overreacting a little bit.”

  I popped the brussels sprout into my mouth and chewed. “Is the funeral televised?”

  “No.”

  “It seemed like Watts enjoyed the attention of bawling and crying in front of me.”

  Thorne leaned forward. “Maybe he just likes attention.”

  I thought it best to keep what Watts said about Mama to myself. I didn’t need to give Thorne a reason to question her.

  “Did he tell you what he thinks about Glinda?”

  I froze. “Um. He did mention something about my mother.”

  Thorne sipped his red wine. “What do you think about that?”

  The sun slipped below the horizon and the cave darkened. Gas lights flickered to life, the sound of their streaming flames buzzing around the room.

  I drank from my own glass, letting the warm red wine roll over my tongue before swallowing.

  “What do I think? I think Watts is trying to place blame in the one spot it doesn’t exist.”

  “But your mother had reason to go after Frankie, didn’t she?”

  My gaze shifted from Thorne to my plate to other diners. “Did you bring me here to ask me about my mother? To see if she’s capable of killing?”

  “I brought you here because I wanted to spend time with you,” he said patiently. “I’m asking about your mother because I want your opinion. My guess is that you’ll say no, your mother isn’t capable of anything like that. She’s not a murderer. So if I bring her in for questioning, I don’t want you to be blindsided. I want you to know it was for good reason.”

  Hackles spiked down my spine. “Bring her in for questioning? She didn’t do it.”

  People glanced over at us. I lowered my voice, trying to keep it at a civilized tone but fearful I had fallen way short.

  I flattened my palms on the table. “Look, I know my mother and I haven’t always been the closest, but she’s spent her life helping witches. I didn’t even know anything about her beef with Frankie until I arrived in this town. Don’t you think if it had been a big deal, I would’ve known about it? You can’t keep those kinds of secrets, the kind that gnaw at you from the inside out, quiet forever.”

  I glared at him. “Or maybe you can. Vampires are different from witches—especially Southern ones. We purge our pain. Y’all keep it tucked safely away. We have to release it. It’s just who we are.”

  “You know I have to follow every lead,” he said quietly.

  “Mama is innocent.”

  “I’m sure she is, but she might also have an idea of who murdered Frankie.”

  “She wasn’t even on set when it happened,” I argued.

  “You know as well as I that a witch doesn’t h
ave to be present to cast a spell on another witch.” He leaned forward. “Your mother is a water witch. Frankie died in water. I have to at least question her.”

  I gestured toward the exit. “What about Mr. Creepy Stalker? What about him, huh? The water didn’t electrocute him. Doesn’t that mean he should be brought in as well?”

  Thorne sighed. “I questioned Watts already. I’m trying to get a complete picture of who Frankie’s enemies were.”

  “Well then you should talk to Vic,” I argued. “He used to date her and she broke his heart. That’s reason enough if you ask me.”

  Our conversation was spiraling far from a good place, but it irked me that Thorne would question Mama.

  But at least he’d had the decency to admit it.

  I flared my hands. “Okay. You’re doing me a favor; I accept that. But can you just give it a few more days? If you’re going to bring her in, that is.”

  He quirked a brow. “You’re not investigating this.”

  I shook my head. “No, of course not,” I lied. “I’m not. I just thought maybe something else would present itself as a solution. Like, you know, the real killer.”

  He eyed me sternly. “Two days. That’s it.”

  I grinned widely. “Two days. That’s plenty of time…for you to discover who really did this and place handcuffs on them.”

  Even though I hoped to beat him to the punch.

  “Charming,” Thorne murmured, “can we talk about something else?”

  “You’re the one who brought it up. I was happy as a pig in mud having dinner, but you’re the one who decided to use our date”—I made quotation marks with my fingers—“as a way to figure out if I thought my mother was guilty of murder.”

  “I’m not saying she’s guilty.” His face was red now. “But I need to talk to her. That’s all.”

  “Oh? So you admit one of the men is hiding something?”

  “I admit that someone is. It’s a murder. Of course that’s how it is. Someone is hiding something. Someone wanted Frankie dead. She had a lot of enemies, and unfortunately your mother is one of them.”

  This argument had grown tiresome. Thorne and I had come so far this week. After all, we’d had a nice dinner where we didn’t rip each other’s heads off. Now we were back to square one.

  I wanted to say that I could find somebody that hated Frankie more than my mother, but I bit my tongue.

  Thorne tossed his napkin on the table. “Do you want to get out of here?”

  “And go where? On a moonlit walk where all I think about is strangling you?”

  He threw his head back. “No. My place.”

  A barb shot into my heart. The suggestion took me by surprise. I stared at him. “Why?”

  “I have dessert there.” He raised his hands. “Trust me. I’m not going to do anything ungentlemanly. I just think you and I need a change of scenery. How does that sound?”

  I could use that. We could use that. “That sounds nice,” I admitted. “But first let me go to the powder room.”

  He nodded. “I’ll take care of the check. Meet you up front.”

  I excused myself and went to the bathroom. On the way out I spied a shock of dark hair that I instantly recognized as belonging to Tex Tye.

  My gaze darted left and right. Thorne was nowhere in sight. Perfect. I could talk to Tex, find out what he knew and then sashay on out to Thorne and he’d never be the wiser.

  Of course I would do this all under the pretense of being the perfect matchmaker.

  I approached Tex’s table and noticed immediately he sat with a pretty young blonde.

  His niece, maybe?

  I mean, it had only been a few days since Frankie’s death. Surely Tex hadn’t already moved on.

  I waved pertly. “Hi, Tex.”

  He took one look at me and swallowed down a forkful of mashed potatoes. Tex wiped his mouth and smiled. “Charming. Great to see you.” He pointed to his niece. “This is my friend, Zoe.”

  I nodded to her. See, this Zoe wearing a tube-top dress and stilettos was Tex’s friend. She wasn’t even his niece.

  “Sorry to interrupt,” I began.

  “It’s no interruption,” he said smoothly.

  “I was just wondering how you were holding up, you know, with what happened to Frankie.”

  Tex tutted. “It’s a shame, really, but that’s how these things go. The show was fun, but I knew nothing would come of it.”

  My jaw dropped. “What? You seemed so into her.”

  He shrugged. “It’s just show business, Charming. Surely you can understand that. Doing the whole dating game thing was entertaining. Now I’m getting calls to go on other shows, but it’s not as if any of that is real.”

  What he said hurt my feelings. Like, I lived for matching people and bringing them together. The show had been very real to me. Granted, Thorne wasn’t interested in Frankie, but if I hadn’t been in the picture, would that have been the same story?

  “But I matched you to Frankie. A part of her had to mean something to you.”

  He hiked a shoulder to his ear. “And I appreciate you introducing us.” He popped another forkful of mashed potatoes into his mouth and spoke with his cavity full. Gross. “But that’s how these things are. You can’t get too attached to people in a dating show.”

  He inhaled deeply and reached his hand across the table and took Zoe’s. She grinned deeply at him, almost shyly. I wanted to barf. Sorry to be skeptical, but I couldn’t see anyone in a tube dress being shy about much.

  But Tex had acted like he cared about Frankie, that she had been this woman he adored. My blood nearly boiled in my veins.

  “So it was all an act, is that it?”

  Tex blinked at me innocently. “It wasn’t an act, just life, Charming. That’s the way we do things.”

  I scoffed. “That’s not the way I do things.” I grabbed the back of an empty chair and leaned forward. “If I wasn’t into someone, I wouldn’t take them up in a hot air balloon and spoon-feed them food. I wouldn’t kiss them and want to get into a hot tub with them.”

  He looked shocked. “You and I both know the mayor wanted a show. I gave her a show.”

  I pulled away and glared at him. “Did you want so much of a show that you killed Frankie to get it?”

  He blinked, shocked. “What? Goodness, no. I didn’t have anything to do with that.” Tex jutted out his strong chin and his eyes narrowed. “If that’s what you stopped by to suggest, I think you can leave. Good night, Charming. See you around.”

  Zoe’s lip curled into a sneer. She didn’t say anything, only shot me a glare right out of the trailer park. I straightened my back and left the restaurant.

  I found Thorne outside the cave, his back to the restaurant as he stared up at the starry sky. I linked my hand through his arm.

  “Hey there,” I purred.

  Without glancing down, he said, “Did you find out what you needed to from Tex?”

  I wanted to ask how he knew but then remembered Thorne had amazing hearing.

  I straightened my back and angled my shoulders. “Why yes I did, thanks for asking. I thought you were going to arrest me.”

  He glanced down at me, his silver eyes glinting in the moonlight. He looked unearthly, supernatural. Powerful.

  “You found Tex in public. You didn’t go to his house. So I’m not hauling you in.”

  I shot him a satisfied smirk. “Good. Now I’m ready for dessert.”

  Thorne snickered but said nothing as he led me to his Jaguar.

  Chapter 16

  “You really know how to get a lady interested in you,” I said.

  “Is that right? A little kindling, wine and chocolate is all you need?” Thorne joked.

  He knelt in front of his hearth blowing a fire to life. A spark ignited, and flames shot up around a log. He waited a moment before rising with the grace of Mikhail Baryshnikov and brushing off his hands.

  I raised my glass of wine to him. “Yep. All I need is a lit
tle wine and chocolate and I’m good. Plus,” and now the wine was making my head swim, “you didn’t give me a hard time for being mad that Tex was only in the game show for the exposure.”

  I gritted my teeth. “Why didn’t I see that before? He’s so slick. Too slick.” I paused. “He did it. He murdered Frankie for the ratings. You should arrest him.”

  Thorne cocked a brow before striding over and gently taking the wine from my hand. “Didn’t you eat at the restaurant?”

  “Yes, but your wine has a lot more alcohol in it.”

  He sniffed the bowl. “Does it?”

  I nodded. “You wouldn’t be affected by alcohol.” I tipped my head back and stared into his silvery eyes. “You probably aren’t affected by much.”

  I squeezed his bicep. “You’re like an undead Superman. Can you imagine if Superman was a vampire? He would’ve drank Lois Lane’s blood for sure.”

  “Maybe I should get you home.”

  I waved away his worry. “No, no. I’m fine. But I do think you should arrest Tex.”

  A moment later my scattered mind drifted back to Thorne. “But seriously. What makes you tick? I mean, I can’t imagine how awful it is to be forced to live here in the mountains when you’re clearly a worldly kind of guy. Very stoic. Hard to love. Doesn’t want to love. Is that it? You don’t like to give your heart away?”

  I blew a shot of air. “That’s right. We’ve covered this. You had to have your ex-girlfriend killed because she was evil.”

  I yanked his shirt, bringing Thorne down to eye level. “What does that do to you? Does it make you not want to love anyone ever again?”

  Thorne gently unhooked me from him. “It means when I meet someone I want to get to know, I won’t let anything stand in my way.”

  “You mean me.”

  Boy, my head swam in helium or some gas that made everything all hazy and big, bright and fuzzy. It was pretty awesome.

  I was saying things to Thorne I normally never would have confessed or been ballsy enough to admit.

  Thorne sat beside me on the couch. I pulled my knees to my chest to give him room.

  He dipped his chin down. “Now that you’ve spoken to all the men, are you going to stay out of my investigation?”