“Is she any good?” He removed his jacket and undid the button at his collar. My gaze dropped to the patch of exposed skin, then slowly climbed back up to find him watching me. Awareness flared in his eyes.
“No, she’s terrible at it.”
“That’s too bad. What about you?”
“Are you asking if I can read your future?”
His mouth curved in amusement. “I don’t know. You look like you’d be good at that sort of thing.”
I scooted closer. “I’m good at lots of things, Detective. Hold out your hand.”
He turned his palm up, and I set it in my lap. His skin was rough against mine where I traced the lines of his palm with my fingernail, reveling in the way his breath caught at my touch. With my thumb, I rubbed small circles into the base of his fingers, watching as his eyes grew heavy-lidded with pleasure.
I bent over his hand. “What would you like to know?”
“How long will I live?”
Pretending to examine his lifeline, I bit my cheek to keep from smiling. “Hmm… It seems you’ll live long enough to admit how valuable I am to your investigation.”
“So, I’ll be old and gray.”
I pinched his thumb. “What else do you want to know?”
“What’s that line tell you?” He pointed to the one running at the top of his palm.
“Ah, that’s your love line.” I tsk’d. “It’s the shortest one I’ve ever seen. It means you’re disagreeable and impatient. I don’t know,” I hedged, “this doesn’t look promising.”
“Tessa,” he growled, “you’re making that up.” Twisting my hand, he captured it in his own to drag me closer.
I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. It was nice to see him this way. Even nicer to know I’d played a part in wiping the haunted expression from his eyes.
“Don’t be mad, Detective. I read it like I see it.”
He grinned, seeing through my lie, and I felt my heart stutter as his thumb circled my wrist, sending little frissons of heat up my arm.
“I already told you, I don’t get mad, I get even.”
A girl can hope.
“Read it again. For real, this time.”
“All right, hold still.”
I ran my finger along his heart line. There was a gap near the start, and my touch lingered there. I knew what it meant, and my voice dropped with sympathy.
“This break means you suffered the loss of a loved one. It was quite significant. You’re not over it.”
His silence confirmed my fears.
A pang of jealousy throbbed around my heart. It was probably a first love, and knowing him, there was an elaborate shrine to the woman somewhere in his house. It would explain a lot. He’d said there wasn’t anyone else, and it was because she was dead. It was hard to compete with a ghost. Not that I was competing. A witch never played second fiddle.
“Is that all? It ends there?” Misery laced his tone, almost as if he’d been hoping for a different answer.
I sighed, peevish, and continued the reading. “No. See this, here?” My finger trailed the length of his palm. “After the break, the line is long and deep. That’s a good sign. It means you’ll find your true match. And see this small curve on the end?” He nodded, dark eyes watching me and not the curve on his palm. “It signifies a willingness to sacrifice everything for love. That’s pretty noble of you, Detective.”
“I suppose. You wouldn’t do the same?”
My laugh came out harsh. “Sacrifice everything for love? That sounds like a fairytale, and my life is no fairytale. Prince Charming doesn’t end up with the witch, Detective.”
