Page 70 of A Time of Witches

“Aunt Jacqueline dropped everything to come here and care for me.” Asher glanced at the kitchen exit where Aunt Jacqueline had stood earlier, his gaze earnest. “I can’t imagine my life without her.”

Lilith wrapped her hand around his forearm and squeezed, letting it stand in for the soul-deep hug she longed to give him. “I’m so sorry.”

“That’s life sometimes.” He lifted his wine in a mock toast. “I like to think it made me better rather than bitter.”

“I believe it did.” She patted his arm and released him to pick up her wineglass. “To being better.” They clinked glasses and drank together, smiles teasing their lips.

“Is that why you hate it?” she asked abruptly.

He blinked at her and set down his glass.

“The manor,” she specified. “Is that why you never want to talk about it…because of your daddy?”

Asher was silent for a long moment, his expression impassive. Finally, he settled back in his chair and released a long breath. “Well.” He reached for his wine again. “That is astute.”

The openness of his expression shuttered.

She’d done that with her abrupt questioning.

And while she could kick herself, she still had so many questions. About the manor, about the secret room, about the grimoire and whether he knew of its existence.

And she needed answers like a drowning woman needed a life raft.

“Legacies…” Asher spoke with apparent care. “Are not always wanted.”

That was absolutely something Lilith could understand.

Her phone buzzed next to her and Essie’s name flashed with a text. “Sorry,” Lilith apologized, flipping her phone over.

Asher swallowed the last of his wine. “Honestly, it’s getting late, and Toby will remind me we have an early day tomorrow morning.” Toby gave a broad underbite smile and wagged his nub of a tail.

Asher put their glasses in the dishwasher and Lilith snuck a glance at her phone.

Essie: How’s Mr. Darcy? 😉

Lilith replied with a blush face, to which Essie immediately replied with a heart eyes emoji.

When you knew someone well enough, you could have an entire conversation in emojis.

Lilith scooped Dragon from her lap and stood, tucking the cell phone into her back pocket. “Thank you again for dinner—and for the chat.”

Asher walked with her toward the rear of the house where the guest rooms were, clicking off the lights as they went. “My pleasure. I enjoyed getting to know more about you.”

“Likewise,” Lilith replied.

They reached the hallway where her room split off to the left with his to the right. She looked up at him, suddenly feeling unsure of what to say or do. There was a new intimacy between them, one borne of vulnerability and confessions of past hurts.

Certainly, it was the most intimate conversation she’d had with anyone in far, far too long. And he understood her. Like, really understood her.

He made her feel seen.

As if hearing her thoughts, he gazed down at her, the soft look in his eyes confirming the quiet affection heating between them. The light scent of his laundry detergent filled her senses, but beneath that was a spicy, masculine scent.

Her pulse fizzed like a shaken can of Coke.

She was just a girl with a cat in her arms, standing before a boy with a dog at his side.

And this suddenly felt so right.