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Mostly. It’s hard to keep my head on straight when she’s looking up at me with a clear expectation, and I have to pretend I don’t know exactly what she wants. She wants the brat fucked out of her. Just like last time. But I can’t. Not while she’s in the cottage. Probably not ever. I can never let someone be that close to me again. Can’t put her in danger.
It was so much easier when she was a stranger in a bar. Now, we’re practically coworkers.
“Right. Especially now that we’re working together.” She turns away, finally, and the scent of her perfumed hair hits me right in the face. But her smell, one that’s been stuck in my nose since she kicked me out of bed… it’s changed. Peaches and cinnamon and ginger. Stronger, musky, mature. A hint of sandalwood.
Everything changes. Always. That’s the greatest lesson death has to teach us.
“Glad we’re in agreement,” I say, lower than I mean to.
She looks over her shoulder. “I’ll have to find someone else to keep my bed warm. Shouldn’t be hard.”
I narrow my eyes. “Are you trying to make me jealous?”
Why is it working? Again, I don’t know her, definitely don’t have a claim on her, but my stomach clenches.
“Nope.” She wiggles her fingers and steps into the afternoon light, skipping down the street as she goes.
Still a brat. Always a brat.
A week passes, and the Seren family seems to be settling in well enough, from what I can see on the outside looking in. They’re at all the coven meetings, Aurora meets up with Jewel for personal training, and she never actually uses my number.
I still don’t have hers, but I don’t have the guts to approach her either. Not after what she said to me last time we spoke, about finding someone else.
She wasn’t bluffing. Whenever I go to the tavern, she’s talking to a new person. Close. Aurora never even looks my way when we’re out, which is both a relief and a blessing, but I can’t stay away for long.
The cottage needs my attention. If we want to keep the peace, my being here is a necessary evil. I’m guessing everything has been quiet if she hasn’t texted me about sinking floors and the curtains choking her.
Though I’d certainly like to do the choking—
Nope. Not going there.
“Do you have the goods?” I ask Axel as I slide into the diner, shoving my hands deep into my pockets.
Axel has recently started helping his family out more with the diner—an eatery in Starbrook owned by werewolves, with huge portions and a vintage ambiance. He’s a few years older than me, father to a toddler, and greatly involved in our town’s massive wolf pack.
Despite being closer to my age, he’s closer to my sister than to me. The way Axel looks at me always makes me want to run and hide. Customer service smile? I doubt he’s heard of it.
“Got it,” he says, sliding a box of doughnuts my way. Where his wedding ring used to be, there’s a stripe of pale flesh.
Someone else would probably ask him about that, but I don’t. None of my business. His wife is a good witch; I’m sure they’ll work it out.
I smile hesitantly. “Thanks.”
He nods. “Tell your family I say ‘hi.’”
“Will do.”
About ten minutes later, I pull up to the cottage in my truck and hop out, carrying the box of doughnuts right to the front door. I knock and bounce on my feet, waiting for someone to answer.
Aurora. Mrs. Seren.
Nope. Instead, Luke is there, flashing a timid grin. He’s the youngest of the siblings, I know, but their family dynamic is different from ours. Farrah and Valentino are my youngest siblings, but they’re nowhere as shy as Luke appears to be.
“Hey,” he says softly. “Are you here to take care of the yard?”
I nod and hold out the box of doughnuts. “Yeah. I uh… brought these.”
His eyes widen. “You didn’t have to. You’re the one doing us a favor.”
