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“I don’t know about that.” I clenched my fingers together, hesitant to let him pull me against him. All too aware of the way my body already reacted to him without us even touching. “How is dancing going to help?”
He gave me a half-grin. “You scared, Baby Teeth?”
“Yes.” There was no point in lying.
His expression softened. He cupped my face, tilting my chin to meet his gaze. “I’m not going to let you do anything you’d regret. Do you trust me?”
Did I?
Yesterday, even a few hours ago, I would’ve said no. But something had changed between us on the hike up to the cave—a subtle shift in our dynamic. We still weren’t the way we’d been before Seth left, and maybe never would be again, but somehow Wes had begun to poke holes in the wall I’d kept tightly constructed for the last four years. I didn’t trust him fully, or even enough to be considered partially, but he’d been the one to put the brakes on when I lost control of my magic, and he’d been the one to talk me off the roughest edge of the side effects. With this, I trusted him implicitly.
I took his hand. “Okay. Let’s dance.”
His whole frame relaxed, like even his bones had exhaled. He pulled me closer. I placed my open palm on his chest and let his warmth seep into me. He took my other hand, lifting it over his shoulder. My skin began to prickle with a low hum of power just beneath the surface. His arms came around me, enveloping me, holding me tight against his solid strength. The way we fit felt so right. So perfect. As if we’d been made to mold together.
“You okay?” His cheek brushed the top of my head.
I nodded, trembling slightly against him.
He began to move. “Feel the energy, but don’t lose yourself to it. The magic doesn’t control us any more than we can control it.”
I swallowed and focused on working with my magic, like I had when I changed my ice to rain. Only this time, I made it ask permission to come inside. I didn’t let it just barrel its way in. The urge to let it take more rose in me, but I backed it down, reminding it that we worked together. Mist formed around us. Tiny droplets of water caught the sunlight streaming through the canopy of leaves and fell around us in a gentle haze.
“There you go,” he murmured. “Nothing to it.”
I melted against him as we danced. And while I had that desperate, clawing need more or less under control—for now—something much more concerning began to wind its way around my heart. An alarming notion that I could stay here, just like this, forever. The song ended, and Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” started up.
I leaned back, giving him a wry smile. “Are you using your seduction playlist on me?”
He chuckled and the vibration of it hummed against me. “Wouldn’t occur to me to do such a thing. Are you saying you feel seduced?”
“Not even a little bit.” The lie rolled off my tongue as that heady feeling of standing at the end of a very high diving board made me slightly dizzy. Most worrisome, it had absolutely nothing to do with my powers. It was just me and Wes and dancing in the rain.
“I see.” His attempt at being serious couldn’t quite hide the trace of laughter in his voice. He cleared his throat. “Maybe we should try this again tomorrow. Just to be sure we can keep the physical reaction under control.”
“Good idea.” I agreed to that way too readily and cringed when a knowing smile touched his lips. “What I mean is, we need to practice all aspects of our magic. Whatever is lingering around the cave is pretty pissed at us right now.”
“We’ll face it. Fortunately for me, fate matched me with an incredible partner.”
A warm glow spread through me as my cheeks flushed. “You’re pretty okay, too.”
He snorted. “An incredible partner who is all too happy to check my ego.”
“You know what I mean.” I put a hand on his chest and gave him a light shove. While my magic reacted to the physical contact, lighting up my hand and gathering the moisture in the air, the sweet buzz flowing through me was all my own.
Pale orange and purple streaks stretched across the sky. The sunset wouldn’t be far behind. Which meant I needed to change and get back to my shop to help Ella close. Wes walked me to my door and, with gentle fingers, he brushed my wet hair back from my face and kissed my forehead. My skin pebbled with tiny goosebumps. I leaned against the wall, hoping that would be enough to keep me from turning into a puddle at his feet.
His eyes searched mine, a question in them, as if he saw something he didn’t quite believe. “What time do you want to practice tomorrow?”
“Six is fine. Ella can hold things down for a few hours in the evening for me.” My fingers shook as I fumbled with my keys.
Once I made it inside, I shut the door, put my back to it, and slid to the floor. This was bad. So, so bad. I was developing feelings for Wes Latham. And the worst part was, I couldn’t even blame it on my magic.
The next day, I opened my shop to once again find my grandma waiting for me. I let out a yelp and pressed a hand over my racing heart. “You’ve got to stop doing this.”
“I consider it my job to keep you on your toes.” She hopped up on the counter and crossed her legs. “How did it go at the cave yesterday?”
“Fine.” Warm tremors tickled my stomach as images of wrapping my legs around Wes’s waist flooded my mind. “It’s pretty much what you expected.”
