Bewitching You (14 page)

Wind gusted in and blew her hair off her shoulders. One piece stuck to her moist cheek so he swept it behind her ear.

“What are you doing?” she asked again, her eyes wide in what seemed like fear.

“Are you afraid of me, Sofia?” Had he been that awful to her?

“Of course not.” She wrinkled her nose. “Why would I be afraid of you?”

Her tone wasn’t convincing. Carefully, Gray cupped her cheek. Her skin was soft, speckled lightly with freckles. Beautiful in a way he hadn’t noticed before.

A wary sigh heaved up her chest. Then she leaned into his hand and pulled in her bottom lip only to release it, wet and inviting.

Just one kiss
.

Gray brushed his thumb over her lip, desperately wanting to erase every bad notion she had of him. What was it that made him want to be more to her than a
cold-hearted jerk
?

So much more.

Another gust of wind blew in, and she closed her eyes. Before she could open them again, he tilted her head up and molded his mouth to hers.

She gasped slightly, but didn’t pull away. Her lips were supple and sweet to the taste. Like in his dreams, but better.

This was real
.

He wasn’t going to wake up and find her gone. To make sure, he grasped her waist and held her close. Faint whimpers muffled against his lips. He almost drew back, but her fingertips running up his arms gave him permission to continue.

Eager for more, he slid his tongue into her mouth. Her hips arched against his growing erection. Her hands glided over his shoulders and clasped onto his neck, nudging him down. Did she want him to take her? Now? Here?

He was a free to do whatever he wanted with whomever he wanted. For some reason, he only
wanted
to be here in this moment with this woman. From the way she was luring him toward the mattress, she desired more than just one kiss.

Gray wouldn’t refuse her. He wrapped one arm around her for support. The other arm braced against the bed as he lowered her, kissing her thoroughly all the while. He wouldn’t disappoint her like he had already. This time, he wouldn’t give her anything less than his best.

~ * ~

Sofia was out of her mind. Or maybe it was simply cluttered at the moment. With how great he kissed. With how he looked and felt, half naked on the bed beside her…on top of her.

Oh, geez
.
What am I doing
?

Lying down. That was what she was doing.

Running her hands over the lean muscles on his back. Intertwining her legs with his. Going mad over the way he was making love to her mouth with his tongue. He tasted so good, so…so
him
.

His hand sneaked under her tank top, and she jerked her eyes open. His touch, slowly sliding along her skin up over her abdomen, made her tremble with both desire and anxiety. He must have noticed her nervousness because he peeked down at her through narrowed eyes.

They both took in a breath, but his hand kept traveling.

What could be going through his mind?

No, don’t think about that, Sofe
.
Just let it happen
.
Enjoy it
.

Had he done this with his ex-fiancée? Had he loved her? That gorgeous woman he was going to marry up until today?

“Wait,” Sofia said, as his hand gripped where no man had ever touched her.

His thumb brushed across her pebbled nipple, sending chills down to where heat rose, surged. He pressed his jean-covered erection into that spot, against her heat, as if he knew how close to the edge she was, and wanted to propel her over.

It was working. She held back a moan by biting into her lip.

“Sofia,” he breathed, obviously as on edge as she was. “Are you sure?”

Summoning the last of her sanity, she nodded and pushed against his solid chest.

“I’m sure.” She couldn’t do it. Sofia Good was
not
going to be his rebound. His last resort.

“Okay.” He lifted off her and stood, exhaling and raking a hand through his hair.

“Sorry,” she muttered as she hurried to the door.

“For what?” He followed behind her, grabbing her waist before she could leave. “Don’t apologize.” His voice was a whisper, his warm breath feathered along her neck.

Sofia sucked in a breath. Her body trembled. Geez, he was going to think she was a prude…which of course she was. Didn’t help that her cheeks were burning, which meant her entire face was most likely bright red. Here was the hottest man she’d ever laid eyes on holding her in an embrace, and all she wanted to do was run like hell to get away from him.

“I’m the one who’s sorry.” He kissed her temple and loosened his hold on her. “Goodnight, Sofia.”

“Okay,” she said stupidly, still mesmerized by what had happened, what could have happened—quite possibly her only chance to lose her virginity. And to fall in love. Because who wanted to be with a woman who had visions of the future, other than the only man she’d ever envisioned loving?

She backed out into the hallway, only stumbling once when she realized it was really dark.

“Here.” He handed her one of the lamps. “Don’t want you to be scared.”

“Thanks. Um, goodnight.” She started toward Nana’s room. With each passing step, she could feel him staring at her backside.

“Sweet dreams.” His voice was soft and playful, and followed by a sexy chuckle.

Sofia turned abruptly to respond with something witty and reproachful but couldn’t think of a damn thing to say, so she stuck out her tongue.

Very mature, Sofe
.

He laughed again. “Night, sugar. See you in the morning.”

The man was nothing but trouble. Good thing he was leaving
first thing tomorrow
.

Wasn’t it
?

~ * ~

“You should be ashamed of yourself, Mom.”

 
Penny looked at her daughter and sighed. “I just walked in the door, Laura. Can we save this until the morning, please?”

“No, we can’t. I can’t believe you went through with this.”

“You know I only did it for her own good.” Penny set her suitcase against the wall and sat her weary body down on the couch. The spell sure had taken a lot out of her. She wasn’t as young as she used to be, that was for certain.

“What if she comes home and sees you here?”

“She won’t be able to leave my house until—”

“Until what?”

“Until the spell is complete. Until they admit they’re in love.”

“Oh, shit.” Laura paced a line in the carpet in front of the couch. “You are truly something, Mom. What gives you the right to interfere in
my
daughter’s life like this? And lie to her about it? Shouldn’t she be the one to decide whether she’ll fall in love with this asshole?”

“Spare me the guilt trip, Laura. Look what you did to Hayes Phillips. You could have saved that boy’s life, if you’d only told him his true fate.”

“No!” Laura stopped and pointed a finger at Penny. “I am not responsible for these people’s actions. That kid was going to jump off that airplane no matter what I said. I told him to be careful, but of course he didn’t listen to me. They never do.” With a red face, she stomped up the stairs, but turned once to add, “Besides, aren’t you the one who told me when I started this business that I shouldn’t play God? Being a little hypocritical, aren’t we, Mom? And with your own family?”

Before Penny could respond, Laura disappeared upstairs. A second later, she heard the bedroom door slam shut.

Good
. She didn’t have the energy to argue with her stubborn daughter anyhow.

Surely, she didn’t get that quality from me.

With a harrumph, she grabbed at her suitcase handle and started upstairs. She’d sleep in Sofia’s room tonight. Being close to her granddaughter’s things would give Penny a better feel for how the spell was working.

Penny had taken Hayes’s word and read his thoughts that Grayson Phillips was a decent man. A man Sofia could love. A man who would return the love unconditionally, even with the knowledge that Sofia was “gifted.”

As Penny lay in bed that night, she prayed for many things. She prayed Sofia would forgive her for lying and interfering. She prayed Grayson would treat Sofia right.

She prayed Grayson would never find out that Sofia’s mother could have prevented his brother’s death, and didn’t. But mostly she prayed Laura would find a love of her own.

Because Penny was convinced no spell would be strong enough to push through her daughter’s bitter heart.

Chapter Eight

Rachel rolled over onto her side and opened her eyes. The sun was rising and spilling soft light through her sheer pink curtains, reminding her of the night before.

She glanced down at what she was wearing. The red dress she’d worn the night Hayes had made love to her. She’d put it on just for him, thinking he’d love it. The memory made her want to slap herself silly. What type of awful person was she?

She’d known Hayes was going to come over to check up on her. He’d told her, whispered it to her when Grayson wasn’t watching. Then she’d gone out and purchased this dress. This daring red dress. A color she’d never had the nerve to wear before for anyone else.

Now, her head throbbed from a hangover.

How many glasses of wine had she drunk before stumbling into bed? Who knew? Who cared? She didn’t want to cry anymore. Her eyes were dry and crusted over with the tears she’d spilled the night before. Pathetic. Truly pathetic.

When was she going to gain some control over her life? Over her emotions?

Then, an invisible arm wrapped around her waist. The bed indented behind her and she felt his body encompass hers.

“You’re so beautiful in this dress.”

His voice cheered her up for a moment, before she remembered he wasn’t really there. Not fully.

“Rachel, you have to know how sorry I am for leaving you. I promise you that you’ll find love with someone who deserves you.”

“I don’t want anyone else. I want you.” More tears found their way out and ran down her temple.

“Baby, you have no idea how good it feels to hear you say that. If I could change the past, you’d be damn certain I’d be lying here after a night of making love to you.”

But he wasn’t here. Just how long did she have with him now?

“How long can you stay? I mean, until you’re able to move on?” She turned toward him and ran her fingers over his chest and neck and face. She couldn’t see him this time, but she could feel every inch of him.

“I’m not positive, but everything’s in motion. It could be any minute, hour or day.” He kissed her forehead.

“Why can’t I see you?”

“All my energy is going into being able to touch you and have you touch me. I can’t do both, baby. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want you to be sorry anymore.” Rachel felt him wipe a tear from her nose. She wanted him closer. She wanted that night back.

“Can you make love to me?”

He chuckled and brushed his lips against hers. “It sure the hell feels like I can.”

~ * ~

Sofia beat the eggs in a mixing bowl and turned the gas burner on low this time. She wasn’t going to burn this batch. Nope. This one was going to be perfect. The bacon and sausage, however, were a little on the dark side and the pancakes, well, a couple of them were edible.

So what if she wasn’t the best cook? It wasn’t as if she were applying for wife-status. Not even girlfriend-ability. Because as soon as Gray got out of the shower and ate this breakfast—oh, yes, he was going to eat it after all the hard work she’d put into it—she was driving his fine butt out of here.