Bitch Witch (19 page)

He seemed unfazed. “No, I haven’t lost my mind, just my heart. I think we should start with a date or two.” Henry grinned at her. “I didn’t want to leave the ring in the trunk. It’s a ten carat diamond, and it’s been in my family a long time. My mother would have my head if something happened to it.”

Knows all the verses of Jingle Bells. Secretly sings it year round. In the mood for sushi.

“You had me worried there.” She turned the Jeep onto the main road and accelerated.

“If I was going to propose to someone I just met it would be you.”

“I feel the same way. But I don’t want Paul to get more upset than he already is. Maybe after some time he’ll come around.” A slight wave of relief went through her as Henry tucked the ring box into the interior pocket of his rain spattered suit jacket. “So what are you going to ask me Saturday night then?”

“Hey, don’t try to ruin my surprise. You know, I don’t believe in this spell stuff, but I stick by what I said to him this morning. I wouldn’t even care if Paul is right. I really wouldn’t. If this is a spell, leave me right here.”

Sarah smiled and turned into the drive-thru of the Wayside Bake Shop. She ordered fresh baked scones over the intercom.

“Your co-workers must love you,” said Henry, and reached over to squeeze her knee.

Twenty minutes later in the Mass Power and Light parking lot his warm hand remained there. Sarah slid the gear into neutral and pulled the parking brake as thunder rumbled and rain battered the windshield.

“You know the worse part of what happened in the basement yesterday?” he asked.

Sarah couldn’t quite meet his eyes.

“You went to bed early,” he said.

“Early?”

“Alone. Maybe neither of us was up to much after that basement. I don’t know what’s wrong with that place—frankly I think it’s some sort of hallucinogenic fungus or something—but it affected me too. Only Paul kept his head. But, anyway, I want to say that tonight I don’t want to sleep alone—and I sure don’t mean bunking with my brother.” Henry focused his intense gaze on her.

Cheeks flaming and heart pounding, Sarah grinned. Leaving the keys in the ignition she took the bakery box from Henry and reached for the door. A jolt of panic shot through her at the same time Henry slid one long leg onto the driver’s side and grabbed her shoulder.

“Do you really have to go?”

“I do.”

“Why?” He leaned close until his minty breath blew on her face, his deadly handsome eyes pleading. “Can’t you take some time off?”

She could, but it wasn’t a good idea. “I’d better not right now.”

“I wanted to wait until Saturday to spring this on you, but I can’t wait. I have to go to Dubai for six months. I want you to come with me.”

“I—I can’t!”
Oh my gah! Traveling the world with Henry!
She’d never wanted anything more, but it could cost her soul.

“Don’t take this idea wrong, but I could find you a hundred different jobs in my company if you’re uncomfortable just going with me. You should see the place we’re building there.” Henry shot a dubious glance at the old brick building. “Please say you’ll think about it.”

Anxiety shivered through Sarah at the thought, and the temptation to agree practically overwhelmed her. She hadn’t traveled anywhere in the three years since her family died. “No.” She rushed her words, almost garbling them together. “I need this job, I need to work here. This place, it helps me, it keeps me—well, I mean—it helps me keep it together. I like—I like the repetition of it, if that makes any sense.” Without work to calm her, she’d never be able to control the temptation to cast.

Henry leaned so close his face looked blurry. “That makes no sense,” he whispered, and kissed her. “Think about it.”

Sarah wrapped her arms around him and didn’t realize the bakery box was being crushed between them until a rhythmic tapping interrupted. Henry pulled away and wiped smeared lipstick off her mouth with his thumb. “Someone’s knocking on your window.”

Sarah’s heartbeat doubled at the thought of leaving. “I have to go,” she said without moving.

“So you said.” Henry continued to run a finger around the edges of her lips, ignoring the persistent tapping. Sarah felt the heat of a spark sizzle from his skin. He smiled. “Eight whole hours is too long. When do you have lunch?”

“Eleven.”

“I’ll be here waiting.”

Hates your Jeep. Would buy you one in Dubai. Wants to spend hours with you in bed, now.

Sarah forced herself to turn and grasp the door handle. She stepped out into the rain before she realized the person knocking on the window had been Mindy. Her friend swapped her an umbrella for the box of scones.

“Hold it over my head too,” Mindy grumbled, walking close and peeking inside the box. “Was that guy you were licking the same boy toy from the movie theater? Because I have a thing for troublemakers too.”

“It’s his brother.”

Mindy did an about face to stare after the retreating Jeep. “What! Are you kidding me? Do you have access to a clone army? How many of them are there? Can I have one?”

“There’s only two. They’re twins.” Sarah checked her lipstick with her fingers. She could still feel Henry’s touch. The selfish witch in her wanted to cast and make him come right back. Another part of her wanted to get some distance and think.

“Can I use one for a few days?”

“No.”

“A couple days?”

“Mindy!”

“Selfish slut. That awesome Hermès scarf makes you look fat.”

Laughing, Sarah unwound it from her shoulders. “I brought it for you.”

“From the rag bag?” Mindy took it and draped it around her neck. “I’d rather have the boy toy. You need to learn how to share. Bet you were an only child.”

THE RAIN NEVER let up. All morning it pounded against the windows and roof of the office building until the sound of it vibrated through Sarah. Some primitive part of her wanted to kick off her shoes and run outside in it all the way to Henry. She knew what September rain felt like against her skin, warm and soft. Despite the boring repetition of her job, nothing could drown out the temptation of freedom beckoning from outside, or the thought that Henry would be back soon. The logic spell faded away until Sarah could barely focus on her job.
I could have taken the day off! I’ll bet just being with Henry would keep me from casting!

Avery Gross set a flash drive on her desk, explaining it contained forms in need of review edits. When Sarah didn’t look away from her screen or respond, he cleared his throat.

Sarah kept one hand on the mouse, hoping to look busy enough that he’d go away. Her other hand worked back and forth over a bare patch of wooden desktop. The velvety smooth texture of that wood reminded her of the brief groping she’d given Henry in the basement yesterday.

“Sarah, are you all right?” Avery persisted.

She wanted to say yes to Dubai. She wanted to be the kind of woman who could. “I am all right. Are you?” she answered without thinking, and residual magic from the aftershock went with her words. She smiled. The cost from the morning’s spell felt harmless. It bound Avery with one message: Sarah was all right.

“I—I am all right too,” he faltered. His gaze flickered to her mouth and he swallowed. “Um, do you have lunch plans? Because Jackie Hamilton and Mercer invited me out, and I thought maybe you should come too.”

“No, Avery. Not today. I have plans.”

“If you could change your plans—I mean, it’s your boss and Human Resources, you might want to think about it.”

That’s so never going to happen.
“You might want to think about what you want, not them,” she replied. Her eyes went to the clock, and her mind returned to the thought that Henry would be back in forty minutes for her.

Avery was standing too close. She felt it with every pore, and unexpectedly Henry’s presence moved through space like a vibration and she knew he’d come early, and already waited for her in the parking lot. Sitting up straight, Sarah grinned. The need to see him crackled through her and she got to her feet in one smooth move, bumping against Avery.

“Sarah.” His voice sounded gruff. “So you’re okay.”

“I’ve never been better,” she sighed, suddenly feeling magnanimous. “Or I will be once I get to the parking lot.” She smiled, not caring about the obvious innuendo in her words. What she did on her own time wasn’t Avery’s business. The Mass Power and Light parking lot suddenly seemed as romantic a destination as any beach she’d been to. Half of Sarah’s mind listened distractedly to the rain as she waited for Avery to move his hulking bulk so she could get downstairs and see Henry.

From behind Avery, a sharp female voice disturbed Sarah’s distant thoughts. “Excuse me? Am I interrupting?”

It took her a moment to place it.
Jackie Hamilton from Human Resources, the one who doesn’t eat and wants her kid to go Ivy League.
Sarah glanced up at Avery and realized he stood too close.

“Jackie,” Avery said, “we’ll meet you downstairs in ten, if that works for you?”

Sarah stooped to dig her handbag from beneath her desk, ignoring the woman’s perky droning and determined to resist whacking her bag against Avery’s stubborn head. She waited for the sound of Jackie’s sensible loafers shuffling down the hall before straightening to inform him again she wouldn’t be going to lunch with them.

Avery didn’t seem to be listening. He wrapped big arms around her, and smacked his mouth against hers so hard one of her teeth cut the inside of her mouth. Somehow Sarah had never realized before just how huge Avery was. She pounded a fist against his chest and he backed off immediately.

“What are you doing?” She wiped the back of her hand across her mouth and checked it for blood. “Are you nuts? I’d like to keep my job!”

“Sarah, I’m sorry. I guess I got carried away.”

“I guess so. Didn’t you hear what I said?”

Avery smiled, looking somewhat abashed. “About the parking lot?”

“Yes!” She poked a finger into his chest. “And I’m sure as heck not talking about going anywhere with Mercer or skinny bitch!”

“Oh,” he said. “Gotcha.”

“Good! I’m glad we’re
finally
on the same page. Took long enough!” Tucking her purse beneath her arm, Sarah marched away.

HENRY WAITED IN the Jeep right outside the guard shack. Sarah could see him waving as she exited the front doors of the office building. She ran through the blinding rain and puddles, water soaking her clothes and filling Aunt Lily’s shoes. She yanked the driver’s door open, crawled right onto Henry’s lap and kissed him, pulling his bottom lip into her mouth and biting. He chuckled against her mouth, wrapping an arm around her and slamming the Jeep door shut with the other.

Travels first class. Only reads non-fiction. Has never cheated on a woman before.

“There’s not enough room for both of us in this seat,” he complained between kisses.

Sarah grasped a lever near the floor and the seat crashed backward, almost laying Henry flat.

“Ooph!” he said against her busy lips. “You’re soaking wet.”

Sarah laughed.

Henry brushed the damp hair off her face and kept his hands there, kissing her properly. For several minutes Sarah focused on little besides not getting her leg stuck in the crack between the driver seat and the door, not getting her backside wedged too tightly against the steering wheel, and undoing the buttons on Henry’s shirt.