Page 21 of Offsides Attraction

Behind her, the door shut, and she whirled around, hoping it was Elspeth.

“What’s wrong?” Bash asked.

Penny slumped into her desk chair. She should yell at him for following her and intruding on her pity party, but she didn’t have the energy to care. “Just another rejection.” She sighed, fighting the urge to off-load the pain. Maggie would feel it and Elspeth would disregard it, saying something pithy like it’s for the best or it wasn’t meant to be, but Bash would be oblivious. He had the empathy of a goldfish, and it wasn’t his problem. And, if she was wrong about his ability to care, then his broad shoulders could carry the burden until she found a solution.

“Just another rejection.”

“You’re looking for a job?”

“What? No!” She shook her head. She didn’t know how to solve this dilemma, but she knew quitting and walking away from Get Lost wasn’t it. “I’ll never leave. I love it here. It’s my life. Just like football’s yours.”

“Football isn’t my life,” Bash said, pulling his eyes from her. His energy shifted as he looked around the room. He was always a muddled mess of multiple emotions. She recognized the ever-present underlying anxiety tinged with impatience, but other emotions were always layered on top. Why can’t he be easy to read like everyone else? If he was easy to read, she could get on with her day, but he made her question her gifts. She knew reading Bash clearly and accurately would make her a better witch. “What if you meet someone, and you know…”

“Fell in love?” She finished for him.

He shrugged, “Sure, or got married.” Penny blinked. Who gets married without being in love?

“Then he needs to stay in Cascade City.” Penny wouldn’t move. She could, but she wouldn’t. Moving away meant losing her powers. Elspeth always said the coven stayed strong because, as mature witches, they stayed together. “But it doesn’t matter, since I have no plans to marry.”

“Really? No desire for hearth and home, a few kids underfoot, and the love of your life to wake up to in the morning?” He leaned against the filing cabinet, smirking at her. His energy shifted again, this time more relaxed, almost as if he enjoyed teasing her.

“Nope. It’s fine for other people, but I’m happy with my life.” Other than worrying about the business and this desk, which Elspeth always leaves a mess.

“Except you’re worried about the bookstore.”

“Why do you say that?” She dropped the stray paper clips into the colorful finger bowl she’d bought at a market in Morocco. Penny couldn’t look at him. If Bash was as good at reading her as he was at reading the opponent’s defensive line, he’d see her deflection for the lie it was.

“This is the second rejection letter I know about, so I bet there’ve been more, and I bet author appearances help bring people in. You seem busy with lookers, not shoppers.” She knocked the pens against the desk before putting them in their holder, annoyed that she’d misread him again. He was observant. Too observant. And he apparently had a wider emotional bandwidth than a goldfish. Maybe a cat if Maggie’s one-eyed orange cat, George, was anything to go by. Penny stood and pushed in the desk chair, regretting her decision to off-load on him and wanting him out of her space. Now.

She knew he wouldn’t leave willingly, and she knew she couldn’t move him without using magic, which would land her in hot water with Elspeth. But, she could scare him off. A guy like him wouldn’t welcome someone in his personal space. She smiled as she moved toward him. “You keep missing the big spenders. Don’t worry about us,” Penny said, patting him on the chest instead of the head.

“But what if I do worry?” His gravelly voice distracted Penny as he captured her hand, holding it against his chest. His heart was slow and rhythmic beneath her palm. Unbothered while Penny’s heart raced. Touching him to frighten him off had been a terrible idea. Fold or double-down?

“Then you’re wasting energy,” she purred, sure that her tone would scare him.

“It’s my energy to waste as I choose.” Bash tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. Busted! She gulped as their eyes locked. He wouldn’t let this go—let her go—until he had answers. Sharing with him had been a terrible, horrible, no-good idea.

Penny didn’t need or want him to solve this for her. She’d only wanted him to listen as she muddled through her emotions and cleaned them out before she made a plan. Her plan. Her solution. But being a man, solving problems was hard-wired into him. She’d underestimated him. But she hadn’t lost yet. She had one more trick up her sleeve to get him out of her office.

“I can think of better ways to spend it.” Penny pressed her lips to his. She’d expected them to be cold and unyielding, but they were soft and warm. Comforting, yet not. He angled his head and Penny leaned closer to him. He spread his hand across her back and her free one snaked into his hair, tugging him closer.

Penny felt her game morph into reality, and she slowly pulled away. Reluctant to end her diversion, but knowing she had to. She’d never made the first move in her life, and she wondered if that’s what had made it so much more exciting. As if every nerve ending was awake. She tapped into Bash, wondering if he’d felt it too. Nothing. Not only had she kissed the egotistical man first, but now she couldn’t read him.

She placed her hand over his heart. Again, nothing, only his steady and slightly elevated beat. It should have made her feel good knowing she’d affected him as much as he’d affected her, but it scared her. Penny always sensed something when she wanted to. “That’s not good,” she murmured.

Bash dropped his hands and stepped back as if she’d dumped ice water on him. “Not the reaction I was expecting. I apologize.” He stepped around her so quickly, Penny swore she’d felt a breeze when he passed. Several shoppers moved out of his path as he stormed out of the store.

“And that’s very bad.”

Chapter 10

It had been three days since her kiss with Bash. Three exhausted days filled with reading and tapping into everyone she met to prove she hadn't lost her gift, including the stressed-out, hormone-fueled teenage boy pumping gas next to her at the station and Mrs. Khan, their next-door neighbor at Marketplace Main. She owned Woodstock Gifts and Papercraftng. The stationery and scrapbook store wasn’t as busy as it used to be, and based on Mrs. Khan’s thoughts, Penny knew her store was in trouble.

Sleep didn’t bring relief, either. She tossed and turned as her brain searched for stories of Buchanan women who’d lost their gifts. Or did he steal it? she worried, hugging her pillow to her chest. If Bash was a warlock, she’d know, right? And even if he was, why would he take her power? She wasn’t a threat. None of it made sense, but she was too afraid and stubborn to talk to anyone about it.

The full moon rose above the horizon as Nanna tossed another log on the fire. The heat felt good on Penny’s face. Next month would be colder and she’d need to wear her long underwear and bundle up in her full-length down coat. Standing exposed in the elements to recharge her energy in the glow of the full moon sapped her heat.

But for now, she was warm and relatively content. Penny loved this special day for its witchy recharge of moon bathing, and it was their version of a girls’ night out. “Who needs another marshmallow?” Nanna asked, holding out the bag.

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