Page 66 of De-Witched

She said nothing and he forced himself to turn, to walk away. For the best. It was a mantra in his head, even as he tasted her on his lips. For the best.

“Gabe?”

His heart stopped along with his feet. He angled his head back.

She smiled at him, her bright, happy smile that did weird things to his chest. “If you weren’t Gabriel Goodnight, I’d never have kissed you.”

His mouth was dry. “Everyone always wants a Goodnight.”

She shook her head. “But if you weren’t Gabe, I wouldn’t want to kiss you again.”

Pleasure snaked through him. “You could do better,” he said, softer than the night air.

“I know.” Another beaming smile. “You’re welcome.”

She spun and opened her front door, disappearing through it before he’d processed her words.

And so, she missed the low laugh he couldn’t stop, didn’t see how he grinned foolishly up at the sky before turning on his heel and heading back home.

“Um, who was that?”

At the sound of Peggy’s voice, Leah froze in the act of peeking out the window. She hunched her shoulders and let the curtain fall back into place. “Nobody.”

“Uh-huh. Well, you sure were getting friendly with nobody on the porch.”

Leah sheepishly smiled as she looked at her roommate, who was chilling on the couch with Sylvie and Louie. Rosie and Delilah had already found their way to Leah, Rosie parking her butt on Leah’s foot and Delilah sniffing her pant leg in suspicion, as if knowing exactly what her mistress had been getting up to outside.

“Okay,” Leah allowed, bending to stroke Rosie’s soft head and Delilah’s wriggling body. “That was Gabriel. Goodnight.”

“So much for disliking him.” Amusement coated the words.

“I don’t. Dislike him.” Leah headed for the big stuffed armchair and plopped down, accepting Rosie’s weight as the sprocker sprawled against her legs. “He can be annoying, but—”

“—so can you?”

“For example.” Leah slumped, pressing jumpy fingers to her lap before giving in and tracing her lips. Her heart was still humming, practically a vibration at this point. “It probably wasn’t a good idea.” But she couldn’t regret it.

Peggy snorted. “Screw that and tell me about the kiss.”

“How did you even know we were there?”

“You must have pushed the doorbell when you leaned back against the door. I checked the camera and saw enough.”

Laughter bubbled up. “Sorry.”

“I’m just glad I checked first instead of just answering it.”

“Oh, God.” Leah covered her face with her hands as her shoulders shook. She breathed out, dropped her hands, still grinning. “Yeah, that would’ve been awkward.”

Sylvie stretched in Peggy’s lap, needling her nails into her thin sleep pants. Her roommate winced and shifted the cat. “C’mon, you haven’t had a decent date in ages. Spill. What made you take the plunge?”

She hadn’t, Leah thought, still processing that it had been Gabriel who’d made the first move, Gabriel who’d backed her into that door and bracketed her body, never lifting his hands to touch her. As if he teetered on an edge.

It went down as the hottest kiss of her life.

But all she said was, “Let’s just say they don’t give out names like ‘Goodnight’ for nothing.”

“Tongue?”

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