Page 15 of My Blind Date is a Warlock

“They’ll be fine without us. If you’re concerned about missing it, you can always come back next year.”

“Yeah? And you wouldn’t mind me waltzing back into your town? Into your life? It seemed like you wanted me gone as soon as possible,” he joked, stopping mid-stride and pulling me back so that I crashed into his body. His arms snaked around my midriff and pulled me flush against his body so that my back was pressed against his chest. Dipping his head, his soft lips brushed against the shell of my ear, sending jolts of pleasure up and down my body. “Maybe you’ve finally decided to stop pretending that you don’t feel this tug between us?”

“First of all, you were never in my life. You’ve barely stepped in through the door,” I huffed, even as I relaxed into his hold and allowed him to rest his chin on top of my head.

“And second?” he prompted, his smile practically audible in the warm tone of his voice.

“Secondly, I didn’t drag you out here so that you could practice your subpar flirting tricks on me. I want to tell you something, and I didn’t want to do it in front of all those prying eyes.”

He went rigid and grabbed me by the shoulders, turning me so that we were facing each other. He must not have used any product in his hair because the longer strands were windswept, making my fingers itch to run through the thick tresses and smooth it down…or mess it up more.

“You’re not going to tell me that you’re married, are you? Because I was working up to asking you out on a second date.”

“We didn’t have a first date,” I pointed out.

“Fine, first date then. I’ll even take you somewhere obnoxiously expensive and fancy. I’ll woo you so hard, you’ll be seeing stars for the rest of your life. It’s only fair since you’ve been living rent-free in my mind from the moment I saw you sketching with such fierce concentration at your grandmother’s shop.”

“Jacob, I’m trying to tell you something important here. Can we be serious for just a sec?” I tried to be stern, but that proved to be impossible since I was pretty sure my heart had turned into a gooey pile of mush and my face was hot to the touch.

Voices rang out from the direction of the clearing. The coven had started to charge the ley lines and were chanting a prayer of thanks to the goddess. The collective power pulsed outward in waves. The charge in the air sent birds flying from their nesting branches.

“Can we go somewhere that’s not here?”

CHAPTER 14

Having a warlock in my house, my safe haven, was anathema to everything I believed in. Jacob had offered his hotel room or grabbing an early dinner while we talked, but I wanted to be surrounded by familiar things in a familiar place where I’ve never once been made to feel ashamed of who and what I am.

That is not to say I did not harbor second thoughts about bringing this man that I was only starting to know into my house. There was a barely perceptible tremble in my hand as I hesitated to unlock the front door to the cottage. Again, Jacob offered to take us somewhere else that was a neutral space or to talk outside, sitting on the porch swing swaying in the gentle breeze off to the side of the cottage.

“It’s okay, we can do it here…or maybe in the greenhouse.” What place was better to bear your most shameful non-secret secret than surrounded by flowers and herbs with calming and relaxation properties?

I’d sent a text to my sister explaining what happened and she’d replied, but I did not have the strength nor the desire to read about what happened after we left. Or worse, get an apology from my family for not using their magic to protect me.

“How do you feel about hibiscus tea?” I asked, opening the front door and motioning for him to go in before me.

“I haven’t given it much thought, really. I’m more of a caffeine fan myself. Irish coffee if I’m feeling frisky,” he joked, his attention focused more on taking in every corner of my tiny living room that spilled into the kitchen.

It is said that you can tell one’s personality just by observing their place of habitation or taking a peek into their fridge. I wondered what conclusions Jacob was coming to about me.

Taking off my shoes and placing them by the door, I tried to see the open-plan place through his eyes. It wasn’t messy per se, but it was cluttered. Mostly with flowers and tons of books stacked on every available surface. A vase of lilacs sat at the center of my bean-shaped coffee table, its dried petals littering the table and carpet. I’d need to switch them out for fresh flowers soon. On the island counter in the kitchen were bright yellow sunflower blooms I’d bought from the florist. Two potted ferns were placed on either side of the TV mantle and there were a bunch of paintings and photos decorating the walls. My couches were a mismatched set that I’d bought secondhand, and a chair had a pile of clean laundry I’d been meaning to fold up. The floors were a checkered pattern of mahogany brown and amber that contrasted with the cream white of the kitchen cabinets that brightened up the place when the morning sun came in through the kitchen windows. Strings of crystals dangled from the curtain rods. You couldn’t see it now, but when the sun was out, a splash of rainbow colors was reflected on the floors and kitchen cabinets and lacey lavender curtains that I always kept pulled back from the windows.

I’d gone for warm and earthy tones when choosing the décor, and I was quite proud of the way it all turned out, but with Jacob here, I suddenly felt self-conscious.

“I wouldn't mind trying it, though. I’m always up for new experiences and adventures,” he spoke up suddenly, looking away from a photo of Piper and me taken at her wedding. “The hibiscus tea,” Jacob explained at the look of confusion on my face. I’d forgotten that I’d offered it to him.

“Oh, right. I’ll make some sandwiches to go with that. Are there any allergies I need to be made aware of?” Walking into the kitchen, I opened the door that would lead out to my workshop and greenhouse. There was an antique brass key hook shaped like the Tree of Life by the door where I kept the keys to each of my buildings.

“Not that I know of.” Jacob automatically reached out for the set of keys when I handed them over. “What’s this?”

“This—” I fingered one of the keys. “—is the key to the greenhouse. I have a dining table there for when I’m entertaining guests. Wait for me there while I make us something to eat.” He was already halfway down the path when I remembered to warn him, “Oh, and watch out for Chairman Meow. He doesn’t do well with strangers.”

“Chairman what now?” he called back. Instead of answering, I laughed quietly to myself. If Chairman Meow was lounging in the greenhouse as I suspected, Jacob would not be forgetting his name anytime soon.

CHAPTER 15

There was an imposter in my greenhouse. Someone had stolen my cat and replaced it with this…this… Whatever that blob of fur purring contentedly in Jacob’s arms was. It was so not my surly Chairman Meow. That little brat barely tolerated my presence on a good day. How the heck did Jacob soften him up in less than ten minutes? I’d expected to find him swearing up a storm, possibly with his clothes torn to strips and Chairman Meow a hissing and snarling mess. Instead, the traitorous feline was purring like a brand-new luxury convertible in the crook of Jacob’s arms as the latter got a close look at my crop of herbs.

“Is this nightshade?” he asked about the tray of poisonous herbs I was growing behind a glass case so that my cat or my nieces who liked to come in here without my supervision wouldn’t accidentally touch them.

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