Page 44 of The Accidental Witch

He giggled, light and sweet to her ears. “You’re funny. Robbie was funny, too.”

Greer, who’d remained silent, leaned into her. “I hate to do this, but we’d better get going. We have about a minute.”

Swallowing, she nodded. “Okay, Iron Man. I have to go…do rounds. You keep getting better and stronger. Be brave, Warrior,” she said, squeezing his hand, tamping down tears.

But he held on to her when she would have let go. “Heeey!” he cried out. “My friend Robbie used to say that, too! You sure you don’t know her?”

Shit. She’d forgotten about their sacred words. Instead, Robbie smiled and cocked her head and pretended. “Really? How cool.” Slipping her hand from his, she tucked it under his grandmother’s blanket, giving it one last squeeze. “Okay, little man. You get some rest so you can be big and strong when you wake up tomorrow.” On impulse, she leaned forward and dropped a kiss on his forehead. “Sweet dreams, buddy.”

As she turned to leave, Josh said, “If you see my friend Robbie, will you tell her I miss her bad?”

Oh, if an arrow had pierced her heart, it couldn’t have hurt more than those words. Biting the inside of her cheek, she nodded with a smile. “You bet,” she whispered, her voice ragged.

As carts outside the door began to stir and the nurses prepared to dole out medications and fill their patients’ charts with their stats, Robbie realized they had to go—and go now.

Letting Greer lead her out the door, she held it together as they passed the nurses beginning to mill about in the halls until they made it to the elevators, stepping inside.

Facing the wall, incapable of holding it in any longer, she began to sob. Without thinking, she reached for Greer, clinging to him, desperate for human contact.

He didn’t hesitate. Greer pulled her close, tucking her against him, letting her get his lab coat soaking wet with her hot tears. When the elevator dinged, he held her tighter, walking her out backward and quickly slipping out an exit door.

Greer whispered soothing words in her ear, rocking her as the cold began to seep into her bones, and she tucked her head against his broad shoulder.

As her sobs slowed, and her gasps for air became less raspy, Robbie wiped her cheeks, pulling back a bit to look at his face, now returned to its own gorgeous perfection.

Reaching up, she ran her knuckles over his cheek. “Thank you, Greer. Thank you for helping me see Josh. I can’t tell you how much it soothed my soul.”

“I didn’t do anything. That was all you,” he whispered with a gentle smile.

Robbie smiled back, her eyes welling up again. “But if you hadn’t taught me how to do it, I’d still be walking around with a possessed hand, setting people’s hair on fire. That’s allyou.”

Call it the intensity of the moment, chalk it up to her raw emotions, the fullness of her heart after seeing Josh, but Robbie stood on tiptoe and pressed her lips to his.

She didn’t only catch herself by surprise, but Greer, too, if the inhale they both took was any indication.

Greer groaned quietly against her mouth, capturing her lips, sliding his silky tongue between them until she, too, moaned. Stars exploded behind her eyes in vivid colors as her fingers tangled in his soft hair and every part of her body tingled.

He tasted of peppermint toothpaste, his lips commanding, his tongue making magic in her mouth. Robbie wrapped her arms tighter around his neck, molding her body against his, loving the feel of his muscles rippling against her frame.

Greer’s arms tightened around her as he splayed his hand over her back, molding her closer, stirring up feelings Robbie hadn’t felt in a long time, if ever.

“Ahem,” someone interrupted, abruptly making them put a bit of space between their bodies in guilt.

The vampire had arrived.

“I see you’ve been properly dickmatized, Glinda the Good Witch,” Nina crowed, putting her face between theirs. “Took you fucking long enough.”

Robbie’s hand went to her mouth, the pressure of Greer’s lips still present. “We were just?—”

“Checking each other’s tonsils,” Nina said with a wicked grin. “I’ll trust everything’s all good in there. Now, how the fuck did it go in the hospital? Did you see your boy Josh?”

Tightening her jacket around her, the spell she’d cast now gone and returning her to her former clothing, she grinned with pride. “I did. He’s as sweet as he was the last time I saw him. I feel so much lighter, even if he didn’t know it was me.”

Greer shook his head. “But Joshdidrecognize your voice, Robbie. I think somewhere deep inside, even if you looked different, somewhere deep inside, he knows it was you.”

Robbie’s heart clenched hard. “I hope that’s true, but even if he didn’t make the connection—because you have to admit, it sounds crazy—it was so good to see him looking better.”

Nina clucked her tongue, clapping them each on their shoulders. “Fucking brilliant. Now, let’s get the hell out of here and you can tell us all about it on the way home. I wanna hear every detail. Arch made a chocolate éclair cake in your honor and he’s got hot coffee brewing, and my little Tater Tot said a new episode ofLove is Blinddropped. Isn’t he the fucking cutest? I’m obsessed.”

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