Page 3 of Plus-Size Mate

Yet, today, something was different. He didn't feel nearly so sick as he usually did in the apothecary.

“Not that it's any of your business,” the daughter said, sighing as she dropped her hands to her sides, “but someone had to stay behind to watch the shop.”

“Couldn't Layla have taken care of it?” Eddie asked. The she-wolf was here practically every day, delivering her herbs and spices from the garden she'd planted up at Ryker Manor.

“There should always be a witch here,” she said. Then, straightening up, she held out her hand. “I can take the message.”

Eddie hesitated. Jack had said to deliver the message to Wylla at the apothecary. He hadn't said anything about who he couldn't give it to. So why did this leave him feeling uneasy?

“Maybe I should just go and tell Jack she isn't here and bring it back when she is?”

The witch's brow furrowed. “What's the matter? Is it some top-secret message?”

Eddie gulped. In truth, he had no idea what was inside the letter. He was just the messenger.

“Look, I haven't got all day,” she said, sighing deeply as the bell above the door dinged to signal that a customer had entered the shop. “My mom left me in charge, and if this message has anything to do with business, I'll handle it until she gets back.”

Her confidence was palpable. Eddie didn't hesitate any longer.

Handing over the letter, he said, “Jack would appreciate a response as soon as possible.”

And with that, he turned to leave, though something continued to gnaw at him.

His keen ears heard the tearing of the envelope, and he knew that soon the witch's attention would be lost entirely.

Stopping dead in his tracks, he turned back to look at her.

“Was there something else I could help you with?” she asked, looking at him with a raised brow, her delicate fingers already pinching the letter inside the envelope.

Eddie cleared his throat, his heart hammering. Could he really ask what he was thinking?

“You…you witches do love potions, am I right?”

At that, the woman scowled.

“Some do. Here we don't.”

At that, Eddie was intrigued. He took a step back towards the counter.

“Why not?”

“Because many of us witches believe in free will,” she explained, shrugging her athletic, rounded shoulders. “Love potions take away that free will and bad things can come of it. Resentment, that sort of thing.”

Eddie shivered. He imagined being on the receiving end of that kind of thing would most definitely cause a few problems.

“What about if you were trying to make things go the other way?”

It was the witch who looked most curious now. Her eyes gleamed with interest as she leaned forward on the counter.

Eddie gulped. The way her breasts perched as she leaned in was almost too much to bear. It really had been too long.

“I'm not sure what you mean.”

“Um…well, asking for a friend,” Eddie said, feeling more and more a fool. “If someone were trying to get over someone, would a witch be able to help?”

He held his breath, not liking the expression on the witch's face the second the words came out of his mouth.

He never should have asked. He shouldn't have been so foolish.

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