Page 9 of Wizard

They talked about our plans while I continued to set one of my computers into a special hard case. After Ash had stripped out of his tux and pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, he turned to me with a scathing expression. “You and I need to have a talk, brother. Because if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were trying to get your ass handed to you.”

“He’s just trying not to think about the woman who won’t give him the time of day,” Echo answered.

I snapped the case closed as I grunted, “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.” I added it to the equipment on the trolley that we used to bring it all up from our van. I glared at him as I pushed the cart to the door.

Echo smirked. “Violet and I have no secrets. You think she doesn’t know what’s going on with you and Thea?”

“We’re not talking about this,” I barked before slamming open the door and pushing the cart through it.

“Touchy,” I heard Ash joke.

I growled in frustration but didn’t engage, choosing to get the hell outta there instead.

Everything was finally done and wrapped up a few days later. Knowing that Thea liked to write at a specific coffee house some afternoons, I checked the parking lot. When I spied her car, I hopped on my bike and headed over there.

The bell dinged as I walked inside, and my gaze immediately went to Thea’s preferred booth. She was focused intensely on her computer, her fingers tip-tapping the keyboard.

As I approached, her head popped up, almost like she sensed me, and when a slow smile spread across my face, pink bloomed on her cheeks.

“Hey, baby,” I greeted as I scooted onto the bench seat right next to her.

“Hi,” she replied softly, her full pink lips curling up sweetly. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you,” I replied, going for full honesty this time. Now that she could have my full attention, and she’d had some time to get to know me, I was done playing around.

“Oh?” Her expression was simply curious, but the darkening of her blush and the way her eyes brightened gave away her pleasure at my confession.

“Sorry it’s been a few days since we saw each other. Had club business to handle, and it was taking most of my time. It’s taken care of now, and you have one hundred percent of my focus.”

“Has it been a few days? I hadn’t noticed,” she said with an innocent blink.

I leaned in close until my lips would brush against her ear as I whispered, “Liar.” Then I kissed the shell before adding, “You know you missed me as much as I missed you, baby.”

Her breath hitched for a moment, making me smile. I inhaled deeply as I dragged my nose along her jaw. “You smell so fucking good,” I groaned.

“Y-you missed me?” she gasped lightly.

I raised my head and captured her jaw, turning her head so our eyes met. “I’ve dreamed of you each and every damn night. My thoughts of you were the only bright spot, the one thing that kept me going during the darkest hours of my job.”

Her mouth opened and closed a few times, indicating she was at a loss for words. Then she sputtered, “Did you…did you just quoteThe Spy’s Return?”

I chuckled and winked. “More or less.” I’d altered the last word, but the rest had been taken directly from her book.

“How…?” Shock washed over her face, and she asked softly, “You’ve read my book?”

Releasing her chin, I grinned as I sat back against the booth and slipped my arm around her waist, tucking her close into my side.

“Books,” I corrected, emphasizing the S.

Thea double-blinked before her eyes grew wide. “How many?”

I lifted my free hand and counted to five under my breath, lifting a finger with each number.

“Five?” Her tone was astounded.

“Shhh. Still counting.” I hushed her, then continued to count until I finally announced, “Eighteen.”

Thea was quiet for a moment, her eyes wide as she stared up at me. “You’ve read them all?”

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