Page 13 of A Roar for Magic

Lane’s grin widened. “Sure thing, Alpha. By the way, Clover, has anyone ever told you how gorgeous you look when?—”

“Out.”

“I’m going, I’m going.” Lane paused at the door. “But seriously, if you ever want to grab that coffee...”

The bell chimed cheerfully as Lane dodged the small stress ball Rook grabbed off the counter and threw at his head. His nephew’s laughter echoed down the street, leaving behind a charged silence in the shop.

“Well!” Halle said, looking around. “I suddenly remember urgent inventory duties. In the back room. Far away from any alpha tiger tension. Coming, Poe?”

The crow familiar ruffled his feathers from his perch near the ceiling. “And miss the show? Not a chance.”

“Traitor,” Clover muttered, but Halle was already disappearing into the storage room, humming what sounded suspiciously like a romance movie theme song.

Alone with Clover, Rook suddenly found himself struggling to remember his carefully planned business excuse. Her scent filled his nose—lavender and lightning with an undertone of something uniquely her—making his tiger purr contentedly.

“So,” Clover broke the charged silence, moving to reorganize an already perfect display of meditation candles. “I assume you’re not actually here for more calming candles? Since your grandmother ordered enough this morning to sedate half the pride.”

“Actually, I wanted to discuss a business proposition.” His tiger perked up at how official that sounded. See? Totally professional. “The spa project?—”

“The one your nephew mentioned between terrible pickup lines?” A smile tugged at her lips. “Or do you have multiple spa projects in development?”

“Just the one for now. This is the first of what will be a chain.” Rook moved closer, drawn by the way her magic sparked in response to his presence. “We’re incorporating traditional healing methods with modern techniques. But some of ourformulas are... sensitive to magical interference. I want to create new ones.”

“Ah.” Clover turned to face him, those remarkable green eyes studying him thoughtfully. “And this has nothing to do with the corrupted scent I detected on your nephew earlier? The one that carried traces of sabotage magic? Who’s he been around lately?”

His tiger growled at the reminder of Hudson’s schemes. Maybe he needed to have some of his family under observation. Anyone who continuously used evil magic couldn’t be trusted. “I’m not sure. Is it noticeable?”

“Hard to miss.” She gestured to a shelf where several protection crystals had shifted from clear to cloudy. “My wards react to dark magic. Even residual traces.”

“That’s actually perfect.” His tiger preened at their mate’s magical prowess. “I was thinking we can discuss working together.”

“Were you?” Her eyebrow arched skeptically. “Because your aura suggests you had other motivations for charging in here like a possessive alpha.”

Heat crept up his neck. “I didn’t?—”

“You growled at your nephew. Twice.”

“He was being inappropriate.”

“He was flirting. Badly.” Amusement danced in her eyes. “Are you saying the big bad alpha tiger can’t handle a little competition?”

His tiger surged forward, wanting to show her exactly how they handled competition for their mate. Rook forced it back, but something must have shown in his eyes because Clover’s breath caught.

“The picnic,” he said abruptly before his tiger could do something stupid like mark her right there in the shop. “This weekend. I heard about it being a witch-shifter event. Would you consider attending with me?”

Surprise flickered across her face. “I was under the impression you hated community events.”

“I’m making an exception.”

“Why?”

Because my tiger will tear the shop apart if I don’t get to spend more time with you. Because you smell like home and magic and everything I never knew I needed. Because the thought of Lane or anyone else courting you makes me want to shift and roar my claim to all of Mystic Hollow.

“Professional networking,” he said instead. “I really want to work with you.”

“Over potato salad and shifter politics?” But her lips curved in that shy smile that made his tiger want to purr. “That’s an interesting strategy, Mr. Katz.”

“Rook,” he corrected automatically. “And is that a yes?”

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