Page 96 of Bewicched

He looked at me again. “Part of why I changed my mind about you. I could see what you could do, but I could also sense your absolute sincerity and felt the insult when I questioned your integrity.”

“Yeah, you were a dick.” I looked down at the broken chain on my handbag. I had jewelry-making tools at the studio. I could fix this.

“Also, about Calliope. She was coming on to me.”

“What?” I shifted in my seat to study him again. “We came in together. I was holding your hand. What the hell?”

Grinning, he shook his head. “Why do you seem more outraged by this than her killing people?”

“I’m not! Don’t be ridiculous.” Was I? No, of course not. “It’s just”—I threw my hands up—“she’s plotting world domination and she stops to steal my boyfriend?” Who does that? Jeez, was she picking pockets on the way out too?

“Boyfriend, huh?”

“What?”

He had a smile that could light up a truck. “You called me your boyfriend. No take backs,” he warned.

I couldn’t help it. I laughed. “Are you sure she was coming on to you and not just trying to get info out of you?”

“Please. I know when people are coming on to me.” He gestured, from his gorgeous face down his incredible body. “Are you under the impression I don’t own a mirror?”

Snickering, I smacked his arm. “So what did she say?”

“I told you. All the right stuff, but they were lies. She kept touching my forearm, running a hand over my biceps. It could have come off as sympathetic, but we’d never met and there was intent behind the touch. The weird part was I didn’t smell lust on her. It was just that sour deception scent. If I had to guess, coming on to me was more about the conquest of taking what she saw as yours. Did you take something of hers?”

I shook my head, confused by the whole damn conversation. “No. I actually used to look out for her when she was little. She wasn’t as much of an asshole to me as the other cousins were and she often played alone, so if I was around, I’d go sit with her, keep her company.”

“When she ran her hand down my thigh,” he said, “I looked her dead in the eye and saidNo. She got flustered and wandered away.”

“And what did you do?” I asked.

“I ate another tartlet. Honestly, I ate most of them. Probably a full pie and a half of them. I would have eaten more, but one of the aunties gave me a dirty look. I figured some of them probably already had a bad opinion of werewolves. I didn’t want to be the animal tearing through the food table when everyone around me was grieving, so I stepped away. It was hard.”

“There’s more at home.”

“Knowing that was the only thing that allowed me to step away. Just to spread my gluttony around, I tried one of the brownies.”

“Ooh. Sorry.”

“It was a brownie. What the hell did someone do to the brownie to make it taste that bad? I mean, how? It’s a brownie.”

My heart clutched at his befuddlement; nay, his sense of betrayal by a brownie. Why this touched me, I have no idea.

“I mean, sure, it’s not going to be as good as one of yours. No one expects that. But it’s a damn brownie. Just a basic, straight from a box, brownie is better than whatever that was.”

“I know. We’ve all made that mistake exactly once. I don’t know how she does it—Aunt Sarah is my mom’s brother Joe’s wife.”

“I think I’m going to need a cheat sheet on all these people.”

“I don’t blame you. There are a lot of us. I’ll make you a Corey family tree. Anyway, my whole life, her brownies have been inedible, but she insists on bringing them. I’ve actually tried a bite a few times, trying to figure out what she puts in them. I can’t. It defies logic.”

“Mustard?” he guessed.

I thought about it. “Pickle juice?”

“Do you think her cookbook has pages stuck together and she’s starting the recipe for brownies but then skips a page and finishes with the recipe for a loaded hot dog?”

I laughed. Couldn’t stop laughing. Everything was hitting at once, yes, but also having someone to share this with, helping me talk trash about my family, was the best. My stomach hurt and I was gasping for breath. Declan reached over and patted my thigh. He got it.

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