Page 28 of Elora and the Crow

She rolled her eyes and tried to salvage the situation. “I don’t think I said hot. I think I said you’re okay looking.”

“You still want to bang me, though,” Jonah said.

“Jonah, you can’t bring up the conversation you were eavesdropping on,” Elora said. “That’s rude.”

He just laughed and turned to Charissa. “Thank you for finding the spell to release me.”

“You’re welcome,” she said before glancing at Elora. “Don’t make me regret it.”

“Never,” he said solemnly.

Charissa returned to her potion as Elora said, “Did you see your brother?”

“He wasn’t home,” Jonah said.

“Oh,” Elora said. “I’m sorry. Why, um, are you here?”

“It’s almost your lunch break,” Jonah said. “I thought I’d take you to that deli you like down the street for lunch.”

Elora glanced at Charissa, who made a shooing motion with her hand. “Go on. And take an hour instead of your usual half an hour.”

“What? No, I can’t do that.”

“I’m your boss, and I say you can,” Charissa said with a raised eyebrow before turning to Jonah. “Consider it my ‘congratulations, you’re a human again’ gift.”

“Thank you, Charissa.” Jonah held his hand out to Elora. “Ready, little Elora?”

Fifteen minutes later, she sat on a stool at the long table in front of the Hearty Eats Deli window, her favourite soup before her and Jonah’s comfortably solid bulk on her left.

To her right was a thin man with long blond hair and an overbite. He was a warlock. She could tell by the shimmery orange aura that surrounded him. He whispered an incantation and pointed his finger at his soup. Orange light glowed from his fingertip, and the soup bubbled wildly.

He realized Elora was watching him and grinned sheepishly. “I like the soup extra hot.”

She smiled at him, and he picked up his phone, scanning the screen as he spooned the extra hot soup into his mouth.

She turned back to see Jonah dip his bread into his soup and eat a big bite, making a low sound of delight that shouldn’t have turned her on but did. How the hell did he make eating soup sexy? How?

“Was your brother happy to see you?” she asked.

“He wasn’t home,” Jonah said.

“Oh.” Elora stirred her soup.

“So, you want to bang me, huh?” Jonah said with a devilish grin.

“Nope,” she said immediately, spooning soup into her mouth. “You are never to bring that up again, Jonah. Do you hear me? Never.”

“Never?”

“Never.”

“What if we’re captured and forced to participate in a sadistic game show, and the only way for me to survive is by mentioning that you want to bang me? Am I allowed to bring it up then?”

“One, that would never happen. I’m a witch, and you’re… you, and we would never be captured for some dumb game show. And two, no, you are not allowed to bring it up, even then.”

“Harsh but fair,” he said before eating more soup.

They ate their soup in comfortable silence. Elora was too aware of how good Jonah smelled, of how ridiculously handsome he was now that he wore jeans that fit and a leather jacket that clung to his broad shoulders.

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