Page 26 of Pints & Potions

Ryker spoke for the first time since dinner. “With the vanilla custard sauce?” He sounded hopeful, and Piper was looking forward to another culinary delight.

Bridget’s grin was mysterious with a hint of naughty, as was the wink she gave him.

“That’s it, GiGi. I’m leaving you for Bridget,” he declared.

His wife sashayed to where he sat at the table, dropped into his lap, and pulled his head to hers for a kiss that would set fire to a lesser man’s britches. When they pulled apart, the raging desire in Ryker’s eyes was enough to scorch all those present. “Bridget who?” he asked in a low, husky voice.

“I’ve never been able to keep a man withheraround,” Bridget said with a mock sigh.

Piper laughed as their hostess sailed from the room. “I adore her.”

“I think the feeling is mutual, child.”

She met GiGi’s kind, smiling eyes. “I wish all the O’Malleys felt the same.” When she realized what had slipped out, she clamped a hand over her mouth. “I… uh… that is…oh, hell!”

Their compassion made Piper itchy.

“Give him time, child. It’s my understanding he was ill used by a woman in the past. Men are a little thicker in the head than women are about these things.”

“Hey! Man right here,” Ryker protested.

“I know,” GiGi retorted with a sassy smile in his direction.

Piper laughed, as she was meant to.

“I suppose I should pop back to Leiper’s Fork and see what Spring might have by way of ingredients.” GiGi kissed her husband fully on the mouth. “Keep Piper out of trouble until I return, and save a piece of the apple cake for me. For later.” With a wink and a twinkling of lights, she was gone.

“That woman keeps me on my toes. She’s the moon to my stars.”

Ryker’s happiness made Piper envious. She wanted someone as devoted as he was to GiGi. At thirty-three, Piper felt maybe she’d missed the boat. Her Prince Charming was floating off into the sunset on someone else’s yacht.

“There is plenty to adore,” Piper agreed with a forced laugh.

“Want to talk about it?”

Mortification scorched her cheeks, and she felt exposed to a ginormous degree. “Am I that obvious?”

“No, Piper. I just know how charming Cian is and how susceptible women are to his brand of charm.”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” she said morosely. She plopped down across from him and rested her chin on her palms. “He’s freaking adorable and he knows it. How’s a woman to resist all that yumminess?”

Ryker chuckled, but otherwise remained silent. That silence seemed like encouragement to confide in him.

“I like him. Probably more than I should after such a short time. But I don’t want to fall to the Thorne curse of loving only one man, especially one determined to remain unattached.”

“You’re talking to a guy who waited over a decade for his wife to forgive him for past mistakes and take him back. I understand unrequited love.”

All the moisture in her mouth dried up. “I never said I loved him. That’s impossible after only a day.”

“I loved GiGi from the moment we met. No one else would do.”

“Oh, Ryker. I wish there were more men like you in the world. Romantic souls willing to wait a lifetime for the one they adore.” She toyed with the fork in front of her, debating whether she should ask about Cian or not. Giving into the urge, she met Ryker’s kind, patient eyes. “Obviously, you know each other well. Why is he closed off? What happened to make him that way?”

“In our line of work, we saw the worst of people. But Cian still had an open, optimistic view of the world—untilhe met Moira.”

Piper immediately hated the woman without ever knowing anything about her. Jealousy she had no right to feel twisted her guts. “What happened?” The question came out as barely a whisper, but Ryker heard.

“We believe she was sent by Zhu Lin of the Désorcelers Society. We surmised she was meant to turn Cian. Later, her motive was confirmed, but she refused to divulge her employer.”

---