Page 50 of A Taste of Christmas Magic

“Prove it,” she dared.

“You poisoning me, Jessica Maye?”

“No. But I know how to follow a recipe exactly including grinding a cinnamon stick with a marble pestle and other unusual requests.”

“So what?” he asked warily. “I eat a cookie and poof I’m in love with you, not Chloe?”

“You love Chloe?”

He waited for a moment, replaying the small moments over the past few weeks—the way her eyes sparkled when she shared something about her day. The way her face lit up when she saw him. Her willingness to help out. The way ideas sparked off her like a Fourth of July sparkler.

“Feels like,” he said, though why he was confessing to Jessica when he should be telling Chloe was all kinds of messed up.

“So if it’s real love and not the book, you shouldn’t hesitate to prove it.” Jessica seemed stuck on this theme. She even tucked one of her long, loose strawberry-blonde curls behind her ear, which she did when she meant business.

Funny I remember that.

She was still beautiful. But cool. More ice princess than a siren. Yes, she’d once devastated him, but he’d risen. Stronger. Absently, he rubbed his thumb along his phoenix tattoo. A cliché, yes, but a necessary reminder in the early years. But he was clear-eyed now about who he was and what he wanted.

“Did you follow the recipe in theSouthern Love Spellsbook exactly? Alone. No help?”

“Yes,” she said pushing the plate a little closer. “I mixed the dough yesterday at dawn because that’s when the first sprinkle of rain finally came.”

What?

The air between them felt electric. Jessica watched him intently as he picked up a cookie. Her dare felt life changing. Fine. And then he spotted Chloe walking towards him. She saw the cookie and stopped.

He held the cookie up as if toasting both women and took a bite. Chloe needed to trust him and his feelings. He chewed. Let the flavors coat his tongue front to back.

“Huh. Basic butter cookie, a hint of molasses, but more maple, a touch of cinnamon, nutmeg. Crystalized brown sugar for a crunch.”

The axis of the world hadn’t changed. He didn’t feel dizzy or breathless like last time when he’d panicked and fled Chloe. What an idiot he’d been running away. His place was beside her.

“Pretty good, Jess. I’d add some cardamon next time. Thanks. See ya’ around,” he nearly laughed as her expression morphed from worry to relief, to doubt and then something he couldn’t read. He finally felt free of the past.

“The book is safe to use.” He wiggled his fingers at her witchily and then laughed again. Turning around he felt determination flow through him like molten steel. Chloe stumbled over her feet, and then she hopped and ran towards him. He caught her in a fierce hug.

*

A hug hadnever felt so fantastic. Chloe clung to Rustin like he was a tree in a hurricane.

“I can’t believe she had the audacity to bake you cookies.”

“She was trying to prove a point.”

“What point?” Chloe demanded. Then she wiggled out of his arms, her eyes glittered with tears, and she dashed them away.

“She’s your sister. She loves you and wanted to protect you.”

“I had no idea she had such a superstitious streak.”

Rustin laughed. The night finally felt just right. “She was feeling like a mama bear.”

Rustin sounded like he was in a forgiving mood, but Chloe wasn’t. She’d doubted herself and when she’d seen him with Jessica and the cookies, all her insecurities had come roaring back, and she didn’t want to live that way.

“I’d rather talk about us. Were you hiding from me?”

“Um…no?” He looked so good. He rode that edge of frustration but was trying to dial it back, which made him even hotter. “Yes.No.I’m trying to think of what to say,” she admitted.

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