Page 43 of Curses & Cold Brew
A wicked smile stretched across Ramona’s lips, as if she knew the exact image I was conjuring in my mind.
“Sit,” she commanded.
If only she meant on her face, but instead, she gestured to a black leather bar stool.
As she navigated to the other side of the kitchen island, the distance cooled my burning cheeks. I really needed to pullmyself together, but this demon seemed to know exactly what she was doing to me.
She opened the cabinet below the sink, pulled out a stack of newspapers, and slapped two serrated knives on top.
“Oh great, you’re going to kill me,” I muttered. “Just when I thought we were getting along.”
Ramona let out an incredulous little huff as she bent down to the cabinet again and produced two basketball-sized pumpkins. “I need a few more to decorate the stoop. They look better in groups of three. Agnes has won the best Halloween porch for the last four years, and it’s about time the old bat has her streak broken.”
My nerves eased as I laughed. “Aspirations of brokering souls and winning the Maple Hollow best porch ribbons . . .”
“I’m a complicated demon.”
Ramona set up two workstations, then gave me a pencil to sketch out my carving before she turned toward the stove.
“Is this your way of keeping me distracted?” I asked.
“Yes,” she admitted, “but I needed something to keep me busy too. Wyatt messaged. He’s caught Esme’s scent on the outskirts of town, and Agnes has the vamps on the prowl. Esme warded half the town against me, so I have to rely on the locals who also have a vested interest in her capture.” I could tell she hated the fact that she had to depend on others and couldn’t just do it herself. “But until they turn Esme to dust, we might as well do some crafting.”
Ramona set a small saucepan on the stove and started whisking some milk. I watched with curiosity, my attention oscillating between my pumpkin and whatever brew she was concocting.
“At least this is a more honest way of luring me in than a kiss,” I murmured, more to myself than to her.
With her back still to me as she stirred some dark powder into the mixture, Ramona said, “I didn’t kiss you to keep you here.”
“Oh?”Goddess curse you, Iris! You suck at nonchalance!
“Well, I did, but that wasn’t the only reason,” she added hastily, sprinkling other things into her mixture.
My mouth went drier than desert sand. “Oh.”
“I kissed you because I wanted to,” she said. “Simple as that. I kissed you because every time your lips leave mine, all I can think about is when we’ll be joined again.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck, Iris, say something more than “Oh!”
But I had no idea what to say. For once, I was completely tongue-tied. I was supposed to be good at this! But Ramona made me completely unhinged.
So, I swiveled my pumpkin around, half smiling, half cringing. “What do you think?”
What the fuck are you talking about! Stop it!
The demon peeked over her shoulder with a wicked smile at my flustered expression. “Classic jack-o’-lantern,” she said. “I approve.”
“Cool.”
Cool? Cool?!
I’m supposed to be good at this! How many women do I have to date before I stop acting like a giddy eighth grader with her first crush?
Goddess, why couldn’t I just like men? They’re so simple.
“You know,” I added, trying to quell my rising nerves.Yes, good. Words. Say something more intelligent now, please.“For a witch who lives in a Halloween-themed town, I think I’ve only carved pumpkins once as a kid.”
“I know what you mean.” Ramona’s head bobbed. “Sometimes, it feels like apple picking and pumpkin-carving are just touristy things around here. Not for the locals.”
