Page 35 of Best Hex Ever
“Looks like you’ve done most of the hard work already, but I’m happy to help with whatever’s left.” Scott pulled off his jumper, revealing his tattooed arms. Dina swallowed audibly.
“You want to help?” She tilted her head to look at him appraisingly.
“If you’ll let me.”
She didn’t need asking twice. She hurried around the kitchen, bossing Scott around for the next twenty minutes. He adored every second of it, seeing Dina in her element.
“No, here, like this,” she said, taking hold of his wrist and showing him the correct way to mix the icing so that he didn’t whip too much air into it. Her fingertips rested on his forearms and he wished she would trail them higher.
When Dina bent over to take the final tray of baked cinnamon buns out of the oven, he almost groaned aloud. Her top had ridden up, displaying two dimples at the base of her back. He wanted to lick them.
When she placed the tray down on the counter and glanced over at him, he was sure the hunger was written all over his face. At some point in the last hour—really, since he’d woken up and discovered Dina had made him breakfast—his brain had stopped working. All he wanted was Dina.
He watched her in silence as she drizzled the icing glaze overthe buns. The sugary, buttery scent wafted through the air, and Scott wondered if Dina would taste like that too. Like sweetness and spice.
“Do you want to try some icing?” she asked softly.
Scott moved closer to her, closer than he needed to be. Instead of taking a spoon, Dina ran her finger through the leftover icing in the bowl and held itup.
Scott took her finger in his mouth, licking firmly with his tongue. She tasted like sweet lemon and vanilla. All the while, Scott held Dina’s gaze, saw the same fire he felt stoked in her too.
Ever so slowly, she pulled her finger back from the warmth of his mouth.
“You taste good,” he said. He couldn’t wait another moment.
Scott ran his hand through Dina’s hair, coming to rest at the back of her neck, his other arm moving around her waist. Pulling her closer. They were chest to chest now; he could feel the heat of her breath on his mouth.
Scott bent down, inches away from her mouth. A question.
“We said just friends,” Dina whispered.
Just friends.And he’d gone and messed it up by trying to kiss her. Scott pulled away, his arms falling to his sides.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. Just friends,” he said, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice.
Dina didn’t step away and looked very much like she was fighting some kind of internal battle.Give in,he thought,let me kiss you.But she had said “just friends,” and Scott would respect Dina’s wishes. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be thinking about this for a long time.
Chapter 14
“Welcome to the first of today’s activities!” Eric cheered. The entire wedding party was standing in the Little Parlor, ironically named for its size. Three ivy-clad windows looked out over the main drive up to Honeywell House, bathing the room in autumn sunshine.
“This morning you’ll all be taking part in a scavenger hunt around the house.”
Dina couldn’t help but grin as she heard the words “scavenger hunt.” Immy grinned back at her, knowing just how intense Dina’s competitive streak was.
“Immy and I have written a list of strange items that we’ve spotted around the house. Now, there are more than thirty items on here, and you don’t need to find them all. Each person needs to bring only three items from this list to us in order to win a prize. Come and get your lists. You have an hour!” Eric clapped his hands, and started the timer.
Dina glanced over at Scott, who had carefully situated himself on the other side of the room to her. He looked equally gleeful at the prospect of the hunt; somehow it didn’t surprise her that he had a competitive streak too.
“Every woman for herself?” Rosemary chuckled beside her.
“I’ll see you at the finish,” Dina replied, as the two of them splitup.
Dina took a moment to go through the list before she made any rash decisions. It was everyone for themselves, though she noticed both her parents and Scott’s had gone off in pairs. Cheaters.
The list was a veritable cabinet of curiosities. Among the objects was a taxidermised squirrel, a small still-life painting of an eighteenth-century dildo surrounded by flowers, a lover’s eye ring, a preserved blue butterfly, a jar of apricot jam that had gone out of date in 1904, and an edition ofSense and Sensibilitythat apparently had a love letter scrawled on the inside cover.
Dina decided to look for the jam jar first—she knew her way around a kitchen pantry. Taking the servant’s staircase down, she strode through the open kitchens of Honeywell House until she found a small closet door labeled “Pantry.” The scent of dust and old preserves hit her nose. Whoever was cooking the meals for the wedding guests must have installed a more modern pantry on the premises because this one certainly didn’t see a lot of use.
