Page 36 of Best Hex Ever
She found the jam jar easily enough, even without needing to use a searching charm. She’d avoid using magic here if she could; Dina believed in winning fair and square.
She wondered which items Scott had gone in search of; would he hunt down the still life with the dildo perhaps? Or the lover’s eye ring? Of course her mind went straight to the gutter when thinking about Scott. She needed to get a grip.
She hadn’t been thinking this morning, not at all. Not when she’d let him suck icing off her finger, and definitely not when she’d nearly pressed her lips to his.
At this point, it didn’t feel like a matter ofifshe was going to give in to her craving for Scott, butwhen.
The hunt for the blue butterfly was a little trickier. Lookingat a map of the sprawling estate grounds, Dina guessed that she might find it in the blue room. No luck. And guessing from the other guests she spotted in there, she wasn’t the only one after the butterfly. She needed to up her game.
If she was a man of the landed gentry in the 1800s, where would she put a prized butterfly specimen? Somewhere she could look at it. Somewhere like…a study. Dina walked as quickly as she could through the hallways, up the main staircase with its twisting oak banisters and gothic paintings, and into the Master’s Study. It was a dark room, a room made for smoking cigars and contemplating one’s life by firelight.
And there it was, in pride of place above the hearth. She nabbed the frame off the wall and set off for the library, because where else would the copy ofSense and Sensibilitybe?
The library was unexpectedly on the top floor of the house. Clearly, whoever had lived here once had wanted a view of the grounds as they sat in the window and whiled away an afternoon reading. It was the library of Dina’s dreams. Floor-to-ceiling mahogany bookshelves lined the walls, with a sliding ladder to help reach the highest shelves. A weathered carpet in the center of the room muffled her footsteps. Cozy-looking armchairs sat under tall reading lamps and there was a display case of yellowing maps of the shire.
She was just browsing the shelves, searching for Austen, when the door creaked open. Scott stood in the hallway, surprise lighting his face.
The two of them, alone again.
“What are you doing here?” he said, stalking into the room.
“Same as you, I expect.”
“Found it yet?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Not yet.”
“Well then.” He grinned and raced toward the nearest shelf. Oh, it wason.
Dina dashed to the shelf nearest to her, running her fingers along the spines. No Austen. The books weren’t even stored alphabetically, nor by color. It’s as if they’d been arranged by…genre. Scott had clearly got the same idea as her, as they rushed to the same part of the library where she’d noticed a romance novel before.
There it was—anon-descript green leather book with fine gold printing on the spine.Sense and Sensibility.Dina was aware that Scott was looming over her as they both reached out at the same time to grab the book. They tugged, but the book didn’t move.
Instead, they heard a whirring, followed by a thunk. The entire bookcase creaked open, revealing a hidden door.
“No fucking way,” Dina whispered. Immy and Eric had definitely known about this when they’d added it to the list. She looked up at Scott, who looked just as surprised as her. “We have to go in there.”
“After you.”
Dina stepped cautiously into the passageway, ducking out of the way of some of the more gnarly-looking cobwebs, aware that Scott was close behind her. She reached behind her and took his hand, tugging him onward. She couldn’t shake the electric jolt that coursed through her as their hands touched.
“What do you think is down here?” Dina said. The narrow passage twisted ahead of them, lit only by the lights from the library at their back.
“Hopefully something with a high ceiling,” Scott muttered behind her.
“You’re claustrophobic?”
“A little. But I’m fine with you,” he replied, a softness in his voice that struck her straight in the heart. This man was going to ruin her.
They walked on a little further, but with a final corner thepassage opened up into a small room. Though perhaps “cupboard” was the better word to describe its size. Cut into the wall was a sliver of window with a stained-glass design depicting two lovers in each other’s arms. Dina wondered if Immy had intended for her to find the room all along.
“It’s a lovers’ nook,” Scott said, wonder in his voice. “They were relatively common in the late 1700s, built for unchaperoned lovers to find a moment to themselves. I’ve never actually been in one though.”
“Well, it’s certainly not made for more than two people.” Dina laughed, swallowing her nerves. Here they were again, in startlingly close proximity. Maybe it was a sign from the universe, as her mother had suggested. Perhaps the time for denial was over.
She was acutely aware that Scott still held her hand and was absentmindedly drawing circles in her palm with his thumb.
“We’re just friends,” she whispered.
