Page 71 of Witch Please

“Really our sister?” Maya finished.

Titus nodded emphatically. “Don’t think I’ll ever get there with Jared, maybe not Susan either, but Lucy’s family.”

He went to bed feeling okay overall, though sleep eluded him after he settled in with Doris. His brain kept making plans on how he’d make amends with Danica, then it moved on to convincing Susan to let Lucy go. She’d probably get hysterical, and he wasn’t looking forward to a fight, but maybe she’d eventually understand that it was for the best. Was the woman capable of acting solely for Lucy’s benefit?

Guess we’ll find out.

By the time his alarm went off, he hadn’t gotten much sleep at all. He took a long shower and took care of the usual morning chores, like setting Doris’s timed food bowl and programming the coffeemaker for Maya, who got up later.Wonder what it’ll be like when Lucy’s here.Suddenly, it occurred to him that he’d done it again, made a major life decision without consulting Danica. If they were dating seriously, she’d want a discussion before he essentially became a guardian to his teenage stepsister. If he didn’t live with Maya, this whole situation could be majorly misconstrued.

Fuck. I have some explaining to do.Maybe Maya was right and he did self-sabotage because he couldn’t come up with any other rational explanation for how badly he was fucking this up.And it started so well too.

His nerves got worse as the day progressed. Titus was a mess when he took his lunch break and dithered for fifteen minutes over what flowers to buy. Finally, he grabbed a random bouquet and headed for the repair shop.I don’t need food. I just need to see her.

And then he did. Sitting in Java House with another man, one wearing a tailored suit, an expensive watch, and a fancy haircut. As he watched, the guy reached across the table and took Danica’s hand, stroking like he had every right. And shelethim.

Clutching the apology flowers, Titus wanted to die.

Chapter 21

Richard Leitch, pronounced “leech,” lived up to his name.

This jerk was everything Danica had feared, and he couldn’t keep his hands to himself. So far, he’d stroked her hands, her shoulder, and brushed her hair away from her face. He took the fact that she’d messaged him on Bindr to mean that she was DTF, right out of the gate, when she was only doing this to cool Gram’s wrath while she figured out how to let Titus down gently. Admittedly, Leitch was easy on the eyes, tall and fit with a symmetrical face, coiffed blond hair, andreallysoft hands.

To the point that his hands felt gross, smooth, and overly sleek, as if he’d magicked away his own fingerprints to prevent being caught doing crime. Her smile tightened as he touched her yet again, telling some endless anecdote about how awesome and successful he was. He ran a brokerage firm, calling himself a “financial wizard” with no tangible sense of irony. Richard seemed convinced that he had her eating out of his smooth palms, but Danica was searching for spies. Gram might have someone watching them, but if not, there would absolutely be magical surveillance.

Maybe I should visit Mom, ask her for advice.Clearly Danica’s mom had handled Gram when she’d married Dad, so any suggestions would be welcome. That felt like taking sides, though, and she’d triedsohard not to do that.

Wow, he’sstilltalking. Really doesn’t need any input at all.

Richard laughed at his own joke, inviting Danica to do the same with another stroke to the back of her hand.Just give this fifteen more minutes, then you can say you need to get back to work.But before that happened, a shadow fell across the table. Danica glanced up reflexively, and her heart dropped into her shoes. Maybe literally—she tilted her head to check for red splatter. Then her gaze slid back to Titus.

Yeah, still here.

This…is bad.

From his stricken, frozen look, he wasnotokay with her having a coffee date. She tried to tell herself that his reaction was over-the-top.We dated a few times, hooked up now and then. I never promised to be his girlfriend.Only she knew that was semantics, and she was in the wrong. But if Gram’s spies reported back, as she knew they would, she had to handle this the right way, or he’d get hurt. Possibly his business or maybe even—

Surely Gram wouldn’t harm him physically?

But honestly, after that last conversation, she wasn’t 100 percent sure. Gram gave no damns about mundanes, and Danica understood that to her bones. The stakes had never been higher.

She forced a cool smile, staying in her seat. “Titus. How have you been?”

That wasn’t how people greeted someone they cared about, and he appeared to absorb that, his attention roving between her and Richard. Who stood and offered a feeble handshake. “Richard Leitch. You must be one of Danica’s friends. Today you’ve caught us at an awkward time, our first date.” He shot her a look that he doubtless believed was charming and irresistible. “Hopefully not our last.”

“Hmm.” A noncommittal response as she assessed the flowers in Titus’s hand.

Are those for me?

Possibly, he might be seeing someone else too. If so, it would be hurtful but likely for the best. That way, he could write her off as a narrow escape and go be happy with someone else. She clenched a fist against her thigh under the table.Ugh, why am I so upset?

But Richard was studying the bouquet too, and he stepped back with a knowing look. “On the way to meet someone special? Don’t let us keep you.”

Titus waited. And sheknew, she knew what he was waiting for. His eyes didn’t hold a shred of deceit. He was waiting for her to admit that the flowers were for her—that he’d been headed for her shop when he saw them through the glass. There was no one else; that was her guilt prompting a momentary doubt when he wasn’t that type of man. For about thirty seconds, he waited andhoped—and Danica witnessed the precise moment when the brightness and expectation died. Not natural causes, more of a murder.

Pain flickered in his dark eyes, and then they shuttered. “I’ve…intruded,” he said at last. “Sorry. It won’t happen again.”

And then he wheeled, striding for the door like the building was on fire. If it was, they might dispatch him to deal with it. Outside, he pushed the flowers into the hands of a baffled middle-aged woman, and then he rushed away, out of Danica’s line of sight, leaving her with Richard Leitch, who was still here. Utterly unable to read the room. He genuinely seemed to have no idea how little Danica wanted to be with him, how much she wished she could chase Titus down and try to explain.

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