Page 21 of Extra Witchy

One impulsive, reckless romance, coming up.

“Remember the line Leanne served me at the party?”

Titus drummed his fingers on the table, evidently thinking hard. “Unless I’m mistaken, she asked you to be her third husband. Funny opener, I’ll grant you that.”

“Yeah, well, we’ve been hanging out a lot since then. Like, every day, and it turns out we make sense together. I’m moving in with her as soon as we can make it happen.”

That’s probably enough for now.Otherwise, Titus would absolutely tell Danica, andshemight share the news with all Leanne’s mutual friends. And Trev didn’t know how she wanted to disperse the message. Maybe it would be better to wife her up quickly and quietly then come back with a huge surprise announcement.

Mouth half-open in shock, Titus stared for several long moments. “Are you serious?”

“Absolutely. I know it’s fast, but—”

“Are you sure this isn’t just…?” His friend paused, likely looking for the least hurtful way to phrase his doubts. “A reaction to Sarah sending you her wedding invite?”

Ouch. Fair question, though.

“I won’t lie, that messed me up. But that’s separate from what’s going on with Leanne. I know it’s fast, but I wish you’d be happy for me.” Asking for unconditional support didn’t come easy, and he kept the smile fixed in place, waiting to hear what a dickhead move this was.

To his relief, Titus got up and gave him a huge hug, lifting him off his feet. “This ishuge. And yeah, it’s fast, like you said, but I’m happy for you.”

He grinned. “So that’s a ‘congrats,’ then?”

The other man drew back to arm’s length. “For sure. You make a cute couple. What kind of cake do you want for the housewarming get-together?”

After pretending to think for a minute, Trev shook his head with mock reproach. “Can’t believe you even asked me that, dude.”

“Vanilla raspberry cream cake?”

“Always.” Then he reconsidered, realizing he now had someone to consult for matters like this. “Wait. Let me make sure it’s good with Leanne. I’ll confirm later. And…yeah. That’s it, pretty much. Thanks.”

“For what?”

“Being on my side.”

Titus smiled and hugged him again. “Always.”

Chapter 8

Leanne wasn’t ready to debut her idea at the next coven meeting, which was why she’d invited Vanessa and Margie out for drinks after work.

Yeah, Junie was waiting at home, but that washerproblem. Leanne had spent countless nights alone growing up, waiting for Junie to remember that she’d promised to do something with her daughter. Without fail, her mother had chosen whatever man popped up as a distraction, so this didn’t bother her in the slightest.At least I’m with friends, not ditching her for a hookup.

“What’s up?” Margie asked, as Leanne ordered a bottle of wine.

She’d chosen Heart of Artichoke, an upscale vegetarian place, mostly because she didn’t want to run into Dan Rutherford or any of his cronies. Their group preferred to dine at steak houses and expense as many meals as possible, even on the slimmest pretext of calling it a business dinner. Sophie from accounting had given herallthe gossip a few months back.

Before she answered, she let the server pour, then she took a fortifying sip. Setting down her glass, she launched into the short version of her plan. To their credit, both Vanessa and Margie listened to every word she had to say without interjecting or passing judgment.

Vanessa reacted first. “Are you out of your damn mind?”

Leanne laughed. Vanessa could always be counted on for complete honesty. The dark-skinned witch regarded her with one brow raised and sampled her own wine, waiting to hear if she’d add anything.

Leanne shrugged. “It makes sense to me.”

“You’re the only one,” Vanessa muttered.

Margie said, “You’ve given up on love, then?”

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