Page 68 of Outlaw Witch

“When the fuck are you listening to podcasts? Your phone barely makes calls,” Ember asks her, then adds with a lazy flick of his wrist, “Pretty sure you’re not supposed to point out when you suspect people of laundering money either. That’s how you wind up in the river. Although I’m not sure how you’ve avoided it for so long.”

“No money laundering,” I reply, slightly too loudly, drawing attention our way.

Great, now it seems like this is one of our fronts when it really isn’t. We have the clubs for that.

Hanna just shrugs like she doesn’t care and then takes a step into the busy cafe. “This is cool. Fine, we’ll do it.”

Z’s eyebrows shoot up at her words. I’m not sure either of us were considering a scenario where they rejected the job offer. But then again, what I’ve seen so far of Silver is that she’s self-sufficient and fiercely independent. I guess it makes sense that her friends are too.

“Louse is the guy that manages this place, but he’ll only dip in and out every once in a while. He manages this place and a couple of our stores, so he’s not around much. He’s said you can start work in a couple of days, if you’re interested.”

“And you’re trusting us not to set the place on fire?” Ember asks. “Interesting.”

“Sure.” I shoot them what I hope is a disarming smile. “Now, how about we test out the coffee here and I can ask you some of the serious questions I need answers to?”

I don’t miss the way the big guy’s shoulders stiffen. The other two are marginally better at schooling their reactions, but we’re all experts in other people’s body language and I can tell I’ve made them nervous.

“What’s Silver’s favorite color? Does she have a top three favorite movies because I want to do a movie night and I want her to think I’m psychic?”

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Zeph mutters, rubbing a hand over his jaw tiredly. He doesn’t get it though, Ineedto know. I have so many damn questions. My brain is bulging with them and I know she’d probably rather give me a riddle to solve instead of answering them straight out.

She’s so guarded, it just makes me want to peel back her layers even more. Although, Z would probably say that’s yet more psycho talk.

Clearly, he’s never been interested in a woman.

Luckily, Hanna dives right into conversation. She ignores the wary glances from the mountain man, and I have to fight a smile. They have an interesting dynamic. Kind of reminds me of how Silver is with Zeph, always pushing his buttons, whether she means to or not.

The way the statue-come-to-life stares at Hanna is not unfriendly, though. It’s intense, sure, like he wants to...

He catches me watching her and pulls her into his chest, pressing a kiss to her cheek, which causes her to melt into him.

Huh, I somehow missed that part of their dynamic until now. The part that involves snuggling and sweet kisses.

Maybe I need to pay more attention to how Z looks at Silver. It seems I might not be the only one intrigued by our little witch.

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