Will raced to the front door and knocked more like a woodpecker than a human. Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang, he paused for a second and then repeated the knocking until Jill caught up with him and grabbed his hand. "Stop, before they start shooting. What the hell is wrong with you?"
Squirrel-red eyes met hers. "That's how I knock, can't help it."
The door flew open and one hundred and eighty pounds of raw sexiness filled the doorframe. Blond waves hanging to his shoulders, icy blue eyes went from Jill to lock on Will who bit his bottom lip making his already prominent overbite even more so.
"What the hell, Squirrel?” Luke glanced at Jill and nodded. "Hey."
"I'm the camera guy," Will said as if that explained anything. "Got any pancakes?"
Luke frowned but moved back allowing them in. "Yeah, there's some leftover ones on the counter, help yourself.” Before he finished the sentence, Will materialized in front of the plate and was pouring syrup over them.
"Sorry," Jill mumbled. "He's annoying."
The arctic wolf shrugged. "Yeah, I know. Had to protect him a couple times from someone beating the crap out of him. Is that what happened to his eye?"
"Huh?" She'd lost hearing while watching his sensuous lips move. "Oh, Will. No, he got hit by a truck. Picked him up at Zelda's."
"Again?"
“Yep.”
Just then, Jane appeared. From her messy hair and flushed skin, she'd either just jogged around the cabin ten times in nothing but a t-shirt and pajama shorts or climbed out of bed after a different kind of exercise. "Good morning."
Her lips curved as she looked to her husband. "Truck day?"
Luke went to her and wrapped his arm around her waist bringing her against his side. "Yes, Jill is interviewing and Will is the camera guy."
At hearing his name, Will looked up and, upon noticing Jane's attire, his mouth fell open and pancake fell out and plopped on the counter. "Uh..."
"The guys are here.” Luke kissed Jane's temple and walked to the front door.
"Hey, girl," Jane greeted her and walked into the kitchen. "Want some coffee?"
With Luke gone from sight, Jill was able to focus on the surroundings. Granite counters, light pecan cabinets, state of the art lighting and cooking area and, of course, the refrigerator was hidden behind wood that matched the cabinets.
"This place is amazing," she exclaimed and climbed onto a tall chair along one side of the kitchen counter. "You must love living here."
Jane poured two cups of coffee and grinned. "It is great, isn't it? I love it."
"What about your job in Nashville?"
"I telecommute most days. I go there on occasion, maybe four or five days a month, but the rest of the time, home sweet home."
"Hey, Cuz," either Mark or Clark called out. "Got any pancakes?"
Jane looked to Will who pulled the plate closer. "Not anymore. What about some muffins?"
Surprisingly, the twins were pros in front of the camera. Their personalities and astonishing good looks shined through perfectly as they explained to Luke what they'd done to make his truck a masterpiece. Interestingly, their enormous egos seemed forgotten as they talked trucks.
Jill was impressed by the workmanship and how well they seemed to ignore the camera while still keeping centered on the shots.
Luke, on the other hand acted...well she supposed he acted like himself, distant, broody and hunky. When he first walked in, his eyes widened as he took in the truck pretending like it was his first time seeing it. Jill grinned like an idiot when his lips twitched in amusement at the twins’ over-eager greetings.
They finished the last shot, walking around the truck with a short dialog between the twins and Luke. Then the shoot was completed.
Will scurried to the car, probably to find leftover fries or something. Jill hung back and waited for the twins and Luke to say their goodbyes.
"I'll edit it and get back to you guys in a couple days," Jill said, making her way to the car. “Probably three days or so.”
Clark caught up with her. "Hey, wanna go get a drink or something?"
Of course she wanted to go get "something". No red-blooded American woman could ever turn the six-foot-two muscular pretty boy away. However, she'd been there, done that and had gotten a broken heart for it.
"No thanks. I try not to drink until after five."
Clark's brown eyes twinkled with mirth. "We can hook up then."
"Can we go to Waffle House on the way to my house?" Will usually had the worst timing, but in this case, it was perfect. "I'm hungry."
Clark huffed. "I thought you preferred carrots and lettuce or some shit like that."
"My metabolism is too fast for that," Will replied, his eyes locked to Jill. "Ready?"
Jill avoided looking directly at Clark. He was too hunky to say no to without every inch of her body revolting. "I better scoot. Will is hungry and I did promise him food in exchange for filming."
"All right," Clark gritted out, glaring at Will who took a long sidestep to hide behind her.
Chapter Three
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The front door of her apartment seemed to bulge at each pound. Whoever was at her front door was either pissed off or in a hurry. Hopefully, not both.
"Who is it?" Jill called out on her way to the door.
Silence greeted her so she peered out the peephole.
She opened the door and moved aside to allow her ex-boyfriend in.
"Ivan? What are you doing here?"
Instead of a reply, he moved past her and scanned the room. "I hear you're hanging out with the twins."
"Yeah, so?"
His narrowed eyes zeroed in on where she held her bathrobe closed. "Are you naked?"
Jill let out a long breath. It was either that or cuss and scream, but she'd resolved not to do that next time she saw him. "If you must know, I'm wearing pajamas, which you don't have the privilege of seeing anymore."
Ivan's full name was Ivan Smirnoff, which, of course, explained his nickname Bloody Vodka. He hated it and usually bit any human who dared call him that. Ivan was a three hundred-year-old hunky vampire, who Jill made the mistake of sleeping with on and off since their break up.
Normally, dating between their kinds was strictly prohibited. That alone made any relationship even more exciting. Add to it how damn sexy Ivan was and it was all she could do now not to grab his hand and drag him to the bedroom.
Growing up, Jill and her friends had often dated vamps and wizards just to annoy their parents.
Although sensual, vampires were quite cold both emotionally and physically and they hated sunny days, which wolves loved.
Wizards had no problem with the sun, but they tended to be a bit flighty, constantly losing either their train of thought or even their dates.
Dark, muscular, with midnight black hair and even darker eyes, Ivan would make a great movie vampire. He was definitely sex on a stick.
He closed the distance between them and Jill reached up to place her palm against his broad chest. "Don't come any closer." She bit her bottom lip to keep from adding, "You're too hard to resist."
"I've missed you." His velvety deep voice dripped with innuendo.
"I only live half an hour away. It’s not like you couldn't drive over if you really wanted to see me," Jill snapped, taking a step back in case she accidentally fell against him.
One of the things about vamps that freaked her out was their eyes. They had mesmerizing gazes. His black gaze met hers and, for an instant, she froze in hopes he would not read her mind. He couldn't, but it never stopped her from holding her breath since, at times, he could influence her. Or maybe it was just her horniness that made her sleep with him each time after swearing she wouldn’t. "Stop trying to get in my head fang boy."
His sensuous lips curved showing just a bit of fang. "Go out with me?"
"Okay." Jill covered her mouth with both hands. Too late.
"I'll pick you up tomorrow at seven," Ivan said a
nd leaned forward, his mouth pressed over her hands. "Tomorrow, I'm kissing your lips."
The door closed and Jill frowned. "What the hell just happened?"
“Ugh,” she whimpered falling against the door.
Despite all the craziness of her current life, Jill had to maintain some sort of normalcy at her a job at the local television station. Reporting social events kept her busy. But admittedly, after the hundredth art show and pumpkin carving competition, the stories turned monotonous. Which was possibly one of the main reasons she’d agreed to work with the twins. It was fun, creative and, no doubt, surprises would surface along with challenges. That coupled with the hunkiness of the twins and Gareth made doing the new shoots more fun.
Today, her news story was to cover a Halloween witch costume and spell competition. The local Junior League threw it every year and, no matter how hard she tried to get out of it, her boss insisted she was the perfect reporter for the event.
The competition champion was always a real witch. The poor humans didn’t have a prayer to win against actual magic.
If anything, it was more of a way for witches to show up and compete against each other. Of all people, witches annoyed Jill the most. The zip in the air rattled her nerves and her wolf usually begged to be released to bite them. Good thing she was only half-wolf, which meant she had more control over the beast than the full bloods.
After dressing and a quick drive through to grab a ham biscuit and coffee, Jill arrived at the community center. The large double doors were propped open by fake cauldrons held down by bricks. Over the opening, a collection of craft store cinnamon-scented brooms hung haphazardly. Jill sneezed twenty times before finally getting past them.
One thing was for sure, with so much cinnamon in the air, you wouldn't find many wolves there. Their sense of smell would be affected for days after the cinnamon assault.
She stopped in her tracks at seeing Mark and Clark standing by a display. Two blonde witches hung on their arms batting their eyelashes and seeming to hang on every dumb word they spouted. Of course, both had their chests puffed out so far they looked like bulldogs.
The twins were incorrigible flirts and she often wondered how the witches they'd dated hadn't turned them into bug-eyed pugs.
Letting out a huff of annoyance, she turned in the opposite direction to find her cameraman. The loud sneezes led her to find Jason. The poor, red-nosed wolf waved at her then let out a loud sneeze, his entire body quaking so much he almost dropped the large camera.
"Hate this shit," Jason announced as she neared. "They do this damn cinnamon shit on purpose."
"I don't think so," Jill replied. "They had them on sale at the Piggly Wiggly. The decoration team is human. They have no idea how overwhelming the smell is.” She took several gasps of air in and sneezed.
"Are you all right?" A woman, who was obviously on the committee by her Super-Mart witch hat and Halloween vest, neared.
"We're both allergic to cinnamon and you have those scented brooms everywhere," Jill said between two sneezes.
They'd decorated the doorway into the display area with more brooms. Jill grabbed Jason and pulled him into the room, the woman on their heels.
"Oh goodness, we didn't think of that." She wrung her hands and handed Jason a wad of tissues she pulled from her vest pocket. "Here, sweetie. How about a cough drop?"
They meandered through the displays doing their best to avoid the witches and only interviewing actual humans. The poor, unsuspecting people tried their best to compete with dry ice and prompts as witches cheated with spells, which drew crowds.
By crowds, it was more like six people, but it was impressive to the judges nonetheless.
A witch glared at Jill. "I see you avoiding us.” The redhead wearing a tiny hat on a headband narrowed her eyes. "We want to be on the news, too."
Jason rolled his eyes and Jill smiled back in secret communication as they neared. Jill held the microphone close to her mouth. "How many years have you been coming to compete?"
The witch had been there at least ten or twelve years that Jill recalled.
"This is like my fifth or sixth, I lose count," the young-looking witch flipped her head and her hair flew around her shoulders, landing perfectly. She smiled brightly at the camera. "My sister and I have won multiple times."
"I could swear you’ve been here at least ten or twelve years. You are a competition veteran." Jill smiled at the camera ignoring the witch's clenched jaw.
A second one, presumable her sister, rushed over and grinned at the camera. "I'm Gilda and have always loved coming here. It's such a wonderful competition. I get to see witches from all over the county and a few surrounding states. My sister and I have been coming for fifteen years."
The first witch bumped poor Gilda so hard she stumbled backwards until plopping down on a chair. Bitch Witch then turned to the camera. "I forgot to say my name. I'm Brunei. My sister is mistaken. Of course we're too young to have competed fifteen years ago. But we did come with our mother when we were little girls."
The witch waited for another question, but Jill could not think of anything to ask. Finally, she neared their display. A cauldron was suspended in the air, a wooden spoon turned in it round and round. Every once in a while a wisp of smoke in different colors would rise from it. On the table was a beautiful, deep purple cloth with all kinds of twinkling gems.
"Can you tell us how exactly this cauldron is suspended?" Jill asked. "I believe you have to disclose everything you use to the judges."
Brunei’s eyes widened when a grinning Gilda moved to stand in front of the cauldron. "We can't tell you our secret."
Jason zoomed in on the cauldron and Brunei jumped in front of it to block the shot. "Thank you for stopping by."
They'd asked for an interview and now they were stopping it. Jill decided to circle around them and motioned Jason to follow suit and film from the other side.
"What are you doing?” Brunei demanded. "Go on and interview other people." Her forced smile came out more creepy than nice when accompanied by her narrowed eyes.
"What is interesting about this competition is how the same people seem to win all the time. I am questioning the validity of it.” Jill spoke to the camera ignoring a now huffing pair of witches.
The woman who'd greeted them earlier rushed over and smiled brightly. "We are operating with a different set of rules this year. Any team that does not divulge how they do their tricks is disqualified. So this team is not eligible."
"What?” Brunei stalked to the older woman who squawked in surprise. "We win every year in at least one category."
Finally, some excitement. Jill moved slightly closer and leaned in to the camera. "Seem like there will be conflict at today's Witchy Witch competition."
As they made their way through the community center, many a witch took second looks at Jason, who seemed oblivious to the attention he got. Jill had long given up on her crush on him. He was too much like Clark with a long string of relationships. Jason was an accomplished womanizer.
"Wanna grab some coffee? I need to clear out my sinuses and throat with some strong coffee bean juice.” Jason took her arm and guided her to a coffee shop down the block.
He stopped and sneezed three times. "Fuckin' cinnamon brooms."
Too stopped up to smell anything, all Jill could do was nod.
Chapter Four
Ivan beat the hell out of her door promptly at seven that night. Why the vamp couldn’t knock like normal people was a question she’d never quite figured the answer to.
She opened the door and she sighed.
He oozed sensuality, which was not anything new. But it annoyed Jill and she wanted to kick him to the curb permanently. “Hey. Ready to go?” The vamp didn’t bother to enter. He just leaned on the doorjamb waiting for her to come out.
Something about him seemed off. Jill cocked her head to the side and sniffed. “You okay?”
His lips curving followed a one-shouldered shrug of h
is broad shoulder. “I am now.”
The way his gaze followed her every move was admittedly flattering and one of the things that always made her think Ivan was the one. But after dating steadily for over three years, he never committed. It was the hardest thing to do when she’d finally gotten the nerve to break up with him. In the six months that followed, they’d hooked up every once in a while.
Almost like it was meant to be. She’d be thinking of him. Missing him. And he’d turn up.
It had been a while now since she’d seen him. Jill had done what she could to avoid going to places where she’d run into him. And when he’d texted, she’d not replied. Now, here she was going out with him. A big...no, make that a huge mistake.
Ivan took her elbow and guided her to his car. The silver Jaguar suited him perfectly. “In you go.” He opened the door and waited for her to settle before closing it. His gaze met hers for a moment and she saw a flicker of something before he turned to round the car.
What the hell was up? Her “Spidey” senses tingled up and down from the nape of her neck to her arms.
He settled into the seat and reached for her hand. “I meant it when I said I missed you.” Bringing her hand up to his lips, he kissed her knuckles. “Hungry?”
Sadness. That was it. She saw it when he’d looked to her just then. Was he ill? No, vampires didn’t get sick. Did they? Her mind raced until realizing he’d said something. “I’m sorry?”
“Feelin’ like Italian?” he asked, attention on the road. His gaze flicked to hers. “I know you love Lolita’s.”
She couldn’t help but smile at him. Ivan hated Italian restaurants, the overwhelming presence of garlic was annoying to him. But he was right. She loved it. He’d always indulged her in this. “Yum!”
Once seated and their wine glasses filled, she slid her fingers over his hand. “What have you been up to?”
“Same thing. Work, sleep, blood.” His lips twitched at the joke. “Mostly work, though.”
Ivan, partners with his brothers, owned and operated several casinos. It was the perfect occupation for night people. She’d met the vamp when she’d lived in Las Vegas for a spell working at a small television station as an intern. When she’d returned to West Virginia, he’d followed her a few months later.
Magic and Mayhem: Reality Shift (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Southern Shift Book 2) Page 2