The plane crash may have been an accident, but Miles had died as a direct result of Libby trying to punish Thomas Lancaster, and Bryce and Darby could have been killed along with him.
“It’s complicated” was all Alex had said when Bryce had asked him about it at the airport. Bryce suspected Alex didn’t want to have to tell a former district attorney that toxicology reports would have to be tampered with if anything out of the ordinary showed up on Mile’s autopsy results.
Libby going to jail wasn’t an option if it inadvertently exposed her as a witch at some point. But justice would still be served, Alex had assured him.
Preferring to think about happier things, like the baby, Bryce focused on the group in front of him.
“How’s Reece doing?” Darby asked, sinking onto the arm of the couch next to Alex, but not before she slipped her hand into Bryce’s, keeping him close.
“He’s still conscious.” Finn grinned. “He popped out to say she’s doing great, right before you guys got here.”
“It’s still early,” Dante added.
Bree slipped her arm around Bryce’s waist, leaning into him. “I’m glad things worked out,” she murmured, her voice low enough that no one would overhear her with Dante and Finn already talking about what post-baby stunt they could pull on Reece.
Riley got in on the scheming moments later and Darby laughed right along with them.
How long until Bryce was the target of their plotting?
“What were we thinking?” he teased.
She laughed. “That we’re just as crazy as they are.”
“So when will I be standing in here waiting for my niece or nephew to be born?”
Bree didn’t say anything, and his gaze dropped to her stomach. She shook her head innocently, but he wasn’t buying it.
“It’s okay,” Finn said, his earlier amusement replaced by an emotion Bryce had never seen on the other Calder’s face.
Still laughing at whatever Dante had said last, Darby glanced at her younger brother. “What’s okay?”
At Finn’s nod, Bree beamed. “I’m pregnant.”
Hoots and more laughter followed the announcement, and Bryce pulled his sister into a bear hug that had her squirming.
“We found out a couple days after the crash, but…” Finn trailed off, not needing to explain their reasons for keeping the development to themselves.
“It’s a girl.” Reece skidded into the room, looking much paler than usual, but grinning. “We have a baby girl.”
Everyone was on their feet, asking when they could see Violet, how much the baby weighed, what they were naming her and why had she waited so long to go to the hospital.
After hugging the new dad, Darby slipped back to Bryce’s side.
He ran his fingers along her cheek. “You need sleep.”
“As soon as I see Violet and the baby. Promise,” she added, probably to stave off any arguments.
He stepped behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Does it make you a little sad?”
Knowing he was talking about losing their baby, she shook her head. “Not really. I wasn’t really ready to be a mom then.”
“And now?”
She turned in his arms, tipping her face up to meet his gaze. “First the talk about moving in, and now babies? You’re not interested in taking things slow at all, are you?”
“Hell no.” He covered her mouth with his, drowning in the taste of her. Always.
“Hey. This is where babies are born…” Riley snickered, “…not made.”
They both ignored her.
* * *
“It’s snowing. Again.” Shivering, Darby let the curtains fall back into place. “When you said we needed a real vacation, maybe you should have mentioned that detail.”
Rising from where they’d been lounging in blankets in front of the fire, he tugged her into his arms.
“I thought we both had our fill of sun, sand and surf for a while.”
That was an understatement. She’d been more than okay with a destination they could drive to. She just hadn’t expected it to be Canada.
And she hadn’t expected Ontario to have so much snow so early in December.
“How long are we staying?”
“Seeing as my new employers were generous enough to postpone my start date, we don’t need to be home for at least a week.”
“Bet you never imagined that you’d be working for my family.” She certainly wouldn’t have. Not in a million years.
“It’s only a trial consulting position.”
She nodded. So many of their clients often didn’t know what to do with the information her family dug up, so adding an in-house lawyer made sense. Darby wasn’t entirely convinced Bryce was ready to abandon thoughts of opening up his own practice, but for now this was what he wanted, and it left them a lot more time to spend together.
Shivering, she cuddled into him.
“You clearly need me to warm you up.”
“Is sex all you think about?” she teased.
He cocked his head as though he had to think about it. “Nope. I think about food too.” His mouth dropped to her shoulder, his favorite place to nibble. “And I think I’m hungry.”
Laughing, she tried to squirm free, happy that her arm had long since healed and she could use both palms to brace against his chest.
Bryce’s hand slid down to cup her ass, then lower, slipping beneath the T-shirt she’d borrowed that hung to almost her knees.
He stopped when his hand brushed the flimsy piece of pink and white around her thigh. “What’s this?”
She tugged the shirt up to show off the new garter she’d bought on impulse right before their trip. “I thought maybe you could try removing one without an audience.”
“God, I love the way you think.” Taking her hand, he tugged her toward the back of the cabin. “This way.”
She made it three feet before she recognized the mischievous glint in his eye. “Where are we going?”
“To the hot tub.”
Goosebumps broke out across her skin at the thought of even opening the door. “Maybe we should save that for later.” Much later. Like after a bottle of wine later, when she was good and warmed from the inside out.
Or after she’d coaxed him back to the blankets by the fire. Sex would definitely warm her up.
“Later we have plans.” He tugged the shirt over her head, tossing it to the floor well out of immediate reach.
“I’m not going out there naked.”
“You weren’t worried about anyone seeing you on the island when you lathered up.”
Darby scoffed. “This isn’t a deserted island.”
“It’s a deserted cabin in the woods. I don’t see the difference.”
“You wouldn’t. There could a hundred people out there and as long as I was naked you wouldn’t care.”
With a deadpan look, he said, “You’re going to have to explain the problem with that.”
They were almost to the door.
“Aperio.” His amulet glowed softly at the command, and the door swung open, bringing with it a chilly blast of December air.
She turned to run, but his arms were already around her, guiding her outside. By the time she’d reached the porch, she knew the hot tub was the only way she was getting warmed up. “You win.”
He shook his head, encircling her wrist. “Not so fast. You’re skipping one very crucial step.”
Eyes narrowed at the tone that promised she wasn’t going to like what came next, she followed his gaze to the massive pile of fluffy snow that Bryce had shoveled off the porch just after their arrival.
“Bryce,” she warned.
“What? You didn’t know that you’re supposed to jump in the snow before you get into the hot tub?”
“Not a chance—”
He scooped her up into his arms, grinning the entire time.
She scanned the area, looking for anything to slow him down as he crossed the porch, and came
up with exactly nothing. “I’m not kidding.”
“Has anyone ever told you how gorgeous you look when you know you’re in trouble?”
She pushed at his shoulders. “That’s the most twisted compliment—”
He dropped her.
The snow closed around her, rising well past her shoulders and her butt still hadn’t hit the ground. It took less than a second for her shock to fade, replaced by the piercing sensation of cold as every nerve flipped the switch from damn-it’s-cold to fucking-freezing.
“Son of a…” Shivering, she scrambled out of the snow, slipping as she tried to get back on her feet.
“Now, you’re ready for the hot tub.”
The cocky look on his face was pure Bryce Lancaster, the one she’d always enjoyed taking down a peg.
She glanced over his head. “Occido.”
Like a mini-avalanche, a huge chunk of snow broke away from the rest, sliding off the roof and landing directly on Bryce’s head.
“Now you’re ready too, Councilor.”
Despite that he looked like he had more in common with Frosty the Snowman than a former district attorney, he dove for her with a cutthroat intent she’d only glimpsed in the courtroom.
She held her hands up. “Truce.”
His eyes narrowed, and she could almost see him playing out the bargaining process in his head before he said a word. “What are the terms?”
“Me. Anytime. Anywhere. For the rest of our lives.” She hadn’t realized what she meant to say until the words were out, and then she had to try and pretend that they weren’t the most important ones she’d ever spoken.
It didn’t work.
He took a step toward her, the raw emotion on his face making her forget that she was standing in the snow, naked.
“Are you proposing to me, Darby Calder?”
She grinned. “Well, since you brought up moving in and babies, I figured I should at least cover this base. What do you say, Counselor. Do we have a deal?”
He shook his head. “I’m afraid that the rest of our lives just isn’t long enough.” He dragged her into his arms, his mouth whispering across hers. “But it’s a damn good place to start negotiating.”
THE END
Keep reading for a sneak peek at the next Spellbound book, Going Wild.
Author’s Note
Thanks so much for reading Must Be Magic. I hope you enjoyed it, and I would be so grateful if you’d consider posting a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Reviews really help new readers discover my books, and anything you can manage (long or short, I won’t judge *g*) is truly appreciated.
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Must Be Magic is the fourth book in my Spellbound series. The other books in the series are, Say You’re Mine, Don’t Let Go, Whatever It Takes and Going Wild.
Going Wild is the next book in the series that is also part of Erin Nicholas’s Sapphire Falls series and features Angel Lancaster and my first country boy hero. For your sneak peek at Going Wild, please turn the page.
Sydney
Going Wild
Love at first sight, or a past they don’t remember?
Artist Angel Lancaster is determined to get out on her own, and away from her overprotective family and their secrets—at least for a little while. Sapphire Falls is the last place anyone would expect her to go, and the perfect spot to map out her new life. If only she knew what that was supposed to look like. The one thing it doesn’t include? Men, like smokin’ hot country boy Cade Marshall.
Cade doesn’t really believe in love at first sight…until Angel walks into his life. From the first moment he lays eyes on her vibrant smile, pink-tipped hair, and mysterious green amulet, he’s sure they’ve met before. Angel doesn’t quite see it that way, but he’s not letting that minor detail stop him from uncovering the truth behind their too-hot-to-handle connection.
Angel might be hiding something, but so is Cade. It’s October in Sapphire Falls and he knows his hometown’s reputation, especially when it comes to falling in love.
Chapter One
“I do not need a cowboy.”
The sincere announcement earned Angel Lancaster a few curious looks from the few afternoon patrons of the Come Again and one severe frown from a burly looking gentleman in a lumberjack shirt nursing his beer at the far end of the bar.
“Country boy,” her friend clarified with a laugh. Scottie set a glass of wine in front of Angel. “And every woman needs a country boy, at least once in her life.”
The word country was the only part of that sentence that held any interest for Angel and was the sole reason she’d let Scottie talk her into visiting Sapphire Falls in the first place. The small Nebraskan town wasn’t the most ideal place to figure out her next move, but it was the last place her family—her father in particular—would expect her to go.
Not only did Sapphire Falls give her a chance to catch up with Scottie after not seeing each other for nearly three years, it also gave Angel the opportunity to spend some time with her grandmother. Closing in on eighty-five, her grandmother still insisted on living on her own in a slightly rundown cottage at the edge of the farming property she’d sold when Angel’s grandfather passed away years ago.
Angel picked up her glass. “What this woman needs is to stay far away from anything with a penis, and that includes any and all country boys.”
This time, the guy at the bar choked on his beer, his cough briefly drowning out the music Angel had been tapping her foot to since she sat down.
She held up her glass, assessing the crimson liquid. “I thought you were going to give me a real drink?”
Scottie laughed, wiping at something on the counter as if she did it all the time and wasn’t just filling in as a favor. “You love wine. And I’d rather not have to tuck you into bed with aspirin and a gallon of water before my shift is even over.”
“Borcher’s is not that strong.”
“That’s because you can barely remember what happened the last time you had some.”
The real problem was that she remembered too much. “I remember the hangover very clearly.” And the fallout that destroyed her father’s trust in her. And he was going to lose his mind when he heard she’d ditched her cultural responsibilities for a trip to the one place he’d made her promise never to go back to.
Angel took a long drink of her wine, reminding herself that she was an adult and perfectly capable of making good choices. Her phone chimed and a text from her brother popped up on the screen.
Where are you?
So her mother hadn’t told anyone. Yet.
She’d thought Angel’s trip to Sapphire Falls was a great idea, despite Angel’s initial reservations. Her mother wouldn’t be able to keep the destination of her impromptu trip to herself forever, though, especially when her father learned Angel had dropped off the grid.
She tucked the phone into her purse and took an even bigger drink.
“That bad?” Scottie tucked her long, red-gold hair back in a ponytail and paused long enough to pour another beer for a customer.
Angel shook her head. “Worse.”
“Worse than the time you threw up in Michael’s lap when he proposed?”
“It wasn’t a real proposal,” Angel pointed out, trying not to cringe at the memory.
“Or the time you found a ring in Steven’s sock drawer and bolted so fast you crashed into a police car.”
“I was trying not to hit a cat,” she pointed out.
Scottie cocked her head. “And how did that turn out?”
“The cat lived.” And she’d paid for all the stray’s vet bills before adopting the one-eyed cat that didn’t like anyone except her.
Scottie’s eyes widened. “Oh no. Lewis didn’t…did
he?”
“Propose? No.” She hadn’t let their relationship get that far. Her heart wasn’t in it, hadn’t really been in it with any of them.
She could have a good time and enjoy their company, but none of them compared to the fantasy guy she’d built up in her mind.
“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not crazy.”
Scottie opened her mouth to respond, cut off by the sound of a door slamming into the wall. They turned in enough time to catch the blur that darted past half a dozen people before hopping the bar and dropping out of sight.
The move sent two glasses and the carved pumpkin on the corner of the bar toppling off the counter where they smashed at Angel’s feet.
What the hell?
She leaned to the side and glimpsed the man crouched next to one of the beer fridges.
He stared up at Scottie, finger pressed to his lips. “You owe me.”
Scottie scoffed. “Oh no. You’re on your own, Cade.” She came out from behind the bar, pausing next to Angel. “I’ll be back in a minute.” She disappeared through a door marked Employee’s Only.
Curious about the exchange, Angel slid off her stool to collect the chunks of busted pumpkin. She couldn’t remember Scottie mentioning dating anyone named Cade, but the pair clearly had a history of some kind.
Conscious of being watched, she lifted her head to find Scottie’s friend staring at her.
She hadn’t burst into the bar or dove behind a counter, but she might as well have. His piercing gaze followed every move she made as if there wasn’t anything as interesting as her in the room.
She glanced away to focus on cleaning the mess only to sneak another look at him a few seconds later.
He didn’t seem to notice that he was staring at her, his lips curving in a slow smile. A curl of dark hair fell across his forehead, his eyes a deep forest green that studied her so intently a thousand molten butterflies spread their wings at once inside her.
She lifted her hand to her stomach, a flicker of something familiar…
The door banged open again, and he put his finger back to his lips, silently pleading with her not to give him away.
Who was this guy?
Must Be Magic (Spellbound Book 4) Page 24