by Tara Sheets
“At the time, that was my plan. I planted all this jasmine out here, coaxing it to grow and thrive. Then I was going to lure him to this pond for a romantic picnic. I thought if I could surround him with the scent of flowers that bind the heart, he would fall madly in love with me. Jasmine is magical like that. Wherever it shows up, love soon follows. That’s why we’re putting it in the ‘Go Away’ cupcake. Mixed with our other ingredients, it’s going to make Hunter fall head-over-heels in love with the tropics. It’ll bind his heart to the idea so he can’t imagine living anywhere else.” Juliette gave her a wicked smile. “It’s gonna be amazeballs.”
Emma frowned. “I don’t seem to remember it working out very well with Logan O’Connor.”
“That’s because I chickened out,” Juliette said with a laugh. “I just couldn’t get up the nerve to ask him. I waited after school every day for a week, trying to find a way to talk to him. But he had that girlfriend, which sort of put a damper on my plans. And anyway, his parents never would’ve approved of me.”
Emma gathered a sprig of jasmine and inhaled the rich, buttery sweetness. She tucked some behind her ear and stared up at the moon. “Weren’t his parents on the town welcoming committee, or something?”
“Yeah, but they weren’t very welcoming to our family. They used to cross to the other side of the street if we happened to be on the same sidewalk, remember?”
Emma remembered that part. It always hurt her feelings when people shunned them. She had always wanted to fit in, but that could never really happen. Not when she was a Holloway. There was always someone to remind her that she and her family were the resident weirdos. “It was his loss, Juliette. He probably didn’t deserve you, anyway.”
“I know.” She placed the jasmine into the basket and stood. “He wasn’t the guy for me.”
Juliette had only had a few boyfriends growing up, but nothing serious. She always said if the right person came along, Mother Nature would let her know. Emma often wondered how Juliette could be so sure. Emma once felt sure about Rodney, and look where that had gotten her. Nowhere good.
Sighing, she slapped leaves off her skirt and stood. Juliette drew a small vial of liquid from her bag and murmured something over it, dropping several jasmine petals into the jar. The wind kicked up and swirled around the women, whistling through the trees like an elusive lullaby.
“What are you making?” Emma whispered, not wanting to disrupt the light magic that ebbed and flowed around the small clearing.
Juliette placed leaves from the plant into the liquid and exhaled softly. “I’m just doing a trial run for the jasmine essence I’m going to make on the solstice. This is supposed to invoke yearning.”
“How will you know if it works?” Emma asked.
Juliette screwed the top on the glass vial and dropped it in the basket. “I haven’t decided yet. I was thinking I’d mix it in a tincture and sprinkle some on Bonbon, then bring Luna over to visit him.”
“If you can get Luna the Hellcat to yearn for Bonbon, then you will be the most powerful Holloway that ever lived.” Emma took the basket from Juliette. “We should get moving. Bethany’s B&B will be up by now, even if she isn’t. It will look really weird if we’re seen emerging from the woods in her backyard at this hour.”
They walked back to the jogging trail, Emma holding on to Juliette’s hand as much as possible. At the edge of the trail, they lowered their voices and rounded the corner to the B&B. The kitchen in the little house was lit from within, and Emma could just make out the cook starting breakfast.
Someone was coming toward them on the jogging trail, moving fast. Emma gripped the basket tighter as Juliette yanked her arm, pulling her toward the trees. The basket wobbled, spilling some of the fresh-cut jasmine onto the path. Emma stooped to gather them up.
“Leave it,” Juliette hissed from behind a tree.
But it was too late. Emma stood up fast and the shadowy figure slammed into her, grunting in surprise.
She fell backward, scattering the contents of the basket onto the ground. Strong arms reached out and grabbed her before she hit the ground. She jerked away in reflex, and the man tumbled forward, landing on top of her.
Chapter Twelve
Hunter heard a soft, feminine gasp. He tried to catch his fall, gripping the woman’s head in his hands at the last minute before they slammed to the ground.
Emma Holloway’s stunned face stared up at him. Her soft curves were pressed against the full length of his body. She smelled like blackberries and wildflowers. Damn.
Rising above her, he braced on his forearms to catch his breath. Five miles into his morning run, he had just reached the point where it became less exhilaration and more of a chore. Now he had to work at breathing, but it may have had something to do with lying on top of a beautiful, alluring woman.
Emma didn’t move, just stared up at him with her mouth open and a startled look on her face.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you.” Hunter pulled himself up, noting for the first time that she was surrounded by scattered white flowers. The petals were tangled in her hair, and with her silver eyes and lush mouth, she looked like a magical forest nymph. He scowled and ran a hand through his hair. What the hell? The lack of breakfast was getting to him.
She sipped air, as though unable to catch her breath.
He crouched beside her. “Emma, are you okay?”
“You just . . . knocked the wind out of me,” she whispered.
An empty glass vial lay on the ground between them. He brushed at his shirt, noting the faint scent of jasmine in the dampness left behind.
Reaching one arm behind her back, he raised her to a sitting position and waited for her to catch her breath while he tried to slow his own breathing.
She sat up farther, fumbling for her skirt and pulling it down over her thighs. Hunter caught a glimpse of graceful bare legs and soft skin. A stab of hot lust shot through him and he fought to get it under control. He noted the exact moment she realized he was holding her.
“I’m okay now.” She pulled away and slowly stood, her expression prickly. “What are you doing out here?”
“Running.”
She frowned.
“You know, on the running trail.” He indicated the path ahead of him.
“Well, you should watch where you’re going.” She ruffled her hair and slapped dirt off her skirt. Tiny white flowers floated to the ground around them. Clearly, she was disturbed. So was he, but in a much different way. What was it about her? She wasn’t anything like the women he usually saw back in Seattle. Those women were the tailored business types with sleek hair and hard edges, just like his ex. The type of woman who calculated every move; who always had an agenda. Emma Holloway, on the other hand, was wild and soft and deliciously carefree. He had no idea how to even begin dealing with her.
“I’m sorry,” he said again. “I wasn’t paying attention and I didn’t see you on the path until it was too late.”
“Well, you shouldn’t go out running in the dark. What were you thinking?”
If you must know, I was busy thinking of you licking whipped cream off your finger the other night at dinner. He never in a million years expected her to appear right in front of him on the trail at five o’clock in the morning. Come to think of it, “What are you doing out here?”
She bent to pick up the scattered sprigs, tossing them into her basket. “We were just going for a stroll. You know, fresh air and all that.” She wouldn’t look him in the eye, just kept gathering the flowers.
Hunter glanced around. “We?”
“Emma,” a breezy voice called. Her cousin, Juliette, stepped out of the forest. “Oh, hey, Hunter. Fancy meeting you out here.” Her voice was a little too cheerful and her smile a little too bright. What the heck was going on?
Juliette glanced at the ground and her smile faltered. She looked at Emma. Then him. The strangest expression stole across her face. She pointed at him in accusation. “You have jasmine in y
our hair.”
Hunter reached up and brushed petals off his head. He had the sudden urge to apologize, but he didn’t know why.
Juliette put her hands on her hips, the barest hint of a smile ghosting across her face. “And so do you, Emma. You’re both surrounded by it. And the vial spilled.” She pointed to the wet splash of liquid on Hunter’s T-shirt, then at Emma. “On both of you.”
Emma grabbed the last of the clippings and turned to go. “Sorry if we startled you. Have a nice run. Gotta go.”
She charged down the path in the opposite direction, jerking her head at Juliette to follow. Her cousin stayed for a moment, staring at him.
“What?” He brushed white flowers off his T-shirt. The damn petals stuck like Velcro.
Her mouth curved up at one corner as she turned to leave. “Nothing you need to worry about.”
He watched them go, still feeling the warm imprint of Emma’s soft curves against his heated skin. His body was on fire, and not because of the run. He was ramrod stiff and one hundred percent on high alert, for a woman covered in dirt with leaves and flowers tangled in her hair.
Emma disappeared around the bend and he waited for his heartbeat to return to normal. He waited a long time.
Chapter Thirteen
Emma stirred her double raspberry mocha, slouching in one of her shop’s bistro chairs. It wasn’t easy, the slouching. The chair was one of those hard, wrought-iron numbers that people usually reserved for outdoor seating. But she needed to give Juliette a visual. She was completely apathetic about Hunter Kane. He did nothing for her. Slouch.
“Juliette, I told you a dozen times, there’s nothing going on between me and him.”
Juliette uncrossed her arms to grab a quick bite of her cupcake, then crossed them again. She had just arrived as Emma’s shift ended and Molly took over. “I don’t buy it. Something’s definitely brewing between you two. Mother Nature doesn’t make mistakes. And two nights ago, you both got hit with my potion. It’s a double whammy.”
Emma sighed and gave up on slouching. Her back had its limits, after all. Instead she leaned forward and pinned Juliette with a hard stare. “Your potions don’t work on me. I’m a Holloway, remember?”
“I remember,” Juliette said in a singsong voice. “But you were with me when I made the spell. Both of us together, just like when we used to try stuff back in school. So, it’s wild magic. And this time Mother Nature got involved. The vial spilled all over you guys. On a full moon.”
Emma clenched her jaw and took a deep breath. She needed to remain calm. “That scene on the running trail last Friday had nothing to do with Mother Nature, and everything to do with you. If you hadn’t yanked my arm so hard, I wouldn’t have dropped the jasmine in the first place. Then it wouldn’t have been all over the ground, and he wouldn’t have slammed into me after I bent down to pick them up.”
“It doesn’t matter how it happened; what matters is that it did. You had jasmine stuck to your hair and clothes, and so did he. It surrounded you guys like a fairy circle, and jasmine binds the heart.” She wagged her finger in Emma’s direction. “You two are bound.”
“We are not—” Emma lowered her voice to make sure Molly didn’t overhear. “We are not bound. You’re being ridiculous.” A nervous twinge formed in the pit of her stomach, even as she said it. What if Juliette was right? What if Mother Nature and that full-moon jasmine spell were going to wreak havoc on her emotions and make her fall for him?
No. It was impossible. There was too much at stake, and Emma had already had her moment of idiocy years ago with Rodney. She knew better than to let herself be carried away by a gorgeous face and a mouthful of lies. Plus, she was a Holloway. She could resist one little messed-up garden spell. No big.
Juliette gave Emma a long-suffering smile, as though she were addressing a toddler. “Deny it all you want, but the wheel’s already in motion. Even if you don’t believe me now, just wait and see. And from that smoldering look he gave you on the trail, it’s totally obvious you’ve gotten under his skin. Like a thorn.” She nodded smugly, grabbed Emma’s mocha, and took a sip. “A love thorn.”
“A love thorn? Okay, do you hear yourself right now? That’s not even a thing.”
“Sure it is.”
Emma sat back and threw her hands in the air.
“It’s not a matter of falling for each other,” Juliette continued. “Because that’s a given. It’s a matter of when.”
She took her mocha back from Juliette. “What do you mean?”
“We have to beat the clock and get him off this island before you lose your heart and common sense. It’s imperative. Do you think you can hold off on getting all dopey-in-love-struck until the festival?”
Emma pursed her lips. “Please. When’s the last time you’ve seen me dopey-in-love-struck?”
Juliette opened her mouth.
“Don’t answer that.” The last thing Emma wanted to do was talk about Rodney Winters, especially after the shock of finding him on her doorstep the other day. Growing up in the Holloway house was never normal. When most teenagers were sneaking beers and dating and going to parties, Emma had been learning kitchen magic with her grandmother or tromping through the woods under a full moon with Juliette, who was always on a quest to find some plant or another.
It wasn’t that Emma was antisocial; she loved meeting people, and even had a small circle of friends from school. But nothing thrilling had ever happened to her until Rodney came along. It was almost as if Emma could sum up her entire life into two parts: Before Rodney and After Rodney.
Even now, after everything that had happened, she still remembered that giddy, all-consuming feeling of being hopelessly, deliriously in love. Her grandmother used to worry over her. “You’re getting too wrapped up in that boy, honey,” she’d say. “If you don’t slow down and listen to your intuition, you’re going to lose sight of who you are.”
But Emma didn’t listen. What did her grandmother know about guys, anyway? Her own husband had died young and she had never remarried. Emma believed she had found everything she ever wanted in the gorgeous golden boy, Rodney Winters. She jumped into their relationship with her whole heart, eyes wide shut, believing nothing could stop them from living happily ever after.
She shook her head. If only she had known where that handbasket was headed.
“High school was a long time ago, Juliette. I can assure you, I’m way smarter about men now. Besides, it’s not like I’m going to be dazzled beyond reason by Hunter Kane. He’s not even all that.” The lie tasted like burnt sugar on her tongue, but she forged ahead. “He’s just a guy.”
Juliette smiled wickedly. “You and I both know that’s not true. Just one look, and anyone can see Hunter Kane is most definitely not a guy. He’s a man.”
The wind chimes rang above the door and Mr. Man stepped inside. Today he wore a black T-shirt, black denim jeans, and black boots. All that black made his emerald eyes seem even brighter than usual. He hadn’t shaved, which gave him a sexy, dangerous vibe. Maybe he was going for the casual island look, or maybe he just didn’t care. Whatever the case, it worked.
Emma’s breath hitched and her face flushed. Someone up there in charge of creation got distracted and dumped too much sexy sauce into the Hunter Kane batter. No one should be allowed to look this good.
He gave them a small half smile. “Hi, ladies. Is this a bad time?”
“Not at all,” Juliette said. “I was just telling Emma that I need to go check on my garden. I have some flowers to distill.” She gave Emma a pointed look and slid out of the chair. “See you guys around.”
Hunter nodded, and took a seat. Emma immediately stood up. Too close. He was too close. He smelled like fresh soap and sunshine and something earthy and alluring. She needed a moment to think. “Um, I’m just going to hop in the back and get the files.”
The file box was stuffed to the brim with manila folders, which were organized in alphabetical order. Sort of. Emma plopped the box
on the tiny table and sat opposite Hunter. “Here we go.”
“Listen, I want to apologize again for last Friday on the trail. I didn’t see you until it was too late, and by then I couldn’t stop myself. Were you hurt? I’m sorry I slammed into you.”
Slammed into you. A delicious shiver skittered up her spine. The last thing she needed was a reminder of how he had felt on top of her, the heat of him pressed along the length of her body. Something in his expression told her he was thinking about it, too.
“Nope. No. It was no problem at all.” She cleared her throat and dug into the box. “So um, these are the vendors.”
Twenty minutes later, she had laid out all the files and walked him through the previous year’s festival map.
Hunter listened intently, gathering the lists of vendor names applicable to the current year. “Do you mind if I borrow these files? I’d like to get this information into a spreadsheet. It would be much easier for me to keep track of the data that way. Then in the future, changes could be more easily integrated.”
“Knock yourself out,” Emma said. If he wanted to go all computery on her, she wasn’t going to complain. And anyway, it would be good to have a file on her desktop. Something to keep her Pinterest boards company.
“I’ll bring the files back in a few days. Will you be here on Sunday?”
“All morning.”
He nodded. “Now, can you tell me how important this Spring Fling is on Saturday? Bethany said it’s quite a big deal here.”
“Did she?” Not surprised. She was probably hoping he’d Spring Fling her. The idea was annoying. Emma frowned, annoyed that she was annoyed. “Bethany runs it every year. It’s sort of her pet project. It’s a party for just the locals, established decades ago by farming families on the island, as a way to celebrate the end of the rainy season and the coming of summer. Over the years it’s sort of become an island superstition. If you’re a local merchant, you have to participate in order for the summer’s and next year’s business to be prosperous.”
He sat back and folded his arms. “It sounds pretty important, then.”