“Fuck. You win.” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his checkbook and a pen. Scribbling fast, he wrote out another check and handed it to Alice. “There, it’s all there. Go cash it now. I’ll wait.”
Alice glanced at me for confirmation and I nodded again. She took the check, looked at the dollar figure, and smiled. “The bank isn’t open now, Troy. It will have to wait until Monday. I hope the money is there.”
“It is. I swear.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Is the spell off now? My stomach doesn’t hurt so much.”
Alice sighed. Pointing at the door again, she said, “Just leave.”
I followed him and, when he opened the door, I whispered, “If the money isn’t there on Monday, you won’t feel good for long.”
His eyes popped open, but he didn’t say a word.
I gotta say, I’d never seen a man move so fast in my life. And I felt damn pleased that for once my spell worked exactly how I’d wanted. Maybe I was learning something.
At the same time, apprehension gnawed at me. I rubbed my arms to calm the goose bumps. At first, I’d mostly considered the magic a game. Something to play at and have a bit of fun with. Something to help me get over Marc and find a new path in life. But now, between Maddie and Troy, I truly realized the magnitude of the gift. Miranda must have been one scary lady, and it seemed I was following in her footsteps.
I wasn’t sure I liked that idea.
“What do you think, Maddie? Hair up or down?” We were in my bedroom, and I was fussing with my hair, getting ready for my date with Kevin. Maddie sat on my bed, mostly staring off into space.
When she’d arrived, she’d almost seemed like herself. I’d just about convinced myself that she’d actually been ill, like a cold, and that it hadn’t been my magic after all. But now, I realized that was just wishful thinking.Her glazed eyes centered on me. “Either will do. What ever you want.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Hmm? Nothing. I’m just tired.”
Frowning, I twisted my hair and clipped it. Using my fingers, I scrunched my bangs and pulled a few wisps toward the side of my face. Stepping back, I took in my full appearance.
After reading up on Blue Man Group online, I got the idea it was a casual, fun performance that could get really messy, depending on where you were sitting. With that in mind, I was wearing black jeans and a dark green sweater.
I thought I looked pretty good. Plus, the workouts were actually making a difference. My thighs felt tighter, and the denim hugged my legs perfectly.
Possibly, my mother was right on target with her gift. Of course, no way was I admitting that to her. Another glance at Maddie and my heart sank. “Come on, tell me why you’re so out of it.”
“I already did. I’m tired. I was on the phone late with Spencer last night.”
“Oh! That’s great! How’d it go?”
Pulling her knees to her chest, she sighed. “I don’t know. Fine, I guess. We’re going out next weekend.”
“So why don’t you sound happy about it?”
“I’m miserable, Liz. But what’s worse, I can’t put my finger on why.”
“Not feeling any better at all?” Damn, I really wished I’d stopped Nate from eating Maddie’s cake. I blamed it on his green eyes. Tomorrow, I promised myself, I’d fix it.
“If anything, it’s worse. Before, I kind of liked how I wasn’t so fanatical about every last detail of my appearance. But now, I don’t care at all. And what’s worse, I can’t seem to make myself care. Nothing matters anymore.”
I sat down on the bed next to her. I didn’t know what to say. I did this. After seeing Troy, I had no doubts that Maddie’s misery was because of me. My higher self wanted to admit it to her. My lower self wanted to run and hide. Regardless, I knew enough to stay quiet. Telling her at this point was a very bad idea.
“How about I cancel my date with Kevin? I’ll whip us up some brownies or something and we can watch a movie. Have a girls’ night.” This shouldn’t wait until the next day. Seriously—I needed to make it better. If my sister hadn’t called me to come over earlier, I’d have already taken care of Maddie. But no way could I let Alice deal with Troy on her own.
Maddie shook her head. “My parents will be here soon, so I can’t. You may as well go out and have fun.” Her eyes gleamed, and just for a second she looked like her old self. “Besides, you look spectacular. Don’t waste it on me.”
“I can still cancel. You can come down when your parents leave.”
Another shake. “Not tonight. They’re staying over so I can drive them to the airport early in the morning. They’re going to Hawaii for some insurance convention for my dad.”
Well. Shoot. It would have to be tomorrow, then. “Let’s hook up in the afternoon. I can tell you about my date, and you can feast on something decadent. What do you want me to make? Anything your heart desires.”
She laughed, thank God. “Well, Brad Pitt, but if you can’t serve him up, how about that mocha brownie thing you made once? With the mousse center?”
“Ask and ye shall receive,” I replied.
“If I’m going to splurge, it may as well be on something luscious.” She tucked her hair behind one ear. “I’m gonna run upstairs and clean up a smidge before my parents show. I’ll see you tomorrow. What time?”
“Come on down after lunch, around one or two. And Maddie? Try not to worry too much. Everything will settle.” It needed to, because my glamorous friend was long gone, and the girl that remained wasn’t quite Maddie. More like a hollowed out carbon copy.
“I’ve never felt like this before. But yeah, you’re probably right. It will blow over.” She pointed at me. “But you—you have a great time tonight. Promise?”
After I closed the door behind Maddie, I made sure I had all the ingredients for the mocha brownies. I’d get up early and bake them first thing. Hopefully, that would be the end of that. I didn’t think I’d be casting any other spells for Maddie again.
Another once-over in the mirror proved I was as ready as I could possibly get. Marc flitted into my mind, and I tried to shove him away, but I couldn’t. It was as if he’d stepped solidly into my apartment with the goal to ruin my evening. Resolutely, I focused on Kevin, and slowly Marc—and the sour taste in my mouth—dissipated. When the phone rang, I gave myself a mental shake.
“Lizzie?”
“Hi, Grandma. What’s up?”
“Why did you ask if I’d spoken with Miranda? Where did that question come from?”
Great. Because I hadn’t heard the voice again, I sort of thought I’d imagined it. You know, the power of the moment and all that jazz. “Oh, I was just curious.”
“Spill it. Why were you curious?”
“Seriously, Grandma, no real reason. I’m still trying to get my mind wrapped around the whole idea, and I wanted to know if she . . . well, communicated with you in any way.”
Silence. Grandma Verda wasn’t stupid, so I doubted she believed me, but hopefully she wouldn’t push. Yeah, if it happened again, I’d probably tell her. But at that point I was keeping my mouth shut.
“Is that the truth, Lizzie?”
My buzzer went off. Perfect timing. “Hey, Grandma, my date’s here, so I gotta go. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Are you going out with Nate?”
“No. His name is Kevin, and if I don’t go now he’ll think I stood him up.”
“Go. Have fun. But you should think about Nate.”
“Trust me, Grandma, I have.” All the time. After hanging up, I went to put my coat on. As I left my apartment, I tried to reclaim my excitement.
I’d looked forward to this for most of the week, but now that it was here, I kinda wanted to stay home. Probably because I was worried about Maddie. Not to mention Alice and Jon.
All thoughts vacated my brain when I saw Kevin. Maddie was right. He was completely hot. Mouthwateringly, sinfully, wickedly hot. Suddenly, the evening ahead brightened.
I p
retended I didn’t hear the tiny voice in the back of my mind. The one that insisted I’d have a much brighter evening if it involved Nate. But settling down with one guy wasn’t what I wanted. I did that once already. No need to go that route again.
This was what I’d wished for, what I’d blamed Marc for taking away from me. Choices. Adventure. Freedom.
My date was with Kevin; therefore, I intended to have an amazing time with Kevin.
Simple as that.
Walking out of the Briar Street Theatre, Kevin took hold of my hand, his strong fingers closing around mine. “That show was awesome. Did you like it?”
“It was great. I loved the music. I can’t believe I’ve never gone to see it before. Thanks for taking me.” The warmth of his clasp felt solid and real. I liked it, more than I’d expected.“Feel like stopping and grabbing some dessert?”
I laughed. “You, the water-drinking, salad-eating, only-good-things-go-in-my-body, trainer of all trainers, want to buy me dessert?”
“Treats are good for you. You just don’t want to eat that stuff all the time.”
I stifled a yawn. “Actually, Kevin, I’ve had a really long day, and I have to work in the morning. I’m kind of tired. Do you mind if we call it?”
“Sure, let’s get you home so you can get some sleep.”
Wow, I loved that. He didn’t try to change my mind. He just agreed. Not able to hold it back any longer, I yawned as I slid into the seat of his car.
Bluesy jazz spilled from the radio. I leaned my head back against the cushion of his car and closed my eyes. Contentedness seeped into me as the sound of the engine and the hum of the road lulled me to sleep.
I don’t know how much time passed, but I woke to Kevin’s lips at my ear.
“Hey, sleepyhead, we’re home.”
Reaching up, I touched his cheek, felt the prickly roughness of his not-so-smooth shave, and murmured, “Okay.”
He walked me in and we stopped in the hallway, in front of my door. “I’d invite you in for some wine, but I really am beat.”
“That would be sweet, but I’m the water guy, remember?”
“Oh yeah, that’s right,” I teased.
“Hey, Elizabeth, I had an amazing time tonight. I’d love to take you out again. Maybe dancing. You’re so incredibly easy to be around, and I really enjoyed myself.” He smiled shyly. “I hope you did, too.”
“I had fun, Kevin.” This surprised me a little. But hey, part of what I wanted was to date different men, to regain what I never had when I was younger. Not such a hard choice. “I’d like to go out again. Dancing sounds great.”
“We’ll do it then.” He eased toward me, so my back was against the wall. When he kissed me, it was different than kissing Marc, which made sense. But more pointedly, it was different than kissing Nate. My belly warmed, but I didn’t have the tingles and the sparks shooting out all over the place. Not necessarily a bad thing. Just a different thing.
Kevin’s body pushed me tighter against the wall as he deepened the kiss. Not quite the instantaneous combustion I’d gotten used to with Nate, but my body slowly came alive under his touch. While it wasn’t mind-blowing, it was definitely nice, and more than I’d expected.
With a sigh, he stepped back. His dark chocolate eyes heated with desire, telling me what he really wanted. “I better go.” His husky voice rode over me smoothly. “You’re far too tempting, Elizabeth.”
“I’ll, um, see you in a few days. At the gym,” I murmured, the effects of the kiss, the strength of it, still surprising me.
“Let’s plan something for next weekend, if you want. We can talk about it during training.”
I nodded and pulled my keys out of my purse. Kevin watched me unlock the door before he turned away. As he did, I happened to glance down the hallway and my heart stopped. And then it floated upward, until it got stuck in my throat and I choked on it.
Nate stood at the door from the outside, police uniform on, so I assumed he’d been called into work. His gaze was on me, but he didn’t say anything, just stepped out of the way to let Kevin pass, and then continued down the hall toward me.
“Hi, Nate. Did you have to work tonight?” I asked, trying to keep my voice casual. Maybe he hadn’t seen the kiss. Not that I’d done anything wrong, but still. The thought he may have seen the lip-lock really bothered me.
“Yeah, they needed an extra body, and I didn’t have anything going on.” He stopped in front of me, his eyes definitely on my lips.
I bet they were red, swollen from the kiss.
I held my head high. I felt guilty. Maybe there wasn’t a reason, but I did. That was dumb, because Nate and I hadn’t even been on a proper date. We barely knew each other.
Yep. Rationalizing. Again.
“I didn’t know you were dating someone,” he finally said.
“I’m not. Well, I wasn’t. First date.” Brilliant, Elizabeth— just brilliant.
“Ah. Have fun?”
“Saw Blue Man Group, and yeah it was great. Have you seen it?”
His gaze kept darting to my mouth. I envisioned my lips as nearly bursting, giant red water balloons, marking me easily as a woman just kissed. I rolled my bottom lip into my mouth and scraped it with my teeth. It felt normal enough.
“A couple of years ago. It’s a fun show. Will you be around tomorrow?”
“Should be. I have plans with Maddie.” Then, I realized he probably didn’t know her. “Hey, have you met Maddie? She lives upstairs.”
“Nope. She’s a friend of yours, right?”
I nodded. “Why don’t you stop by? She’s coming down in the afternoon. It’d be good for her to meet the law enforcement around these parts,” I teased, hoping to ease the moment.
His gaze settled on my face. What felt like forever passed, but it was probably only a few seconds. “I’ll see you then. Sleep well, Elizabeth.”
Unlike the previous day, he didn’t lean over and give me a kiss as a good-bye. Just walked to his apartment and let himself in without a backward glance. Selfish of me, because I’d just been thoroughly kissed, but it bugged me.
Yeah, he’d definitely seen the kiss. Now I had to decide how I felt about that. In my bedroom, I slipped out of my clothes and pulled my nightgown on, and thought about it. I really liked Nate. A lot. I’d also had had a great time with Kevin. And, while I’d certainly been more intimate with Nate, I knew a little more about Kevin.
Of course, I had a sneaking suspicion that Kevin was younger than me. I wasn’t sure by how much, but I seriously doubted he was over thirty. Kind of cool, dating a younger man. Also a little nerve-wracking. What did he see in me?
“Why do you do that to yourself, Elizabeth?”
The voice hit me straight on. Jumping slightly, I turned my gaze toward the direction of the voice, but I didn’t see anyone. And yeah, it was the same voice from before. I took in one long, slow breath and tried to relax. “Miranda?”
A bodiless giggle echoed in the room. “Who else?”
Every hair stood up on end with the answer, and I shivered automatically. I hadn’t expected a response. Not really. “I don’t know. You were my first guess.”
I waited breathlessly to hear her again. Fear mingled with excitement. When a few minutes passed with nothing forthcoming, I slid beneath my sheets and closed my eyes. Ghostly Grandma or not, I needed to get some sleep. Besides, somehow I knew if I allowed myself to think too much about it, I’d let the fear seep in, and then I’d be up all night.
When I was a little girl, on nights I couldn’t sleep, my mother used to tell me to pretend I was floating on a cloud. That my cloud bed would whisk me anywhere I wanted to go, so it was best to sleep on the journey so I would be prepared when I arrived. Silly, but I still used this image to help me fall asleep. So, huddled in my bed, I willed my pulse to slow to a reasonable level and envisioned a white fluffy cloud. Curling up on the cloud, I breathed deeply. It took longer than normal, but I did relax. A few minutes later, I began to fall a
way.
I hovered, not quite descending off the precipice into deep sleep, and enjoyed the moment. My body seemed weightless; my mind was empty. I sighed, snuggled in, and then, something pushed at me, pulled at me. It was like I’d become a ball, bouncing from one hard edge to another.
Bam. Bam. Bam.
Wide awake, I snapped my eyes open. A blinding light pulsated throughout the room. Chills coated my skin. Sitting up, I exhaled and peered into the light. In the middle of it, the hazy shape of a figure stood, but I couldn’t quite make it out.
“Can you see me, Elizabeth?” I heard Miranda say. Squinting, I tried to focus past the haze, but couldn’t, it hurt my eyes too much. Blinking, they watered and the wetness decreased my vision even more. “Hello?”
Another second passed, and my room returned to its normal quiet darkness. No light. No form. No voice.
Cuckoo land . . . twilight zone . . . what ever I wanted to call it was gone. I sat up and stared at the room. I wrapped my arms around myself to chase the chill away.
“Miranda? Are you still here?”
While I didn’t hear a reply, my room filled with the scent of roses. Ah. I was pretty sure that meant she was still there.
Knowing sleep was now out of the question, at least for a little while, I grabbed my pillow and quilt and went to the living room.
“I don’t think I like this,” I whispered. Well, duh, who would? And, it wouldn’t do me any good to move out, because it wasn’t like it was my apartment that was haunted.
Nope, it was me.
Chapter Twelve
“Why are you so jumpy?” Maddie asked over a bite of her brownie. While she didn’t look as tired today, she still lacked her usual glow. Hopefully, this new magic would be as strong as the Troy magic, just in reverse.
“I’m not.” At her disbelieving look, I said, “Nate is supposed to join us. That’s all. I’m wondering what’s taking him so long.” Not the full truth, but close enough. Besides, I didn’t think mentioning Miranda would help me in the sanity department.“You’re not trying to fix me up with this cop, are you?”
A Taste of Magic Page 16