A Reckless Witch - By Debora Geary Page 0,69
crisp, wintery air.
He grinned. “Walk you home?”
Home was less than three blocks away, and she was a big girl. Then she realized he had something on his mind. “Sure.”
He slipped his fingers companionably in hers, nice and warm, and they walked quietly for a while. “Do you think Sierra’s going to fall asleep in The Monster?”
“Yup. I’m pretty sure that was Nell’s intent.” They’d all left with Sierra and three giggly girls burrowed in the couch’s depths, armed with movies and a humungous bowl of popcorn. “She’ll probably sleep better with the company.”
“You think those girls sleep?” Devin snorted. “Besides, no one has nightmares while The Monster’s in the house. And we beefed up Mom’s spell, just to make sure.”
The couch had depths she wasn’t aware of. Lauren raised an eyebrow. “What spell?”
“Haven’t heard the story?” He grinned. “Jamie went through a stretch when his precog abilities were emerging where he had a lot of nightmares. Used to wake up screaming. One particularly memorable time, he thought a girl had been kissing him.” He paused a moment. “Huh. I wonder if that was Nat?”
Boys. “Sounds like the stuff of nightmares.”
“When you’re nine? Pretty much.” Devin sobered. “Some were really bad, so Mom told him The Monster ate nightmares, and he’d be safe if he slept there. It worked great. I found out ten years later that she’d spent three days bespelling the darned couch to keep his nightmares away.” He paused a minute, reaching into his pocket for his phone and pulling up a picture. “This is the three of us. Eighteen and cocky, headed off to college.”
In a pickup truck, with The Monster hanging off the back end. “How far did you drive with it like that?”
He shook his head. “Dunno. Couple thousand miles, I think. Jamie loves that couch. It’s moved all over the country with him.”
“And he gave it to Sierra.” There were still times when the quiet displays of love in Witch Central totally flattened her.
“Sure.” Devin shrugged. “She needed it.”
There it was—that same casual generosity. On the surface, Jamie and Devin were very different—well, once you got past their identical looks, anyhow. She’d never had any problem telling them apart. Their minds felt very different. But the same values beat in both their hearts, and for some reason, that kept surprising her.
As did the curling in her belly she felt any time Devin was around lately. Suddenly acutely conscious of their interlocked fingers, she tightened up her mental barriers. For a non-mind witch, he was very perceptive. And until she figured out what she wanted from him, she’d prefer to keep the fact that he tickled her belly and snuck into her dreams to herself.
They were almost at her house. She looked over at him, remembering the focused feel of his mind as they’d left Sierra’s apartment. “Was there something you wanted to talk about?”
“Hmm? Nope.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, dropping a casual kiss on her cheek. “I just like being with you. Have a good night.”
She walked into her small yard, pulling keys out of her bag, and turned to wave. He stood, leaning against the lamppost, effortlessly sexy. The curls in her belly multiplied. Damn. Definitely time to figure out what she wanted.
Chapter 16
Lauren glared at Jamie. “See? She just kicks you out!”
He feigned innocence. “What? It’s hardly my fault.”
Nat rubbed her belly. “I think everyone’s in agreement that all her difficult genes come from you, love.”
Jamie rolled his eyes. “Then they don’t know you very well.”
Lauren leaned back, amused. “I think it’s illegal to insult your wife when she’s this pregnant.” They’d been conducting another short magic lesson before breakfast, trying to teach Nat and Jamie’s unborn baby how to mind barrier. They were getting exactly nowhere. “She’s pretty determined to figure stuff out for herself already.”
Jamie groaned. “She’s just like Devin. We’re cursed.”
“Thanks a lot,” said Devin, walking into the room. “Just for that, I’m eating all the food Nell sent over.” He leaned over and casually rubbed Nat’s belly. “Except for yours, sweet girl. You need to come out soon and play with me.”
“If you can make that happen,” said Nat, grimacing as she shifted positions, “you’ll be my favorite brother-in-law forever.”
He grinned. “Much as I’d like to have that to hold over Matt’s head, I got nothing for you. Sorry. Well, except for French toast with some pink stuff on it.”
Nat’s eyes gleamed. “That’ll do.”
Lauren revised her opinion of Devin yet again. In two minutes, he’d