Bait N' Witch (Brimstone Inc. #3) - Abigail Owen Page 0,19

a sip. Immediately a lovely warmth spread through his muscles, relaxing the bunching muscles along his shoulders.

He stared at the pale liquid in one of the dainty cups his wife had insisted they have in the house. “You said this was chamomile and lavender?”

“Mm-hmm.” She said around her own sip. Then sent him a smile.

“No magic?”

“No.” She pulled a face that he would have described as disgusted. Except that made no sense.

“Well it works, whatever it is. I feel more relaxed already.”

That drew a chuckle from her. “My mother used to make this for me.”

“Have you always had trouble sleeping? Usually that’s a mark of a powerful mage, but—” He cut himself off as his own perceptions and prejudices became more real than he liked to admit.

“But someone like me?”

Damn. He’d offended her anyway.

“I didn’t mean—”

Rowan shook her head. “It’s okay. I get that…a lot.” She tossed him a wave and a casual smile that didn’t get anywhere near those silvery eyes. “I’d better say goodnight.”

“Night—” He called after her departing form.

He should probably go to bed himself. Maybe the tea would actually bring sleep. The dark certainly didn’t. It only brought thoughts and doubts and more worries.

“Smooth move,” he muttered at his teacup. Then downed the rest and went to check on the girls before returning to his bed.

Only, when his head hit the pillow, he felt a tiny bit less alone than he had before he’d joined Rowan in the kitchen, and sleep came quickly.

Chapter Seven

Rowan had no idea what she was expecting after the middle of the night moment with Grey. After all, it was just a cup of tea, and she was just his nanny. But somewhere between falling instantly asleep and getting the girls up and ready, she’d convinced herself that last night had to be nothing.

Only she’d been rattled. By his admission that he had problems, too. By the pain in his eyes when she’d brought up his wife. By the way he’d talked about his job as something good for the magical community. He believed that.

But she still shouldn’t trust him. This man had been ordered to hunt her down.

So beyond taking care of his children, her only concern needed to be getting in the way of his investigation and keeping her secrets. Beyond that, keeping her distance was for the best.

Luckily, most of the day she’d managed to stick to that, and Grey seemed to have come to the same conclusion.

That part stung more than she wanted it to. This morning, the girls had been halfway through the scrambled eggs and toast she’d made for breakfast, backpacks already sitting by the door ready to go, when he’d walked in.

Damn, the man could fill out a suit.

Why he insisted on wearing more formal clothing when he was working from home, she had no idea. But, overlaid in her mind, was the image of him rumpled and more casual, and sexy as hell, in his pajamas.

He almost felt out of place to her now in the suit. Like he was hiding the real him. A fanciful thought she mentally smacked down.

He’d completely ignored her beyond a coldly cordial nod of acknowledgment.

“Ready?” he’d asked the girls.

In the usual flurry of last-minute things to grab, he’d managed to get them out of the house. And Rowan had stood in the center of the kitchen frowning after their departing backs and the sudden, strange urge to go with him to drop the girls off. She had no right to want things like that.

No matter what, he was still just her boss.

And the witch hunter after you, she’d mentally berated herself. Several times throughout the day, if she was honest.

Between avoiding him and her own mental peppering of good common sense where he and the girls were concerned, she’d managed to keep her distance all the way through dinner. It helped that Grey had kept his conversation limited to the girls’ days. Back to normal for him, it appeared. After which, Rowan had headed down to her basement rooms, ignoring the small frown he’d sent her when she’d stood up. In her room, she had turned on the TV only to sit and stare at it without really absorbing the shows that flickered across the screen.

Just stay out of his way, and make sure he stays out of yours.

Rowan blew a breath through pursed lips. She’d been doing that a lot lately. As though the tension in her kept blowing her up like a balloon and the only