Bait N' Witch (Brimstone Inc. #3) - Abigail Owen Page 0,47
you turned pink.”
If she hadn’t known he was angry, the way he was looking at her might be interpreted as…
She cleared her throat, cutting that thought off. “I figured at worst you might have to dig your house out from under a mountain of philodendron vines. Worth the trouble if it got them more motivated. Don’t you think?”
Did his lips twitch? “It’s…nice…to hear them laughing so much again. Thank you for that.”
Warmth slipped through her defenses and into her heart. She bit back an answering smile. At the end of the day, she shouldn’t be getting so attached.
He studied her for a long moment, and Rowan resisted the urge to shuffle her feet, holding his gaze. He’d been doing that more since Lachlyn’s words in the woods. Watching her.
“Your day off is tomorrow.”
The comment came so far out of left field, it took her a moment to catch up. “Err… Yes.”
“Do you have any plans?”
Where was he going with this? “I—”
“As it happens, work is a tad slow for me. With the girls at my parents’, that leaves me free as well. Would you like to join forces?”
He wanted to spend the day with her? The part of her that quickened every time he entered the room, like the world had been dull and gray without him directly in view, the same part that right now reveled in the spicy scent of his aftershave and the woodsy scent she associated with his magic, screamed Yes! The cautious side, however, the side that worried over the fact that she had the strangest urge to confess all and put herself in Grey’s capable hands, had her holding back.
Bad idea. Horrible. Delilah would kill her if the Syndicate didn’t.
“Um. Thanks for the offer, but I already have plans.” Damn. Did that sound as lame to him as it did to her?
“I see.” His smile faded, and suddenly before her stood the intimidating warlock she’d first met when she’d arrived to be the girls’ nanny.
“Maybe next weekend?” she tried.
But he didn’t unbend. “It’ll depend on my schedule.”
Right. Had she hurt Grey with her casual rejection? The problem was, she couldn’t put off her very real plans—not any longer—and she couldn’t invite him along.
“I’ll take the girls over to my parents’ around eight. What time do you plan to leave?”
“About the same time.” She pointed her feet toward the house, taking one reluctant step after another. “I’d better get inside now. Dinner’s probably done baking.”
“No more burned dinner fiascos?”
She glanced over her shoulder, surprised at the laughter lurking in his voice, given his stoic reaction to her rejection moments ago. “It’s easy when no one is messing with you.”
He laughed outright, a deep, rich sound that shot straight to her heart. “I guess that does make things go smoother.”
“You should do that more.” The words escaped her guarded lips.
He cocked his head. “Do what?”
“Laugh.”
His expression stilled, turning more serious, though warmth lingered in his dark eyes. “I have been…lately.”
Lately as in since she’d arrived?
Stop wishing for things you can’t have.
With a creak, Grey opened the screen door and held it for her.
“Thank you—”
As she glanced at him in passing, Rowan caught a glimpse of movement in the trees behind his right shoulder. Rather than draw Grey’s attention, she turned and kept going, but she knew exactly what she’d seen. A large male elk, the rack on his head massive, stared at her from the shadows. Above him, perched on the branches of the tall pine tree, had to be at least twenty chipmunks, squirrels, marmosets, and birds of varying types, also staring her way.
Rowan’s heart shriveled like a raisin in the sun.
Danger.
How could she have dismissed the hummingbird’s warning so easily, distracted by Grey and the girls? But the question was, what danger? The Syndicate closing in? Something else?
It was never a good sign when animals started to gather around her in large numbers. The first time it happened, her parents were killed in a car crash she mysteriously survived. Tanya had speculated that was no accident but a Syndicate-sanctioned execution. Not that they’d ever found proof. The most recent time had been right before Kaios had showed up, killed Tanya—no mean feat—and kidnapped Rowan, using her, getting her into this mess in the first damned place.
The danger they’d been warning her of must be getting closer.
How long before Grey, or the girls, noticed the unusual behavior of the animals in their woods? And was Rowan the only one in danger? Or was something coming