Page 26 of Clearly Charmed

He was too damn charming. And the way he said my name so softly, like it was something precious, was almost indecent. He took another step forward, and I swore for no more than a flicker I saw that orange glow.

I shook away the image. No more. I was done getting caught up in the ‘true love’ fantasy. The belief that there was one person on the planet who was truly meant for me. It was the one thing Belladonna and I agreed on – love was nothing but a rush of chemicals in our brain. An entertainment industry ploy to convince us that everyone got a happily-ever-after. It’s what made people buy books. Watch endless romantic movies.

‘Who told you about this trail?’

‘I was at the tavern—’

‘Mo needs to stop talking. This path is supposed to be off limits to everyone except search and rescue.’

‘Yet, the last time I looked, you’re not a first responder.’

‘But my sister Lia is.’

‘She’s quite the personality. If there’d been a sharp knife near her at the coffee shop, I think she would have hurled it in my direction.’

‘Lia would never be that overt. She’s more of a poison-you-in-silence kind of woman.’

A warm throaty chuckle spilled from his lips. ‘Poisoning aside, I’m glad you’re here. It gives me more time to grovel.’

‘There’s not enough groveling in the world that’ll make me forget how you conveniently hid who you were.’

He tucked his muscled arms across his chest and arched a single brow that on most men might look ridiculous, but on him was too damn sexy. ‘Not so sure about that. Groveling is sort of my specialty.’

‘Oh, please, do tell.’

‘I suck at dating. My job has always been the number one focus in my life,’ he admitted. ‘I can start something, but it always ends in flames because I’m traveling, and I’m terrible at phone calls and texts. If I could do my job without my phone, I’d chuck it straight into the forest right now.’

At least there was one thing we could agree on. Back when I started the clinic, Aster convinced me I needed to start a social media account. Post pictures of the cute dogs and other animals I treated to drum up business. But once word started to spread about me, weird comments about magic began to pop up. I threatened to delete the account until Bree agreed to take over posting, keeping me from getting anxious anytime I saw a new comment.

‘Why write an article about Harvest Moon? You usually do more serious pieces, like ferreting out corruption in small governments, or calling out politicians who are cagey about where they get their election donations.’

A slow grin spread across his face. ‘You’ve been reading up on me, huh?’

‘It’s more like “keep your enemies closer” and all that.’

‘Enemies.’ He inched closer. ‘Is that what we are?’

‘Well, no, I mean, yes,’ I stuttered. ‘For now, I reserve judgement on exactly what we are.’

His gaze never moved from my face, wandering the lines of my nose, over my cheeks, halting at my mouth. ‘That’s fair,’ he said on a ragged breath. ‘I promise you I’ll only write the truth about what I find here.’

His words were like jumping into an icy lake. I couldn’t flirt with him. He was here to write some idiotic piece about the town, and my job was to protect my sisters. To knock down whatever ridiculous tales the locals spun to get people to spend precious dollars on oversized cowboy hats, and T-shirts that said mind-numbing things like There’s always magic to be found in Harvest Moon.

Sensing my unease, Flora tugged on her leash, pulling me toward the rest of the trail.

Indy started to turn in circles, yanking Bryce sideways.

‘See, look, I did listen to you. A leash.’ He bent down to nuzzle Indy’s head, a silver glimmer swaying below his neck. ‘And tags.’

‘That’s good,’ I mumbled as Flora tugged again. ‘I should go. I want to finish my hike before it gets too dark.’

‘Can I join you if I promise to stay quiet? Not ask any questions?’

‘Do you have that kind of restraint?’

He set his chin. ‘Absolutely.’

I should have said no. Being alone with him was a mistake, but before I could make up an excuse to leave, Flora leaped toward the winding trail leading deeper into the woods.