“You are joking!” Wes crumpled the yellow note and tossed it across the room. “Do you realize how much of a pain it was to track down a supplier who had an exact match to the color he wanted? And now he’s decided he wants a completely different color! It hasn’t even been four hours since he changed his mind about the first color.”

“I wish I was joking.” Forrest leaned back in his chair and ran both his hands through his hair. “The sad part is he either doesn’t care or he doesn’t understand the time and cost his color changes are going to make at this point.”

“Have you explained it to him?” asked Wes.

Forrest nodded. “More times than I care to count. I thought I had him talked out of the color change yesterday after I explained to him that the car was already painted and what would be involved to change the color at this point. And then he called while you were out. I told him there was no way we would have the car finish by the date we originally agreed on if he changes the color at this point. He’s worried the color he picked isn’t the right one for the car.”

Wes shook his head. “This is ridiculous. We need to get him to come down and look at the car as is so he can see the paint job.”

“I’ll see what I can do about getting him to come by to look at it.” Forrest picked up the phone. “I’ll let you know what happens.”

Wes nodded. He walked out of his brother’s office and went to the breakroom to get a bottle of water. He put the cold bottle on his forehead. Ever since leaving Emma, he and his bear were both extremely agitated. Wes wanted to go back to her and his animal’s behavior wasn’t helping matters. His bear alternated between pacing back and forth in Wes’s mind and whining about being separated from its mate.

Shaking his head, Wes left the breakroom. Standing around and doing nothing wasn’t helping his mood. He had already spent enough time behind his desk trying to find the paint color the client wanted only to have all that work tossed into the trash. Hopefully getting the customer to see the original color choice on the car would put an end to the sudden switching of colors.

“Just the man I’ve been looking for.”

The high pitched voice set Wes’s nerves even further on the edge. He looked at Emma’s cousin. Dressed in tight jeans and a low cut blouse that left little to the imagination, the woman looked more like a lady of the evening and that was putting it nicely. Wes’s bear bared its teeth and it was all Wes could do to keep from grinning. He shared his animals dislike of the woman. “What are you doing here?”

April rolled her eyes. “I came to see you, and to bring you some honey muffins with extra honey. I baked them myself. It’s actually an old family recipe.” She held up a small basket covered with a deep red towel.

“Why?” he asked. He coughed and cleared his throat to cover the snarl that slipped out.

A huge smile spread across April’s face making her look more like a deadly viper than a woman. “I thought it would be nice for the two of us to sit down and get to know each other over coffee and muffins.”

“We have nothing to talk about.” His eyes nothing to talk about.” His eyes narrowed. She was up to something he just wasn’t sure what but he had a feeling it had with trying to hurt Emma.

“Emma’s not here. You don’t have to pretend that you aren’t attracted to me. I know better.” She walked up to him and wrapped her free arm around his arm. “I know you want me, because I want you.” She leaned forward, giving him a view down the front of her shirt.

Wes growled as he pulled his arm out of her grasp. “I am not interested in you. I’m only interested in Emma, my mate.”

“You don’t have to pretend you are interested in her. How could you be when you could have me?” She wiggled her shoulders.

“Emma is my mate…my heart’s mate. I don’t want anyone else but her.” He held up his wrist so she could see the ring of quills and scrolls encircling his wrist.

April gasped. Her eyes widened and then narrowed. “I feel so bad that you’re stuck with her,” she said coldly.

“I’m not stuck with her. She is the one and only woman I want in my life,” said Wes.

“Fine. I can see you are determined to stick with your story. You could at least sit down and share a muffin with me to celebrate your mating.” A smile slowly spread across her face.

“I’m sorry but I’m not hungry and I have a lot of work to do.” Something was up with the muffins. His bear pushed closer to the surface as Wes sniffed the air. He didn’t smell anything out of the ordinary but then the sweet smell of the honey overpowered all other scents. There was no way he was going to eat even one bite. “I think it’s time for you to leave.”

April snorted. “Fine.” She walked over to Ivy’s desk and set the basket on it. “I’ll just leave these here for you so you can have a snack later. Think of me when you eat them.” She winked at him and then walked out of the building.

Wes shook his head. There was no way he was eating anything that woman touched. He didn’t even want to pick up the basket to throw it away.

The shop door opened. “Sorry I’m late,” said Ivy as she walked in. “Did I miss anything?” She stopped and stared at the basket on her desk. “Hockey sticks and horse feathers! I guess I did miss something. Where did that come from?”

“Emma’s cousin, April, dropped it off. It’s filled with honey muffins she supposedly baked.”

Ivy looked at Wes. “Did you eat one or touch the basket?”

He shook his head. “No. I was going to dump the into the trash. I don’t trust Emma’s cousin. I’m leery about even touching the basket. Something’s not right.”

“April Martin brought this?” asked Ivy.

Wes nodded.

“Double fudge sticks!” Ivy closed her eyes and softly chanted some words.

Wes watched the basket slide across the desk and drop into the trashcan.

“I’m glad you didn’t mess with any of it. That thing reeks of a very nasty love potion.” Anger filled Ivy’s voice.

“A love potion?” Wes frowned. “I didn’t smell anything except honey.”

“It was designed to smell like something you would love to entice you to eat it. In this case, she gambled that it would be honey. It’s a rather nasty piece of dark magic because it reacts differently with each person it is used on and sometimes it’s deadly and not just for the recipient.” Emma looked at Wes’s wrist and smiled. “Congratulations on finding your heart’s mate. I’m happy for you and Emma.”

“Thanks.” Wes saw her look at the scrolls and quills encircling his wrist. She and Ben had matching ivy wrapping around their wrists. “What would the potion have done?”

“If it’s exactly what I think it is, it would cause you to fall madly in love with the person who cast the spell and it would cause you to harm your true mate…even kill her. But sometimes the person would go completely insane, and he or she could go on a killing spree.”

Wes growled. His bear shoved against him. It wanted to hunt down April and destroy her.

“What’s going on?” asked Ivy. “I’m guessing it’s more than just the problem with April.”

“Have you heard of Orson Goodwin?” asked Wes.

Ivy frowned. “He was part of Bradford and Delphine’s circle of cohorts. He’s the last living heir of his family which used to be one of the wealthiest and oldest of the witch families. From what I remember my grandmother saying, Orson’s grandfather lost it all through some bad business deals and gambling. When he died there was a lot of talk that his daughter had something to do with his death because of an insurance policy.”

“What about Orson?” asked Wes. “Why would he be determined to have Emma as his mistress?”

“His mistress? You’re joking.”

“I wish I was,” said Wes.

“You’re serious.” Ivy’s eyes widened.

“In fact he was telling Emma she belonged to him when I walked into the bookstore at lunch. And the worst part was that he had grabbed her arm and halfway jerked her across the counter.”

“Banana fudge! I hope you ripped off his arm and beat him over his head with it,” said Ivy.

“I thought about it, but at that moment Emma was more important,” admitted Wes.

Ivy smiled. “As it should be, but I have a feeling you’re going to have to beat him over his head sooner or later. And when you do it, you’re going to need to be very careful.”

“Why?”

“Orson Goodwin appears to be a respectful businessman but…” Her voice trailed off.

“But what?” Wes frowned. His guts felt like someone had just punched him.

“I have no proof but I’ve heard that Orson is half dark warlock.”

Wes shook his head. “You lost me at dark warlock.”

Ivy drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out. “You know that there are good witches and bad witches. Right?”

He nodded.

“Warlocks make bad witches look good. And dark warlocks make bad witches look like cute little cherubs.” Ivy bit her bottom lip as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Wes’s bear growled and Wes felt his stomach roll over. “What are you not saying?”

“Warlocks are known for stealing powers from witches.” Ivy swallowed. “Fudge sticks!” She looked at Wes. “They drain the witches of their souls, leaving nothing but an empty shell. Families who were desperate for power, wealth, or whatever would sell their daughters to warlocks knowing their daughters would never survive. The warlocks would use them as mistresses until they grew tired of the women. Then the warlocks drained the women of their powers and souls. The worst part was that most of the women were or would have been powerful witches, but their powers had been bound by their parents when they were still small children or babies.”

Wes stared at Ivy. “Emma’s in danger.” He turned and ran out of the building.