The Professor Woos The Witch

He grabbed the handle. Nothing happened. He let out the breath he’d been holding and put the mirror back. “See? You idiot. All worked up over—”

A dull thump interrupted him. He turned to see a puff of dust curling through the air. A book had fallen off one of the shelves. That wasn’t weird at all. “Houses shift. Stuff moves. Totally explainable.”

He walked slowly to the book and picked it up. The heat from the attic made the back of his neck prickle. The book was a slim volume, bound in dark blue leather. Here and there on the spine and cover, gold decorations had worn away, leaving only the imprint of the embossing visible. The title on the front read Concerning Familiars.

It meant nothing to him. He reshelved it and headed for the stairs.

A dull thump sounded the moment his back was turned.

He twisted around. The book was on the floor again. He hesitated. Then got angry. He picked up the book and jammed it onto the shelf. “Stay,” he muttered.

He went for the stairs again, and this time there was no more noise behind him. He shut the attic door firmly and started down the steps. He swung by Kaley’s room to apologize to her for snapping earlier.

This whole thing with Pandora was setting him on edge, but that was not Kaley’s fault. Plus, she’d been right. He really should put on a nicer shirt. He tapped his knuckles on the door. “Sweetheart, can I talk to you?”

Nothing. That kid and her earbuds. She was going to ruin her hearing. He knocked louder. “Kaley, turn your music off a sec.”

Still nothing. He opened the door. She wasn’t in her room.

He jogged downstairs. “Kaley? You down here?”

A car pulled into the driveway. He recognized the well-maintained late-model Mercedes. Pandora. With Kaley in the passenger seat.

He opened the front door and leaned against the frame while his daughter got out. This running away business was getting old.

She climbed the porch steps and glanced at him sheepishly. “I went to Pandora’s.”

“Miss Williams’.”

“I went to Miss Williams’.”

There were worse places she could go. “Because I snapped?”

“Yes. You mad?”

“Not really.” He was. At himself for having another argument with her. “But I would like you to go to your room and do your homework.”

“Okay.” She trudged past him.

“I love you, Kaley.”

“Love you, too, Dad.”

He stepped onto the porch and peered into Pandora’s car. Didn’t seem like she was getting out. He walked down to the driver’s side.

She unrolled the window as he approached but didn’t say anything.

“She cause any trouble?”

“No.” Pandora eyed him warily.

“You don’t look like you’re dressed for dinner.” Not that he disapproved. Her love for tank tops was fast becoming one of his favorite things about her.

“I didn’t think we were still going after…what happened.”

He took a breath. Being this close to her exponentially ramped up the desire to touch her again. “You, uh, could come in and we could get pizza. Or something.”

“I think I should just go home.”

“I’d really like to talk.”

Uncertainty lifted her brows. “We’ve tried that. Doesn’t seem to work out so well between us.”

“Maybe we could start over.”

She studied him. “I’m sorry about what I did to you. That was not the correct use of magic.”

It wasn’t any use of magic. But that conviction didn’t ring as true as it would have the day before. “The thing is…I’m starting to have doubts. Not doubts. Questions.”

“About?”

He braced himself and forced out the words. “What’s true and what’s not.”

She grinned and turned off the engine. “Pizza sounds great.”

He opened her car door for her, and she slid out, her shapely legs tanned and a little freckled and utterly sexy. He leaned past her to close the door.

“I see you didn’t take Kaley’s advice.” She poked at the hole in the sleeve of his T-shirt. Her finger went through and connected with his bicep.

A flash of moonlight and the caw of birds filled his senses. Wind rushed over his skin as the earth fell away beneath him. The sensation gave him a moment of vertigo, and he stumbled, coming in contact with the side of her car. Losing contact with her.

He blinked hard. The images were gone. His heart was pounding, and his breath was coming fast.

Alarm distorted Pandora’s face. She reached for him. “Are you okay?”

He put his hands up. “Don’t touch me. Please. Something’s not right.”

She retreated. “Are you sick?”

“No.” He straightened as he caught his breath. “But we really need to talk.”

As soon as they got into the house, Cole called upstairs. “Kaley?”

“In my room,” she yelled back.

“Okay,” he answered, then said to Pandora, “Let’s go into the kitchen.”

“Sure.” She headed there with him, dying with curiosity over what was going on. It almost seemed like he’d had the same kind of episode as he’d had in the attic, but he hadn’t touched anything witchy.

Except her. And, technically, she’d touched him.

She took a seat at the table and waited for him to do the same.