Falling for Torin was nowhere on that list.
Which was my typical pattern once I slept with a man. It was impossible for me to separate emotion and sex, and because of that, I’d ignored too many red flags and gotten my heart bruised in the past.
It didn’t matter that he kissed like a god.
“Let’s just go home,” I said, putting space between us. I got out my keys. “I can drive. It’ll be fine. Promise.”
“I’ll follow right behind you then. Take it slow and stay alert.”
And when we pulled out and followed the road past the loch, I couldn’t be certain which was more a danger. The Kelpies or the man in the lorry behind me.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
TORIN
There were several lacy pairs of pants hanging in my laundry the following morning. I froze and blinked at them, surprised at the visceral response my body had to seeing the delicate fabric hanging from the drying rack in front of the washing machine.
It wasn’t like I hadn’t known that, naturally, Liora would be doing her washing in the house. Of course she would. People had to clean their clothes, didn’t they? It was just that I hadn’t envisioned what that might actually look like.
And, apparently, it looked like neon pink and purple lace thongs.
I bet she looked incredible in them.
As the image of her draped in vibrant lace flashed through my mind, I turned away from the drying rack and took several deep breaths. I needed to work on controlling myself. It was this damn truth spell. No matter what, I couldn’t seem to filter the things that I thought or said. In some ways, it felt likeI’d resorted to caveman-like needs. Torin hungry. Torin horny. Torin tired.
It was deeply annoying.
Yet it had also allowed me to start dating Liora, and even though she’d been in my house just under a week, she had managed to infiltrate every part of my life. I wondered if she even knew how much her presence trickled over into the entire house.
A dish of crystals at the windowsill to “charge” in the moonlight.
A few glass bottles with sprigs of greenery on the fireplace mantel.
A scented candle by the kitchen sink.
A threadbare blanket folded across the back of the couch by the fire.
Pieces of Liora sprinkled all over the house, not to mention her mindless humming, or how she argued with herself seemingly all the time, unbeknownst that anyone was listening to her conversations. She was endlessly intriguing, and I’d started coming home from work earlier than usual to spend more time with her.
Watching her work at the pub had actually been fun, once I’d warned Graham away, that is. Liora was captivating to watch in action, making connections with everyone she spoke to, and bringing a breath of fresh air to the pub. I’d been able to connect with a few people I hadn’t seen in a while, since I didn’t go out much, and though the truth spell made conversations tricky to navigate, I was getting better at pausing before I spoke. I needed to take a moment to filter through my thoughts and then pick the comment that made the most sense for the conversation with the lowest possibility of offending anyone.
Movement caught my eye and I moved to the window in the door that led outside. I smiled as I saw Liora, in her joggersand a puffy coat, seemingly having a very serious discussion with a small red squirrel. The squirrel sat back on its haunches, bobbing its head as she spoke, and I quietly opened the door and stepped out into the crisp air of the sunny autumn morning.
The squirrel tracked me right away, but it took a moment for Liora to finish speaking and realize that I had joined her in the backyard.
“Bracken, I’m going to need you to help with this, you understand?”
I swear the squirrel gestured one paw to me, and Liora turned and blanched.
“Make a new friend?” I asked, surprised that the squirrel hadn’t run away.
The squirrel looked between Liora, who suddenly had a guilty look on her face, and me. It was then that I realized there was potentially something magickal going on here.
“Och, Liora. Is this another spell?” I asked, stepping closer. The squirrel stayed where it was, confirming my suspicions that something elsewasgoing on.
“I guess it’s only fair that I’m honest with you, since I’ve kind of put you in the same boat,” Liora muttered.
“Oh gee, that’s grand. Glad to hear you were thinking of lying to me.”