Page 18 of The Heartbreak Hex

“Oh,” I respond, a tad sheepishly. “Right. I just didn’t want to invade your privacy.”

“No harm done,” the vampire says lightly. “I’m as decent as I ever am.”

Letting my hands fall, I open my eyes to see Vlad bending over me in a plush gray robe. His hair is wet and some strands have fallen into his eyes. I’m extremely tempted to push them back for him, stroking through his hair, but that’s an intimate gesture, especially when one of us isn’t completely dressed.“You aren’t hurt are you?” he asks, sounding concerned.

“My tailbone is a little sore and my dignity wounded,” I tell him. “But like you said, no harm done.”

“Good,” Vlad says, standing up. “Let’s see if we can’t get out of this room.”

The vampire turns toward the door and tries the handle. Locked, just like I thought. Vlad rattles the knob a little more and then finally says loudly, “House, can you let us out? Your prank was very funny, but we have to get to work soon.”

Nothing, not even the smallest quiver at his words. Vlad tries the knob again but it’s still locked. The vampire sighs. “Alright, house, what do you want in exchange for us leaving?”

A tapping sound echoes in the bathroom coming from the mirror. We both turn to see an invisible finger write out, “KISS,” in all capital letters in the steam.

“What?” barks out Vlad. “House, you can’t be serious.”

The invisible finger just underlines the word for emphasis.

I can feel myself blushing. Why does the house want us to kiss? After all my resolve to keep Vlad at a friendly distance?

“House,” Vlad says sternly. “You can’t just make Getrude kiss me. She has her own will and feelings.”

“I don’t mind,” I hear myself say.

“What was that?” Vlad asks, turning around. He looks a little dumbfounded.

I blush some more. “I said, I don’t mind. It’s not like we have to make out, right? Just a little kiss. We can think of it like a childhood dare or something.”

“Are you sure?" Vlad asks. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. We’ll find another way out.”

“Like I said, I don’t mind. Let’s just get this over with.”

“That’s what a man wants to hear before he kisses someone,” Vlad teases, putting out a hand to help me up. I let him pull me up and he pulls me closer, our faces only inches away.

“Last chance to say no, sweetheart,” he murmurs, tilting his head.

“Yes,” I say instead and then Vlad is kissing me. It’s sweet and soft. He doesn’t try to push his limits and there’s no tongue, but butterflies erupt in my belly and my core goes molten just the same. His head tilts the other way, deepening the kiss ever-so-slightly. Time seems to stand still as we kiss each other until a creaking sound interrupts. We pull apart and see the door to the bathroom is open.

“Well, at least the house kept its word,” I say, my voice a little breathless. My mind is reeling and all I want to do is kiss Vlad again. So much for just being “friends.”

“C’mon,” Vlad says, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the bathroom. “I’ll get ready and then we’ll fly to your shop, okay? You’re supposed to open soon.”

That dumps some cold water on my amorous thoughts. I’m a little disappointed that Vlad doesn’t seem as affected as me by our kiss, but I’m glad that one of us is thinking straight. Gretchen would kill me if I was late today after she had to watch the shop all day yesterday by herself.

So I let Vlad pull me to his closet where he closes the door and I'm careful not to lean against the door this time. I wouldn’t want the house to get the idea to play another trick. But as Istand by myself outside of his closet, my fingers go up to my lips with a mind of their own, the ghost of Vlad’s kiss still tingling in my nerve endings. My resolve from earlier is crumbled to dust, my heart beating with excitement and longing. I don’t think I can just be friends with Vlad.

Not at all.

Chapter 9

Vlad

Over the next four days, Gertrude and I fall into a rhythm: one day at her shop, one at City Hall, and so on. Gertrude works hard and even helps me with my duties as mayor as we gear up for Halloween and the Halloween Welcoming Ball. In between duties, however, she scours spellbooks and curse indexes, trying to figure out how to free us from our predicament. So far, no dice, but she hasn’t given up.

As for me, I can't stop thinking about that kiss. I don’t know what mischievous inclination led the house to force us to kiss, but now I can’t get it out of my head. While I'm supposed to be in meetings, while helping Gertrude at her shop, while approving decorations and Human Realm visas, all I’m really thinking about is kissing Gertrude Nightshade and how I can do it again.

On the day of the Halloween Welcoming Ball, we arrive at my office in City Hall only to be cornered by my secretary.

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