Page 47 of Love's a Witch
“Humph.” At Broca’s name, I relented. She’d be furious if she knew I was walking home without a coat, not to mention the fact I was using my magick willy-nilly with not a care in the world for who saw me using it. My stubbornness was leading me to be careless, and even I knew that I should be more aware of my actions.
“I’ll get the snowmakers,” Knox said, resigned.
At that, I finally stomped around the mound of snow and flung myself into the passenger seat of the car, acting much like a reluctant child after a temper tantrum. Listen, I can’t always be operating at my best. It had been a tumultuous few days.
“You’ll get the snowmakersandtell everyone you’re doing a ski holiday festival.” Maybe I was feeling a touch righteous, but I didn’t care. It was the best idea we had at the moment.
“We don’t have ski slopes here.” Knox slanted me a look, and I turned away from him lest I forget that he really wanted to kick me out of town, and accidentally launched myself across the steering console into his lap.
“Call it the Sugar Drops Festival. Or something alliterative. Pinecones & Peppermint Fest.”
“That’s… that’s good, actually. It sounds fun.”
“Great.” I stared out the window and wiggled more deeply into the heated seat. Holding my hands out to the heaters, I warmed my fingers. “Play up the magickal aspect of snow this early in the year, lean into anything cozy about winter, and maybe have games. Sledging, relay races, hot cocoa competitions. Just make it more of the coziness people like about winter but add magickal stuff too. Make a huge play for early Christmas.”
“What’s a hot cocoa competition?”
“Make all the restaurants compete for the best hot cocoa. Have an ice sculpture competition. Or a snowman-building contest but make it all witchy-themed. Dragons, fae, all that stuff. Everyone loves a theme.”
“So the theme is pinecones and peppermint?”
“Yup. Mix fall and cozy Christmas vibes. Pinecones for fall, peppermint for Christmas… like candy canes and peppermint mochas. Get the pub to make some fancy drinks too.”
“You know what? This sounds great. Plus, we could basically make it like an early Christmas market and keep the theme going to encourage tourism.” Knox pulled to a stop in front of our cottage, and I already had my door open before he was fully stopped.
“I’ll work up a list of ideas for you and email them over.”
“Do you have my email?”
“Um, I don’t. But you’re famous here, so someone will.”
“I can just give you my phone number, Sloane.”
Counting to ten, I looked up at the sky and then away as snowflakes hit my eyes.
“Sure.” Begrudgingly, I punched in his numbers and then turned, ready to run.
“I can’t wait to see what you wear for the costume contest tomorrow.” Knox grinned at me as I raised my lip in distaste at him. Halloween was here. I’d tried to forget about it, but Lyra was abuzz with excitement over her costume designs for the party. Despite the snow, Briarhaven had embraced Halloween, their biggest holiday, and had moved the annual bonfire and costume contest inside at the local community center. Broca insisted we go, in order to try to shore up our reputations in town, and there was no way I could avoid my duty to my family.
“I’m not dressing sexy,” I promised him, unbuckling my seat belt.
“I’m sure anything you wear will be sexy.”
I shot Knox a disbelieving look before sliding from the car.
“You need to stop. What happened back there…” I waved a hand in the air. “Erase it from your brain. That was just stress.”
“Was it?” The corner of Knox’s mouth quirked up in a sultry grin. “I’m happy to be your stress relief any day, Sloane.”
“You can’t.” I fumed, hands on my hips. “You are the cause for my stress. Not the release. Understood?”
“I assure you, I can be both. I’m a man of many talents.”
I bared my teeth at him, like a cat ready to hiss. I couldn’t help it.
Okay, and maybe I wanted to laugh. But I refused to give him that because I was so not kissing him again. I’d almost burned his house down, damn it. It was one and done. Lesson learned.
I hear you, Universe.
