Page 64 of Love's a Witch
“She’s not broken, Mum,” Knox spoke, his car door cracked open as though he had meant to get out before his mother had called.
I put my hand out to silence Lyra, and we stood in the parking lot, just out of sight of where Knox spoke to his mum.
“It’s always the same with you. You see a wounded animal, you bring it home and nurse it back to health. And now a damsel in distress. You’ve got a hero complex; it’s what you do.”
“I’m a knight, Mum. It’s kind of in the description, wouldn’t you say?”
“That’s to protect Briarhaven and our esteemed heritage. Not to save a MacGregor.”
My fingers dug into my palms at the way she said our last name, as though we were cockroaches that had infested her fine castle. And, sure, I’d probably be pissed if someone had lit my gorgeous curtains on fire too. But still.
Lyra sucked in a breath next to me.
“Bitch,” Lyra whispered.
“Sloane doesn’t need saving.” Lyra gripped my arm, eagerly nodding her head in approval at Knox’s words. “What she needs are friends who will help her work through her trouble.”
“You could do so much better,” Knox’s mother continued on, unperturbed by the note of warning in her son’s voice. “I can tell you’re infatuated. But, really, darling. A MacGregor? Do you really want to muddy our royal bloodline with the likes of them?”
My mouth dropped open.
“The good thing is you have two other sons who can carry on the bloodline just fine, don’t you? I’ll remind you, Mother, that I’m an adult who makes my own decisions. You’ve disappeared from Briarhaven, handing me all of the responsibility to take care of an entire town. And I’ve been great at it, haven’t I? Briarhaven has thrived under my guidance. I pride myself on making good, well-thought-out decisions. Why would that change when it comes to who I choose for a partner?”
Knox’s mother grumbled on the speaker.
I slammed a hand over my mouth to stop my audible gasp.
Lyra’s grip tightened on my arm.
Partner, Lyra mouthed to me, her eyes huge in her face.
“But… a MacGregor, Knox? Surely there is another—”
“I don’t have time for this. Either you trust me to make good decisions or you don’t. Which is it?”
“It’s not so simple—”
“Fine. If you don’t, then come home and run Briarhaven yourself. I’m sure I can find better things to do.” Knox clicked off on his mother speaking, and I could just see him run a hand over his face in the light shining from the pub.
“Hide,” I hissed, pulling Lyra around the back corner of the pub before Knox could get out of his car and see us. We huddled in thecold at the back door, waiting as the car door opened and slammed shut and then footsteps crunched.
“Did you catch all that?”
Lyra and I screamed as Knox’s head appeared around the corner and we clutched each other, trying not to slip in the snow. My heart hammered in my chest, my thoughts still tripping over the word “partner.”
Nobody had ever asked me to be their partner before.
I’d never let anyone in far enough to let them.
And now here was this impossibly beautiful man who had somehow skipped a few steps forward and was thinking of me in a light that I wasn’t sure I was ready for.
Or wanted.
And yet.
And yet…
The thought of him claiming me so freely to his mother made my heart go all ooey and gooey in my chest, and honestly, I wasn’t even sure what to do with that.
