Page 19 of Curses & Cold Brew
“You’re making a lot of assumptions for someone who had to coerce me into a date in the first place.”
“You didn’t take that much convincing. We both know what you were secretly craving.”
“A date doesn’t have to end in sex,” I added breathlessly even as I thought about all the ways she and I could intertwine, all the ways she could make me fall apart for her . . .
“No, but why deny the inevitable?” She leaned closer, and I resisted the urge to move before she pulled away. “Go have a long, cold shower, little witch. I’ve got work to do.”
My body felt her absence before my other senses could catch up. She was halfway down the street before I could regain my footing. Lust and fire filled my veins. But instead of turning toward my apothecary and an ice-cold shower, I raced down another alleyway.
She wouldn’t get away from me that easily.
10
RAMONA
The only person needing a fucking ice-cold shower was me. I’d never been so bothered without the satisfaction of torture or a climax.
Lucifer and the Seven Hells, those flushed cheeks, those pouty lips, those bedroom eyes.
I thought I knew a thing or two about torture, but that little witch was giving me a master class.
Iris was going to set me on fire. Frustration and impatience clouded my brain as I willed my legs to put more distance between her and me. I couldn’t tell if I was more annoyed that she’d used our bargain as blackmail or that she’d done it poorly.
She thought she could trick me?
Me?
We would have to work on her manipulation skills if she was going to continue to be my little ginger shadow. I balled my hands into fists while I stormed through town, hoping I set the little witch on edge as much as she did me.
I made my way up the street, past the bakery. The wolfman and his sister had a line out the door. Typical for the time of day, but now that there were two full-time bakers on the premises,it seemed to be the new hot spot in town. Content creators dressed in their stereotypical witchy garb held up their phones and cameras to record proof that they’d visited the spookily cute town of their dreams. Each of them angled their shots in an attempt to look like they hadn’t been waiting in the cold for over an hour for the new wolf’s specialties.
The quickest route was through the town square, so I crossed the street. Unfortunately, it was the peak time for tourists to frequent the coffee shop, bakery, and the other restaurants dotted about town.
“Ramona!” a shrill voice called from behind me. “Over here, yoo-hoo!”
I whipped my head around to find Lulu, the owner of the hair salon, running up the sidewalk while expertly evading the sightseers in her path. Her loud fuchsia hair was teased up into two buns today, and she wore matching eyeshadow and lipstick. Dressed in all dark green, she reminded me of a poisonous plant instead of a werewolf.
When she finally reached me, she doubled over and braced her hands on her thighs as she panted out the message that she’d deemed important enough to deliver in haste: “I got it. The hair gloss. The one I told you about. Last week.”
“Okay?”
“I just got it in from Italy.”
“I thought you were going to say the British are coming, for fuck’s sake.” I eyed her gripping the stitch in her side. “You could have just texted me. Are you trying out a new delivery service? Chasing down clients in the street?”
She straightened and giggled breathlessly. “I made a promise to let you know as soon as it came in. I know how particular you are about your products.”
“Right. Well, I’ll be in next week for my usual appointment.” I took a step away, but she moved in front of me. “Is there something else I can help you with, Lulu?”
“Well, do you remember a few months back? You said if I ever wanted to discuss my . . .future”—she winked as if I didn’t know what she was trying to say—“that you’d be receptive?”
What a day this was turning out to be.
Normally, I was the hunter. Today, the targets were chasing me down.
“Yes, Lulu.” I resisted the urge to smile. I had been working on her for over a year and had almost given up. Now all I needed to do was reel her in. “You want to talk to me about that, beautiful?”
Her blush deepened. “I just?—”
