Page 1134 of One More Kiss

Chapter2

"Orly'sstill in the old theater. Let's go before he moves and the tracker wears off." If I lost the wand maker, my badge would be the next thing to disappear. "I'll take point."

With Griffin watching our backs, I led us out of the alley and out onto the sidewalk lined with old buildings that had been patch worked into a popular shopping district. My calves and lungs burned as we double-timed it up the street to the intersection of Columbia and Main.

"I need to add more cardio into my exercise routine." I pressed my hand between my ribs and my hip to ease the stitch in my side from huffing it up the hill.

"What exercise routine? Wait, don't tell me, the one you're starting on Monday." Griffin teased while scoping out the theater. He jabbed me with his elbow and pointed toward the second story. "The top windows are still boarded up. That leaves the front and rear doors. We'll flush him out."

Thank the Goddess magic had its limitations. No flying - hovering is about the best we can manage - and no teleporting. Witches and Warlocks could bend reality but our feet were still firmly planted in it. If Orly wanted out of that theater, he would have to do it the old-fashioned way.

"Piece of cake." I tucked my chin against my chest, closed my eyes, and sent up a little prayer to the Goddess for luck.

Thanks to Griffin's delay in the alley, Orly seemed to be under the impression that he gave us the slip.

The wand maker strolled out through the front doors of the dilapidated theater like he owned the place. He even stopped to check his reflection in the glass door, brushing away the dust and cobwebs he collected in his hair while breaking into the old playhouse.

With a wall of granite rock behind us and the buildings butted up tight together like row homes, there was nowhere to hide, and we didn't exactly blend in. Orly would have spotted us the moment he turned around.

"You had to say it out loud." Griffin groaned, echoing my thoughts. "You jinxed us."

"I jinxed us? I almost had him." I pointed my index finger at myself before turning it toward him. "You're the one who decided to waste time with a heart-to-heart back behind the bar."

"It wasn't a waste of time." The hard set of Griffin's jaw and clipped tone of his voice left no room for counterarguments. "At least, not for me."

With one hand gripping my waist and the other my shoulder, he spun me around, backing me up until my spine pressed against the lamp post. He leaned in, molding our bodies together and his lips against mine.

The kiss held everything good about what we were and the potential for what we could have been. But it wasn't the unbridled desire that liquefied my lace panties. No, our relationship never lacked passion. There were always fireworks whenever Griffin and I were together.

In and out of the bedroom.

This kiss was different from the first and last time his mouth claimed mine. It was the slight tremble in his hands before he gripped me tighter. The millisecond of hesitation before he deepened the kiss. The way he savored it like a starvingman would a morsel of bread.

Griffin needed me.

Not my name and what that could get him or the dowry dangled like a carrot on a stick by my medieval father to entice the right warlock. Me. Just me.

Griffin melted the last of the ice encasing my heart and that scared the ever-loving hell out of me.

"You've got one shot, Morgan. Make it count." Griffin provided the perfect cover - eager lovers who'd stopped for a kiss on their way to something more.

I hoped Orly was convinced because Griffin's performance certainly worked on me.

Damn. The kiss had been a cover.

His words in the alleyway replayed in my mind. He apologized for the way things ended but he never asked me to take him back. Double damn.

The guise violated my rule about public displays of affection but his plan worked. As much as it pained me, I had to give credit where credit was do. Griffin was quick on his feet and I was glad to have him as a partner when I ran the streets.

In the sheets? That remained to be seen. But I didn't have time to overanalyze past, present, or future relationships.

That's what I paid my tarot card reader for.

My target headed west on Main toward an old residential area with half a dozen abandoned properties and three routes of escape.

Orly never looked in our direction, ignoring what appeared to be a happy couple making out across the street. He flipped up the collar of his light jacket and pulled it snug against the back of his neck. I doubted the thin cotton provided much protection from the damp, cold air that had settled in between the rock walls surrounding the old mill town at night.

Cold never bothered me while I was on the hunt. Adrenaline kept my blood pumping and my body temperature up. Coincidentally, close proximity to Griffin caused a similar effect.

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