I just needed some taste testers. But that was later. Right then, we had a job to do, so I’d bring it up later. Evie and Donny weren’t too happy when I bombed out with my guilt free hot cocoa bombs a few months back.

  For some reason, when I added magic, said bombs started exploding the second they touched hot liquid. It took two days for us to clean the mess and repaint Donny’s sitting room.

  My bad.

  Anyway, I was investigating completely holistic approaches now. Using natural sugar substitutions and introducing whole grains and alternatives to regular flour. It was exciting and new, and I was killing it so far. No one complained about my carrot cake even though I had now swapped out the white flour completely.

  “Light her up, Donny,” I said, assuming the position at my exact spot around the bonfire.

  No, said position was not dirty, so get your mind out of the gutter.

  We each stood with our feet spread shoulder length apart, our arms opened wide, palms facing up, and our heads tilted back as the fire roared to life. We’d removed every stitch of clothing and accessories down to our last hair band.

  “I just want to reiterate Jax has a big dong,” Evie muttered, eyes still closed.

  “Shhh!” I grumbled.

  I did not want to lose my concentration and if I had to think about Jaxson’s dong, I was going to hurl.

  “Ryan does too,” Donny whispered.

  “Ohmyfuckinggawd,” I growled, pink sparks shooting from my fingertips as I glared at my witchy besties/cousins. “Fine. I agree. Yes. Your boyfriends have massive wieners, okay?”

  “Eww. Don’t say wiener,” Evie muttered.

  “By the Goddess,” I grunted, facing my friends with my tatas swinging in the evening breeze. “Okay, Evie, Donny, I won’t say wieners. Can I say penises when referring to your mates' nethers?”

  “She said penises.” Donny snorted, and I had to bite back my chuckle.

  “Fine. No to penises. How about I say your dudes have dongs, not regular dongs, but MEGLADONGS! There! Happy now? We all good? Can we get on with this, you heifers?” I shouted.

  Evie stared at me with her mouth open, while Donny did not even try to bite back her giggle. Just then a pink bolt of lightning flashed in the sky, and I knew I’d pissed off the Goddess.

  Uh oh.

  That was not good. I muttered an apology, shook my head, and cleared my throat. Any more distractions and we would all erupt into a hysterical fit of giggles that would likely take hours to stop.

  I had to do something. Resuming my position, I clapped my hands together and began the chant in fluent Canadian—as taught to us by Sassy Pants herself.

  Just like that, their humor faded, and all ridiculousness ceased. Sassy, that big bosomed blond beauty, would be so proud of me! I’d signed up for her magical language lessons and just finished the chapter on Canadian this past week. Her class was a life changer.

  Evie quickly picked up the pace. Good thing too, my mind was already wandering. If there was one thing we needed while reinforcing our town’s wards, that was concentration. Pretty difficult with all this talk of dongs, I was not going to lie.

  Ever since the night Conrad crashed into town with his buddies, things have not been the same. Sex was on my brain all the damn time. I could do sex. But he wanted more.

  “Be with me, Bella, accept my claim.”

  I panicked the first time he’d uttered those words. By the tenth time he’d said as much, I’d gotten the heck outta Dodge. I mean, was he serious? The man had to be mistaken.

  Being alone wasn’t something I’d planned on, but experience had taught me I was no one’s long-term girlfriend. Maybe Conrad was confused. With Jaxson and Ryan both claiming my best friends as their mates, it seemed only natural the python Shifter would think I was his destiny.

  The thing was, I was not so sure I believed in all that. Yes, the Fates were important. Sure, the Goddess had a plan. But did they necessarily include me in those designs?

  Who was I to command such attention? I was just a baker. A kitchen witch. Made important by my ability to balance Evie and Donny’s powers in our trifecta. Alone, I was hardly worth the other.

  Okay, maybe I was downplaying myself. I was an outstanding baker. But did that not warrant attention from the Fates themselves?

  “What do you need from me, Maribella? If it is in my power, I will give it to you.”

  “You’re not the problem, Conrad. It’s me.”

  So cliché. I could not believe I’d said that to him. Conrad was just so incredibly sincere. At least, he thought he was. What happened to me when that wore off?

  Yes, he had a killer body, and boy, did he deliver with that body—was it enough to risk my heart? I didn’t know. But even I had to admit, those soul-rocking kisses of his were enough to make any girl think twice about her perma-single status.

  A sexy Shifter like him and a fluffy witch like me didn’t make sense. Even so, we’d fallen into bed, er, make that the floor, pretty dang quickly after meeting. I was never one to deny my appetites, obviously. But he wanted more, and I just could not give that to him. Not now, anyway.

  “Bella, focus.”

  Evie tsked, and I closed down that part of me that wanted to dwell on Conrad. I resumed my gyrating and chanting. She was right. I had work to do.

  There was just something so blissfully right about our whole ritual. It had been passed down to us from the last trifecta—for some reason, a trio of witches had always been placed in charge of protecting Castor’s Corner.

  We were a haven for supes, and though the odd normal had been known to trespass unwittingly over our borders, we did a bang-up job of keeping most of them out. I wasn’t prejudiced against humans, but really, who lived without magic? Was that even a thing?

  I couldn’t imagine what I would do without my powers. Especially now. Evie, Donny, and I moved in perfect harmony. Our aqua, gold, white, and pink sparks made magical rainbows in the night sky, swirling around the flames of our bonfire as we wove our spells and reinforced our wards.

  Falling into a trance-like state, I wiggled and waggled, calling upon the Goddess herself to send her blessings on us. That part was all me, Evie tended to avoid direct contact, as did Donny with our deity. Recently, Donny had a slight issue with the supreme being taking offence at her predilection for curse words.

  My mouth was not half as dirty as Donny’s, but I was known to drop an f-bomb a time or fifty when speaking. Especially if I was feeling emotional. Blame it on my Italian genes, or my witchy prowess, or the fact I had the best sex of my thirty something years a few weeks ago and was now relying on my battery-operated-boyfriends to see me through.

  Not like I wouldn’t be down for a repeat, but unless a certain snake man got his act together and forgot about mated bliss, that was not happening. Seriously, it was just my luck to bone the only man in the world to turn down no strings sex in favor of a relationship of all things—total yuck.

  It was a real bummer. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself. The bonfire flashed brightly, our pink, gold, and teal-tinted magic surged, then—BAM!

  A flash of light filled the air like residue from a fireworks display, and I felt the air ripple with power. Afterwards, tiny pink sparkles fell from the sky like a magical glitter shower, and I knew the Goddess had blessed us.

  Thank fuck.

  “Okay, witches, I think we did it! Good for another month!” Evie announced.

  The three of us were panting, and no wonder. This was hard work. Standing with my hands on my hips, I stood beside my girls and gazed up at the moon and the last remnants of pink glitter.

  “Woo hoo!” Donny cheered.

  I laughed aloud and dropped to the floor, exhaustion oozing from my very pores. Donny plopped a respectable distance away on an oversized towel she’d brought from home. The witchy stylist did not do dirt.

  “Come on, girl,” Evie muttered, tossing me a robe, and offering a hand.

  I don’t know where she got the things, but I appreciated them every single time we did this. It was like the woman had cornered the market on short silk dressing robes.

  Oh, every couple of weeks Donny and I washed and returned them to her, but she always had them ready and waiting for us after each trifecta ritual.

  The fabric was so soft and smooth against my overheated skin. I sighed as I slid into the pretty thing. Wildflowers danced across the swatch of silk, hugging my butt, and I grinned. It sure was cute.

  The sounds of engines drawing near had me grinding my teeth. I almost forgot my friends had mates now. I guess they wouldn’t be coming over for lemon bar testing after all.

  Evie and Donny were even joking with each other about their men. Of course, I avoided entering that discussion. I wasn’t mated. For the first time since I was a kid, feelings of being left out assaulted me.

  Frowning, I grabbed my discarded clothes and hugged them to my chest. They looked happy. Really happy. And I was glad for them both. Truly, I was.

  “Hey, you did good tonight,” Evie told me, and I smiled my thanks.

  “We all did,” Donny seconded.

  “Are you okay, Bella?” Evie asked, her hand resting on her belly once more.

  I wondered if maybe the witch was not hiding something from us, but thoughts of her moving on to start a family filled me with unease. Everything would be different once they started families.

  I would be alone. Like, for real alone. The realization almost gutted me.

  “Hey, what is it?” Donny asked, stepping closer.

  We didn’t touch or hug, which was normal. After performing that kind of magic, my skin was always way too sensitive to redress right away. I needed at least twenty minutes, and normally, it wouldn’t matter because I’d be in my car.

  Of course I did not drive tonight, and I could not bum a ride. These two had arrived with their mates. The idea of walking home with my pink bits flapping in the breeze was not appealing in the least. But I really did not want to put my ass cheeks on Ryan’s or Jax’s vehicles.

  I had some pride, after all. Not much. But some. As we exited the clearing, I didn’t bring up the lemon bar tasting, and neither did the girls. Likely, it had skipped their minds.

  They were gushing about what their guys said or did. It was gross, but I suppose it was better than discussing their dongs again.

  “There’s Jax!” Evie smiled wide.

  My heart squeezed as I watched her light up like a Roman candle when she looked at her tall, smexy mate in his Sheriff’s uniform. He got out of the car and wolf-whistled at her, causing my bestie to squeal like a schoolgirl.

  I suppose that was a literal wolf whistle, him being a Shifter and all. Anyway, Evie jumped him right there, and the kiss they shared was enough to make me blush.

  Ryan pulled up next. Normally, he was polite to me. I mean, I was his boss, after all. But right then, the big bear Shifter only had eyes for Donny.

  “There’s my honey,” he growled, lifting her off the ground and spinning her in a circle.

  Donny’s laughter rang out like a bell. I hadn’t heard her make that sound since she was in junior high and had just gotten breast buds. My lips turned up involuntarily at the sound.

  Good for them. Really. I might not have meant it before, but right then, I was so thrilled for the two of them.

  Evie and Donny found their people, and that was amazing. Not wanting to draw attention to me and my sad solitary state, I turned and started to walk down the road.

  The sounds of giggles and smacking kisses were still audible. My heart squeezed, and I huffed out an irritated breath.

  No use being upset about it, Maribella. You made your choice, I told myself.

  But that did not mean I was okay with it. After all, living single was a valid life choice, and I didn’t owe anyone an explanation.

  So what if my friends had both found their forever people? That just wasn’t in the cards for me.

  Live alone. Bake alone. Cast alone.

  Maybe that could be my motto. But Donny and Evie were going to have families someday. From the way Evie had been touching her belly, my guess was someday would be soon. I suppose I never really thought about what would inevitably follow my choice to stay single.

  Die alone.

  Morbid much? Maybe. But what I really needed to do, and was avoiding like the plague, was examine why I was single. Was it really my choice because I wanted to be single, or was I too scared to take a chance?

  Everything good starts with a leap of faith.

  CHAPTER 6

  The walk home was long, and my skin was still tingling, but I was determined to get there. Couldn’t stay stuck out in the pine barrens all night. My soul felt heavy and my body achy.

  What was wrong with me? I had a pretty good idea, but admitting it sucked.

  “You gonna walk home, sweetheart?” a husky voice whispered from beside me.

  Where had he come from? I almost tripped over a knotted tree root at the surprising invasion of my personal space, but I caught myself as Conrad slid into step close beside me.

  He and his pals had rented the small cottage I owned behind the bakery before Ryan moved in with Donny and Jax with Evie. He was the only one there now, but I rarely saw him. Bakery hours were odd at best.

  My nerves tingled, whether from my recent magic use or his nearness, I didn’t know. I didn’t see his motorcycle, or his truck—and yes, I knew he had both. What was he doing here now?

  “Yep. Walking it is. I didn’t drive myself here,” I explained unnecessarily.

  He knew I didn’t drive. Conrad muttered noncommittally and kept pace a few more steps, sucking air through his teeth before he stopped me with a hand on my elbow.

  “Can I drive you home, Bella?”

  I pretended to mull it over. Who wanted to walk around in the middle of the night, through town, with their girly bits barely hidden beneath a robe—regardless of how spectacularly soft said robe was?

  Not this fluffy baker.

  “Fine. But it’s just a ride, Conrad. Don’t read anything into it.”

  “Anything you say, sweetheart. But just so you know, I’m up for a ride with you, anytime,” he replied with that patented panty-melting smirk I’d been dreaming about.

  His truck was immaculate, and I wondered if he’d cleaned it for me or if he was just naturally tidy. I liked a tidy kitchen, though I could be messy with things like laundry and my bed.

  The ride home was short. Maybe too short. I exhaled as he shifted into park, biting my lower lip. The truck engine purred, and I sat there a moment, just breathing in the scents of leather and glass cleaner. I was reluctant to leave.

  “Um, thanks for the lift,” I mumbled, not wanting to leave his company just yet, but finding no reason to stay—unless.

  “Hey, are you hungry?”

  “Me? Always, sweetheart,” he replied.

  His words were PG, but the glimmer in his emerald eyes was definitely rated R. Any more time in that cabin with him, and I was pretty sure we’d get the rating up to X.

  “Good. I had Petyr bring home some lemon bars from the bakery earlier today. I’m, uh, trying out a new recipe.”

  “Oh? Lemon is my favorite.”

  “Is it?” I pretended I did not know that, but it was something I’d picked up a while back. “So, do you want to come in and try a couple? Let me know if they are up to par?”

  There. Invitation made. The rest was up to him.

  “Oh, I don’t know. You said this was just a ride, Maribella. I wouldn’t want you to think I was being pushy or anything,” he answered, eyebrows raised.

  “Fine,” I growled, opening the door with more force than intended.

  I slid, ungracefully, out of the truck, landing hard on my feet. He didn’t want my goodies? Fine. Then, he just didn’t get them.

  “I didn’t say no, Bella,” Conrad said, suddenly right in front of me.

  Damn, the man moved fast. All Shifters did. Still, it was unsettling. One second, he was behind the wheel, the next he was right there. His firm, steady hand gripped my elbow, and my magic responded instantly, filling me with warmth and energy.

  “Up to you,” I mumbled, not wanting him to see how much he affected me.

  I slipped out of his hold and walked up the cobblestone path to my front door. I’d painted it a deep burgundy color to offset the beige siding. My color palette was a little all over the place.

  My kitchen was decorated in buttery yellow and brilliant white. I had a huge eight burner stove and four wall ovens. Natural wood cabinets lined the walls with frosted glass doors and brushed steel handles that matched the appliances.

  The living room was painted cool blues and grays. My bedroom was all pale mauves and creams. It was homey and comfortable—just the way I liked it.

  A wave of my fingers took care of the lock, tiny pink and white sparkles danced across my skin as the security spell did its thing. Ever since my shop started having unexpected visitors at night, I’d amped up both my work and my home alarm systems.

  My newly installed Draco Fortis Home and Office Alarm System was the best magical security tech available on the supernatural market. I upgraded the tech since the last time the arsonist broke into the bakery and added a half dozen cameras to the premises and my home.

  It came with rave reviews, and so far, so good. Opening the front door, a whiff of sugary lemon goodness reached me. It smelled divine, but I was still nervous. Or was that excitement?

  Hmmm.

  Maybe a bit of both. I wanted Conrad to like my recipe.

  “Smells great, sweetheart,” Conrad enthused.

  He took a deep breath and dropped a soft kiss on my cheek, squeezing my shoulders. The man loved to hug. My face heated at the unexpected gesture.

  “Follow me,” I murmured.

  I should have warned him earlier, flattery would get him anywhere with me. I didn’t even trust myself to speak, so I just led the way to my kitchen. Not like he didn’t know where it was.

  “Here,” I said, dishing out a couple of lemon bars onto a ceramic dessert plate while I put the kettle on. “Tea?”

 

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