Page 24 of Hexed Up

He folds up his paper neatly and lays it back on the coffee table.

“Then that’s a risk I’m willing to take,” he pauses, “if you are?”

Am I?

The fine if I’m caught would leave me having to sell this flat for sure. My home.

But that’s onlyifI’m caught.

The butterflies are deranged in my stomach, my heart is pounding in my ears, and my palms are sweaty.

Do I want to kiss the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen in my life?Well, yes. If only for science.

Am I prepared for the mess it is likely to cause?Erm …

“Molly,” he says, beckoning me with his finger, “come here so I can kiss you.”

“I don’t think it’s a very good idea,” I point out.

“I think it’s a very good idea.”

Damn it, where is that demon friend when I need him? I can feel my resolve weakening with every second Mr Hottie stares at me with those underwear-melting eyes of his.

I’ve never been very good at following rules or thinking through the consequences of my actions.

His gaze rakes up and down my form and desire shivers right along my spine. Something I also thought only ever happened in romance novels.

“Molly, I can see you want me to kiss you. It’s written all over your face.”

And damn my stupid inability to lie.

“Maybe if we just stuck to kissing,” I concede, “it would be okay.” Kissing is pretty harmless, right? The kind of stuff kids get up to. I doubt it would impact the love potion’s potencythatmuch.

“Just kissing,” he says, holding up his right hand, “I swear.”

“Hmmm,” I say, not sure I can trust him. My experience of men is that they’re always in a hurry to progress things to the ultimate bounty, bypassing foreplay whenever they can. Not that we’re going to engage in foreplay. Just kissing. What harm can that do?

Holding my gaze, Horatio rolls up onto his feet and strides around the coffee table until he’s standing right in front of me. He’s impossibly tall and big and imposing and it makes my knees weak.

He holds out his hand and I place mine in his. I expect him to yank me to my feet and devour me straight away. It turns out Horatio Shaw, as well as being handsome, rich, and quite good company, is also a bit of a tease, because he pulls me up gently and slowly onto my feet.

And then we’re back to where we were on the staircase, staring at each other, only this time our hands are linked and his fingers are tracing the knuckles of mine, stroking my palm.

“I’ve wanted to kiss you all day.”

If that’s the case, what is he waiting for? He doesn’t seem to be in any hurry. Next thing he’s tucking the loose strands of hair behind my ear, and stroking his fingers along my jaw, a simple touch that has all those butterflies swooping low in my belly.

“For someone who’s wanted to kiss me all day, you’re taking your time about it,” I say, a little brattishly.

“You’re very impatient,” he tells me.

Except, usually I’m surprisingly patient. It’s just I’m feeling slightly desperate for this now.

“So you do want me to kiss you?” he asks.

“Yes.” I sigh, as he releases my hand and grips my waist instead.

“Or would you like–”