Page 64 of Not Your Ex's Hexes
“Just have a lot of different thoughts occupying my headspace right now. It’s what usually happens after surviving one of my mother’s dinner parties.” She smiled, but this time it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “My mom’s been taken over by a pod person and that pod decided she wants grandchildren.”
Damian chuckled, playing with a strand of her hair. “Grandchildren, huh?”
“She even invited the perfect son-in-law. Handsome. Smart. Connected. And your brother.”
His fingers froze on her cheek as a heavy knot swelled in his stomach. “Your mother set you up with Julius?”
“Tried and failed, miserably.”
“Did he spend the entire night talking about himself and all his accomplishments?”
“We actually spent most of it talking about you.” She nibbledher bottom lip again, looking hesitant. “You didn’t tell me about the hex.”
He froze.
All thoughts. All movement. It wasn’t until Rose spoke again that he remembered he could do either. He released his hold on her and stepped back, creating much-needed physical distance. The hurt on her face when she registered it was impossible to miss, and damn if he didn’t want to take it away.
Instead, he stayed put. “I didn’t, and for a reason. It has no bearing on anything we’re doing.”
“No bearing?”
He shook his head. “This FBA means no attachments, right? No attachment means no involved feelings. No feelings means I’m not obligated to talk about what happened a million years ago.”
“To talk about the fact that some witch hexed you…” She looked at him as if he had two heads. “And you’re okay with that? With never experiencingmore?”
Damian tugged a frustrated hand through his hair before tossing the remaining fencing supplies into the back of the truck in hopes of escaping this conversation. “It’s not like I have any other choice. It was a Soul Hex. There’s no going back from that even if the witch who performed it wanted to, which I can assure you she doesn’t.”
He’d asked multiple times before Cal made it clear she wasn’t about to make his life easier until he learned his lesson… whatever that lesson was. He’d even sought out other witches in the hopes that they’d be able to remove it, but if there was one thing his ex was, besides magically talented, it was thorough.
No onehad the power to break it. It was something with which he’d had to come to grips.
Rose followed him to the truck, obviously not giving up. “That doesn’t make it right, Damian.”
“Nope.” He slammed the tailgate closed before turning to seeher hands propped on her hips, fury lighting up her eyes. “But it is what it is. There’s nothing to do but accept it and move on with my life. If that’s something you can’t do, then we don’t have to go any further here.”
She blinked, startled by his suggestion. “You want to end our arrangement?”
“Fuck no.” He slowly stalked closer, giving her ample time to back away or warn him off. When she did neither, he eased his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against him. “No, little witch, I don’t. I want to tell Miguel and Terrance to make themselves scarce, carry you upstairs, and fuck you until we both drop unconscious… but you have other plans.”
She slid her palms up his arms and played with the hair at his nape, her touch lighting a fire deep beneath his skin. “You fight dirty, but you already know that, don’t you?”
“All’s fair in fucking and orgasms, babe.”
With a chuckle, she shimmied from his hold. “Maybe, and as much as I want to take you up on your offer, I fear Vi’s wrath more if I bail on Girls’ Night. And while my head’s clear of all your orgasm-talk, I had an idea for an adoption fair, but I’m still working out the plan. I’ll let you know when I’m ready to share.”
“Sounds good… but it would sound even better if you shared it while you were naked and in my bed.”
“I’ll see what time I’m done with my thing tonight, and maybe I’ll give you a call.”
Damian chuckled. “You’ll be giving me a booty call?”
“Guess you’ll wait and see, won’t you?”
With a coy wink, she headed toward the barn where she said goodbye to Miguel. All Damian could do was stare, watching her get into her car with a short wave. So preoccupied with watching her go, he didn’t see Terrance or the kid’s shit-eating smirk.
“It’s so freakin’ cool, isn’t it?” The kid interjected his thoughts. “I know I shouldn’t be surprised. Anyone who was trained to bethe Prima witch has to be one of the biggest Supernatural badasses around, but still… I can’t wait to say that I know a real Supernatural bounty hunter.”
A bowling ball formed in Damian’s stomach. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Terr.”
