Witch Interrupted (38 page)

He glanced down at her, his expression relatively calm. On the stool, he was still taller than she was. “When can we go to Australia?”

“We?”

He frowned. “You won’t come?”

“I… I mean, I…” Her glasses had inched down her nose and she wanted to see Marcus’s face, not a blur. She tilted her head back. “What about Ba?”

“We’ll leave him primed wards and masks. I managed for a year without a witch at my side. So can he.”

“Really?” She wasn’t sure if she was asking whether Marcus really wanted her to come with him to meet his born family…or if he really thought it was a good idea to leave her father without a warden.

“Perhaps not,” Marcus said. “We’ll need to hire a sitter.”

“You just found out your sister isn’t dead and you’re an uncle.” Katie’s throat, which hadn’t quite lost the lump from her father expressing his feelings about their history, closed more. She coughed to clear it. “I’m so happy for you. I am. It’s going to be—I imagine it’s going to be—emotional when you see Elisa again. I’m so happy for you.”

“You mentioned that.”

“Don’t you want a chance to be with your family? Just your family?”

“That’s why I assumed we’d go together,” he said. “If you insist on taking your father, I suppose he’s family too, but I confess, I don’t look forward to a transpacific flight with Zhang Li.”

“Are you saying you consider us family?”

Marcus blinked. “Is that, ah, well…” He fumbled for words. “I thought we understood one another on this matter.”

“I may have misunderstood a few things.” Giving up, she wedged her stupid glasses tight against her face. “We never discussed the particulars.”

“I recall mentioning to you in no uncertain terms how I felt about you leaving me. As in, I’d prefer that you didn’t.”

“That was when you were convincing me not to run off after Lars,” she said awkwardly.

“That and more.” Marcus dragged her against him, parting his legs so their torsos would line up. “Did I not specify a timeframe? Ever. I’d prefer you didn’t, ever, leave me.”

Ever. It had a solidity that comforted her. It promised she could live without constantly watching her back and wishing for something different. Like Marcus, it was something she could depend on. She slipped her arms around him and sighed.

“I’m not leaving you,” she said gently. If Mr. Rational couldn’t state plainly and factually why he wanted her to go with him, she wouldn’t feel right encroaching on his reunion. He’d come back to her, wouldn’t he? “I love you, Marcus. I just don’t want to intrude. You don’ t have to—”

“But I do,” he said. “Elisa is my sister. I’m overjoyed to know she’s alive and well and living her life. I hope she’s happy. I assume she’ll be happy to see me. But you’re the woman I love. The woman I choose. The woman who has killed me and saved me. The woman who means everything to me. Of course I want you to come to Australia. I’ll likely be gone for weeks. That’s too long for us to be apart.”

“Well, okay,” she said, trying not to let delight turn her soppy. He’d be confused by tears of joy. “I don’t know Australian, though. Should we try to learn some of the language before we go?”

Marcus lowered his chin, as if about to explain that Australians spoke English. She smiled. “Gotcha.”

“I disagree.” His hands glided from her back to her ass, sliding under her pajama pants. His long fingers cupped her possessively, and she shivered. “I would say, more, that I have you, Katie. Now what should I do with you?”

She had a few ideas involving once-per-second thrusts, but she decided to let him surprise her.

* * * * *

Jody Wallace grew up in the very rural South. Always eager to learn something new, Jody earned a master’s degree in creative writing. Aside from published author, her résumé includes college English instructor, technical documents editor, market analyst, web designer and general all-around pain in the butt.

Jody currently lives in Tennessee with her family: one husband, two kids, two cats. One of her many alter egos is “The Grammar Wench,” which should give you an indication of her character. She is a terrible pack rat and likes to amass vintage clothing, yarn, books, Asian-inspired kitchenware, gnomes and other items that threaten to force her family out of the house. She also likes cats. A lot.

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ISBN-13: 9781426897986

WITCH INTERRUPTED

Copyright © 2014 by Jody Wallace

Edited by Gina Bernal

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All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

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