“Well…thanks.”
He straightened. Whatever she needed to get through this. “It’s been a long day. Why don’t you get settled in? If you want, after I shower I can fire up the grill and cook those steaks. If you’re ready to eat.”
“I am. That sounds good.”
“About an hour, then.” He walked away, down the hall to his room, doing his best to focus on another woman. Alice Bishop.
He had no idea how long it would take her to free them from this spell, but it was time for a phone call and an update. Because at the rate he and Jenna were going, they were either going to end up in bed together or kill each other.
Or both.
Jenna closed the bedroom door and exhaled. Why on earth had she kissed him? To shut him up? To prove there was no attraction? Because she’d really, really wanted to?
Maybe all three. She sat on the bed and lay back, closing her eyes. If those were her reasons, she’d failed. She hadn’t shut him up. She hadn’t proved there was no attraction. And she still really, really wanted to kiss him again.
They’d been under this spell for less than a day, and she was already losing her mind. And her ability to ignore Titus. He was becoming more irresistible by the hour, which was fueling her bad mood and her crankiness.
It wasn’t a good combination. An irritable valkyrie could do impulsive things. Which clearly, she was prone to.
Maybe she could distract herself from thinking about the whole situation for long enough to relax. Unlikely, but worth a try. She pulled her phone out to call Birdie and found a text from her mom.
An old friend of yours from the service called, trying to track you down. Ingvar Swenson? Said she’s coming to Nocturne Falls for some R&R. I told her where you work and gave her your number. I hope that was okay?
Memories, most of them very good, filled Jenna’s head and made her smile. She and Ingvar had done their time in the ranks together and become close friends. It was a shame they’d fallen out of touch as life had taken over. Jenna typed in her response. Of course that was okay! I haven’t talked to Ingvar in ages. Thanks for letting me know. Love you.
With that sent, she dialed Birdie’s personal cell number.
“Hey, Jenna. How are you?”
“I’m okay. I know you’re off work for the day, so I won’t keep you. I just wanted to check in, see what had come of Deputy May talking to Pandora, or if anything was found at the house that might lead us to who planted that bomb?”
“Hold up. How are you feeling? Are you still at the hospital?”
“Pretty much like myself. And no, I’m at—” She almost said, Titus’s house. Birdie would know that soon enough, but Jenna wasn’t ready to share.
“Titus’s house?”
Jenna rolled her eyes. How did the woman know everything? “Yes, but please don’t say anything to anyone about that yet.”
“You have my word. Glad to hear you’re out of the hospital, though. Nothing new to share on the case yet, unfortunately. Pandora doesn’t have any exes or possible stalkers that she can think of. House is owned by the Lemmons. They’re selling because they’re moving to Illinois to be near their grandchildren. Nothing unusual going on with them either. Not that I can see. Still digging through their financials to check for anything strange.”
“Okay.” Birdie was nothing if not thorough. “No prints at the scene?”
“None so far that couldn’t be identified and explained.”
Jenna sighed.
Birdie clucked her tongue. “I know, it’s frustrating. I promise I’ll call the minute there’s something new.”
That lifted Jenna’s mood a bit. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”
“You got it. Now you better call your sister and let her know where you are.”
“I was just about to do that. Have a good night.”
“You, too, honey.”
Jenna said goodbye, hung up, then dialed Tessa’s number.
It took four rings for her sister to answer, and then she was out of breath. “Hello?”
“Did I catch you at a bad time?”
“No, no. Sebastian and I were just doing a little fencing. Are you still in the hospital? Home? What’s going on? Do you need me to pick you up?”
“Slow down. I’m not at the hospital anymore, so I don’t need you to pick me up.”
“You’re home? That’s good.”
“No, not home.” Jenna took a breath. “I’m at Titus Merrow’s. And will be until this spell is removed.”
“Say what now?”
“The spell is multilayered and has a binding aspect. If Titus and I get more than thirty yards away from each other, we end up in tremendous pain. Like the pain I was in when you pulled out of the parking lot.”
“A spell caused that? That’s not good. It was nice of him to offer up his house. Yours would have been kind of small for all that man.” Tessa snickered.
Jenna rolled her eyes. “Comments like that don’t help.”
“How’s the love spell part going?”
“It’s…going.”
“That’s not really an answer. Are you attracted to him? Outside of the spell, I mean. I know he gets on your nerves, but he’s also your kind of guy.”
“Back up. Why would you think he’s my kind of guy?”
“First of all, Real American Firemen is your favorite reality TV show.”
“It’s Real American Firefighters, and I don’t see what that has to do with any of this.” So what if she’d downloaded every episode and watched each one multiple times?
“Did you get knocked on the head too?” Tessa laughed. “Come on! He’s handsome, outdoorsy, good with his hands. He’s a first responder, like you, so you have all that in common. He comes from a strong family. He’s a supernatural like us. What’s not to like?”
“You said it yourself. He gets on my nerves.”
“Why is that?”
“Because he argues with everything I say.”
“So you said you wanted to stay at your house, and he refused?”
“I don’t mean that. I mean, like, whenever we’ve had to work together. The race, for example.”
