“I have to call Nora,” I told the cat. “Come sit with me.” I left the kitchen, but the cat didn’t follow. Instead, she leapt to the floor, staring at the door.
“Fine.” I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed my aunt as I collapsed onto my sofa.
“Everything okay?” she asked when she answered.
My voice croaked. “I may have discovered what’s interrupting my magic.”
“That must be a relief. Is everything better now?”
The fact she couldn’t sense my thoughts should be evidence enough for her to know the answer. I remained silent, waiting for the mental probe that usually followed. It wasn’t forthcoming.
“Are you still there?” she asked.
“I am. Is everything okay with you?” Maybe she was experiencing issues, as well.
“As far as I know. What’s going on?”
The elephant sat on my chest again, making it difficult to breathe. “I think I’m pregnant.”
Her intake of air came through the phone clearly. “Have you told Kyle?”
“I haven’t slept with Kyle in months.”
She sputtered. “Are you suggesting immaculate conception?”
“No...”
Another intake of air. “You slept with the man from the grocery.”
I nodded, even knowing she couldn’t see me.
Ash moaned in the kitchen. I rose from the sofa to check on her and found her still staring at the door. “What...?”
“What’s going on?” Nora asked.
“It’s Ash. She’s acting strange.” I opened the door and nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw the tall, dark man on my stoop. “I have to go.”
Chapter 37
Ash leapt to Ian’s shoulders and purred.
I fumbled my phone to the counter, then clutched my hands together to control the shaking.
Ian set his hands on either side of the door frame, leaned forward and bowed his head, Ash draped around his neck. “You knock me off my feet every time I see you.”
“That makes two of us,” I breathed.
He met my gaze. “I saw your car outside the folly.”
I cleared my throat. “I wanted to talk to you, but I don’t know what else I can say. I’ve already told you I didn’t know Kyle answered my phone. Pretty sure I was puking my guts out at the time. He was doing his Boy Scout routine by helping me inside. That’s all.”
Ian looked over my shoulder. “Can I come in?”
I stepped aside and let him pass.
Ian pulled Ash into his arms and cradled her, stroking her fur. Lucky cat. I steeled myself for whatever he’d come to say.
He walked to the bay window behind the table and looked across the yard toward the woods. “I’m a jealous man, Brynn. An ugly trait, I know.”
“I can understand how you might have thought what you did, especially when Kyle led you to believe...”
When he turned to face me, his eyes glowed dangerously. I gasped.
“I didn’t throw you away, but I couldn’t bear the thought of you with another man, one I know you cared about—care about still?”
“I do care about Kyle. We have always been friends.” I took a step toward Ian. “My debt to him has been paid. When I met you, I found a part of myself I didn’t know was missing.” Tears threatened once more, definitely a hormonal imbalance, whether PMS or pregnancy. “You’ve come into my life during a period of upheaval, something that, unfortunately, seems to be more common where I’m concerned than the easy times. If you can’t trust me, you need to let me know now, while I’m still trying to right the ship, in a manner of speaking.”
He set Ash on the floor, stood before me and rested his hands on my shoulders. “Who threw you away?”
A tear escaped. “My best friend. My guardians. My high school boyfriend.”
He nodded slowly. “I dated a woman who played on my jealousy. She flirted with every man she met. The more I tried to advance our relationship, the more she flirted with other men, especially when we were together.”
“I never learned the fine art of flirting.” I met his gaze, determined to show him I was sincere. “When I’m with you, every other man fades into the background.”
He closed his eyes. The tenseness in his shoulders eased. “Good grief, Brynn. From the moment I met you, you shined light on the path that has been dark for so long. You are the air in my lungs. I can’t breathe without you.” He clutched me tight. “I feel I’ve known you forever, and yet I don’t know anything about you. That terrifies me.”
A shudder ran through me imagining how terrified he’d be with an unexpected baby.
He held me at arms’-length, studying my face. “I have no intention of throwing you away, but I can’t promise to be so understanding if anyone tries to steal you away from me.” He dropped to a knee, holding my hand. “I pledge myself to you, Brynn Taylor, but I ask the same in return. I need the same in return. I don’t want to be apart from you another day.”
My heart kicked. Was Ian just another man who wanted to control me?
From the beginning, Kyle had tried to solve my problems for me. Ian had flat-out refused to help me reverse the spell. He’d made his feelings for me plain, but he hadn’t pressured me.
My mouth was a desert, and nerves prickled my skin. I swallowed hard. “We will have challenges ahead,” I managed to say. “I need to know you aren’t going to throw me away like everyone else I’ve ever cared about.” I tugged him to his feet, staring into his eyes. “If I return your pledge, it means I will trust you more than my own insecurities. Can you promise the same?”
He nodded. “I admit, I gave into my insecurities when Kyle answered your phone, but this thing between us, this is extraordinary. I can’t imagine my future without you.”
I swallowed again, afraid to confess my fears to him, but if we were going to make it for the long haul, I couldn’t hold back. “Does your future
