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“Ms. Primrose, are you keeping secrets from me?”

“Nooooooo. It’s something special, and I don’t like people knowing about it.”

Sam freed Alice from the binding of her arm. She leaned back against Alice’s workstation and crossed her arms to push up on her chest. She pouted her lips and batted her eyes. This was Sam’s seductively, manipulative way to get what she wanted, and it worked every time. Alice’s heart fluttered.

“If you tell me, I’ll let you do that thing you like.” Sam batted her eyes again.

Alice bit her lip and smiled. She hid her face, lost in thought about their nightly exploits. She loved Sam and their little playful back-and-forth teases. It was fun, exciting. It was ambrosia for her soul.

“It’s a love spell,” Alice relented.

“A love spell?” Sam asked, standing up. She placed a hand on Alice’s shoulder and tilted her head. “Ms. Primrose, have you been putting a love spell on me?”

Her touch sent a wildfire through her body. Each passing moment was glorious torture as her body craved Sam.

“It’s not like that,” Alice responded.

Sam placed her other hand on Alice’s other shoulder. She turned her slightly, so they were face to face. Sam tilted her head forward. The smoldering expression on her face caused Alice’s heart to melt.

“So, what’s it like?” Sam asked.

She leaned in. Their bodies pressed against each other. The magnetic pull between their two souls drew them closer.

She continued in a low whisper, “Tell me.”

Alice wanted to tell her. She wanted to tell her everything, but she couldn’t. For all of Sam’s teasing and flirting, Alice’s intuition beckoned her to not reveal the truth. The less Sam knew, the better, so its true secret remained hidden.

“It’s a spell to strengthen the bonds between two lovers. That’s all.”

Sam pulled back, still holding onto Alice’s shoulders. “Then let’s make it.”

“We can’t,” Alice said.

The pouty, flirty expression on Sam’s face was replaced with a discerning look “Why not?”

“Because I promised my grandmother I wouldn’t make it.”

“Forget your grandmother. Let’s make it and see what it does.”

“I’m not going to do it.”

Sam let go of Alice. She slumped her shoulders and smacked her hips out of frustration. She turned away from Alice. “Why not?”

“Because it’s a stupid spell,” Alice said. She thought of an excuse, a lie to tell Sam to get her to stop asking. “I think it only works once, and both people have to be in love.”

Sam asked, “Are you not in love with me?”

The question sent Alice into a tailspin of emotions. What was holding her back from telling her the truth? Why not make it? Did she love Sam? The question repeated over and over in her mind. She didn’t know the answer.

“I am,” Alice said.

Sam crossed her arms and glared at Alice. “You are what?”

“I’m in love with you,” Alice said.

“Are you sure?”

Alice hesitated, her gaze sweeping around the room, stalling, trying to find the right words. Any words to defuse and end this conversation. All she could muster was the word, “Yeah.”