Page 18 of Air Of Mystery (Witches On The Hill #4)

Silently reminding myself that it wasn’t polite to ogle his butt…

Still, as he was a few paces ahead of me, I couldn’t help but admire that backside. Those khaki slacks somehow showed it off to perfection.

Once we walked into the space, I was pleased to find that as I’d requested, the staff had set up two long tables for the food on one side of the room, while the chairs and white tablecloth covered rounds for the shower guests took up the rest of the space.

A single club chair was centered in front of the fireplace so Brynn could open her gifts within sight of everyone.

I took my wrapped gift directly to the stone hearth of the fireplace and set it down. Then I placed the bag of decorations on the nearest round table. “Thanks,” I said as he placed the food containers on a long banquet table.

“Do you need me to stay and help set up?” he asked.

I peered over the tops of my sunglasses at him. “You ever volunteered for duty at a bridal shower before, sailor?”

Charlie’s lips twitched. “No, but I think I can handle it.”

“This isn’t some Hallmark Channel type of thing,” I said, using his own words from a few days before. “Many of the guests are Witches. It can get pretty wild.”

Now he grinned. “That’s funny. You got me.”

I tucked my shades on top of my head. “I’ve got this. I’m going to take the next hour and put the decorations in place before Kenna, Cordelia and my mother arrive.”

“You’re not going to wait for them to help you?”

“No,” I said. “I want this all done so my sisters and mom can simply enjoy the day without running around and stressing over everything.”

“That’s very kind of you Skye.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “You sound surprised.”

He stared at me for a long moment. When he finally spoke, he changed the subject. “Brynn dropped off the flowers last night. I’ll go bring them in for you.”

I watched him leave and allowed myself a moment to consider the space and the set up.

Setting my purse aside, I dove into arranging the napkins and the plates that I’d purchased.

At Brynn’s request everything had an autumnal theme.

So, I fanned out scarlet, burnt orange and gold paper napkins, arranging them at one end of the banquet tables.

I was opening a package of coppery-colored plastic knives and forks when Charlie walked back in carrying two boxes full of floral arrangements.

“Where do you want them?” he asked.

I rushed over to help as he placed them on the bar. Lifting out the largest one, I said, “This one goes on the mantel.”

“How can you tell?” he asked.

“Because when your sister is a gardener and a floral designer, you learn quick what style of arrangement goes where.”

“I’m supposed to tell you that Jaxon will be in to set up the bar in about an hour.”

“Thank you,” I said. Placing the low and oblong arrangement at the center of the mantel, I stepped back a few paces and made some adjustments. “There.”

“It looks nice,” he said. “Did the flowers all come from your sister’s garden?”

“Most of them did.”

“Where do you want the smaller arrangements at?” he asked.

I smiled and returned to where he stood with the other flowers. “The rest will go on the center of each guest table.”

“They smell fantastic,” he said, “even though I don’t know what some of these flowers are.”

Lifting up one of the smaller arrangements, I pointed to a bright red flower. “This is a dahlia. In the language of flowers, it symbolizes love, passion and strength.”

He picked up another arrangement from the long box to study it. “I recognize the sunflowers.”

After placing the first table arrangement at the center of a table, I pointed out a stem of bright red and yellow flowers. “These are snapdragons. They represent adoration and they mean: you are dazzling but dangerous.”

He smiled at that.

“I was referring to the language of the flowers,” I was quick to say, “but come to think of it—the message could also apply to you.”

“Thank you.” He smiled. Turning the arrangement that he held, he pointed to another flower. “What about this one?”

“That’s goldenrod,” I explained as I walked back to him. “It’s for good fortune.”

“And these yellow ones, are they daisies?”

“Chrysanthemums,” I corrected, stopping directly in front of him. “They embody cheerfulness.”

We were face to face now, and my heart was starting to beat faster.

“And the orange roses?” he asked.

“Orange roses signify energy and desire,” I said, and it was everything I had to keep my voice steady.

“Desire, eh?” His lips quirked.

“Yes.” My voice had dropped to a husky whisper. “Desire.”

“Well, I have to admit,” he said, leaning forward, “they’re really working.”

He moved in slowly. Slowly enough that I could have easily dodged him if I wished, but I didn’t. I stayed where I was and lifted my mouth to his, meeting him halfway.

His lips captured mine and my brain fizzled out. I stopped thinking, and instead it was all about feeling. He nipped slightly at my bottom lip, and my heart leapt against my ribs. When he brushed his tongue against my mouth I opened for him and then he swooped in for a deeper kiss.

I reached for his waist to anchor myself as our kiss continued. The scent of the roses from the arrangement that he still held only added to the romance of the moment. Eventually, he eased back, and we stood staring at one another.

Belatedly, I realized that I still had my hands on him, while he’d kept his hands off me while we kissed, and for some reason, that only made it hotter.

“Skye?” His voice was low.

I lifted my hands from his waist. “I’ll be honest with you Charlie,” I said. “I still wonder what it would have been like between us that night if we hadn’t been derailed by rescuing Kenna and Tyler.”

“So do I,” he said. “I think about that a lot.”

“I regret very few decisions that I’ve ever made, but tossing down that glamour and disappearing on you while we argued? That’s one of them.”

Charlie set the arrangement aside. “What time do you expect the bridal shower to be over?”

“We have to be out by six,” I told him. “The staff have to flip the room for a wedding tomorrow.”

“Okay.” He nodded. “Afterward, come over to the carriage house and we can talk more.”

“Talk?”

“We can start there,” he said, his voice and eyes steady. “And we’ll see where we end up.”

“We’ll see where we end up,” I agreed and turned blindly toward the box and grabbed two more centerpieces.

“You’re not nervous to be alone with me, are you?” he asked.

“No,” I said, although I was. Walking away to place the arrangements, I glanced at him from over one shoulder. “But in all honesty, Charlie, if you ever kiss me like that again...we had better be alone.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You definitely should,” I told him.

I went back to the boxes of flowers and reached for more, but before I could take ahold of them Charlie reached out and cupped one side of my face. “See you later, then.”

I stayed still, waiting to see what he would do, but he didn’t try and kiss me again. Instead, he trailed his fingertips delicately over my jaw as he released me. He stepped back, gave me an easy smile, and left.

“Holy shit,” I whispered to myself once he was out of earshot.

I continued to watch him until he traveled down the hall and out of my sight. I was shaking and wasn’t sure if that was down to him, or if it was from all the held back desire we had for one another.

Blowing out a calming breath, I shook myself off and dove back into setting up the rest of the decorations for my sister’s bridal shower.

***

“That was awesome ,” my cousin Soleil said to me a few hours later.

“Thanks, Sunny.” I nodded as I gathered any remaining napkins, unused plates and cutlery from the shower.

“Looks like my mom and Luna are taking out the last of the gifts to pack into Brynn’s car,” she said.

“Oh. Good. Thanks.” Taking in the room, I saw that Brynn and Cordelia were deep in conversation with Gabriella Marquette. Kenna was chatting with her extremely pregnant bestie, Angela, and also Amanda Beaumont-Parker and Estella Marquette.

Estella had been polite to me during the shower but had kept her distance. I was more than fine with that.

A second later, I found myself in a one-armed hug from Drusilla Midnight-Rivers.

“Beautiful shower,” she said, “and thank you for the flowers.”

“You’re welcome,” I told her. “Brynn especially asked for you to have a table arrangement to take home.”

Brynn stepped forward. “It’s the least I can do, Dru, considering you’re going to share fall florals from the hotel gardens so I can pump up my wedding centerpieces.”

Drusilla grinned. “I’m not going to lie, I’m excited to help you arrange them. I’ve always wanted to learn more about floral design.”

Camilla Midnight-Ames joined our group. “Dru, you do fine. You’ve already been helping Gabriella with the floral arrangements at the hotel for the past few years...”

“This is different,” Dru argued.

“Never hurts to learn more,” I added.

“Exactly.” Dru nodded at that.

Now Amanda joined us, and I tipped my head toward Angela where she sat. “If your sister makes it another forty-eight hours without going into labor,” I said, “I’ll be shocked.”

Amanda smiled. “I overheard her telling Arianna and Kenna that her back is bothering her.”

“Back labor?” Camilla asked.

“Possibly,” Amanda said. “I’ll go and—”

Before anything else was said, my Grandma Althea was standing over Angela and fussing. “You should be home and off your feet young lady!”

“I’m fine,” Angela told her. “Just uncomfortable.”

My grandmother planted her hands on her hips. “I heard you tell Kenna that you only have two days until your due date.”

Angela sighed. “The doctor says first babies are notoriously slow to make an appearance, and that I should get off the edge of my chair.”

Grandma rolled her eyes. “What do doctors know? That baby is ready and so are you. Go home. Rest.”