Page 21 of Charmed, I’m Sure (Witches of Bellevue #1)

Man Hating Cat Club

Magnolia

Hours had passed, and I could hear the storm subsiding; the wind shifted from a howl to a whistle, the rain dwindling to a gentle pitter-patter on the roof.

Yet, despite the calm settling in, I couldn’t get closer than a foot to Taylor.

Every time I tried, my furry little bodyguard would whine, stretching his long body up my side or twining in circles around my legs until I finally scooped him up.

The one time he ventured close enough to brush a strand of hair behind my ear, Meowfoy growled. Growled! I’d never heard him make that sound in my life.

When his interference escalated to the point where Taylor and I couldn’t even have a conversation, I scooped him up and made my way to the vinyl booths lining the main area of my shop.

“What is your deal?” I whispered as I settled him in my lap.

His head nudged my cheek, his thoughts trickling into my mind as if they belonged there. “I don’t like him.”

“You’re a cat. You don’t like anyone.”

“Not true. I love my witches. It’s these mundane beings that I don’t like.” Disdain dripped from his words, prompting me to roll my eyes.

“Why don’t you like him?” I kept my voice low, but I was sure I looked like a crazy cat lady scolding her fuzzy companion.

His purr resonated like a dull roar as he rubbed his head beneath my chin. “He’s a man. I don’t trust him.”

I snorted softly, shaking my head slightly as I stroked his back and tail. “Meowfoy, you don’t even know him.”

“I know enough. I remember the tears from all those years ago. I remember his name. I know what he did to you.”

Mother, help me. It felt like the thoughts still tickling the back of my mind funneled into his, and were parroted back with startling clarity. I tried to use the same logic thrown at me. “We were children. I’ve grown. I’ve changed. He seems to have, too.”

Meowfoy huffed through his nose, those icy blue eyes landing on my face, filled with skepticism. I knew cats could be judgmental, but geez.

“Just give him a chance. And if he hurts me, I give you permission to shit on his pillow.”

His eyes narrowed slightly before shifting over my shoulder, likely to where Taylor was watching us. Yep, don’t mind me—just a crazy cat lady.

Groaning internally, I pressed my brow against Meowfoy’s head as his words came out as a low growl. “Fine.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, kissing his furry little head before setting him down on the bench. He turned in a circle twice before finally sinking down onto the vinyl, his front paws curling under him until he resembled a loaf of unbaked bread dough.

When I returned to the kitchen, I let out a heavy breath. “Sorry about that.”

Taylor raised an eyebrow, his gaze flicking to the blob of fur across the room before quickly redirecting back to mine. “Everything alright over there?”

“Yeah,” I said with a nervous chuckle. “He’s just a little… protective.”

With a slight nod, Taylor hesitantly wrapped his hand around mine, pausing as his eyes darted back toward the bench before gently pulling me closer.

“As much as I would love to pick up where we left off—”

“It’d be a bit awkward with my cat glaring at you?” I finished for him, a wry smile lifting my lips.

“Yeah, something like that,” he chuckled in response.

Silence settled between us, but my heart thundered in my ears as Taylor’s thumb traced circles around the pulse point in my wrist. I opened my mouth to say something—anything—to break the tension taut between us, like a rope in a tug-of-war, when his phone beeped from the counter behind him.

“Shit.” He grabbed his device, flipping it screen up to reveal a red, blinking battery symbol.

“Oh, crap. I’m sorry. I think I have a flashlight somewhere in the kitchen or the office.

Why don’t you look around out here while I check in there?

” Hesitancy flickered in his eyes for the briefest moment, as though he feared I would vanish if he let me go.

Tightening my grip on his hand, I offered him a small smile. “I’ll be right back.”

Pulling my phone from my pocket, I switched on the flashlight and headed toward my office, exhaling a heavy sigh as I slipped through the door. There had to be a flashlight somewhere. But after drawer after drawer yielded nothing, I sank into my chair with a groan.

“Find one?” Taylor called from down the hall.

“No. You?”

“No. It looks like there are emergency lights, but they should’ve turned on when the power went out.”

Fucking hell. I’d completely forgotten about those stupid things. I hadn’t needed them in the past, having magic on my side, but hindsight was twenty-twenty, I guess.

Taking a deep breath, I muttered an illumination incantation, releasing a tendril of magic to kick-start the emergency lights—crossing my fingers that it worked since I’d never bothered to see if they even functioned.

A faint glow filtered down the hall and into my office, followed by a yelp and a crash that had me leaping from my chair.

“Taylor? What happened—” I slapped a hand over my mouth, desperately trying to stifle the laughter bubbling in my throat.

Taylor—who was now sitting on the floor surrounded by bowls and cake tins—pointed an accusatory finger at me, his brows knitted together as a smile threatened to break free. “Don’t. You. Dare.”

The tiniest chuckle escaped my lips, and his eyes widened.

“Magnolia,” he growled, attempting to push himself up from the floor. But every move he made sent metal clattering against metal, creating a symphony of clangs that filled the space.

I tried, I really did, but I couldn’t hold back any longer. My laughter erupted from my chest, intensifying when he nearly slipped on a bowl behind him.

My stomach cramped, my cheeks ached, and tears threatened to spill from my eyes as I leaned against the counter for support.

When he finally found his footing, his eyes locked onto mine, retribution gleaming in their sapphire depths as a cocky smirk played at the corner of his lips. “You’re going to pay for that.”

“What?” I gasped through my hysteria.

Carefully navigating the scattered baking supplies, Taylor began to stalk toward me. My laughter faded as I swallowed hard, my heart pounding as his eyes burned into mine. I felt like a deer caught in headlights, rooted to the spot by the flames in his gaze.

“Taylor,” I breathed, finally finding my voice and willing my feet to move.

“You want to laugh, sunshine? I’ll give you something to laugh about.”

“Taylor… what… what are you doing?” I asked as he slowly advanced.

“Are you ticklish, Magnolia?” he asked, tilting his head slightly as that smirk deepened.

“What? No.” My eyes widened like a full moon on a clear night. When my brain finally caught up, my feet finally started moving. “Nononononono. Taylor,” I admonished, holding my hands out as if warding off a wild animal.

“Magnolia,” he said my name in a tone heavy with the promise of torture.

No one in their right mind liked to be tickled, but the butterflies in my stomach hadn’t received the memo because they were currently taking flight, performing acrobatics.

With each step I took back, Taylor advanced. I hadn’t realized we’d rounded the entire island until my heel struck a bowl, the sound ringing through the quiet and pulling my focus for the briefest moment.

But that second was all he needed, and he pounced.

Strong and determined, yet still gentle, his fingers danced along my sides, sending me into a fit of giggles. When a snort—unbidden and without my permission—escaped, I clamped my hands over my mouth and shut my eyes tight.

Taylor’s hands stilled on my waist, and I felt him lean closer, his breath warm against my ear as he whispered, “Did you just snort, sunshine?”

Oh, ruler of the underworld. Open your depths and swallow me whole, because there is no way in hell I can face him after that absurd sound came from my face holes.

Taylor

Magnolia’s face could make a red rose envious, and it was the cutest thing I’d ever seen. Her hands shifted from covering her mouth to completely shielding her face as she thudded her head against my chest.

“Mags, baby. Look at me,” I said with a soft chuckle. When she simply shook her head, I gently grabbed her wrists and nudged her head away from my chest. “Why are you hiding?”

“Because that was embarrassing,” she groaned into her palms. Slowly, her hands fell from her face, revealing piercing aqua orbs that locked onto mine. “You could’ve been a gentleman and ignored it, but nooo.”

A snort of my own escaped at her dramatics, and her bright eyes narrowed. “Why would I ignore something I find endearing?”

“Endearing?”

“Yes, Mags. Endearing. In the span of, what, five minutes? I’ve learned two new things about you.

” Her brow quirked, and she looked at me like I’d lost my mind.

Who knows, maybe I had. But I also wasn’t wrong.

“I now know you’re ticklish, and when your laughter really gets going, you make the cutest little snorting sound this side of the Mississippi. ”

She turned her lips inward, trying and failing to suppress her smile as she rolled her eyes in response.

“You keep blushing like that, and I’m going to want to see how far down it goes.”

Her bottom lip disappeared between her teeth, her eyes locking onto mine as flames danced in their depths. Then she pinched them closed and groaned out my name—not in the good way, either. “What is it?”

“We—” she rested her palms on my chest, her fingers rubbing along the fabric of my t-shirt. “We should probably slow down.”

“Slow down…” I repeated, running my hands up her arms and down her sides to her waist, relishing in the way goosebumps followed my touch. Her lips curled inward as she finally raised her eyes to meet mine.

“Yes,” she breathed, her hands curling into fists around the fabric.

“Mags, baby. Your lips are saying one thing, but your body is saying something else entirely. Help me out here.”