Page 5 of Hooked on a Demon (Leeside Witches #3)

Declan

E liana.

His eyes meet hers, and it’s like time stops.

Fuck, he hasn’t seen her in years. Despite being his best friend’s little sister, she had moved away before he became friends with Everest. They’ve managed to run into each other the odd time at their family home, but it’s always been in more of a passing than anything substantial.

He places his hand on the desk to steady himself.

The feel of the wood under his hand brings him back to reality. The one where Ellie stands in his shop.

“Eli… ana. What brings you here?” he says, sharper than intended, trying to swallow the strange urge to go to her, and the power rises to the surface of his skin. He doesn’t mean for it to come out that way.

“Well, this is a mechanic’s shop, and I have a car that needs repair.”

“And you chose my shop?” he asks, eyes wandering down her body, making a mental note of the curve of her hips. Did she always look this fucking good in tights and oversized sweaters?

“I thought the name sounded familiar, but I didn’t know this was your shop. I chose the closest one to where I broke down.”

Still stunned and trying to process how she wound up at his shop, he can only say, “I see.”

“Now that you’re up to speed. I’m already late for work and would prefer not to spend longer here than needed. So can you take a look and let me know what the issue is and how much it’ll cost?”

He shakes his head, clearing the way his brain has short-circuited.

She wants him to look at her car.

Yes.

He’s a mechanic.

He needs to go and look at her car.

Finally coming back into himself, he switches into mechanic mode. She’s a regular customer. He can do this.

He steps out from behind the desk, moving toward her, but she steps to the side, allowing him space to move past and keep distance between them.

Eliana unlocks the door for him, and he pops the hood.

He does a quick check and then asks her to try starting it.

It whirrs sadly and then dies. He walks over to the driver’s side where she opens the door, thankfully not whacking him with it.

“It could be a starter or battery. I’ll have to get it into a bay for a better look. ”

She flops her head back on the headrest. This is clearly not the answer she wanted. “How long will that take?”

“Probably a couple of hours.”

She gives a resigned sigh. “Fine.”

“Come back inside, and we can get you into the system,” he responds, trying to sound positive despite the unusual nerves churning in his stomach. She follows him in and within a few minutes, she is all set up. “I’ll give you a call when I have a confirmed answer, and you can decide from there.”

“Fine,” she practically grunts at him. She turns and walks toward the door, dialing a number into her cell as she does.

“I can give you a ride to work, you know, if you want,” Declan calls after her, not knowing why these words fly out of his mouth.

“It’s fine. I’m calling a cab.”

“It will save you some money,” he says. He recalls Everest always saying she’s afraid to spend money, and given the potential cost of fixing her car, he can understand that she may want to save every penny she can.

She stops, hesitating, contemplating whether it’s worth it.

“Fine,” she evidently relents.

Declan leans over, picking up his keys from the side of the desk. He calls into the shop, letting one of the other guys know to bring her car in and that he’ll be back shortly before leading her around the corner to where he’s parked.

“No. Absolutely not,” she says.

“It’s what I drove to work today.”

“I am not getting on the back of your motorcycle.”

“Look, we can stand here and bicker, and you can eventually agree to get on, or you can agree now and save the energy,” Declan says, picking up his helmet and sliding it on before swinging a leg over the top.

He pulls the extra helmet he carries around out of the cubby at the back and hands it to her.

Glaring at him with the most beautiful hazel eyes, she takes it and puts it on.

She swings a leg over and settles behind him.

Her arms wrap around his stomach, and he will deny it until the day he dies, but he swears butterflies soar in his stomach as she embraces him.

He’s spent years chasing this feeling. No one has ever been able to make him feel anything other than hollow.

Now, his best friend’s sister is here with her arms begrudgingly wrapped around him and his mind is busy spinning through all the ways he can try to keep her there. “Wanna tell me where we’re going?”

“Strike a Pose dance studio.”

“Which is where, exactly?”

“Get us to the corner of Frost and Hemlock, and I’ll direct you from there,” she says flatly.

Declan nods quickly before leaning the bike slightly to release the kickstand and pushing the start button. The bike roars to life beneath them, the familiar vibration calming his fluttering stomach.