Page 39 of How to Flirt with a Witch

I narrow my eyes.Master of topic changes.

Maybe she doesn’t want to talk about her family. That’s fine. I can save those questions for another day.

I bend to examine the shelf she’s pointing to. Trinkets, a toaster, a mustard-yellow rotary phone. “I feel like a sniffer dog searching for drugs.”

She huffs out a laugh and pats my hair. “Good girl.”

I freeze. So does she.

Oh. My. God.The effect of those words isembarrassing.

She steps back and clears her throat. “Sorry. I meant—the dog thing—that wasn’t—”

She’s so awkward and mortified that I can’t help bursting into laughter. “Stop it, Natalie.”

At my reaction, she relaxes into a bashful smile.

But I can’t unhear it. My head tingles where her hand touched me, and the fluttering in my chest is traveling lower, intensifying.

I reach for the rotary phone and dial a couple of numbers, watching it spin back with a whirr. “Do you have a vague idea of what kind of object I’m looking for?”

I can’t meet her eyes. My face is hot. I’m tingling in places I shouldn’t be tingling.

“It can be anything,” she says. “Like you saw, it can range from a kitten to a doll.”

“If you can’t tell me why these things are cursed, can you tell mewhois cursing them?”

“That’s not something you need to know.”

I shoot her a glare. “You promised you’d answer my questions.”

“Some, not all.”

“Why?”

Her brow pinches. “Some are too dangerous to be answered. Others would get me in trouble.”

“Intriguing.” I peek inside a slow cooker, pick it up, and examine it from all angles. Only minor blemishes.

Natalie checks over her shoulder and steps closer. “Do you feel something?”

“I might buy it. I’ve been thinking I should get one of these so I can come home to comfort food after class.”

She sighs and keeps walking.

I grin. “So if we find something cursed, will you destroy it again byunleashing a vial of goo on it?”

“More smoothly than last time, I hope.”

“You’re carrying a vial now?”

“Yes.”

I leave the slow cooker, intending to come back for it, and keep walking. We move onto used books, the scent of old paper wafting at us from four overflowing bookcases. Their colorful spines, worn and cracked, span a range of genres. Still, no sense of anticipation creeps in, and worry settles over me. What if I can’t find one? Will she drop me off at home and that’s it?

“How does a person end up in the business of destroying curses?” I ask.

“The word you’re looking for is neutralize. I neutralize curses.”