Page 38 of Love’s a Witch (The Scottish Charms #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO Knox

I woke before Sloane, comfortable and cozied at her side, and took a moment to just savor how great I felt. Waking up, with her next to me, made me feel complete in a way that I hadn’t known I’d needed.

Her dark lashes fanned across her cheeks, and her hair was a tumbled mess around her head. I shifted, moving closer, and her eyes fluttered open, her gaze shifting to me.

I could see the instant she put her walls up.

It was almost physical, the way she protected herself, her expression going from sleepy and vulnerable to guarded in five seconds flat.

Which was fine. This was all fine. I had patience and I believed in my ability to gain someone’s trust. Sloane just needed to give me time, and I’d show her that I could be a constant in her life.

I grinned as she pushed up, rumpled and awkward, and made use of the bathroom, likely checking if there was another door out so she could slip away undetected. I rolled in the breakfast cart that I had called for, let a happy Blue in, and brought the food to the table with him at my heels.

When she came out, dressed once more in her own clothes, hair knotted back on top of her head, she skidded to a stop when she saw Blue sitting in his own chair at the table, a small plate of food in front of him.

“Oh,” Sloane said, her eyes darting around the room. Everywhere but my face, really. Smiling, I strode across the room and cupped her chin in my hand. Bending, I took her lips in a searing kiss that left no doubt about how I felt about her, and she moaned gently into my mouth, softening against me.

“Good morning, witchling. I wasn’t sure what you liked for breakfast, so I ordered a bit of everything.”

“Coffee,” Sloane said, swallowing thickly. Taking her hand, I nudged her into a chair.

“Did you have a nice night, buddy?” Sloane said, reaching out to scratch behind Blue’s wings, and he wiggled in his seat.

Oswald ran from me for part of the night, but once we ignored him, he came back to play.

“That sounds about right for Oswald.” I laughed and poured Sloane a cup of coffee.

“I love that you can hear Blue speak,” Sloane murmured, her face buried in the cup that I had handed to her.

The dragon left early this morning, before light, but said to tell us he’d be around if we ever need him. He was happy with whatever meal Henry fed him.

“Henry has a particular affection for dragons. As a forest ogre, I think his kin often interacted with them,” I told Blue.

“I really have so much to learn about this place. Like, I know we grew up knowing magickals were about, but I guess maybe it’s just that myopic nature of youth at times?

I think I was just so focused on my own stuff that I didn’t really ask too many questions about the others that lived in Briarhaven. ”

“Understandable.” I was pleased that Sloane was talking, sharing more about her past with me, and maybe I would be able to help her break down that wall she’d so carefully erected after she’d awoken.

“I think kids can be forgiven for not seeing the world around them more clearly. They’re still learning.

I only knew about most of the magickals because they were constantly in and out of the castle. ”

“I still can’t believe you grew up in a castle.” Sloane slanted me a look.

“It had its perks.”

“I bet.” Sloane quieted, her expression tightening as she eyed the drapes pulled back from the window to reveal softly falling snow. I sat across from her and crossed my arms over my chest, waiting.

“So.” Sloane took a few healthy gulps of her coffee, and I let her gather her thoughts.

This was where she was going to try to tell me that once was all we’d get of each other.

“So,” I repeated when the silence drew out, knowing she was struggling. “Why don’t we skip the part where you try to push me out of your life, and you just accept that I’m around for the long haul, and we take it day by day from here?”

Sloane’s mouth dropped open, and I wanted to pull her back to bed and kiss her until she forgot all of the insecurities that had crept back in this morning.

“I wasn’t going to push you out of my life,” Sloane grumbled, burying her face in her coffee again.

“Weren’t you?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Maybe just a wee bit of space,” Sloane conceded, and I laughed.

“Yeah, all that. Why don’t we skip it? Let’s just give this a proper go and see what happens. I reckon we’ll be quite happy if we do.”

“You make it sound so easy.” Sloane gulped her coffee at an alarming rate, and I filled another cup for her. “But I’m cursed. Nothing about dating me is easy. Why would you want to deal with all that?”

I couldn’t say aloud what I’d been thinking: Because I want you and feel as though I’ve been waiting all this time for you to come back.

“Because nothing great in life comes easily, Sloane. The hard work makes the reward that much sweeter.”

I beamed at her when she just stared at me, caught on my words, her brain trying to come up with some solution. At some point, she’d have to understand that I was the answer, not the problem. I’d just have to wait her out until she saw that I really meant what I said.

“But you don’t know me all that well, Knox. I’m fiercely independent. Difficult. Bitchy. Annoying. Ask my sisters.”

“And I suspect they’d all say a lot of great things about you too.

Nobody’s perfect, Sloane. And I like your sharp edges.

They challenge me. I don’t need everything in my life to come easily to me.

Will you give us a chance?” There, I’d laid it bare, holding my breath.

I wasn’t going to push her, not yet at least, but I really hoped she’d consider dating me.

“Like a trial run?” Sloane asked tentatively.

“Sure, a trial run. Some would even call it ‘dating.’ Let’s date, Sloane. No pressure. After you deem the trial run to be over, you can let me know if you’re keeping me or returning me.”

“Returning you to whom?” Jealously spiked in Sloane’s impossibly beautiful eyes, and I suppressed my grin.

“Just a turn of phrase, witchling.”

“Knox.” Sloane gave me a look. “I don’t stay.”

“Maybe you will… this time.”

“And if I don’t?”

“We can figure it out. There are always solutions, you know that.”

“You can’t leave here. Briarhaven is your home.”

“Maybe it is time for someone else to come run it a bit while I stretch my wings.” Reaching over, I patted Blue, who grinned up at me, a happy wee emberwolf.

“You make it sound so easy. But it’s not.”

“And you’re creating troubles for yourself before they’re here.

Listen. You said it yourself. Trial run.

We’ll take it a day at a time. Deal?” I reached my hand out to Sloane, and when she finally gave it to me, I turned it over and placed a kiss on her palm.

She shivered in her seat, and when I licked the skin, blowing a breath across it, she shivered again.

Slanting a glance at Blue, she pulled her hand back.

“Not in front of the children.” Sloane reprimanded me with a small smile, and I was grateful to see it. She was warming up to the idea of us, on her terms of course, and I’d take what I could get.

“Understood. Shall I give you a ride home?”

Sloane groaned and slapped her hands to her face. “I forgot! We don’t have a car anymore. Bloody hell, now what?”

“Take one of mine.” I shrugged and snagged a piece of bacon.

“What?” Sloane’s eyes widened.

“I have several. Just take one.”

“Oh my goddess. Is this what it is like dating rich people? I can’t just take a car, Knox.”

“Fine, I’ll gift it to you.”

“Have you lost your mind ? You don’t just give someone a car.”

“I have it on good authority it happens all the time. They even make these massive bows to put on cars. It’s a thing. Look it up.”

“I know it’s a thing.” Sloane sighed. “It’s just not our thing.”

“It can be.” I grinned when Sloane made a frustrated noise.

“No, it can’t. You need insurance, and title stuff, and all the adult things that go with getting a car. You can’t just give someone it.”

“Would it be easier if I buy you one? They’ll do all that at the dealership right then.”

“What? No.” Sloane rose, frustrated, and began to pace. Blue’s gaze followed her, his ever-present smile on his face. “You don’t need to buy my love, Knox.”

“I’m well aware of that.”

“So why in the world would you offer me a car?”

“Because I’m your friend and you need one? I can just lend you the use of it if that makes you feel better. Insurance should cover driving in my car.”

“Just a loan?” Sloane eyed me suspiciously.

“Sure. We’ll call it a trial run.”

Sloane’s expression turned mulish, and I waited, hoping she would laugh, and when a smile broke through, I sighed in relief.

“Damn it.” Sloane shook her head and waved for Blue to fly into her arms. He slammed into her chest with the grace of a toddler hopped up on too much sugar. “Fine, Knox. I will accept your extremely temporary loan of a car until we figure out a better solution.”

“You’re welcome.” I grinned when Sloane slanted me a look.

“Thank you,” Sloane added, stiffly at that. I wanted to hug and kiss her until she relaxed, just eased up a bit, but I knew this wasn’t the time. Not yet. It was going to be incremental, with her, and I well understood why. So long as she gave us a fighting chance, I’d be happy.