Page 12 of Sweets and Sycamores

PROMISE ME

“Alecsandra.” The name was charged with meaning, but his still expression was like the eerie calm before a storm that ravaged lands and blew off roofs.

Allie felt her knees go weak. She kept her hands hidden behind her back as if she could make them disappear, the skin damp and cold even after the spontaneous heating she had channeled.

Dominic had a right to know the truth; in fact, she should have told him about her power last night, when he had, indirectly, asked about it.

But she couldn’t ignore the part of her that feared he would let her go after discovering her uncontrollable fire.

Allie had hoped to stay for as long as she could at Dom’s Sweets.

Which, with her crazy power and bad luck, had been only two days.

“Alecsandra.” A warning, his tone louder and more urgent.

“Yes,” she relented, fighting the urge to squeeze her eyes shut. She held Dominic’s deeply green, deeply shocked eyes against her every instinct. “It’s fire.”

Dominic flinched as if she’d slapped him. He regarded her in a way that could mean so many different things, but she didn’t know this man. He could be thinking about firing her or murdering her. When he finally spoke, it was barely above a whisper.

“Fire?” The low sound was coated in shock and despair, and Allie wished he’d yelled at her instead.

Her breath hitched in her throat, but she nodded. Dominic was still as a statue, as if afraid that if he moved, she would set him on fire. That could very well be the case with her unpredictable power, but Allie pushed the thought away. She would never hurt anybody. Intentionally.

“And what, exactly, are you looking to learn about it here?” he hissed through his teeth.

Allie swallowed once, twice, trying to shove that lump from her throat to make room for the words that would determine her fate in Sycamore Falls.

Because if Dominic chose to kick her out, no way in hell anyone else in this town would take her in.

She didn’t get to be a coward now. Well, she was a coward, but she didn’t get to act like one. It was just a matter of time until the truth came out, and with her luck, it so happened that she’d only had a day to prepare for it. Time she hadn’t used to prepare for it.

“I need to learn how to control it.”

Dominic must have heard her wrong.

“What?” he barked, breaking his carefully built restraint. The Witch didn’t cower from him, but fear took charge of her features. He couldn’t tell if she was afraid of him or afraid to lose her place in Sycamore Falls.

“I don’t have it under control,” she repeated, and this only made Dom’s rage flare through his veins as if someone set him on fire. Ironically.

Dozens of scenarios flew through his head like a flock of uncoordinated geese. The bakery could spontaneously burn. His home could burn. His customers were in danger, and—

Mia.

He had seen some books in the bags Alecsandra had carried last night, meaning she’d already met his sister. The Witch had been at his sister’s business, a bookstore, a place full of paper and wood. He couldn’t suppress the shivers crawling down his spine at the thought.

But she was fine; Mia was fine. All of them were fine.

“I’ll go pack.” The hushed, small voice broke Dom’s spiraling, and he focused on the woman before him.

Dominic rarely used his magic to Read people.

He simply did not care enough to know about them, or understand them, or be around them.

He had few friends and was more than content that way.

Growing up, this strong sense of justice was instilled into him as soon as the nature of his magic came to light.

Most times, he had an unfair advantage using his magic, so he didn’t use it often.

But now was the time to make an exception.

He grabbed at that silken tendril of power hidden inside him, just enough to toss it at the Witch and see what answered. The power left him on a swift wind, and he felt it swirl around her, poking at her magic.

Dom picked up a sizzling heat, a restless energy, giddy to be let out. His magic caressed a strong but gentle power. Under all that tension, a pure kindness welcomed him, undeniably soft and warm. Did her random channeling happen only because she didn’t know how to control this fire?

He remembered the time when he had no idea what to do with the power outbursts, the strength he didn’t feel he was ready for. But he’d had his father’s guidance and his mother’s words of encouragement. Alecsandra clearly had no one, if her own coven had sent her away instead of trying to help her.

What if it was Mia?

He’d punch Brandon in the face for branding that thought into his brain with a hot iron. Just once, he’d punch him one time for this. Hard.

Dom realized he had been silent for too long when Alecsandra passed by him on the way out of the kitchen. The last thing she had said was about packing, and he’d said nothing. She must have taken his lack of response as a dismissal, although he hadn’t meant it like that.

Had he?

Living alone and not having to worry that everything he held dear could end up in flames sounded pretty sweet. But he still needed help around the bakery so he could focus more on his mission. And it would just be for a few weeks. He could endure it, but… Could his bakery?

“Don’t.” He was surprised at the command in his voice. He turned around, and it took a second for the feminine figure with the cherry-red bun to come back into view.

She kept quiet, but her eyes brimmed with water. He was uncomfortable around people crying, more so knowing he was the reason for it.

“Does this happen often?” he asked. She seemed confused before Dom fixed his gaze on her hands, but then she answered him in an even voice.

“Not very often.”

So he might be right, and the power might just need release. People who were blessed with magic had to use it; otherwise, it consumed them. Now that he had a moment to think about it, the fact that she was just now going through these unplanned fire bursts told him her power was fairly new.

Huh.

Most Witches manifested at young ages, just like everyone else.

“When did you manifest?” Dominic acknowledged how personal this question was, and under normal circumstances, he would never have dreamed of asking this of a stranger.

Yet these were not normal circumstances, and if she was going to live with him and around the people he cared about, he needed to know more.

Alecsandra wasn’t taken by surprise, as if she’d expected his question, and she replied without reserve but with an obvious and considerable amount of shame that made her cheeks turn rose pink under her freckles.

“Six months ago.”

Forget fairly new, this was brand-new power. But she was—

“I’m twenty-eight,” she admitted, the color spreading to her neck.

A dam broke in Dom’s mind, flooding it with questions, but one look at her slumped shoulders and bright red skin made him think twice before asking anything else. He placed his hands on his hips and took a long breath in.

“Promise me you’ll tell me if this happens again.” He made sure there was no room for negotiation in his voice.

Alecsandra was taken aback, her eyes going wide, her lips parting just a sliver.

“I can stay?” she asked, not even trying to conceal the surprise and happiness in her voice.

“Promise me,” he warned her.

“I promise.”

Dominic hoped to hell he wasn’t going to regret this.

“Go to the front and get the bakery ready for customers.”

Allie cleaned every surface in the bakery, mopped the floors, and aired the place out, happy to take in the crisp morning breeze instead of having her teeth chatter until her jaw hurt.

She resolved to split her reading time better between baking and Witchcraft.

Now that the truth was out, she felt lighter and scolded herself for waiting until that uncomfortable moment to tell Dominic everything.

He didn’t call her for help in the kitchen that morning, and she made it her business to give him space and avoid the kitchen at all costs.

Even if she couldn’t Read him, there was no question that he was upset.

And who wouldn’t be? Allie was beyond grateful to stay at Dom’s Sweets, but she understood how hard it was for a stranger to accept her into his space with all the risks she posed.

Hell, not even her coven sisters had wanted her around until she got the hang of her power.

So if Dominic had shown her the door, she would have walked out without argument.

But he hadn’t.

He’d stopped talking to her, though, even after he flipped the bakery sign and they welcomed customers for the day. They worked around each other in silence, and he didn’t ask her for help at all. Allie picked up on tasks around him, trying to be useful while not getting in his way.

And if he stopped speaking to her for the rest of the day, or the week, or until she left, and even if he’d only bark orders at her and nothing more…

She was still grateful. Call her a model, silent employee while she practiced her magic.

Allie truly hoped no other spontaneous release of power would occur, but if it did, she would tell her boss.

She didn’t intend to break the promise she made, as much as just thinking about it made her want to crawl underground with embarrassment for being so weak and untrained at her age.

Why did she have to manifest so late, and with so little control?

Fate was a cruel, wicked bitch. But she had a place to stay and work at while she practiced, and her sisters to return to when she was ready. Fate was a bitch, but it had dealt her a decent hand.

The place quieted for the first time that day with two more hours left in the shift.

Allie cleaned the front and rearranged the display case before going to the kitchen to get the freshly baked pies she smelled.

Her stomach protested, but she ignored it, feeding it images of devouring the food in her fridge later that night.

Dominic stood by the large kitchen table, fork in hand, tasting one of the pies freshly out of the oven. Allie’s mouth watered, but she swallowed her craving and went to the tray with the cut slices.

The plate on the table moved.

Allie looked at the finger that pushed it toward her, her eyes sliding up his wrist and tattooed arm until she met her boss’s green gaze.

Was he offering her pie?

Maybe her imagination was playing tricks on her because of the hunger. She must have started seeing things. She should ask Dominic for a five-minute break to get her sandwiches or fruit salad.

The plate moved again.

Dominic articulated his first words to her since that morning.

“Want some?”

Some? How about the whole thing? It smelled divine, and everything Dominic made was delicious. But Allie didn’t think her boss wanted to eat with her and chat about their day.

“No, thank you.” Her stomach chose that moment to growl like a drowning ape.

Yeah. She was certain she could fit under the table and hide there until her skin changed back to its normal color.

So, until next week. Her cheeks heated, and she chuckled nervously under Dominic’s unwavering stare.

Allie cleared her throat, eager to come up with anything to fill the pressing silence.

But Dominic beat her to it.

“Eat.” He shoved the plate closer to Allie, and the sweet smell flooded her senses, her stomach rumbling in response. She hesitated before picking up a fork and digging into the pie, barely suppressing a moan.

Dominic was used to witnessing people enjoy his baking. He’d gotten his fair share of compliments and delighted stares, but never one that made him feel…like this. Uncomfortable. Strained. Bewitched.

And that’s exactly how he felt watching Alecsandra’s lids flutter closed and hearing the soft moan she involuntarily let out in response to the huge bite.

The table groaned under the weight of his grip, and he quickly shoved his hands in his pockets, clearing his throat loudly.

The Witch’s eyes snapped open at the sound.

“This is so good,” she said around a mouthful, pointing with her fork to the plate. “Thank you.”

Dom needed to remember that very few people were accustomed to his crazy schedule, and most would need food before the bakery closed for the day. He had remembered this yesterday, so when he’d heard her stomach growl, he felt a twinge of guilt pass through him.

Yes, he was still toying with the idea of firing her, although he’d already agreed to let her stay.

And yes, he was excruciatingly annoyed and on edge, thinking of what could happen.

But that didn’t mean he would treat her badly, and not letting his employee eat during the workday was inconsiderate.

Alecsandra ate almost half of the pumpkin pie before she gave a happy sigh and licked her lips.

Dominic’s body went taut as her tongue swirled around the fork once, twice, on the front and back.

He couldn’t look away. The Witch had put him under a spell that sewed him to that spot, his eyes glued to her mouth.

What the hell was he doing?

“I’ll be out front,” he grunted and sprinted out of the kitchen with his glass of ice water.

Dom had a sudden urge to pour that water over his head.