Not Your Ex's Hexes (Supernatural Singles, #2)(51)

But as a local baker, he wasn’t Christina Maxwell’s usual choice for a dinner guest. That honor normally went to dignitaries and celebrities, or anyone up and coming in Supernatural society.

Rose glanced from Edie to Olive and back, and when Edie clamped her mouth shut, refusing to dish any more details, Olive gave her up. “Mom’s setting Gran up with Mr. Gingham. Like a set up setup.”

Edie grumbled, breaking her silence. “As if I’d ever give that old fool the pleasure of my company much less access to everything under this classic hood.”

Rose choked on her own spit while Olly broke out in tear-inducing laughs.

“It’s outrageous,” Edie continued. “I’d been blessed with my soul mate for sixty-seven glorious years until he passed to the other side, and your mother thinks I’d settle for someone who loves talking about different yeast breeds nearly as much as he does himself?”

Olive was first to rein in her laughter. “But weren’t you and Grandpa Jethro friends with Mr. Gingham back in the day?”

“Which is how I know he’s nothing but a pompous windbag beneath that charming shifter smile.”

Rose brushed away the laughing tears from her eyes, thankful she used waterproof mascara.

“I don’t know what you’re laughing about, young lady.” Edie shot her a coy grin. “Your mama invited a special someone for you, too.”

Rose’s laughter died immediately. “Wait, what?”

“Why don’t we swap? It’s always been on the bucket list to call myself a jaguar.”

Olive bit her lip, snorting. “I think you mean cougar, Gran.”

“I know what I meant, sweetheart. I’m much more of a jaguar than a cougar.”

Rose prayed she’d heard wrong. “Christina invited someone here for me?”

Edie gently pushed the swinging door open wide enough to see Mr. Gingham in deep talks—about sourdough bread—with their broad-shouldered mountain lion father, and a very immaculately dressed third man.

A familiar well-dressed man.

Cursing vividly, Rose pulled back into the safety of the kitchen. “Julius Kontos?! Why the hell would Christina invite the demon Councilman here?”

“Guess she’s hoping to get you as adjacently close to the Supernatural Council as possible,” Olive answered. “Mom’s never without a brewing plan. You know that.”

“That will never happen in a million years … not me and Julius, and not me having anything to do with the Council.” She slid an apologetic look to her grandmother. “No offense, Gran.”

“None taken, sweetheart. But I must ask … why not entertain the idea of the handsome demon? He’s obviously easy on the eyes, and that smile…” Edie flicked her eyes skyward. “Sorry, my love. You’ll always be in my heart.”

“Are you both forgetting the last time I dated?”

Edie dismissed her. “In the words of your sister Violet, Valentin was an opportunist jerk-turd. I’ve never known Julius to be anything but fair, and a solid addition to the Council. And you have to admit the man’s beautiful. If I were a few years younger, your grandfather would have to forgive me on our afterlife reunion. That boy’s definitely on my Free Pass List.”

Rose scrunched her nose. “Please don’t say things like that. Ever.”

Mischief danced in Olive’s eyes as she pushed her glasses higher onto her nose. “Unless my triplet sonar is on the fritz, I think Rose’s refusal of the handsome Councilman has more to do with her interest in someone else than her lack of interest in Julius Kontos. Tell Christina you’re seeing someone who’s made your skin glow. It might get her to back down. I doubt it, but it’s worth a shot.”

Rose glanced at her reflection in the window.

Damn it. Her skin did glow, but nothing short of divine intervention—or an industrial-sized spell—would get Christina Maxwell to back down on something she’d already set in motion.

“Let me see what’s keeping the others,” Rose’s mother’s voice echoed from the other side of the swinging door.

Christina stepped into the kitchen, her gaze taking in their three guilty expressions. “What in Goddess’s name are you all doing in here?”

“Hiding?” Olive joked.

Christina’s mouth pressed into a tight line. “And here I thought with Violet on her honeymoon, sarcasm would be on the light side tonight.”

“Sorry to disappoint.”

Rose smirked. She wasn’t sure what had gotten into her younger sister other than not sleeping, but it was damn amusing … until her mother’s attention fell on her.

She gulped. “I stopped by to say I can’t stay. Work emergency. Very important.”

Rose cringed at the lameness of her excuse. So did Olive, the youngest triplet turning sideways to stifle a smile.

Her mother didn’t buy it in the least. “You drove over an hour to say you couldn’t stay because of a work emergency? Leave someone stranded in the Bronx without a ride home?”

“I don’t drive for Ryde anymore. There was too much … traffic.” Rose mentally rolled her eyes at herself. “I took over Vi’s old job. At Potion’s.”

Christina stared, waiting for the punch line that never came.