Not Your Ex's Hexes (Supernatural Singles, #2)(63)

“But they won’t taste as good as yours.” He leaned past her, grabbing a replacement carrot, and winked. “What’s this about apartments?”

Olive shot Rose a pleading look that said don’t talk, and under normal circumstances, the Triplet Code of Honor would force her to comply. But this wasn’t a normal circumstance.

Don’t you dare, Olive mouthed.

Sorry. Not really.

“Olive’s been sleeping in her closet of an office at the college because her roommate’s been keeping her up all hours of the day and night,” Rose divulged. “Vi and I have been on her about moving out before she pulls a Sleeping Beauty and naps for a hundred years.”

“Misconception. She only slept until True Love’s Kiss,” Olive muttered.

Rose rolled her eyes. “You can’t keep doing what you’re doing. Something has to give, and if you don’t get out of there, I’m afraid what will give will be your health.”

Bax’s multicolored eyes focused on Olive. “She’s not wrong. Lack of sleep is the root cause of a lot of physical ailments.”

“I’ll take extra vitamins,” Olive snapped back. “I’ll wait her out and hope she develops a mild case of vitamin B-12 deficiency and needs to catch up on sleep.”

“Or you could find yourself another apartment.”

“Exactly,” Rose agreed.

Olive glowered. “We’ve already established good apartments don’t grow on trees, right?”

“Right,” Bax agreed. “But it just so happens I have a lead on one.”

“You do?” Rose and Olive asked in unison.

“Yeah. Mine.”

“You’re moving? Where?” Rose asked.

“Nowhere. I need to pick up a roommate.”

Olive narrowed her eyes on the angel. “But you’ve always said you’d never take a roommate … that you value your privacy too much.”

He shrugged noncommittally. “I also value paying my rent, which if my landlord keeps raising it, I soon won’t be able to do. Contrary to what people think, Guardian Angel salaries aren’t on the top-tier list of highest-paying jobs. So if you’re game, I am, too.”

“For me to move in with you … into your apartment.”

“Once you moved in, it would be our place, but yeah. I call the second room an office, but I don’t use it. It wouldn’t take much effort to clean it out and throw a bed in there.”

“So that I could move in…”

Bax slid his attention to Rose. “I see what you mean about her needing to get out of there and get sleep. She’s not quite as sharp as she usually is.”

“Why is everyone hiding in the kitchen when there’s a party to be had?” Vi and Linc stepped into the kitchen, her sister’s hair looking a little mussed. “Oh, look! How cute! Little penis cookies!”

Rose and Olive exchanged looks before bursting into laughter, but Rose’s was short-lived. Damian brought up the rear looking better than he had any right to in faded jeans and a dark gray Henley, its sleeves rolled up to reveal his corded forearms. If it were possible to spontaneously ovulate, she would’ve right then and there with everyone’s eyes bouncing back and forth between them.



* * *



Clearing a room was one of Damian’s many talents, but this was quick even for him. He’d barely stepped into the kitchen when Vi dragged Linc away, claiming she’d heard someone calling their names. Not long after that, Bax and Olive did the same, and he found himself alone with a flushed-faced Rose.

He didn’t mind.

It gave them an opportunity to talk, something he wasn’t looking forward to, but which needed to happen, and sooner rather than later.

Even so, knowing they had important things to discuss, his libido ramped up and put him on edge. No woman had ever affected him this way, something—thanks to his chat with Julius—of which he was now all too aware.

He’d come to the party with a game plan in mind, a backup plan just in case, and then a last-ditch proposal should Rose be Rose, and refuse to try something far less dangerous than Hunting … like heli-skiing.

Or skydiving without a parachute.

She turned her back on him, effectively acting as though they weren’t the only two people in the room. He chuckled. He wasn’t that easy to get rid of.

Not bothering to tread lightly, he crossed the distance until a cozy blanket of tingling Magic had the hairs on his arms standing at attention. Giving her ample time and space to move if she wanted, he slid his arms past both sides of her waist and braced his hands against the marble countertop.

The position brought his nose up against the softness of her hair, and he couldn’t help but tilt into it, savoring the scent of vanilla and spice. “Found you…”

“I didn’t realize I was lost.” Her hands busied themselves wiping the counter in front of her before switching focus to the burnt cookies.

“Not lost … hiding. With your wolf witch cookies.”

She turned in his arms, taking him by surprise, and peered up at him through her thick lashes. “You knew they were witchy wolves?”

“It’s kinda obvious … but let’s get back to why you felt the need to hide in Linc’s kitchen and make them.”