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Molly’s eyes widened with wicked delight. “I knew there was a reason I kept you around. That’s it. When my birthday rolls around in a few months, you’re on cake duty.”
“That I can manage, if Amelia’s up for decorating it.”
“She definitely would be. Speaking of which, do you think I made the right move there?” she asked around a mouth full of ginger garlic chicken.
“Partnering with Amelia? Hell yeah, I do. This place’s kitchen space is huge for the amount of tables you turn over. It’s like drawing a stick figure with a 3D printer. It gets the job done, but boy, is it overkill. I think connecting with her at the Winter Whimsy Festival set you on a path for success with the restaurant. It’ll take you in a new direction than what you previously envisioned, for sure, but an exciting and better one.”
Amelia Bosas—owner of the online New England confectionery sensation Sweets, Eats, and All the Treats—had followed up with Molly a month or so ago after their brief introductions at the festival and broached the idea of a partnership. Namely, Molly had the kitchen space, storage, and foot traffic, while Amelia had the online presence, perfect small add-ons to larger ticket items, and regional kitschy charm that paired well with Suerte and Honeysuckles’s touristy clientele and vibe.
And money. Amelia had money . . . and candy. She was the literal answer to Molly’s financial prayers, not to mention the sweetest (ha!) human being on the planet.
The arrangement had officially been inked the past week, and Amelia was going to move in within another week or two, which coincided perfectly with Benny and Marisol’s spring vacation.
“I don’t think I’ll mind having bags and trays of confections to sell around the place. I can certainly think of worse fates.”
“You’re stuck with me. So, tread lightly there. No backsies, remember?” Brass stole a rare moment when Molly wasn’t bringing a dumpling to her lips and snagged her hand to place a kiss on the back of it.
“You are so damn cocky.”
“You like it,” he said with a wink, and she squeezed her thighs together at the illicit memories his smoldering gaze conjured.
Bastard.
Brass was just about to slip a dumpling into his mouth when his phone pinged. He looked at it briefly before rolling his eyes and shoving the thing back into his pocket.
“Trouble?” she inquired before dunking her dumpling into soy sauce.
“If you mean what happens when Bronze is left alone in a library, then yeah.”
“Oh?”
Brass put his chopsticks down. “He can’t get what Saulé said out of his head.”
“About the lycan thing?”
“Yes. He’s already exhausted every text we have, and now he’s moving on to mortal myths.”
Molly chewed the idea around in her mind. “Are lycans real?”
“Not to our knowledge, but then again, there’s so much out there we don’t know about. Who are we to say definitively just because we’ve never seen one? Wow, I can’t believe I just said that,” he muttered, shaking his head, then looking around as if he were expecting a lycan to magically jump out from behind Molly’s potted plants.
Molly sat back in her seat and waved a chopstick in his general direction. “Look at you, being all sagely. Just so you know, with wisdom comes?—”
He arched a brow. “Great responsibility?”
“No. Words. You can’t be wise if you don’t share what you know, and you can’t do that without talking. Oh, and speaking of sharing sage advice, just tell Bronze that if he’s looking for lycan research fodder, he should focus on anything not produced by Sony Pictures Entertainment.”
Then Brass’s eyes darkened to that toe-curling caramel that only ever came with a chaser of her favorite kind of trouble. “I’ll be sure to let him know, right after I keep you in bed for the next several hours telling you about all the things I’m going to do to you.”
A dumpling dangled precariously in front of her open mouth while a suggestive drop of glistening soy sauce jumped ship and plunged onto her tongue. “Oh?” she repeated, barely registering the salty morsel.
“Oh,” he confirmed as he stood from his seat and took up the chair next to her. “Starting with how I’m going to book you that first-class ticket to Latvia next month.” He brought his warm lips to her neck, sending shivers down her spine. “Then I’m going to hold you close to me as we recover from jet lag in the most luxurious bed the Old City has to offer.” Another nip along her jaw and she lowered the dumpling back down to the tray. “I’m going to fly with you through forests I’ve not seen in two thousand years. I’m going to stand beside you as you converse with people who are part of your past and console you if it gets to be too much.”
A swell of emotion tempered the fire he’d stoked and wrapped her in a warmth like no other.
Molly finally turned to him and let every ounce of love and happiness she felt for her angel shine through in her smile.
Brass rubbed soothing circles into her hands with his thumbs. “I’m going to love the hell out of you and tell you every damn day until you’re sick of hearing my voice.”
“Impossible. Not on the love thing, but on the voice thing. Your voice is damn sexy.”
Then he leaned forward and brushed a kiss on her lips. “My plan’s a working theory. I’m only in the early stages of testing. Lots more R and D to go.”
“Well, best get to it, then.”
“Always so bossy,” he chided, reminding her of a time, months ago, when he’d first warned her of the same problem before getting her gloriously naked. “And thank the mages for it, because I wouldn’t have you any other way.”
