Page 121 of Christmas Magic

Using her magic, she’d turned a precarious situation into something good. With hope—and love—she’d helped him see the truth.

Shock and dismay clamored inside of him. He must have been caught in a vile spell indeed, to ever have forgotten what she meant to him.

“Do you remember, Lucian?” she whispered.

He swallowed hard. Guilt burned inside of him as he recalled how he’d treated her at the store. How he’d refused to believe her. His eyes stung.

He didn’t deserve her.

He wouldn’t blame her if she chose to turn her back on him and walk away.

Still, she gazed upon him with so much yearning.

Her hands still by her sides, she took a step toward him. “Do you remember?” she whispered again.

“Yes.”

Before the word had left his lips, he’d claimed the space between them. “Yes, yes, yes,” he whispered, sweeping Molly into his arms. How right it felt to embrace her. With a low moan, he kissed her.

A sound like a sob broke from her as she kissed him back. Her arms went around him. She held him tight, as though determined never to let him go, as their lips and tongues met over and over and over again.

She tasted of every dream he’d ever imagined; of every hope and joy he had yet to discover. He loved her, so very much—and he always would.

Soft thudding sounds fell around them.

“Aww!” Tim meowed.

When at last their kisses slowed, and Lucian lifted his head, he saw the packing peanuts and marshmallows had fallen to the ground. The street, though, was still enveloped in a shimmering light, and Fred and Cora hadn’t moved.

All of that, though, could wait.

Lucian’s attention returned to Molly. He cupped her face in his hands and gently kissed her again. “I’m sorry.”

Tears glistened in her eyes.

“I’m so very sorry for everything.”

“It’s okay—”

“No, it’s not. I should have listened to you.”

“You should,” said a man walking toward them.

Julius.

Lucian’s gut clenched. The Expert could well order him to go and answer to the rest of the organization. There would be consequences, for himself, his grandfather, and for Molly.

He couldn’t lose her now.

Julius stopped a short distance away. “That was a pretty creative way to portray snow.”

“Thankfully, it worked,” Molly said. “The spell’s broken.”

Confusion gnawed at Lucian. “How did I even get enchanted? You mentioned Cora’s cookies, Molly—”

“You ingested the magic,” Julius said.

Lucian winced. “So, every cookie I ate—”