She lay there and watched his cute ass as he walked into the bathroom, where he closed the door behind him. A moment later, she heard the shower start.
Was this love? Really?
I’ve been through the wringer the past couple of weeks emotionally. How do I know I’m really in love with them and not just latching on to them because it makes my heart hurt less?
She wasn’t sure she wanted to figure that out right then.
At least the weather had improved. It would be a bright, sunny day, albeit on the hot and muggy side. She peeled herself off the couch, retied her robe, and grabbed a mug of coffee. She let Pers out of the bedroom and took him downstairs for a quick walk out back.
When he looked like he wanted to head toward the library, she shook her head. “Sorry, pup. I’m too tired. Maybe later.” She scooped him up and headed inside.
Before going upstairs, she went to the back room where several garbage bags full of the men’s clothes were stashed next to the stacked washer and dryer units. She didn’t know whose was whose, but unless she wanted Brad running around dressed in nothing but a towel all day, she knew she’d better wash something for him.
She rooted through the clothes and threw some underwear, shorts, and T-shirts in the wash together to start with, set on the shortest wash cycle. Hopefully Brad would sleep late and she’d have some ready for him by the time he awoke.
Back upstairs, she found Ellis was already shaved and out of the shower. He stood in the kitchen in slacks, but shirtless, and working on a bowl of cereal.
She walked behind him in the narrow space and slipped her arms around his midsection. When she pressed her face against his back, she could smell her bodywash on his skin.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
He turned and put his arms around her. “No, thank you.” He tipped her chin up so she had to look into those gorgeous blue eyes. “If it hadn’t been for you, I’d be hauling Brad down to Tampa right now for a round of testing and medications that wouldn’t have helped him at all. We’d still be working on this months from now, with no clue what the problem was until the mold finally got so bad that it broke through the wall or something. You’ve saved us untold grief. Who knows? At the rate he was declining, you might have saved his life.”
“It’s still hard to believe it could have affected him that badly.”
He shrugged. “I’m not going to question it if it means he’s better now.”
Mandaline couldn’t take the intensity of his gaze any longer. She closed her eyes, pressing her cheek against his chest. The short, curly hair across his pecs tickled her cheek. “I don’t want to make a mistake. This soon after losing Julie, I’m afraid maybe I’m rushing into something for the wrong reasons.”
“I told you, I’ll wait you out as long as you need. I’m not going anywhere, and neither is he.”
“I’m a witch.”
He sounded amused. “I know.”
She took a deep breath. “I mean, I do spells and stuff. It’s part of who I am.”
“I know.”
“I read Tarot cards. For myself and others.”
“I know. Well, I don’t know anything about it, but I know you do stuff like that. Brad told me.”
“I run a New Age shop and do ghost hunting.”
He chuckled as he rubbed his chin across the top of her head. “I know.”
“I’m not selling or closing it.”
He outright laughed. “I know. I don’t expect you to. It makes you happy.”
She took a deep breath. “I dreamed about Julie and she led me to the mold. That’s how I found it. And…” She knew this wasn’t her secret to tell, but it had to get brought out in the open. “Brad was talking to her from the afternoon she died until this morning. She’d tell him things. Things there’s no way in hell he could have known, because only Julie and I knew them.”
He paused, but she felt him nod. “Okay. I believe you. I don’t know if I believe in what you believe in, but I believe you believe it, and that’s good enough for me.”
“I’m not going to change my beliefs or apologize for who or what I am. You have to accept me the way I am.”
He made her look at him again. His quiet, serious voice reverberated through the depths of her core. “I won’t ask you to change. Ever. Mandaline, I don’t care if you paint yourself purple and worship a flying eggplant from another universe. As long as you aren’t hurting yourself or anyone or anything else, I don’t give a flying crap what you believe. All I care about is that I can spend my life with you and him and be happy. If you’re happy, I’m happy. No, I won’t believe everything you believe in. If you want to set an altar up in my living room, go for it. You want to sacrifice a chicken, however, then I’m going to put my foot down.”
She smiled. “I don’t do that.”
“Sacrifice chickens, or paint yourself purple and worship flying eggplants?”
Damn, he’s got a cute smile. “Both. Neither.”
He leaned in and nibbled along her jawline until he reached her ear. “I’m going to wait as long as you need me to wait until you’re sure we’re what you want. Even if it means the worst case of blue balls I’ve ever had in my life. Even if it means I have to jerk off three times a day to keep my sanity. Because when you finally are sure, you will have to use a cold hose to peel me off your body for a while if you want a moment’s peace.”
Her breath caught in her throat as another wave of heat pulsed through her pussy. She’d thought she’d been satisfied by their earlier encounter, but now that only seemed to rev her up even more.
He kissed the side of her neck and gently released her, a playful smirk on his face. “I need to finish eating and get ready.” An eyebrow arched. “Unless you want me fucking you right here on your counter?”
She was about to say yes when she realized she couldn’t yet. Not without second-guessing herself to infinity…and beyond.
Not to mention one other problem. “I’m going to have to pay Doc Smith a visit today,” she said.
He frowned. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “But when we do get there, we’ll spend a fortune in condoms unless I get back on the pill.”
He grinned. “Worth every penny.”
Chapter Seventeen
Brad was still sleeping soundly when Mandaline got out of the shower. Ellis finished getting ready and gave her a kiss good-bye. “I’ll come back for lunch, if that’s okay?”
She straightened his tie for him. He looked even hunkier in a suit, if that was possible. “Very okay.”
“I’ll go grocery shopping after work. We’ll buy all the food. And we’ll chip in for our share of utilities. It’s only fair.”
She brushed a kiss against his lips, smiling when she felt his bulge grow in his slacks. “I like lots of fresh fruit and veggies,” she said.
“Make me a list. As far as I know, he’s not allergic to any foods. I’m thinking though that we need to get him in and get him fully tested for all allergies as soon as possible.”
She grinned.
“What?” he asked.
“You said ‘we.’”
He laughed. “Yeah, I did say that, didn’t I?” He cupped his hands around hers. “You have no idea how good it feels to have someone else I can count on for him, to help take care of him.” He kissed her hands before releasing them.
She followed him downstairs to let him out the front door so he didn’t have to circle around the building. She was in the back room moving clothes from the washer to the dryer and starting a new load of wash when Sachi unlocked the back door a little before eight.