Inevitable

She watched him carefully. From the heated look in his gaze to the sight of his chest moving with rapid breathing, it was obvious she affected him as much as he affected her.

Dangerous indeed.

He reached for her hand, taking it in his. The contact left her breathless. The potion’s effects hadn’t faded a bit from yesterday. If anything, this strong lust she felt for her former partner had gotten stronger. He moved closer still. She was certain he was going to kiss her, to press his mouth against hers. And she was going to let him do more than that.

“What do you want to give me?” she whispered, when his lips were only an inch away from hers. She braced her right hand against his firm chest so she could feel the pounding of his heart.

“You forgot something last night.”

She felt a press of something cold and hard in the palm of her left hand and she looked down to see the green potion bottle.

He’d come all the way back to Mystic Ridge to return the bottle of Desidero potion to her.

“Ryan…” she whispered, not sure if she was going to thank him or ask why he’d bothered.

“Later, Em.” He turned and walked away. The moment he was out of view, she leaned against her car door, the only thing currently keeping her vertical. Every cell in her body had urged her to throw her arms around him, kiss him, undress him. It didn’t matter that they were right in the middle of the PARA employee parking lot. Her body burned for him to be inside of her.

It was very inconvenient.

And she had a funny feeling that she hadn’t seen the last of him.

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH simpler for Ryan to leave the bottle on Emma’s doorstep so she could find it, take it back to PARA and say her assignment was completed successfully. It hadn’t been necessary for him to deliver it in person, he thought.

What had started off as a bit of a joke, a small amusement for him after so many months of being alone, had gotten serious damn fast. As much as he wanted Emma, she simply wasn’t in his grand plan. Every minute he spent here in Mystic Ridge was one less minute he’d spend investigating who was really behind the crimes of which he’d been accused. He had a list of stolen items he’d been tracking. Six in total. He’d found only two of them so far—an enchanted amulet and an urn—in the collections of rich men with too much time and money on their side.

He was certain Xavier Franklin, a known collector of glassware, was in possession of a missing vase, but hadn’t been able to officially confirm that at the party. He’d have to go back and question the billionaire as soon as he could.

Ryan’s confidence in his plan had faded with each month that passed. It seemed as if everyone had moved on except him.

He wondered sometimes why he refused to give up. Why not just head down to Florida early? Down there he could start over. He’d make new friends, find a beautiful woman who could look at him without doubt or disappointment in her eyes, and make a new life for himself once and for all.

Yes, that’s exactly what he was going to do.

But not just yet.

First he had clear his name. It was the principle of the thing.

He didn’t even really fault Emma’s immediate assumption that he was guilty. It wasn’t common knowledge, but Ryan did have a bit of a shady history. Fifteen years ago, he’d fallen in with his brother’s friends, a tough group of kids who jacked cars and sold the parts. Ryan was one of the unlucky ones who’d been busted for it.

The cop who’d nabbed him took pity on a seventeenyear-old kid who was missing the right direction in his life and helped to keep him out of jail, helped him see that the path he was on was one that would only lead to more trouble. Ryan hadn’t stolen anything since. He’d learned his lesson. But those he’d trusted and told about his past would know that his being light-fingered was a definite possibility.

He stayed in touch with the cop for years. The man had been like a father to him in his late teens and early twenties and had helped keep Ryan on the straight and narrow. It had a whole lot to do with the man’s influence that Ryan was going this extra mile to clear his name.

He missed the old guy. In fact, Ryan still visited his grave every other weekend.

But it hadn’t made anything easier over the last six months, knowing right from wrong.

It had even occurred to him a couple of times that he should live up to his reputation and start to steal again. If he was considered a thief by everyone, he may as well make a profit at it.

But it just wasn’t in his nature anymore.

It wasn’t in his brother’s nature anymore either. Joe had cleaned up years ago and started the business down south. He was the one who’d asked Ryan for help, knowing Ryan’s gift with cars.

So Ryan endeavored to prove his innocence, to make that cop who’d been his one good influence in his youth proud, even beyond the grave. But he kept coming up against brick walls every direction he turned.

“Brick walls are a hell of a lot better than jail cells,” he mumbled as he drove his Mustang away from just down the block from where he’d left Emma.

Ryan wanted to get back to working at clearing his name as soon as possible, but he wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to his favorite stubborn redhead just yet. They had some unfinished business between them to take care of first.

5

TALL, DARK AND HANDSOME. Yes, Leo Barker was definitely all that.

Emma gazed past her glass of red wine and across the table at her date. Leo was new in town. Thirty-two, gorgeous, a local orthodontist. He drove a Mercedes. If Mystic Ridge had a list of eligible bachelors, there was no doubt Leo would be right at the top.

They’d met last week at the grocery store when their carts had collided.

A total small-town love story in the making, she thought.

They were having dinner at a small but elegant Italian restaurant, newly opened in a converted Victorian house. It held fifteen tables at the most in a dimly lit dining area, red tablecloths and candles decorating each table. There was even violin music. It was all very romantic.

Even though Emma was dealing with the affects of a potion that made her desperately lust after another man whenever he was close by, she really didn’t see any reason why she should cancel the date. After her confrontation with Ryan, she quickly delivered the bottle of Desidero potion to the PARA potions department, and then rushed home to get ready—hair, make-up, the works. She picked out a low-cut teal blouse that made her hair look even more vibrantly red, and a black pencil skirt that helped her legs look just a bit longer. Black stilettos, no hose. She was good to go.