Love Potion #9 (15 page)

Lilith was appalled by the very suggestion. “Mitch, I can't do that! She'll miss a chance for love. Don't you want her to be happy?”

His lips tightened as he turned to confront her. “Of course I do.” His eyes glittered. “And I don't want anyone taking advantage of her. That's why I'm here.”

Their gazes held for a charged moment and Lilith saw that she hadn't come close to convincing him of anything. She didn't know how to change his mind.

She didn't know how to make him remember.

Lilith felt suddenly very small and very alone. She folded her arms round herself and held her ground. “I'm not taking advantage of her.”

“A very wise choice,” Mitch murmured.

And with that, he was gone.

Lilith looked down at the invitations scattered on the counter and shook her head in bewilderment. Why couldn't Mitch just believe in love, like everyone else did?

Why wasn't there any portent of love in his eyes?

A lump rose in Lilith's throat at the prospect of Mitch not even having a true love. She'd never seen anything like that before. How could it be so?

Andrea's earlier assertions rang in Lilith's ears once more. She stared unseeingly at the invitations with their gold script and pearly roses, promised of fidelity and eternal love. Mitch had had these once: he must have believed once that he would be as happy as these couples were destined to be.

Lilith wondered what kind of a woman could destroy those idealist convictions so very quickly. She wondered what kind of woman would leave two little children alone.

Lilith had a feeling it was the same kind of woman who could steal a man's heart away and leave a cold hollow in its place. Obviously, Mitch didn't believe in love because he had loved his wife, and she had treated him badly.

Meeting her true love again wasn't working out the way Lilith had imagined it. Lilith sighed and fingered the cards, noticing only now that her hands were shaking. She had never anticipated that finding Sebastian again would prove to be so difficult. Lilith wasn't one to give up easily.

She'd think of something.

Maybe Mitch would change his mind when Andrea found her love on the cruise. Maybe time would melt the frost around his heart. Maybe then, something would change in his eyes.

Maybe.

Or maybe not. Lilith's fingers trembled. Because either way, one thing couldn't be denied.

Lilith Romano was not lurking in Mitch Davison's eyes. And even knowing that the decisions of every passing moment affected the course of the future didn't make that news less troubling.

Not in the least.

 

* * *

 

It wasn't supposed to be this way.

But then, that seemed to be becoming Mitch's theme song. He wasn't supposed to prove his instincts right and then feel like garbage. But he had and he did.

Mitch wasn't supposed to charge into battle to defend someone he cared about, win the battle, then wish he'd lost. He wasn't supposed to forget every logical thought in his mind when he looked into his neighbor's dark eyes, especially when he knew all sorts of suspicious things about her.

But he had.

At least, he didn't have to like it.

Mitch ate cold chicken stir-fry with stoic resolve and ignored Andrea's worried frown. He smiled at Jen's nonsensical stories and answered Jason's endless questions about how everything worked, but Mitch's heart wasn't really in it.

His heart was still next door.

He wasn't supposed to have lost control again. He wasn't supposed to have kissed Lilith as though his life defended on it. She wasn't supposed to taste so good. She wasn't supposed to be the most attractive and delightful woman he'd ever met. She wasn't supposed to make him want to believe all sorts of wacky nonsense.

She wasn't supposed to tangle him up inside and make him feel as though he was sliding into quicksand, with no chance of resisting her charms.

He wasn't supposed to wonder why he was resisting at all. His hormones were supposed to be in cold storage, not running the show.

They certainly shouldn't have been interfering with his thinking, much less his ability to get the job done. Mitch's gut told him that Lilith was a fraud, his mind told him there was something fishy about the business next door, but his heart – and heart that hadn't had much to say for a good long time – told him to get his sorry butt back next door and apologize to the lady.

Because his heart had never been a very trustworthy judge of anything, Mitch decided to sleep on its advice.

And double-check those files in the morning. Mitch was going to get to the bottom of this, and Lilith's allure wasn't going to shake a seasoned reporter like him off the trail.

It sounded like a good strategy, but Mitch's heart – in league with his hormones – kept him awake all night long in the sticky August heat. It was as though, having finally found its voice, his heart intended to be heard.

Or that it intended to make Mitch realize that in his concern for right and wrong, he'd just made a big mistake.

 

* * *

 

Lilith didn't imagine the flash of bright blue in her garden Tuesday morning. She groaned silently and pulled open the kitchen door, half expecting to find one of Those Men in her yard, trying to peep through the window.

But it was Jason who spun guiltily at the sound of the door opening. He was wearing a bright blue t-shirt. He clasped his hands behind his back and bit his lip, clearly certain he'd been caught at some crime. He was more fait than Mitch, though he had his father's eyes. He would be a handsome boy when he grew up, Lilith acknowledged.

“Well, hello,” she said.

“I was looking for Ralph,” the boy admitted hopefully.

Lilith smiled. “I didn't see him yesterday because I was out, but maybe he'll come today. He usually comes in the morning.”

The little boy's eyes lit up. “Like right now?”

“Pretty much.” She smiled as he scanned the garden anxiously. “Does your nana know you're here?”

Jason shook his head. “She thinks I'm playing in our yard.” He grimaced comically. “But you have better bugs.”

“Well, I don't mind you coming to see them, as long as everyone at your house knows where you are.” Lilith indicated the gate. “Go tell your nana, then let's see if we can find Balthasar.”

“Who's Balthasar?”

“The praying mantis. He likes it around the compost for some reason. He'll sit on your finger if you're still because he likes how warm it is.”

“Cool!”

And the little boy ran for the gate as fast as his legs could carry him. Lilith smiled, more than looking forward to sharing her knowledge of her garden.

Especially with such a curious pupil.

 

* * *

 

In the end, Ralph did come, delighting Jason once more as he sipped nectar from a flower the boy held. Balthasar sat on Jason's finger for an eternity, before finally bounding away. They explored the toad's favorite hiding places and found him lurking in a damp back corner.

Lilith invited Jason to give the toad a name and, inexplicably, the toad became Millie.

It was a wonderful morning. They laughed together and watched dragonflies and bumblebees. They tied the tops of the hollyhocks together and made a teepee which seemed to have flowers for walls. Monarch butterflies came when the phlox released their heady perfume in the late morning and Jason watched wide-eyed as they sipped nectar in their turn.

When Andrea called for lunch, Jason folded his hands in front of himself and stood before Lilith. Lilith bit back her smile as he politely and formally thanked her for letting him see her garden and her bugs. He looked like a miniature version of Mitch, solemnly doing what he knew was right.

Abruptly, Jason was five years old again, running for the gate and calling for his nana, all boundless enthusiasm, dirty fingers and scraped knees.

Lilith watched him go, thinking all the while that Mitch was a very, very lucky man. Her doorbell rang and she reluctantly abandoned her sunny garden.

It was Andrea, bouncing Jen on her hip.

“Oh, Jason just went home, around the back.”

“He'll be fine for a moment.” The older woman glanced quickly toward Mitch's house. “That's not exactly why I'm here. I'm sorry to bother you, dear, I know you're busy, but I was wondering whether you could do me a little favor.”

“Certainly.”

Andrea grinned. “Don't agree too quickly, Lilith! I'm usually the one to leap before I look.”

Lilith smiled in turn, then sobered at Andrea's next words.

“It's about the cruise. I forgot that I promised to watch the children on the weekend that's right in the middle. Mitch is going to a conference and if I don't find someone else, then I'll have to cancel.”

Oh.

Lilith looked at Jen. The little girl smiled tentatively, just as D'Artagnan wound his way out to the porch.

Her shyness was immediately banished.

“Kitty!” Jen squealed. “Nana! I want to pet the kitty!”

She squirmed and reached out. Lilith winced, expecting nothing good from her cranky live-in companion. The cat stiffened predictably, but then haughtily sniffed the little girl's outstretched hand. Lilith prepared to intervene, but he sat back on his haunches, like a king prepared to receive his subjects.

He gave Jen a look that Lilith called the Ol' Fish Eye, which was the closest he came to tolerance of humans, and Lilith breathed a sigh of relief.

“It's okay,” she confirmed, then lowered her voice to Jen as if confiding a secret. “Pet him behind his ears. He likes that.”

Jen edged closer, her eyes shining. The cat visibly braced himself, but the little girl was surprisingly gentle when she reached out her hand. D'Artagnan averted his gaze as though unaware of her presence, though his ears moved tellingly. She patted him carefully, hitting his special spot, and the cat leaned into her touch as though powerless to do anything else.

And he purred.

Jen was enchanted. She hunkered down to lavish attention upon the cat, whispering little stories to him as he purred like an outboard motor.

Andrea smiled, then leaned closer. “Lilith, you're the only one who understands how important this trip is. I couldn't help noticing how good you were with Jason this morning. Do you think you might be able to manage the children for those few days?”

Watch Mitch's children? After their last encounter, Lilith couldn't imagine that he'd take well to the idea.

But on the other hand, the only way for Lilith to get herself into Mitch's eyes where she rightly belonged was to work her way into his life. Things had to be set to rights and Lilith knew she was the woman for the job.

After all, she and Mitch were destined to be together. Fortunately, Lilith wasn't one to be shy about taking chances. And winning her own true love back again was a prize well worth putting herself on the line. She was going to make Mitch remember and acknowledge their entwined destiny if it was the last thing she did.

Love, after all, was worth fighting for.

But before she spoke, Lilith's gaze fell on the little girl. She remembered Jen's upset of the other morning and her aversion to change. “Andrea, I don't even know Jen…”

Andrea waved dismissively. “It's not for almost three weeks!”

Lilith dropped her voice. “Doesn't she get frightened when she's alone?”

“Sometimes, but Lilith, I'll make sure they both get to know you well enough that there won't be any problems. And she'll be settled into the house by then. Please?” She smiled. “So the course of true love can run smooth?”

Lilith looked at Jen and considered. She just couldn't say no. She couldn't make Andrea miss this cruise. Lilith knew how happy this new love was going to make Andrea.

And if Andrea thought there was time for both children to get used to her, she must be right.

Mitch would come around.

“I'll do it.”

“Thank you! You won't regret this, dear!” Andrea squeezed Lilith's hand, then kissed her suddenly on the cheek. Then she straightened and offered her granddaughter a hand. “Come on, Jen. Jason is waiting for his lunch.”

The little girl shook her head. “I'll stay with the kitty.”

It was as good a time as any to start forging familiarity.

Lilith squatted down beside Jen and scratched D'Artagnan's ears too, well aware that Jen watched her. “His name is D'Artagnan,” she confided quietly, immensely relieved that the cat tolerated this attention. “And you can come to see him anytime you like.”

“Dartaggin.” Jen smiled and Lilith didn't have the heart to correct her. The cat looked mildly insulted by this variant of his name. “Nana! I can come pet the kitty!”

Her noisy delight, or perhaps her mispronunciation of his name, seemed to persuade the cat that it was time to leave. He leapt to the windowsill and proceeded to clean himself, as though unaware that they all watched him.

Andrea captured the little girl's hand when she might have given chase. “Isn't that nice of Lilith. Now, let's leave the kitty alone for a few moments and have lunch. You thank Lilith.”

Jen grinned and waved to Lilith, before turning her attention to the stairs. “Thank you, Lillit.”

The mangling of her own name made Lilith smile. “You're welcome, Jen.”

Two kids for a weekend. Oh, she would be running!

Lilith grinned at the prospect. She felt suddenly much younger than her six hundred years or so. D'Artagnan bounded past her and stalked into the house, his tail straight as though he was proud of his own role in this.

He might come to regret it, if Jen chased him for the whole weekend. In fact, they both might sleep well after a few days with two children underfoot.

Lilith could hardly wait.

 

* * *