The Professor Woos The Witch (Nocturne Falls Book 4) (16 page)

At least on paper.

He took a drink of his wine and tried to feel better about the whole thing.

He failed.

A wave of nausea hit Pandora with enough strength to make her close her eyes and hold on to the counter. She’d made a huge assumption about Cole. This was her mistake to get over, not his. Of course he had a house somewhere else. He was a professor on sabbatical. Had she thought he just moved himself and his daughter around the country willy-nilly?

No. But she had thought he would stay. Especially with Kaley being a witch and needing a mentor.

How wrong she’d been.

And how could she hurt this much when she’d known him only a few days?

Because she was being ridiculous, that’s how.

She took a deep breath and tried to exhale the shock as she stood up a little straighter and gave herself a strong mental talking-to.

Snap out of it. You’re acting like a silly teenager. You just met this guy. You’re not in love with him or anything. You just feel drawn to him because he’s a familiar and you’re a witch with wonky magic. That’s all.

Soft footsteps filled the kitchen, followed by Marigold’s voice. “Hey, are you okay?”

Pandora did her best to keep her voice steady. “No. And it’s absolutely stupid of me to feel like this.”

Marigold put a wine carafe on the counter, then slipped her arm around Pandora’s waist. “It’s not stupid. You like him, and you just found out he’s basically a tourist. A long-term tourist, but still. Whatever you’re feeling is perfectly okay.”

Pandora smiled without too much effort. “Thanks. But I’m fine. Really.” And then she meant it a tiny bit. Like saying it had made it so.

“Are you sure?” Marigold wiggled her fingers. “I could cast a little happiness spell over you.”

“No, I’m good. I swear.” She leaned her hip against the counter. “Mom told me I shouldn’t get involved with him anyway. All this stuff about what happens if we bond as witch and familiar but end up not working as couple. It’s just bad news. And I want no part of it.”

Marigold looked skeptical. “If you say so.”

“I do.” She gave her sister a quick hug. “And now I’d better get back out there before it gets any weirder.”

Marigold handed her the carafe. “Fill this and take it out. It’s good cover.”

It wasn’t actually, but Pandora appreciated the gesture. She topped off the carafe and went back to the table. Marigold rejoined them a minute later and instantly went to work keeping the conversation going.

Pandora poked at her food, now lukewarm. She took a bite. Nothing had any taste.

She sensed Cole sneaking a look at her, but didn’t react.

“You okay?” he whispered.

“Great,” she muttered back. Enough already. Time to shift his attention to other things. Like his daughter. “So, Mom, Kaley needs some tutoring in the craft, seeing as how she didn’t grow up with witches around her. You have any suggestions? Other than a mentor, obviously. Which might be tricky with them leaving.”

“I don’t know if a mentor is completely out of the picture,” Corette said. “True, most witches expect it to be a long-term relationship, but there might be someone who’d be willing to do it for a couple months.”

Corette turned to Kaley, who had stopped chatting with Saffie at the mention of her name. “Why don’t you come with Pandora to the coven meeting tomorrow night? You can meet some of the other witches in town and get a feel for what a meeting is like. We can talk about mentoring some more then. How does that sound?”

“Epic,” Kaley said. She looked at her father, her questioning gaze mixed with accusation and expectation. She wasn’t happy with him so he’d better allow her this much. “Can I, Dad?”

“I guess.” He looked at Corette. “What time is it?”

“Six thirty. And it won’t go past eight. I know there’s school the next day.”

He glanced at Kaley. “I guess we can go.”

Corette laughed softly. “Oh my dear. A familiar at a coven meeting? I don’t think so. Only witches allowed.”

Cole’s father harrumphed, like a witches-only meeting was underhanded business of some sort.

Cole ignored the noise and looked at Pandora. “Are you willing to take her?”

“Absolutely.” Kaley was the innocent party in all this.

“Okay.” He nodded at Kaley. “You can go.”

“Yay!” She finished with a reluctant and slightly snide, “Thanks, Dad.”

Stanhill pushed his chair back. “Are we about ready for dessert?”

He got loud yeses from Kaley and Saffie.

He laughed. “You two are getting chocolate cupcakes with vanilla cream filling. As for the rest of you, I hope you don’t mind being guinea pigs. Delaney sent me over with a test cake. It’s a triple-layer chocolate bourbon cake with maple frosting. She assures me we won’t need after-dinner drinks with it.”

Marigold, Charisma and Pandora all answered him with oohs and aahs. Corette stood up. “I’ll put some decaf on, then.”

She and Stanhill went into the kitchen.

Charisma stood and picked up her plate, but directed her attention to Saffie. “You and I are on table-clearing duty, love bug.”

Kaley jumped up. “I’ll help too.”

She and Saffie went to work picking up plates. Pandora smiled, and it wasn’t lost on her that Cole did too.

Kaley fit in well here. Too bad her father was going to take her away.

Pandora tried to ignore that thought. That path wasn’t going to take her anywhere good.

Marigold shifted in her seat to face Jack now that there weren’t two children between them. “What line of work are you in, Mr. Van Zant?”

“Please, call me Jack. I’m a warehouse foreman for Greenway, the big grocery store chain. I run the number fifteen facility in Wilmington.”

Cole nodded. “He’s been there for twenty years.”

“Twenty-one,” Jack corrected. “What business are you in?”

“Twenty-one years is impressive. I run the little florist shop in town,” Marigold said.

“It’s not that little,” Pandora corrected. She looked at Jack. “She does practically all the weddings in town.”

“Funerals too?” Jack asked.

Pandora smirked. “Considering who lives here, we don’t have many of those.”

Jack lifted his chin. “No, I suppose you don’t.”

“We have some.” Marigold smiled. “Thankfully, not that many.”

Stanhill and Corette walked back in. Stanhill carried a tray laden with small plates and big slices of cake. Corette had a silver coffee urn. Charisma and the two girls followed with cups, saucers, creamer and sugar.

Cake and coffee were distributed, and everyone dove in.

Pandora glanced over at Kaley and Saffie and laughed. “Stanhill, those are
not
cupcakes. They’re big enough to be the top tier of a wedding cake.”

Cole looked up and raised his brows. “I’d say. Those are huge. Kaley, maybe just half of that.”

Stanhill put his coffee down. “Delaney has a hard time with moderation. Being a vampire means calories don’t count.”

Charisma pointed her fork at him. “They do for the rest of us mortals.”

Kaley’s eyes rounded. “This was made by a vampire?”

Stanhill nodded. “Yes. Does it taste any different?” he teased.

She took another bite. “Just extra awesome.”

“Yeah,” Saffie said. “Extra awesome.” She laughed and made a face, and the two of them went back to stuffing their faces.

Pandora tucked her head to hide her smile as she leaned toward Cole. “I think Kaley has a not-so-secret admirer in Saffie.”

“I see that.” He paused, his head bent to match hers, his voice so low and husky it sent a shiver over her skin. “She’s not the only one with a not-so-secret admirer.”

She stilled. That was
not
fair. He couldn’t flirt with her and pretend nothing had changed when he was leaving.

She sat up and dug into her cake, putting a big forkful into her mouth so there would be no polite way to answer him. The cake was all that was right in the world. It would mean extra time on the treadmill tomorrow, but right now chocolate and bourbon seemed like the answer to everything.

Stanhill noticed. “What do you think of the cake, Pandora? Delaney will want to know.”

She finally swallowed. “It’s perfect. I mean, chocolate and booze?” She paused to gesture dramatically with her fork as the need to jab back at Cole rose up within her. “With cake this amazing, who needs a man?”

Cole gave Pandora her space for the rest of the evening, which thankfully wasn’t much longer. After dessert, she seemed very ready to go. And very ready to be away from him.

On the way home, he let Kaley ride up front while he sat in the back with his father. Kaley did exactly as he’d hoped and kept up a steady salvo of questions about the coven meeting.

Jack was staring at him. Cole could feel it. Finally, he turned toward his father and lifted his brows in question.

Jack took the opening. “Good meal.”

Cole nodded. “Very.”

“Nice family, too.” In other words, Jack no longer thought Pandora or her family was out to get him.

“Yes.”

“You probably should have brought more than wine.” Translation: The wine hadn’t been enough to make up for upsetting Pandora.

“I didn’t know what else to bring.”

Jack hmphed and turned to watch the scenery out the window.

Cole caught Pandora looking at him in the rearview mirror, but as soon as he made eye contact, she snapped her gaze back to the road.

They pulled into the driveway five minutes later, although it felt like the trip had taken an hour. Cole jumped out and opened Kaley’s door. As soon as she vacated, he leaned down. He had to say something to Pandora. “I’m sorry about tonight. I really am.”

“I told you, it’s no big deal.” She was flip and casual and completely on the defensive. “I’ll be by around six fifteen tomorrow to pick Kaley up.”

She shifted the car into reverse, ready to go.

He exhaled. She obviously didn’t want to talk. Or listen. “Okay. See you then.”

“Yep.” She stared straight ahead.

He shut the door, but stood in the driveway as she reversed and pulled away through the gate. She’d be back tomorrow. He knew that. But he couldn’t get past the fact that her leaving right now felt like it was forever.

Kaley was in the house already, but Jack stood on the porch. “Let her go.”

“What’s it look like I’m doing?” Cole knew the tone in his voice was less than respectful, but he was angry and didn’t care. He strode up the drive to join his father on the porch.

Jack shook his head. “This is for the best. Trust me.”

“Maybe Pandora and I wouldn’t both be so upset right now if I’d known what I was before she and I met.” Cole faced him. “Still think my not knowing is what’s best?”

Jack’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll tell you what you need to know when you need to know it, and yes, it’s what’s best for both of you. Plus, you have a house, a job and a life back in North Carolina. You going to give all that up to move here on the chance things
might
work out between you? What kind of teaching job are you going to get living in a town where pretending every day is Halloween is the main industry? Pull yourself together, son.”