He clenched his jaw against letting any more details spill out. “Just tell me that you can fix this. By tomorrow morning.”
Sue airily waved a hand in air. “Of course she can fix it. Isn't she the most powerful Cardinal witch to come along in generations? There is nothing to worry about at all, Alejandro. What a lovely name, by the way. Now, what are your dinner plans?”
She beamed at him as if he were an old family friend, and made a move-along gesture to Rose. “Why don't you go change into something nice for dinner, Marigold? I’m sure the nice agent likes to see a woman in a lovely dress.”
Alejandro grinned. Apparently meddling mothers were the same everywhere. Rose shot a glare at him that should have blistered his eyeballs, and he quit smiling, fast.
Rose gritted her teeth. “I told you not to call me that, Mother, and why would we care what his preferences are in women’s clothing?”
“I don't know why you'd want to invite him to dinner anyway,” Buttercup, or Astrid, or whatever the hell her name was, interjected. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Alejandro. “He probably wants to shoot Bambi and eat him for dinner. Animal murderer.”
“Who is Bambi and why would I want to shoot him?” Alejandro shook his head, feeling an ache starting to pound inside his skull. “Are all witches so confusing?”
Buttercup sneered at him. “Bigot.”
Before Alejandro could respond, Sue put her hands on her hips and pointed back down the path the way she’d come.
“Go back to the house right this instant, young lady. I'll deal with you later.”
Rose threw her hands in the air. “I've had enough of this. I have a great deal of potion to cook, so I’d better get started.”
An extremely loud chiming sound pealed out from the vicinity of the front of Rose's house just then, and Alejandro looked at Rose. “What is that?”
“Oh, no, I forgot about Connor. He's coming over to pick up his conversation potion,” Rose said, closing her eyes for a moment. “What else can I possibly have to deal with today?”
“At least my mother isn’t here,” Sue said, smiling. “She’d drive us all nuts, with her criticisms and suggestions about the basilisk problem.”
“Right. We know nothing about interfering mothers,” Rose muttered, rolling her eyes, and Alejandro had to cough to cover a laugh.
Buttercup, instead of heading back toward her house, had been edging toward Rose's kitchen door as they talked. When Rose turned around and caught her at it, the girl blushed bright pink.
“You don't get to be the only Cardinal witch who talks to hunky guys, Rose,” she said defiantly. “Connor’s really cute, and I know he likes me.”
“Connor is twenty-two and far too old for you,” Rose said sternly. “Don't even think about--”
Buttercup ignored her sister and flew through the door into the house. Rose, Sue, and Alejandro followed her, but they all froze for a moment when Buttercup started shrieking. Alejandro drew his gun, but Rose put her hand on his arm again. A bolt of electricity seared through him just from that simple touch, but he didn’t let it show in his face. It had to be a spell. No way could he be so affected by a woman he didn’t even know.
“That was a happy shriek, not a danger shriek,” Rose said wearily. Apparently she didn't realize what simple proximity was doing to his resolve not to pick her up and kiss her.
“You're absolutely beautiful,” he blurted out, unable to help himself and shocked again at his lack of control around this gorgeous witch with the crazy family.
Sue shot him a speculative grin, and Rose’s lips parted and her eyes widened, but before either one of them could say anything, Buttercup came bouncing back out the door, leading a woman who had to be at least a hundred and seventy years old.
Rose gasped, Sue made an odd growling noise, and the old woman flashed an enormous smile full of the whitest, squarest teeth Alejandro had ever seen.
Buttercup smiled happily and put her arm around the old woman. “Isn't it awesome? Granny’s here to save the day.”
Rose sighed and glanced up Alejandro. “Whether we want her to or not.”#p#分页标题#e#
Dark and Deadly: Eight Bad Boys of Paranormal Romance by Jennifer Ashley, Alyssa Day, Felicity Heaton, Erin Kellison, Laurie London, Erin Quinn, Bonnie Vanak and Caris Roane
CHAPTER 6
Rose wanted nothing more than to spend some quality alone time with the fascinating man who was playing havoc with her nerves and her equilibrium. But of course that wasn’t in the cards, tarot or otherwise. Instead of the chance to get up close and personal with Alejandro, who was all coppery skin, long, lean muscles, and wickedly seductive eyes and mouth, she got to look forward to an evening of her grandmother’s observations on everything Rose was doing wrong in her life.