Home > Witch Please (Fix-It Witches #1)(5)

Witch Please (Fix-It Witches #1)(5)
Author: Ann Aguirre

   Color tinged his cheekbones. “Err, um…”

   “We read this last month for book club. It’s so fun! Have you gotten to the part when—wait, no, that’s a spoiler, I can’t ask you that.”

   Crap, I’m babbling again. What is it about this guy that opens my trap like I’m a dang boa constrictor? That thought prompted a whole bunch of disturbing oral sex ideas, and she locked that avenue of thought down like the Canadian prime minister was visiting.

   Be professional, dammit.

   “You’re not going to make fun of me?”

   “For what?”

   “Reading romance novels.”

   “Of course not. I don’t know any guys in real life who do, but I have male friends online who occasionally Skype into book club to chat, and they’re really cool.”

   “The book club or your online friends?”

   “Uh, both? Anyway, I’m being inefficient again. Is that still working for you?”

   “More than you might expect,” he said with a smile so powerful that she almost shielded her face from the glow.

   “Awesome. Which oven is giving you trouble?” If she concentrated, she’d be able to sense the flaw on her own, but she couldn’t do that in front of witnesses. In fact, she needed him out of the room for a while.

   “This one. It doesn’t even turn on.” Titus led the way over to the recalcitrant appliance and showed her. “The damn thing is just out of warranty, and I’d prefer not to pay to replace it.”

   “I’m sure I can get it working,” Danica said, “but it would help me if you could find your owner’s manual, just in case I have a question. If I have to call the manufacturer’s support line, you get charged for my time while I’m on hold, and that’s not fair.”

   It was also an errand she could send him on that made perfect sense.

   Titus nodded, already headed toward what she guessed was an office or maybe a storage room. “I’m not sure where I put it, but I know it’s around here somewhere. If I can’t find the hard copy, I’ll download it and email you the file.”

   “Perfect.” She closed the distance between them and put her business card in his hand. “This has my email on it.”

   It also has the business phone on the front and my cell number written on the back.

   This was the perfect test, a way to discover if he was flirting or if he just enjoyed bantering with awkward witches. Once he disappeared from her line of sight, she got to work, setting a hand on the oven to see what was going on. Ah, there was a short deep inside. Danica closed her eyes and imagined the wire smoothing out, the copper whole, the casing sealed, and the familiar buzz passed through her arm, resulting in a soft spark.

   Perfect.

   By the time Titus returned with the requested documentation, she had the oven on and was checking the functionality. He regarded her with amazement. “You fixed it already? But you didn’t even bring any tools.”

   Oh, crap.

   Normally, she was more together than this, but between the hangover, the smoothie shower, his improbable hotness, Gram’s visit, and her wannabe familiar, her head was a bowl of Jell-O salad, wobbly and full of random bits. Quickly she said, “You’d be surprised how often that’s the case. It just needed a hard reset. Was there a power outage recently?”

   Please, please, please.

   “It’s possible. The refrigerators are on a generator so my perishables won’t spoil in that case, but I didn’t know it could impact the ovens.”

   “Oh, sure,” she said airily, hoping that was true.

   ***

   She’s like an oven whisperer. Competence is so sexy.

   “How much do I owe you?” Titus asked.

   “I’ll invoice you by email if that’s okay.” She paused with an air of expectation, and he remembered her card, safely tucked away in his pocket.

   “Sure, let me get you one of my cards.” He didn’t know if she realized she’d given him her personal number, but in case she did know…in the office, he scrawled his cell number on the back and rushed to offer it. “Here you go.”

   His fingers brushed hers in the exchange, and a zing went through him. Not a static shock, something else, a buzz that made him want to find out what would happen if they touched more and for longer. Danica wrapped her hand around the card and withdrew from contact a little slower than seemed normal, as if she’d felt it too. That was another question he couldn’t ask without coming off strange. No wonder he kept failing at love.

   “Thanks. Oh, just so you’re not shocked, we charge a minimum of one hour labor along with the service call.”

   “I’m not worried about it. No matter what your minimums are, I guarantee that they’re less than the cost of a new oven.”

   “I wish all our customers were so reasonable. Look for my email later, okay? Have a great day!” With a cheerful wave, Danica headed out.

   Damn if he didn’t like watching her go.

   “How was it?” Maya stuck her head in a few minutes later. “Did you pop the question yet?”

   “Very funny. I didn’t even ask her out.”

   “That’s just as well. You only met her a few hours ago. Did you at least get her contact info?”

   Folding his arms, Titus glared at his younger sister. “Do I meddle in your life?”

   “Constantly.”

   He sensed that this conversation wouldn’t go anywhere good, so he cleared his throat and changed the subject. “Did we sell out yet?”

   “Almost. Just a few madeleines and we’ll be out of stock. When will the oven be ready, by the way? This is really cutting into our profits, and as a major shareholder—”

   “It’s done,” he cut in, amused at Maya’s description of herself as a “shareholder.”

   “Wow, really? Mrs. Carminian swore that the Fix-It Witches could repair anything faster than everyone else. I guess for once she wasn’t exaggerating.”

   “Give her some free crullers the next time she comes in.”

   “Will do,” Maya said cheerfully.

   “Are you coming home for dinner?”

   “Please. I have plans. I’m not the one who has to be up at 4:00 a.m.”

   “You make a good point. Then I’ll leave you to sell everything and lock up. Have fun tonight and stay out of trouble.”

   She rolled her eyes, and he knew that was such a big brother thing to say, but he couldn’t help it. To him, Maya would always be the kid who constantly had peanut butter smeared on her face because she ate it from the jar.

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