Hell's Bell (Lizzie Grace 2)

Briefly, but urgently.

Then, with another groan, he broke away and stalked over to his truck. I stayed where I was, and watched until he was well out of sight.

And knew I could get into very big trouble if I didn’t watch myself—and my emotions—around him. I’d fallen for the wrong type of man once before, and I really didn’t want to go through that sort of heartache again. It wasn’t as if my heart didn’t have ample enough warning about the foolishness of such a leap; he was a werewolf, after all, and they rarely got emotionally involved with anyone other than another werewolf. His sister had been a rare exception, and even then, her marriage to Gabe had only been granted as a dying wish. As the eldest in his family—and therefore heir to his father’s position—Aiden wasn’t likely to go against pack rules, even when it came to matters of the heart.

Besides, not only was I a witch, but a lying one at that. He could only ever be a good time, not a long time, no matter what sparks might fly between us.

Of course, there was one other point I needed to remember—the fact that I was getting way, way ahead of myself with these sort of thoughts. It wasn’t as if we’d done anything more than kiss, for heaven’s sake.

I closed the door and headed back upstairs. After cleaning up our cups and putting the leftover cake back in its container, I wrote a note for Belle, letting her know about the visit to both the clearing where Aiden’s sister had died and to the wellspring, and asking if she’d mind coming along. Then I went to bed.

And if my dreams were haunted by the specter of a blue-eyed werewolf, I certainly didn’t remember it.

“So, what happened last night?” Belle leaned against the countertop and gave me a somewhat speculative look. “Your thoughts are all sorts of happy.”

“I don’t always wake up grumpy, you know.”

Amusement twitched her lips. “Granted, but this is more than just an I-had-a-great-night’s-sleep happy.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Maybe I had a great night’s sleep filled with good dreams rather than ominous ones for a change.”

She snorted. “The delaying tactics won’t work. Give, woman, or I shall ferret.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t already.”

“Hey, I only ever mine thoughts when absolutely necessary.” She paused. “Or in cases like your ranger, when it’s hard to know what the man is thinking from his expression or body language.”

I gave her a long look. “You haven’t read his mind—have you?”

She merely grinned. “You answer my question, and I’ll answer yours.”

Which was an echo of what I’d said to Aiden last night, and one that had my eyes narrowing. Her grin grew.

“You’re a tart,” I said.

“And you love me. So give, or I will dig deeper.”

I rolled my eyes. “Aiden came here for coffee last night. Trust me, you probably got a whole lot more action than I did.”

“Zak and I just cuddled and watched a movie.” Her smile flashed again. “Shocking, I know.”

“What, have you worn the poor man out already?”

“Nope. I just didn’t feel in the mood last night.”

“I do hope you’re not coming down with something.” I reached across the counter and pressed the back of my hand to her forehead. “No temperature—”

She laughed and slapped my hand away. “Now who’s the tart? Just give with the information, woman, because something obviously did go down between the two of you.”

I snapped the lids on the three travel mugs and handed one to her. “We kissed. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“And?”

“And that’s it.” I picked up the other two mugs and walked around the counter.

“So how was it? On the scale of okay to oh-hell-yeah, where did it fall?” She picked up the backpack at her feet, swung it over her left shoulder, and fell into step beside me as I walked toward the door.

I gave her the look—the one that told her to mind her own business. She only grinned at me.