If her presence made it hard for Dominic to deal with the townspeople, she would leave early. The trouble she had with her power now was more manageable than before. Lydia should accept her after she learned about the seal, and maybe some of her sisters would agree to help her. Even if none of them were elemental Witches, at least they wouldn’t be scared to live with her anymore. Freya might assist her under these new circumstances.
Allie hated the Witch who had broken the spell on the sycamores. Witches didn’t care to establish a good reputation for themselves, but this one had gone too far. Allie groaned in frustration and crossed her arms.
Heat crawled up her arm, and she turned her palms up to find a tiny flame flickering on its surface. Allie stared at it, feeling a grin bloom on her face.
“I did it.”
Ekko chittered and nuzzled her hair, puffing hot steam that clung to her cold cheeks.
Allie focused on making the flame bigger, and it grew to the size of a peach. She made it small again. Big, small. Then she willed it to move to her fingertip. It didn’t hurt her, that comfortable heat only tickling her skin as the flame burned. With the next thought, she snuffed it out, turning her hand up and down to check for marks—there were none.
“Yes!” Allie clapped her hands once before she was on her way back to the bakery with a very loud and excited baby dragon who kept flying and jumping around her from one shoulder to the other.
The morning of the wedding, Dominic loaded the refrigerated van he’d borrowed from a bigger bakery in Rocky Hills by himself. He gave Allie more time to primp and preen, knowing how long it took his sister to get ready for events. There was an hour left before the wedding started when he was done, which gave him plenty of time to shower and get dressed.
Unsurprisingly, Mia had stopped by the other night and gifted him a crisp white button-up shirt and a green tie and warned him to wear them or risk her wrath. Dom knew better than to cross his sister, so he donned the new shirt but rolled its sleeves up to his elbows, leaving part of his sycamore tattoo out. He tied his hair back, knowing he was going to handle the cake and pastries for the sweets bar.
Mia had also told him that any time he wanted to stop being an idiot and notice what was in front of him was a good time. He had kept quiet, but her words drilled into his brain and sent him on a trip to the flower shop.
He picked up the box he’d spent an embarrassingly long amount of time picking and went down the stairs. The familiar tangerine scent softened his senses as he filled his lungs with it, this time with a subtle vanilla fragrance.
“Ready whenever you are,” Dominic yelled as he walked down the hallway, hoping Allie heard him with her door closed. Ekko flew to him and barely stopped in time not to crash his snout into Dom’s face. The baby dragon proudly wore a white bowtie, his scales shining in the early morning light as the creature circled him once, twice, as if to check he was dressed appropriately for the day.
“I’m ready.”
Allie stood in the middle of the bakery wearing one of the most beautiful smiles he’d ever seen. Her lips were pinker than usual, and he wondered if the red stains in her cheeks were natural or if she was wearing makeup.
His eyes roamed over her body, down her green dress that ended too soon, to her long legs and her tall, sexy boots. His heart pounded frantically, and he cleared his throat of the tumbleweed that had stuck there to make room for words.
“You look…” The mane of her red hair was clipped half-up, leaving part of her long curls cascading down her shoulders and back, along her exposed neck. Dom’s gaze swung to that deep neckline where the crescent moon locket hung on her bare skin. “Beautiful.”
“Thank you. You look handsome, too.” Her cheeks colored a brighter shade. She looked between her dress and his tie and smiled, softly shaking her head. “I like your tie.”
Mia.
“My sister—” Dominic stopped before spitting out any excuse that Mia had been the one who had matched him with Allie. The box in his hands clearly stated he had thought about her. He got itfor her.
Dom shook himself from the spell Allie had cast on him with her beauty and closed the distance between them. The vanilla fragrance was stronger this close, and he resisted a much-desired deep inhale into his lungs.
“This is for you.” He opened the box and pulled out the corsage made with a pearl bracelet, so it was less itchy around her wrist. Her features morphed into admiration and disbelief, and Dom got ready to fight any argument she might make against wearing it.
But then her full smile came back, and she extended her left hand, watching him with wide, delighted eyes that melted his heart. Allie was wearing her gold rings, the amethyst and ruby stones glinting in the light. He slipped the corsage on carefully, his fingers brushing her soft skin in the process.
“It’s beautiful,” she said, turning her hand in the light. “Thank you.”
She swept a glance over his chest and arms that left a hot trail in its wake, biting her lower lip.
Today was going to be a long fucking day, in the best or worst way possible.
Chapter 20
LET’S PUT IT TO THE TEST
The moment they went out the door, a strong gust of wind swept Allie’s skirt up, raising Dominic’s heartbeat to impossible levels. He threw an air shield around them, a warm one, to keep her from shivering.
“I told Mia this dress was too short,” the Witch hissed to herself. But Dom knew that arguing against Mia’s stubborn opinion was in vain.
“There will be air shields over the farm, too.” Dom opened the passenger door of the van, and Allie climbed inside, smoothing the skirt of her dress. Ekko followed her and plopped on the back seat, while Dom went around and climbed into the driver’s seat. “Tom and Andrew are also air Wizards, and between the three of us, it’s going to be a piece of cake to keep the place warm.” Allie laughed at his silly cake reference, her chuckle one of his favorite sounds.
