Chapter 8
"I toldyou they'd hit it off, Fennie."
Blake and I looked up as our aunts approached us, looking smug.
"You were right, Patty."
"Why are you patting yourself on the back?" I asked my aunt archly. "Blake and I met last night, far away from here."
Fenella grinned mischievously. "And how do you think you ended up at that bar, Candela?"
I frowned at her. "What did you do?"
She shrugged. "I just gave you a little 'suggestion' when I saw you leaving. Patty told me where Blake would be so I wanted to be sure you'd be there too."
"You cast a spell on me?" I asked indignantly. "You had no right."
Fenella waved her hand. "It was for your own good, sweetie. And everything would have worked out perfectly if your mom hadn't stuck her nose in when she did. When Patty told me that Blake didn't know where you were, I had to improvise and make sure he was here tonight."
"I can't believe you!" I yelled. "Of all the manipulative, sneaky-"
Blake's arm came around my shoulders and his hand landed on my mouth. He leaned down and whispered in my ear, "Uh, everyone is looking at you. Could you, maybe, take it down a notch?"
Because he was asking nicely rather than sarcastically, I nodded. When he released me, I brushed my hair back from my face and glared at my aunt.
"I don't even know what to say to you right now, but we'll definitely talk when I'm calmer."
"How about thank you?" Fenella quipped.
An outraged noise escaped my throat, but Blake prevented me from committing murder by curving an arm around my waist and basically lifting me off my feet, skirting around our aunts.
"Candy and I will just go get some fresh air, clear our heads. I'll have her back a little later."
Before I could even react or think to fight, Blake carried me through the living room and out the front door.
"Put me down," I demanded as he hauled me down the front steps and toward a sleek black Mustang.
He did, but only long enough to open the door of the car and shove me inside. In seconds, he was in the driver's seat and pulling away from the curb.
"Where are we going, Blake?" I asked.
"Somewhere we'll be alone."
I sighed and leaned my head back against the seat back. Now that I'd had a second to breathe, my ire had faded. I knew that my worry over Ava had contributed to me losing my temper with Fenella.
"You have a wicked temper, Candy," Blake murmured, his words echoing my exact thoughts.
I huffed out a breath. "Yeah."
"Matches your hair," he continued.
I rolled my eyes because that was something I'd heard before. Being a redhead, friends and family members often joked that it made me a hothead.
"I'm calmer now. We can go back."
Blake hummed in the back of his throat. "We could, but I wasn't lying when I said I wanted to go somewhere so we could be alone. I want all your attention on me."
Considering I hadn't gotten to touch him and taste him the way I wanted to last night, I didn't bother to complain.
