“Good. I want you to feel reassured. And I want you to accept my offer to take my fifty-one percent of the company.”
She laughed. “Oh. That would be so ... sweet. Marching into his office and telling him I’m technically the majority owner.”
“Do it. You can do whatever you want. You can take ownership and just collect passive income, or you can really go in here and start messing with him.”
She didn’t think she was hallucinating the look of pure enjoyment in Zach’s eyes when he mentioned her messing with Jonathan. And it was a good fantasy. But she just wasn’t sure about any of this. It seemed like a no-brainer in many ways. She needed time to sit with all of this, though.
“I’ll think about it.”
“I didn’t expect to have to talk you into it.”
“It’s probably good for you to have a woman who isn’t a sure thing.”
He shifted, his expression getting serious. “I don’t want to cause you any stress. So if it stresses you out, we don’t have to talk about it right now. But I’d like to do this again.”
“So do I. But it feels like ...” Too soon? Irresponsible? Like something she shouldn’t be doing because it felt too good, because it felt too self-centered, because it felt ... “Yes, I want to keep doing it. But I don’t want Jonathan to know.”
“Okay,” he said, his expression neutral. “If he did, he’d think you were getting back at him.”
Part of her couldn’t deny that sounded a little bit satisfying.
You’re also afraid of losing the high ground.
Thatwas lowering. But it was true. Right now, even his mother was on her side because Jonathan was being so ridiculous. But if anyone knew she was sleeping with someone else?
You guys made out on the street, it might get around.
It might. But she wasn’t going to announce it.
Whether he could pick up on her thoughts, he didn’t say so. “It’s whatever you need, Daisy.”
She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had said that to her. If nothing else, Zach Woods was a fantastic vacation from everything else happening in her life.
“Oh, shoot. I’m opening the apothecary tomorrow, and then I have practice and—”
“I’ll drive you back in time.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Really. You know, it’s okay to let people do things for you.”
When she finally fell asleep, warm and in his arms, she kept replaying those words.
She wanted them to be true.
Chapter Eighteen
Nora
A witch needs a coven.
—Rules for Witches
Nora felt like she had a storm cloud hanging over her head when she walked into the apothecary fifteen minutes late, but still before opening.
She immediately saw Daisy, who was sitting in front of the computer and wasglowing.
“Oh my God!” Nora shouted across the empty store. “You slept with him.”
