Parlor Tricks Page 2

  Henrietta gasped. “Now isn’t this getting more interesting?”

  Sass nodded. “It does, believe me. The spell was pretty poor … and if I say it’s a poor spell you know it’s a poor spell. It was leaking all over the place … magic was just being thrown around casually. Anyway … it was a…” Sass’s breath hitched, “a … a … lust spell.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “I wish. And he had been doused. He was like some poor sitting … uh … laying … duck. I tried to undo the spell but I didn’t have the necessary ingredients on me. And then…” Sass took a deep breath, “ … he leaned up and kissed me.”

  Henrietta swooned back. “Oh boy … oh boy … oh boy…”

  “It was…” Sass’s blushed deepened, “…amazing! He was amazing. I felt the kiss right down to my toes and back up again, Henny. Anyway … I couldn’t let the person who had laid the spell on Griffin come back and uh … finish it … so I…”

  Henrietta licked her lips. “Finished it for them?”

  Sass dropped her eyes and nodded. “Sort of. I didn’t mean it to happen the way it did. He came with me willingly,” Sass rolled her eyes, “Of course. I was just going to take him home, well, back to Tina’s … but the moment I got him into my car he was all over me.” Sass all but moaned at the memory. “I … I … couldn’t help myself, Henny. He was kissing me … touching me … telling me how beautiful I was.”

  “Tell me about the touching.” Henrietta leaned over the counter, eyes eager.

  “You’re so predictable.”

  Henrietta waved that away. “Yeah, yeah, about the touching.”

  Sass swallowed. “He has amazing hands, Henny. They’re large and just a little callused and so beautiful. When he touched me…” Sass moaned, “I thought I had died and gone to heaven.”

  Henrietta’s eyes twinkled. “Yes?”

  Sass shook her head. “No more, you pervert.”

  “Oh come on!”

  “No. I’ve said too much already.”

  “You’ve hardly said anything.” Henrietta stomped her foot. “Please? I want to know about his…”

  Sass held up her hand. “I know what you want to know about. Forget it. I’m not telling.”

  Henrietta rolled her eyes. “You can be such a spoilsport, Sass.”

  “And you can be a meddlesome busybody, but hey, do you see me complaining?”

  Henrietta narrowed her eyes. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”

  Sass laughed. “You do that.”

  Henrietta picked up her bag of supplies and sighed. “You’re really not going to tell me, are you?”

  “Nope.”

  “Well, at least tell me about the not remembering part,” Henrietta pleaded.

  Sass shrugged. “Like I said, it was a shoddily constructed spell. I think the caster skimped on sugar. Such a simple ingredient … but people always overlook it. I’m not sure why, maybe they’re too wrapped up with the complicated stuff like…”

  Henrietta snapped her fingers. “Hey, hey, focus here. What about Mr. Hunky Sampson not remembering hot monkey sex in your car?”

  “Exactly that, he doesn’t remember. After we … uh … finished, he totally passed out.” Sass smiled at the memory. “I drove him to Tina’s and I…” Sass bit her lip, “sort of left him on the front porch of her house.”

  “You did what?” Henrietta dropped her bag.

  “I know, I know, it was horrible. But what was I supposed to do? How was I going to explain Griffin being naked and uh … sweaty … and … well heck, how could I explain that, Henny?”

  “I guess you couldn’t. Not very well.”

  “No, not very well. I mean, it took a lot of energy for me to construct a strength spell to lift the guy … he’s big and heavy.”

  Henrietta winked. “I bet.”

  Sass stifled back laughter. “Well … I went home and then it was just countdown to when I was going to get that, ‘Hey, did we have wild monkey sex in your car,’ phone call. It never came.” Sass twisted her hair around her finger nervously. “I saw him a couple of times before he left and … nothing, nada, nil, not even a flicker of recognition. I’m sure the caster intended for him to forget … it was probably built right into the spell.”

  Henrietta nodded. “So, that was it.”

  Sass smiled. “That was it.”

  Henrietta reached over and slapped Sass on her shoulder. “The hell with that, Sass Riley, you are the luckiest person on the planet! You slept with Griffin Sampson.” Henrietta moaned. “I get hot just thinking about it. OH MY GOD!” And because she couldn’t seem to help herself, Henrietta Dane began to jump up and down wildly.

  Sass laughed. “Henny, Henny, calm down, it was, it was nothing.”

  Henrietta stopped jumping abruptly. “Sass…” she said warningly.

  Sass’s eyes began to twinkle. “Okay, I’m lying through my teeth. It was wonderful. He was wonderful.” Sass slapped her forehead, “and I am a truly terrible person. I mean, I all but took advantage of him.”

  Henrietta burst out laughing. “Honey … you did not take advantage of him.”

  “He was under a spell.”

  “Uh-huh, a hot, wild, monkey love spell.”

  “I shouldn’t have…”

  “You should, you did … you lucky, lucky, devil you.” Henrietta smacked her lips together. “Yummy … now why don’t I come across be-spelled hunks in the forest?”

  “Henrietta you have to promise not to tell anyone of…”

  Henrietta held up a hand. “No need to say anything else, Sass. My lips are sealed.”

  “Your mind, too.”

  Henrietta grinned. “Yes, that too.”

  “Okay.” Sass smiled. “Need anything else, Henny?”

  “Just more details,” Henrietta replied.

  Sass chuckled. “Other than that?”

  “Nope, I think this’ll do.” Henrietta turned to leave. “Oh, are we still on for Friday evening?”

  Sass groaned. “I hate ‘raisings’, Henny.”

  “I know honey, but we need another body to complete the circle.”

  “Okay, fine, but you owe me one.”

  Henrietta winked. “You bet.” Just before Henrietta left she shouted over her shoulder, “Do ya think you can whip up one of those lust spells for me, Sass?”

  “You need a lust spell like I need more hemlock in my brew,” Sass muttered under her breath.

  Sass watched Henrietta’s dark head disappear out of view and couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face. Henrietta was right … she was lucky, very, very, lucky.

  Chapter Two

  Griffin Sampson parked his car outside of his sister’s house and hesitated. This was a mistake, a big mistake. Why was he here again? Oh yeah, Thanksgiving … shit. There should definitely be more time between major holidays.

  Griffin exited his car and pulled his duffel out of the backseat. Only Tina and her award winning guilt trips could do this to him … make him leave work, leave the city … for this… Daring, Massachusetts, where ‘seeing is believing’.

  Griffin sighed, dropped his duffel and leaned against his car. It wasn’t as if Daring wasn’t beautiful. It was. It wasn’t as if his sister didn’t have a nice home and a good career. She did. It was that Daring and its inhabitants were A-class weirdoes, nut-jobs, escapees from a sideshow.

  Maybe he was being a little ungenerous. Griffin thought back to his last visit and shook his head—nope—weirdoes they were. Not only was the town a throwback to the turn of the century, what with its cute Victorians and small, ‘town square’ stores, but strange things happened in Daring, things that just didn’t happen anywhere else. In Daring Massachusetts, witches really did fly on Halloween, reindeer shot through the sky and Santa and his elves drank whiskey on top of thatched rooftops. The only explanation, at least in Griffin’s eyes, was that everyone … yes, everyone in this town was a practicing magician or illusionist. Okay, perhaps it did sound a b
it far-fetched, but there was no other logical explanation for the bizarre events that took place in this tiny little town.

  “Griffin!” Tina Sampson rushed down the front walk and threw herself into her brother’s arms. “Griff, Griff, I’m so glad you made it. I’m so glad you came.”

  Griffin smiled and ruffled his sister’s hair. “Did I have a choice?”

  Tina leaned back. “Probably not. If you had said no, I would have hexed you.”

  Griffin rolled his eyes. “Tina.”

  Tina laughed. “Yes, I know.” She deepened her voice into a fairly good imitation of her brother’s and said, “There are no such things.”

  Griffin nodded curtly and then pinched her on her side, causing her to giggle. “So, are you going to take my bags inside?”

  Tina laughed. “In your dreams.”

  “I’m the guest.”

  “Uh-huh.” Tina pranced up the walkway toward her house. “Coming?”

  With a great big sigh, Griffin picked up his bag and followed his sister.

  * * * *

  “Hey, the kitchen looks great.” Griffin accepted a glass of hot apple cider from his sister and smiled appreciatively at the kitchen.

  “Oh, do you like it? I totally retiled.”

  “I can tell.”

  “And, I put in a new fridge and sink.”

  “Yeah, pretty cool.” Griffin frowned when he saw what was sitting in the new, oversized sink. “Tina…”

  Tina winced. “What?”

  Griffin pointed to the object in the sink. “What is that?”

  Tina’s eyes widened innocently. “It’s a cauldron, albeit a small one, but a cauldron just the same.”

  “You have a cauldron in your sink?”

  Tina nodded. “Yeah, it was dripping all over the place. Where else would you have had me put it?”

  Griffin felt a pounding headache coming on. He always got headaches when he visited his sister.

  “Tina. Dare I ask … why do you have a cauldron in your sink?”

  “Uh…” Tina looked perplexed. “Didn’t I just answer that question?”

  “For the love of…” Griffin counted to ten. “Is there a reason you have a cauldron in this house? I don’t really think of cauldrons as common objects.”

  “Oh but they are. You have to have a cauldron,” Tina said.

  “Why?”

  Tina smiled mischievously. “To make a giant,” she grinned, “pot of soup.”

  Griffin swallowed.

  “You asked,” Tina said innocently.

  Griffin nodded slowly. “That I did, that I did.” Griffin stood from his seat and ran a hand through his hair. “I think I’ll go to my room.”

  “Dinner will be ready in an hour.”

  Griffin cleared his throat. “Just promise me one thing.”

  “Yes?”

  “You won’t prepare it in your cauldron.”

  Tina’s tinkling laughter followed him all the way to his room.

  * * * *

  “No wonder you’ve lost weight,” Tina said—an hour after dinner found them shopping at the local grocery store. Griffin had insisted they pick up some ‘must haves’. Tina eyed her brother’s grocery basket warily. These were must haves?

  Griffin laughed. “I’ve hardly lost weight, Tina.”

  Tina picked a package of tofu out of Griffin’s basket and wrinkled her nose. “Ick, ick, ick, Griffin … this stuff is so disgusting.”

  “It’s bean curd Tina … not nuclear waste.”

  Tina jiggled the package and grimaced. “You sure about that?”

  Griffin grabbed the tofu out of her hand and tossed it back into his basket. “Are you going to do this to every item I pick?”

  “Depends … are you going to keep picking totally tasteless, rather indescribable items?”

  “Probably,” Griffin said curtly.

  Tina clucked her tongue. “There’s your answer.”

  “You’re the one that said you didn’t mind if I went shopping for some items, Tina.”

  “Yeah, yeah, you weren’t nearly this bad last year,” Tina complained.

  Griffin laughed. “Only you would think that healthy eating is bad, Tina.”

  Tina sighed and picked up a jar of peanut butter. She caught her brother looking at her out of the corner of his eye and clutched the jar to her chest. “No, no way, I am not putting it back.”

  “At least get the organic kind, Tina.”

  “What? And spend three bucks more for the same damned peanuts?”

  Griffin scowled. “You’re hopeless.”

  “Yeah, I am … and you’re a neurotic, anal retentive stick in the mud, so what?”

  “Careful Tina…”

  Tina laughed and slapped her brother on his arm. “You need to lighten up, Griff. You’re so tense. I’m amazed you haven’t snapped already.”

  Griffin sighed. “Tina, listen, it’s been a long week and…”

  Tina waited.

  “And…” Griffin narrowed his eyes and moved out of the aisle. “And…”

  “Yes?” Tina asked.

  “And … who’s that, Tina?” Griffin continued to stare across the frozen food section. “She … sort of looks familiar.”

  Tina followed her brother’s gaze and smiled. “Are you looking at Sass?” And before her brother could stop her she shouted across the room, “Sass … Sass … come here.”

  Griffin groaned. “Why don’t you try that again, sis, I don’t think you quite carried to Canada.”

  Tina grinned. “Shut up, and try to behave like a human being. She’s coming over.”

  * * * *

  Sass felt her heart beat triple time as she slowly made her way over to Tina and Griffin Sampson. Oh God. He was even more gorgeous than she remembered—same thick wheat-blond hair, same gorgeous green eyes and same luscious full lips. Were men even allowed to have luscious lips? Unfortunately … something else was still the same … he was still scowling. Whenever she met Griffin Sampson … save the obvious incident in the forest … he was scowling. Perhaps she had a spell that could cure him of that problem. No. No. With her luck she’d probably turn him into a bullfrog.

  Sass stopped in front of the pair and forced a smile. Her belly was quivering. Damn it all. He made her belly quiver—among other things.

  Tina smiled broadly. “Griffin, Saskia Riley, affectionately known around these parts as Sass. We were playmates ages ago, remember?” Tina turned to Sass. “Sass, you remember my brother, don’t you?”

  Sass swallowed. Did she remember Griffin Sampson? Perfectly sculpted abs, muscular thighs, gorgeous hands, hard cock—yipes!

  “Uh yes, we met at, that is we…” Sass stumbled over her words.

  Griffin held out his hand. “Nice to see you again, Saskia.” His voice was deep, resonant, and husky.

  If Sass had been a stick of butter she would have melted right there. “Nice to see you too, again, I mean see you again…”

  What was her problem? She sounded like a raving lunatic? Worse, she sounded like a drunk raving lunatic.

  Griffin smiled.

  Sass took a couple of deep breaths. “You can call me Sass, everyone does.”

  Griffin’s smile widened. “Then I’ll call you Saskia.” His look deepened. “So I stand out from everyone else.”

  Sass blinked.

  “So,” Tina’s voice shot out, “how’s business these days, Sass?” Tina asked the question of Sass but continued to stare interestedly at her brother.

  Sass jerked her eyes away from Griffin. “Uh, good, very good.”

  “Even without the Halloween rush?”

  Sass nodded and gave Tina a small smile. “Now we have the Christmas rush.”

  “Oh for heavens sake … we haven’t even passed Thanksgiving yet,” Tina moaned.

  Sass shrugged. “You know how it is.”

  “Uh-huh. Capitalism, capitalism, capitalism.” Tina’s look turned suddenly calculating. “Hey, Sass, I have a meeting Friday night
and I promised Griffin I’d take him out, but…” Tina grinned, “I think I’ll be tied up late. Could you perhaps…” She let her words trail off.

  Sass blushed.

  Griffin growled. It was obvious he didn’t approve of the fact that his sister was setting him up on a date. “Tina, Saskia probably has other plans; we shouldn’t impose…”

  “No, I don’t. I’d love to.” Once the words were out, Sass blanched.

  Tina clapped her hands excitedly. “Excellent. You see, Griff, it worked out perfectly.”

  Griffin’s scowl deepened. “Yeah. Perfect.”

  * * * *

  Sass unscrewed a jar of cobwebs and without looking threw in a handful. She then went back to furiously stirring the bubbling brew in her cauldron.

  Stupid Sass, she chastised herself. What had she been thinking? She had basically asked out Griffin Sampson. And God, could it have been any more humiliating? He had looked at her as if she had sprouted warts all over her face.

  Sass groaned. When would she learn? When would she stop putting her foot in her mouth?

  “That would be never,” Sass muttered. She lifted the spoon to her lips and sipped. “Yuck!” Sass spat out the offending liquid and shuddered. “What’s wrong with it now?” Sass saw the empty jar of cobwebs and swore. Shoot. He even ruined her concentration and mucked up her potions. “Stop it. I’m going to stop thinking about Griffin Sampson.”

  Sass unhooked her cauldron and brought it to the back of the store. She emptied the noxious brew down the drain of her oversized sink and dropped the cauldron to the floor with a thud.

  It shouldn’t matter. It really shouldn’t matter if Griffin Sampson wasn’t attracted to her—or if he had been railroaded into going on a date with her by his overzealous sister. And so what if he was the handsomest man she had ever seen? And so what if she hadn’t had sex in over two months? It really didn’t matter.

  Sass groaned and slapped her hand to her forehead. Yeah right.

  She walked through the corridor that separated her store from her house, all the while thinking of ways she could get out of Friday’s pseudo date. She could come down with the flu … she still had those flu pellets. Of course the last time she had used the pellets, she had developed a rather unsightly rash.