Love Charm for Carlotta (A Short Story in the Love Charm Series) Read Online Free PDF

crawling over to put her mouth on him. And
that would only compound her mistake.
    Thank God she was still wearing her dress. As she pushed
herself to her feet, she caught a glimpse of her torn panties gleaming whitely
in the moonlight.
    Jace's gaze followed hers. He
grinned. "Lost cause, babe. But look on the
bright side. You're gonna have to ride home on the bike commando."
    Oh, Lord. Holding onto him all the way.
    Carlotta smoothed down her dress, as if she might press away
any trace of Jace Burton from her life. But it was no use. All she could think
about was him, standing naked in the moonlight, watching her. She was doomed.
The word echoed in her head like a deep bell.
    Dooooomed . Dooooomed . As if an evil witch had—
    She gasped. "The love charm!"
    She didn't realize she'd spoken until Jace raised his brows. "The love charm?"
    "Never mind. It's
nothing." But that wasn't true. It was very definitely something. She
could see it in her mind's eye. The ground-up silver bean, the petals from her
hydrangea bush, a spray of her perfume, all wrapped up in a blue silk package.
    "Are we talking about Love Potion Number 9?" Jace
grinned. "I think that means you're supposed to kiss me." He stepped
forward.
    "It's not funny, Jace. My friend Ashley got her husband
from one of these love charms."
    "Ashley who?"
    " Kursh ," Carlotta said
without thinking. Her mind was still reeling over this new, dreadful thought.
    The love charm must have enchanted her to make this terrible
mistake.
    "Is she here on the Vineyard?" Jace asked.
    "Who?" Here he was,
already talking about another woman.
    "Your friend, Ashley."
    She stared. "Ashley? She lives in Florida. Her
husband's in the Army."
    "The husband she caught with a love charm?"
    "Yeah." Carlotta shook
her head. She needed to think more clearly. Of course, Jace wasn't interested
in Ashley. But the discussion had reminded her that other women were always a
factor in Jace's life. Which would
never work for her. She wanted to be the only woman in the life of any
man with whom she had a relationship.
    And the more her body yearned to move closer to Jace, the
more determined she was to flee. While she still could.
    "Carlotta, what's wrong?" Jace reached for his
jeans. "Give me a sec."
    "We need to go!" She felt almost feverish with
fear. That love charm had bewitched her into having sex with Jace. But Jace
didn't love her, and he never would. The longer she stayed with him, the
greater her pain would be when he left.
    "What's the rush?" He pulled his t-shirt over his
head. "I want to hear about this love charm that got your friend Ashley a
husband."
    "Don't worry." Carlotta almost ran over to the
bike. "I'm going to call Ashley and get an antidote."
    He laughed. "You really think you've been a victim of
magic?"
    "Don't make fun of me." She glared at him.
"What else would make me do such a stupid thing as have sex with
you?"
    "Hey, don't worry about my ego or anything."
    At least she'd wiped the grin off his face. Which didn't make her feel as good as she'd expected, but she
needed to shore up her self-respect. She couldn't bear it if he thought
she'd turned back into the lovesick fool that she'd been in high school.
    "I don't think your ego could be harmed by me,"
she said. But her anger had fled. Suddenly, she felt tired. Sand scratched at
her everywhere, and the wind blew coldly across her bare shoulders. "I
want to go home, Jace."
    Silently, he crossed the sand, helped her on the bike, and
started it up. He drove sedately all the way to her house.
    But when they got off the bike, he halted her with a hand on
her arm.
    Jace sighed. "You don't trust me, do you?"
    She couldn't stop the stiffening of her body.
    "There's no need for trust between us, Jace." She
pulled away from him. "We've always been good together sexually." She
managed to huff out a small laugh. "We can see that hasn't changed. But we
don't need to make any more of it."
    "I really hurt you, didn't I?" He spoke quietly,
the sound