Motor City Mage Read Online Free PDF Page A

smell sex on the skin—even the next day, if you’re not careful. I’d suggest showering tonight, and again tomorrow, with the strongest soap you can find. Wearing cologne to Thanksgiving dinner wouldn’t hurt either.” Her voice had gone as cold and clinical as his, as if she, too, recognized the foolishness of what had happened between them.
    “Dinner?” It took him a moment to remember that tomorrow was Thanksgiving Day. And he’d promised to join them all at Greg and Fee’s for the occasion.
    Lana’s warm amber eyes narrowed. “Don’t even think about backing out. This—” she waved her arm at the sofa, “—may have been a ginormous mistake, but you are not going to disappoint Fee and your sister by not showing up. Not even if we both have to bathe in Lysol and bleach tonight. Got it?”
    “Got it.” He would not be hurt by being called a mistake. He’d been thinking the same bloody thing, after all. “Tell them I’ll be there by three. Am I supposed to bring anything?”
    She tilted her head. “Do you cook?”
    He shook his head. “No, but I can stop at a bakery or something.”
    “On Thanksgiving? Right. Just hit the grocery store tonight. Get some flowers for Fee and a six-pack of something expensive for the guys.” She shook her head. “I don’t get it. You have family. Why don’t you have any social skills?”
    He shrugged. “I did, once. They’re just rusty. I haven’t lived near my parents for almost twenty years. It’s been just me, Elise and then Dina for quite a while, and we never did much for Thanksgiving. It’s kind of an American thing, you know, eh?”
    “Hmm. I sometimes forget you’re both Canadian.” Lana sighed. “Trust me. Flowers and beer will be fine. Hell, if you want, I’ll get you a six-pack out of the cellar before you leave.”
    “You want me to take Greg his own beer?” The absurdity of that broke some of the tension and they both chuckled.
    “Okay, just the flowers.” Her posture softened. “All they really want is for you to show up. The biggest thing about Thanksgiving is family. And like it or not, we’ve all sort of become one big convoluted one.”
    He snorted. “Does that make us kissing cousins?” Remember your job, you moron.
    “More like fucking cousins.” After another snort of laughter, Lana bit her lip and her expression grew serious. “I don’t quite know what that makes us. I just know this shouldn’t have happened, and I really don’t want to explain it to the rest of them. Agreed?”
    He nodded soberly. “Agreed.” He muttered a spell and waved his hand at Lana. “There. Any trace of my scent should be gone.”
    She sniffed the air. “It is.” Her lip trembled as if she wasn’t entirely happy about that.
    Good. He didn’t much like the idea of scouring himself clean either. Even if having sex with her was a mistake, it had been the best of his life, and he’d have liked a little while to bask in the afterglow. “Good night, Lana. Thanks for dinner.”
    “Good night.” She walked him to her door. “Don’t go out tonight, Des. Go home and sleep. Please.”
    He nodded. “I will.” Right after he hunted down Luther. “See you tomorrow.”
    It took all his willpower not to kiss her before he walked out her door.
    * * *
    The next afternoon, Lana found herself in Detroit’s high-end Boston Edison neighborhood, carrying platters of turkey and bowls of mashed potatoes to the table. Fianna, a former Fae aristocrat intent on proving herself in the mortal world, was determined to learn how to cook. She was surprisingly good at it and she’d made enough of everything to feed an army. Despite being pregnant with twins, the tall blonde was still slender, though already sporting a tiny bump, but she rushed around the kitchen of her stately Victorian mansion like a whirlwind. Lana’s mother was playing the role of instructor, and Lana’s cousin, George, who’d often cooked at the club in the early days, was acting as sous