Sorcery and the Single Girl Read Online Free PDF Page B

spoke, he’d carefully trained his face to impassivity. “David is waiting for you. He’s in the basement.”
    My trusty warder.
    He must have found out that Teresa Alison Sidney had summoned me. Neko would have kept him apprised of such a development, even if David’s position as warder didn’t grant him access to the information through other channels. I was a bit surprised that he hadn’t awakened me at dawn, slave driver that he was.
    “Thanks,” I said to Neko, pausing only long enough to twitch my bedspread back into place. I glanced at the edge, envisioning my treasured card tucked safely away. I was pleased to see that nothing looked out of place. After all, a Friendship Test was a Friendship Test, and Melissa had asked me not to tell Neko about Graeme. Who was I to go back on my word? Besides, the prickly feeling at the back of my neck made me suspect that Neko would do something to ruin things with Graeme, if I gave him half a chance. My familiar and my love life were not a good mix.
    Well, I thought, as I descended the stairs to the basement, time enough to think about my mysterious Englishman later. Now, I had to work. At least it was cool downstairs.
    David was waiting for me by the book stand. “Good morning,” he said. Somehow, he managed to convey that the morning had mostly fled toward noon, and that he assumed I had been lollygagging around—lollygagging!—rather than producing anything worthwhile in the witchcraft sense of the word.
    For the most part, David and I had settled into an easy relationship, a surprisingly straightforward give-and-take. Technically, David was my protector; his job was to keep me from hurting myself when I worked my magic or—more ominously—from being hurt by someone else. David, though, did far more. He had assumed the role of teacher, guiding me through using my powers, helping me learn more about the strange new world I’d discovered less than a year before.
    When I got too stubborn, though, or David got too short-tempered, he threatened to stop teaching me. He told me that I needed to go to the Coven, to get an official instructor, a magical expert who could work with a witch as strong willed as I. Each time David threatened, however, we managed to make peace. I didn’t like the idea of sharing my magical development with a stranger. I was proud of what I’d accomplished, but also embarrassed by the little things I hadn’t quite managed to master. I should have had better control over my spell-working by now.
    “Good morning,” I said, doing my best to match his serious tone.
    And then we engaged in the Greeting Ballet. We’d done this now countless times, every time David came to teach me, and it never became more graceful. If he were a friend of mine, I’d throw my arms around him and give him a quick hug. If he were a certain type of casual acquaintance (like Neko’s main squeeze, Jacques), we would peck each other on both cheeks. If he were a work colleague, I’d extend my hand for a quick, hearty shake.
    But he was all of those things. And none of them. And so we treated each other with proverbial kid gloves, stumbling into an awkward embrace that left both of us off balance. I tried to plant a quick kiss on his cheek and ended up grazing the air by his chin. He looked startled, and he pulled away, which caused me to pull away, backing into Neko.
    As my familiar caught my elbow he shot me one of his wry, arched-eyebrow grins, and I bit back the first retort that came to mind. The last thing I needed was for Neko to make smart comebacks about my relationship with David. My awkward, undefined relationship with David. I brushed my hands through my hair and turned back to my warder. “Good morning,” I said again, as if I could erase the entire embarrassing sequence from his memory and my own.
    I crossed the room and collapsed onto the black leather couch. Neko’s hot sweaty man-sex couch. No. I wasn’t going to think about that.
    David shoved his