“Mum, Felix is—”
“Yes. I can tell.” Mia turned bright red, though it could have been due to the alcohol rather than the embarrassment of what her Mum had insinuated. Felix slipped an arm around her back and placed a reassuring palm against her lower back. To his surprise, Mia leaned back into him and he only just managed to hold back the self-satisfied smile that was threatening to break out over his face. This woman did funny things to him, and he loved it.
“I’m a lucky man to have met Mia.”
“Yes, you are.” Her Mum chuckled again, looking pleased. “She’s been alone for too long.” He didn’t know how to reply to that, but Mia tucked her head into the crook of his shoulder and he pulled her closer, offering her silent comfort.
“Mum!” she protested.
“Please, Mia. We all know you’ve been pottering around in that house for too long. Have you tried Grandma’s necklace yet?” she asked. Felix felt Mia nod her head against his shoulder and wondered what that was all about, until he remembered the boxes he’d gone to get for her the other day. “Good, now I need to go see if my husband has managed to stay away from the cake.” She tutted, but turned to leave, off in search of the slightly portly man he’d seen her with earlier.
“Are you okay?” he asked softly, almost completely forgetting about his concerns regarding Skyler. He was now a secondary problem, there were other issues that needed dealing with first.
“Shit,” she muttered.
“Mia?”
“The necklaces. I didn’t give the other boxes to Bex.”
“Is that a bad thing?” She looked up at him, biting her lower lip in what looked like nervousness.
“No, I don’t think so. The boxes won’t open for her.”
“Because they open when you’ve met your mate?” he asked, testing out a theory that had just sprung to mind.
“Yes. But how did you know?”
“A guess more than anything.” He shrugged, trying to convey just how recent the revelation was.
“So you don’t think they should be together either?” She glanced towards the top table where Bex was sat alone, slumped over her plate and pushing something around with her spoon, but not actually eating anything.
“No. I tried to talk Robert out of it—”
“But he wouldn’t listen?” He shook his head. “Bex didn’t either.” She shook her own head, as if in disbelief that people could be so obtuse. They were so unsuited to each other that it was unreal, and yet neither of them actually saw it that way.
“I’m sorry,” he said lamely.
“It’s not your fault. Sometimes telling someone not to do something is the fastest way to make them do it.”
“Like telling you not to kiss me right now?” She laughed, her face lighting up along with his heart. He loved that sound already.
“Do you need to tell me no for that to happen?” she asked, raising up on her toes and pressing her lips to his. He intended to only let it be a short kiss, but he soon forgot, and was kissing her almost as deeply as when they were in the cleaning cupboard. He’d need to stop soon or people would likely get a shock when the two of them carried on. Hell, they were like to get a shock when literal sparks began to fly. He pulled away suddenly, glancing down at a disappointed looking Mia, but thankfully not seeing any of the pale blue sparks that had been visible earlier. he was kind of disappointed.
“There’s no sparks.”
“I don’t think they happen every time,” she said softly, disappointing him all the more. She touched a hand to his lips and smiled slightly. “You know I can make them happen right?”
“You can?”
“I’d hope so. There’s very little point being a witch if I can’t do magic.”
“So you’re powerful?” She pulled a face and he wondered if it was a sore spot he’d hit upon.
“Not particularly. My skills lie in other arts.” He waited for her to carry on, thinking he knew what she was going to say next. “Potions,” she added after a moment.
“Love potions?” he asked, raising an eyebrow as he teased her. She whacked him on the arm softly.
“You looked!”