Matt’s words were Katie’s first thoughts when she awoke the following morning. Do you still love me? she texted.

I’ll always love you, Hunter. You’ve bewitched me or something.

As soon as she read his words, Katie called Emma. “It’s the spell, isn’t it? That’s why he feels this way. I tricked him into loving me. I need to tell him the truth.”

“Katie, no! He loves you. It’s real. His feelings are real. Why would you tell him about the spell?”

“It just seems wrong, you know, making him love me. I wish he had just fallen in love with me on his own without a spell.”

“Love is love,” Emma said. “And anyway, it’s too late. Just forget about it. Matt loves you and you love him—that’s all that matters.”

Chapter 46

46

With an entire Saturday stretched before her and no set plans, Lina decided to ask Nick to lunch. “I’m sorry, I woke you, didn’t I?” she asked when she heard the huskiness of his voice.

“I needed to get up, anyway. Everything okay?”

“Yes, I just had a free afternoon and thought of you.”

“Would you hold for a second?” he asked, and then she heard the distinct sound of a female voice and his muffled response. “Sorry about that,” he said a moment later.

“I’m interrupting something.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m—it’s fine.”

“You have company,” she said. He was with a woman, probably in bed. “I shouldn’t have called so early.”

“I always want to hear from you. Never doubt that.”

“What do you expect?” Adele asked when she recounted the phone call. “You won’t even kiss him, and you barely see him.”

“I don’t expect anything,” Lina insisted. “I’m just telling you it felt weird. He knew what I thought and he didn’t correct me.”

Adele laughed. “That’s because you were right. He was in bed with someone. Maybe he was getting a blowjob.”

“No he wasn’t! Why do you have to be so crude?”

“Does it bother you? The thought of another woman’s mouth—”

“Goodbye, Adele.” Lina ended the call, but Adele’s question lingered in her mind. Did it bother her knowing he was with another woman? Yes, she decided after a moment, but not nearly as much as it would if it were Phil.