She rolled her eyes. “Just imagine. Then I asked three other people to come and perform the same trick, because I thought you might not get the job done on your own. Would you not be insulted?”

“I suppose so. If I was some fruity magician. I might just swish my cape and go home.” He laughed. It felt good to joke, to ease some of the tension of the night.

She apparently agreed, slapping him lightly on the arm. When she raised her hand to do it again, she curved her fingers around his biceps instead.

The thought of wrecking Nathan’s herb closet in a fit of passion wasn’t as exciting as it should have been. Probably because of her insistence that Max was in love with her. Definitely Fatal Attraction territory there, and he did not want to visit it.

He brushed her hand away and turned back to the herbs. “Knock it off. We have work to do.”

“Yes, I do,” she agreed, clearing her throat. “And you should leave me alone to do it.”

His rejection bothered her, he realized as she walked away. So where was the pride that should have come with that victory?

And why did he feel like he was the one who’d lost?

Chapter 20
Welcome Back, Part Two

I’d only been gone a week, but when the lights of downtown emerged from the gentle bend of I-96, it seemed I’d been away for years.

“God help me, I haven’t been away from this stinking place long enough,” Cyrus muttered from the passenger seat.

“You know, you could sleep. I hear it’s the thing for humans to do at night.” I myself had not gotten enough sleep on the trip. I found myself longing for my bed, only to realize it wasn’t really my bed I wanted to be in.

A pang of homesickness brought tears to my eyes. I wanted to be lying beside Nathan, inhaling his scent, listening to his blood as it moved through my veins. For a moment, the pain was so intense I nearly screamed my longing like a child having a temper fit.

I needed Nathan. I loved Nathan. Everyone knew it but him.

“Are you all right?”

I still hadn’t adjusted to the new Cyrus, so it took me a moment to realize there wasn’t a hidden trap in his words. I wiped my eyes and nodded. “I’m fine. I’m just very tired.”

“You could have let me drive. I would have picked up speed. When I was more comfortable.” He paused to look out the window. “My God. Nothing has changed.”

“Well, the bus schedule changed. And they finished the bigger YMCA since you…died.” I pointed toward the south side of town. “I’d show you, but I’d rather get home before I burn to a crisp.”