Chapter 5
Prim couldn’t help the petty satisfaction she felt when she watched Gwen Silva walk into Dante’s small, sparse apartment.
It was one hundred percent a man cave if she’d ever seen one.
The spare furnishings and decor made it look as if Dante had left Salem with just a suitcase of clothes and nothing else.
“Do you have fresh sheets?” Gwen asked, sniffing the air as if she’d just walked into a sweaty gymnasium.
“Sure.” Dante went to the closet, retrieved the sheets, and set them on the bed.
Then he waved a hand at the micro-kitchen and said, “Help yourself to anything you find, though I warn you it’s slim pickings.
You’ll have to take yourself to the coffee shop in the morning if you want coffee. I ran out this morning.”
“No coffee?” Gwen said, looking horrified.
He shrugged as he stuffed some clean clothes into a duffle bag.
“You probably should have called before you came.” When he was finished, he pulled a small box out of his nightstand, added it to his bag, and then walked back over to Prim.
After handing his mother a key, he said, “I guess I’ll see you sometime tomorrow. ”
“You won’t be home in the morning?” she asked as she walked them to the door.
“Nope. I have to work.” He opened the door for Prim and followed her out without saying another word.
“Are you okay?” Prim asked the moment they were back in Dante’s 4-Runner.
It was a ten-year-old model, but still in great condition, and it looked practically brand new.
His kayak was strapped to the top, and what looked to be camping and hiking gear filled the back.
It was a little jarring to realize there was more of Dante’s personality in his vehicle than there had been in his studio apartment.
“I suppose,” he said with a half shrug. “But only because you saved my ass by letting me stay at your house tonight. Thank you for that by the way. I owe you big time. Tomorrow I’ll figure out what to do with her. With any luck, I’ll get her back on a plane to wherever she came from.”
“You don’t owe me anything,” Prim said firmly.
“You helped me out with that auction. And don’t start with the ‘you were doing it for your own reasons’ thing again.
It doesn’t matter anyway. The fact is you helped me.
And now I’m helping you. It was obvious you were about to jump right out of your skin if you had to spend even five more minutes with your mother. I’m just doing what friends do.”
“Friends,” he said with a nod as he looked over at her. “Yes. Definitely.”
Prim got the impression he was either trying to convince himself that they were just friends or was giving himself permission to actually be her friend.
She wasn’t sure which, though she knew which one she preferred.
Their non-date had been the best date she’d ever had.
Dante was fun, attentive, engaged, and made her feel seen in a way she’d never really experienced.
She knew that if he changed his mind on the dating thing, she’d probably fall for him hard and fast. Her heart fluttered at the idea, and she had to glance away to get her hormones under control.
Friends. He’d already said they were going to be just friends.
She could handle that. Especially since it was clear he needed one in that moment.
“This is my driveway,” Prim said, pointing to the gravel road that led down to her cottage in the woods.
Dante turned into her magical little hideaway and parked in front of the small cottage. Before turning the SUV off, he glanced around and frowned. “Your car is back in town, isn’t it?”
She nodded. “Yes. It’s actually parked behind the yarn shop. I’ll get it tomorrow.” Prim jumped out of the 4-Runner and went to unlock the front door. Fairy lights flickered on as soon as she stepped foot onto the porch, illuminating the forest retreat.
“This is charming,” Dante said as she unlocked the door.
“It is, isn’t it?” She smiled at him and led him into her small two-bedroom home.
Prim had always loved the house she’d purchased not long after she’d started managing Tangled Up in a Spell.
It had belonged to one of her grandmother’s coven-mates, a sweet witch who’d watched after Prim and Lily when they were still in school and too young to be left along.
Prim had spent many afternoons on the front porch, playing tea party with her sister and Flora Ricci, a talented woodlands witch.
Flora had delighted them with her ability to speak to the small creatures that roamed the woods.
Chipmunks, squirrels, and even a river otter or two were regulars to the tea parties.
Other than her grandmother’s big house at the end of Witch Tower Road, it had always been the place that Prim felt the most at home.
So when Flora was ready to sell her house, Prim had stepped in and purchased it despite the fact that there wasn’t a place for her gardens due to all the woods.
It helped that Flora had given her a deal, preferring that her beloved cottage go to someone who would care for it as it was instead of tearing it down and building some characterless modern structure.
“Come on in,” Prim said, leading Dante into her home.
She paused just to the right of the door, taking in her place as if looking at it for the first time.
There was a stone fireplace on the far wall with pictures of her sisters and grandmother, along with Flora, all lined up.
To the right of the hearth, there was an antique display case that was full of her own hand-dyed yarn.
To the left there was an Afghan hanging on a display rack that Flora had made for her when she was a teenager.
She’d filled the room with a simple, but comfortable sage green couch and a rocking chair that had been her grandmother’s at one time, along with a couple of stained-glass lamps she’d picked up at an estate sale.
“So, where should I drop this?” Dante asked from just behind her.
She spun around, nearly knocking him down.
“Sorry,” she said, more than a little flustered.
Calm down, Prim, she ordered herself and suddenly felt her magic briefly spark along her skin.
Taking a quick step back, she sucked in a breath, willing her magic to settle.
To her surprise, it instantly vanished, and she wondered if that was how it worked for other witches.
Her sisters had always said that they’d never had any trouble controlling magical flare-ups and had never quite understood why she couldn’t do the same.
To be honest, she hadn’t ever been able to understand it either. Nor did she know why she’d been able to do it just now. Maybe it was because she was in her own space, making her more comfortable.
Though when she looked at Dante, she was anything but comfortable.
The man made her nervous as hell. How could she not be when he was looking at her like he wanted to eat her for dessert?
Or was that just wishful thinking? She had no idea.
Prim cleared her throat. “The guest room is this way.” She led Dante down the hall and stopped at the first door on the left.
When she pushed it open, she let out a groan, only then remembering that her normally immaculate guest room was being used as an additional storage space for the store while the movie was being filmed at the shop.
There were unopened boxes of inventory covering the bed and the floor.
“Uh, sorry about this. In all the excitement, I completely forgot about the boxes.”
Dante chuckled softly, sounding amused when he said, “I guess I’m sleeping on the floor after all.”
Horrified, Prim waved her hands in the air. “Oh no. Absolutely not. We can stack these boxes on the other side of the bed…” She trailed off, realizing there was no way they were going to uncover the bed enough for the man to sleep in there unless they took the boxes to the living room.
“No. Don’t do that. Your couch looks comfortable enough. I can just sleep there,” he said.
Prim’s shoulders slumped forward. “I’m so sorry.” She gave him an apologetic smile. “I know sleeping on the couch isn’t ideal. I’d offer to do it myself, but I doubt you’d take me up on it.”
“I definitely wouldn’t,” he said.
“Okay, you can still drop your duffle in here,” she said as she moved a few boxes away from the door, making room for him, feeling like a complete idiot.
She’d been so focused on giving him an escape from his obviously unwelcome mother that she’d completely forgotten she didn’t actually have an extra bed to lend at the moment.
When she stood up, she was out of breath and wheezed out, “I’ll go find you some linens. ”
As she tried to brush past him, Dante reached out and gently took her arm, stopping her. Prim looked up into his beautiful dark green eyes and nearly melted on the spot when she saw the appreciation shining back at her.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I just wish I—”
He shook his head. “No. You have no idea what you did for me tonight. I just wanted you to know I appreciate it more than you realize.”
Prim stopped thinking altogether when she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug.
She buried her head against his neck, instinctively knowing that he needed more than just a warm, comfortable place to sleep.
He was a man who seemed to be drowning in loneliness, and she couldn’t stand by and do nothing about it.
“You’re a good man, Dante. Better than most, it seems. I hope you know that. ”
He scoffed. “I don’t know about that. I was ready to dump my mother at a bus station. That’s not something most people do, is it?”
She only squeezed tighter as she said, “It seems to me that she likely deserved to be dumped at that bus station.” Pulling away, Prim smiled up at him. “But since I don’t know her or your relationship, I’ll stick with what I do know.”
“Oh, yeah?” His lips twitched slightly, but didn’t quite make it into a smile. “What might that be? That I spent way too much money on a bachelorette auction, forcing you to go on a date with me whether you liked it or not?”
“Ha! You saved me from extreme humiliation, and you know it,” she countered. “Though judging by that studio apartment you’re living in, spending a thousand bucks wasn’t exactly in your budget. So not only are you my knight in shining armor, you’re also generous to the core.”
He laughed, and his face lit up with pure amusement. “That apartment does make it look like I’m in the poor house, doesn’t it?”
“It’s really none of my business,” she said, embarrassed that she’d brought it up.
“I’m just saying that by all accounts, you’re a very decent, caring guy.
You did me a huge favor that you didn’t need to do.
You also just opened a wonderful book store and library in town.
It’s rare to find people who are doing true good in this world. Trust me, I know.”
“You’re one of those people, Prim. Why else would you open your home to someone you barely know?
” He raised his hand, reaching for her face.
He gently tucked a lock of hair behind her ear but then suddenly dropped his arm and shoved his hands into his pocket.
“Anyway, it’s late. I should probably get to work on making up that couch. ”
“Right.” Prim quickly brushed past him, afraid that she was going to throw herself at him considering the sheer desire that was pulsing in her veins.
She’d never wanted anyone as much as she wanted this man.
Her face was flushed and her hands jittery as she pulled a set of extra sheets out of her hall closet.
After depositing them on the couch, she rummaged up a blanket and an extra pillow and found him already spreading the sheets over her cushions.
“Thanks, Prim. I’ve got it from here,” he said without looking at her.
“Okay. Make yourself at home. Use anything you need in the hall bathroom or kitchen,” she said. When he only nodded, she added, “Good night.”
As she started to walk down the hall to her bedroom, she heard him whisper, “Good night, Prim.”