Single Witch's Survival Guide by Mindy Klasky Page A

gave me a meaningful glance. “Go on,” she said. “Hit the road. Don’t you have something all important and magical to do back at the farm?”
    “Friendship Test,” I reminded her.
    “Okay,” she said.
    “I mean it.”
    “I said okay!” But she was smiling as she waited for the athletes to place their order for sweets.
    * * *
     
    By the time I got back to the farmhouse, David was ensconced in his office. I assumed he’d already worked his warder’s magic, whisking Clara back to Sedona. I wondered if he’d mentioned tuition payments. Maybe he’d made better headway than I had.
    I stood in the doorway, watching my warder work. A stack of papers was centered on his desk, each sheaf fastened by a grommet and threaded with ribbon, just like the contract Pitt had made me sign. A fountain pen rested beside the documents, and I could just make out a column of numbers on the nearby pad of legal paper. An adding machine purred at the edge of the desk, its spool of paper curling onto the floor.
    “I know you’re there,” David said quietly. Of course he did. I smiled and stepped into the room as he rose to greet me.
    “I stopped by Cake Walk on my way back from brunch.” I held out the pasteboard box. “Lust?”
    “Always,” he murmured, and a smile twitched across his lips. As he took the box, his eyes never left my face. Somehow, he set it down on the desk without upsetting any of his official papers.
    His fingers were warm through the fabric of my sundress as he pulled me close. I leaned down to kiss him, a quick brush of my lips against his, but I caught my breath when he folded me into a full embrace. Tension radiated across his back, tangible even through his shirt.
    “Hey,” I said. “What’s all this?” I pulled back enough to gesture at the papers.
    “Court records.”
    “Are you supposed to have them here?”
    “I kept a copy of everything, toward the end.” Well, that didn’t really answer my question. Or, maybe, it did.
    “What are you looking for?”
    “I’m checking the numbers again. Making sure my accusations about Pitt were right the first time. He shouldn’t have been promoted to Head Clerk. Shouldn’t be working for the Court at all.”
    “Accusations?” I frowned at the vehemence in David’s voice. “You haven’t told me everything. What happened between the two of you?”
    He shook his head.
    “Hey,” I said, bumping him gently with my elbow. “I’m on your side. I’m your witch.”
    His fingers tightened on my hips for just a heartbeat before he backed away. “It’s ancient history. No reason for you to worry about it.”
    I frowned but decided to let him have his way. “Hey,” I said, brightly enough to alert him I was changing the topic. “I had an idea. I think we should bring the witches closer. Move them into the house.”
    “ You think that?”
    “ Gran thinks that,” I amended. “She says I should give the apartment back to Neko. But that would mean you’d have to move your office to the storage room in the basement, and that doesn’t feel right to me. You shouldn’t lose your personal space for me.”
    “For your students,” he corrected.
    That sounded better, but… “I don’t mind changing things around for Emma, but…” I bit my tongue to silence my uncharitable thoughts.
    David’s lips curled into a wry smile. “Raven’s a piece of work, isn’t she?”
    “That’s one way of putting it,” I laughed. “Say what you’re really thinking. She’s a scheming, manipulative—
    But I cut off the rest of my thought. David would never say those words out loud, not about a witch. Not so long as he was still a warder sworn to Hecate’s Court.
    “Hey,” I said, tightening my arms to bring him closer. “Are we okay?”
    “Of course,” he answered. “Why wouldn’t we be? I can probably get more work done downstairs, anyway.”
    He set about proving the fact that we were fine with a most reassuring kiss. I laughed in the back of my