[Southern Arcana 2.0] Crossroads by Moira Rogers Page B

kitchen, and my mom grounded her for writing in the sacred book.” She trailed her fingers over the inside edge of the cover. “This was your mother’s?”
    “My grandmother’s first. They added to it, altered it, glued in new pages and glued over things they didn’t like.” He found the waffle recipe and flipped the book around so she could read it. “Best waffles ever made, right there.”
    “The ones you made the other morning?” Her smile was predatory. “Those were fabulous.”
    “Damn right they were.” He had the recipe memorized, so he didn’t look before moving to the cupboards to start pulling down ingredients. “Now you’re going to make them.” She snorted. “Did you forget the part where I can’t cook? I suck at it.”
    “So you’ll try again.” He tossed the flour onto the counter. “You can do it, baby. I’ve got faith.”
    “So did Mrs. Kelly. She spent fifteen years trying to teach me.”
    “I’ll just have to try creative incentives.”
    “Sounds dirty.”

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    “Probably because it is.” Though if he didn’t stop thinking about it, they’d skip breakfast again.
    There had been something incredibly satisfying, something primal , about having her in his bed. If he hadn’t pulled her out of it, they might have ended up spending the morning naked and groping each other like horny college kids.
    Derek gathered the sugar and baking powder and turned, and his heart kicked up into his throat when she smiled at him over the rim of her coffee cup. Sweet, a little goofy, and so very, very Nick . It wasn’t the wolf who wanted to sweep her off the stool and hold her close.
    So maybe it wasn’t all instinct.
    Maybe she heard the way his heart skipped, or maybe his expression revealed his thoughts. Either way, a soft look came into her eyes, and her smile gentled. “Thank you, Derek. For being here, and being you.”
    He cleared his throat and dropped the ingredients onto the counter. “The supernatural world makes dating an adventure, huh? At least I’m not having to chase you all over the country like Jackson and Mac.”
    “No, you’re just having to abandon your life in order to keep me sane.”
    “Not really.” Though maybe he shouldn’t tell her how little of a life he’d had to abandon. “I was supposed to be on vacation already, remember?”
    “Exactly.” She toyed with a dry measuring cup. “This can’t be very restful.”
    “Restful’s overrated.” Derek grinned and shoved the flour toward her. “You can apologize until you’re blue in the face, but I’m still making you cook. Cowgirl up, Peyton.”
    “All right.” Nick rose and studied the ingredients he’d already laid out. “Just remember, though, that you asked for it.”
    The first batch tasted like baking soda, and the second was so runny they couldn’t even cook them.
    Derek thought she might have had it with the third batch, but the celebratory kiss turned into dirty, celebratory sex against the counter, and they forgot to unplug the waffle iron this time.
    By the time they actually got breakfast on the table, it was nearly ten in the morning and the kitchen looked like Kat had performed one of her doomed high school science experiments in it. Derek ignored it and drenched the waffles in maple syrup, then handed the bottle to Nick. “Told you so.” She’d already torn off a corner of her waffle for a taste test. “Mmm, nowhere near as good as yours, but not bad.”
    “Just takes practice. So what’s your plan for today? Didn’t Jackson say he’d take you out to visit your sister?”
    “This afternoon. He has to come back to the city anyway, and he said he’d drop by and we could follow him out there.”
    We. Instinctive pleasure was more satisfying than the damn waffles. “Good. Anything we should take?”
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    Crossroads
    She shook her head as she reached for her coffee. “I don’t think so. They should be pretty