Read Magic and Mayhem: Witchin' Impossible (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Hazed & Confused Mysteries Book 1) for Free Online

“See you around.”
    She gave me a tight lip smile that basically said, “Not if I see you first.”
    What-evs.
    “Thanks for that,” I told Ford. He hadn’t had to share information about Boyd Decker. It wasn’t the case Baba Yaga gave me permission to investigate, but I was pretty sure the two were connected.
    He shrugged. “There is nothing against the rules that three high school friends can’t get together for a bite to eat.”
    Was he trying to tell me something? “Why isn’t there more information about Danny’s death? There were no suspects or witness statements. No follow-up reports. The officer in charge, Dennis Mitchell, is either a complete incompetent or he is covering something up. Do you know what emergency took him out of town? I’d really like to speak to him.”
    Ford looked at me with a bland expression on his face but remained silent.
    “Who is tying your hands, Ford?”
    “How’s life in Kansas City?” he asked. “I hear you’re posted there now.”
    “In town for less than five minutes, and the word about me is already getting around.”
    “I heard about it two years ago when you were first posted there.”
    “Seriously?” I narrowed my gaze at him. His delicious scent grew more intense. “You didn’t even act like you knew who I was earlier. Or do you just get the 9-1-1 on all the ex-residents in town?”
    “I do when that ex-resident is my mate.”
    “Huh? Wait. What?” You could have surprised me less if a piano had suddenly fallen out of the sky and dropped on my head. “Mate? Like friend? Compadre? Buddy? I don’t think we were any of those things.”
    “Don’t be dense, Hazel.”
    “I…” Was at a loss for words. “I think I need a translator. I don’t speak nonsense.”
    “Do you remember the night of Woolsey's party, the one out on Eden’s road at the end of our senior year?”
    “Sorta.” Truth be told, I’d had a lot to drink that night. “I remember waking up the next day with a hangover that lasted until graduation.”
    He steepled his fingers. “So you don’t remember kissing me?”
    “Uhm, no.” Nooooooo! It wasn’t possible. I couldn’t have kissed him and not remembered. This was turning into a cautionary tale about drinking and kissing for lovesick teenagers everywhere. “Was it good?” It must have been, right?
    “Awful. Abrupt. Sloppy,” Ford said. “Your scent took me over.” He sniffed the air as if he could still smell it. “Vanilla and rum.”
    “That was probably the booze,” I murmured, mortified by this conversation.
    “Now,” Ford said. “Your scent is all I can think about.”
    He stood up, all sexy six-foot-nine inches of him, and slid into the booth next to me. He smelled my hair, and I nearly peed my pants.
    “You didn’t even know I existed in high school.”
    “Until that night.”
    “You were with Greta.”
    “We broke up shortly after graduation.”
    “I always thought you two would get married.”
    “It was impossible,” Ford said.
    “Why?”
    “Because she wasn’t my mate. You are.”
    “Oh.” I consider myself a smart cookie. Quick on the uptake, but I was having a hell of a time processing this conversation. “We aren’t mates.”
    “Yes,” Ford said. “We are.”
    I opened my mouth to rebut him, but my phone rang, saving me from having to make words. “Kinsey here,” I said without even checking out the caller’s name.
    “Haze,” Lily shouted. I could hear music and yelling in the background. “I think you better come out to Eden’s road. Tiz is in trouble.”
    I didn’t even hesitate. “On my way.” I clicked the phone off and looked at Ford, gulping as his sparkly blue eyes hypnotized me. “I have to go now.”
    “I’ll drive,” he said, standing up.
    “Fine.”

Chapter Seven
    THE DRIVE OUT TO EDEN’S ROAD was intensely quiet. I hadn’t known how to respond to Ford’s revelation. Had he really not married or mated or whatever because of me?
    “Nothing happened