Read Must Be Magic (Spellbound) for Free Online

were.
    He abruptly started walking, half wishing he’d left her to stumble along when she dropped her head and tucked it under his chin. He tried to distract himself by thinking about how annoyed she’d be with him if she remembered this in the morning.
    Maybe she’d give him the cold shoulder on the hike tomorrow. Cold would be much better than all the warmth from Darby presently seeping into his skin.
    “How far is your place?”
    “Just another minute or so that way.” They walked a little farther in silence, then she sighed. “You know what the problem with this place is? There are palm trees and drinks with little umbrellas and—” she tipped her head back, “—stars.” She sighed, her expression suddenly sad. “It’s too much like Florida.”
    He didn’t need to ask why all of that was a problem. He’d been feeling it too, since he’d looked over and seen her swinging in that hammock. It shouldn’t be so easy to remember what she’d worn on their first date—faded jean shorts with a plain white tank top that barely reached her waist—or how desperate he’d been to just hold her hand.
    There were years of arguments and animosity between them. Hell, it had been there only hours ago, and yet he kept catching glimpses of the Darby who’d laughed so hard she’d choked on salt water when they first met.
    But she didn’t ask if he was having the same problem, so he kept quiet—right up until she straightened in his arms and stared at him so intently.
    As much as his brain told him to haul ass and get to her bungalow, his steps slowed. Darby’s attention slipped to his mouth and a bolt of heat shot clean through him. He remembered that too, the feeling of sheer need that twisted him up inside until he’d do anything to satisfy it.
    Ahead of them, a couple turned the corner, laughing at something. Bryce stepped to the side to give them room to pass, intensely aware of every second that Darby watched him.
    With the path ahead clear, he started walking—and nearly tripped himself.
    She locked her arms around him. “Bryce.” Her voice was low and soft.
    His gut clenched. “Yeah?”
    “Stop.”
    “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Not when he was trying really hard not to think about kissing her.
    Who was he kidding? Kissing her was all he could think about.
    Darby Calder.
    The woman who’d gone out of her way to either ignore him or make sure he knew exactly what she thought of him at every opportunity for the last four years. The woman he’d fallen for ten years ago, lying to her about who he was because he’d been so determined to get to know her.
    Right now he’d be better off provoking Dante than stopping when Darby was looking at him like he was still the guy she’d knocked off a surfboard one spring break a long time ago.
    “Stop—”
    “Darby,” he began, without a clue what to say since talking was quickly becoming less appealing than a lot of other things he could do with his mouth. She was too close, her lips looking so damn soft and sweet. He was half convinced just a taste—
    “Down. Now.” She squirmed out of his arms and stumbled off the path, leaning against a palm tree.
    It took him another second to piece together the alarmed tone and bleached face. She was going to be sick.
    After a painfully long minute spent wondering if she expected him to keep his distance or hold her hair back if it came to that—and he sure as hell hoped it didn’t—she finally turned around and gave him a lopsided grin.
    “False alarm.” She leaned into him when he met her halfway. “I think I can own my walk now.” She laughed. “Walk on my own.”
    To prove it, Darby straightened and would have toppled over in the other direction if he hadn’t looped his arm around her waist to keep her close.
    Although close was where he kept going wrong, and at his best guess he had a few more minutes of it to get through without doing anything stupid.
    Lifting her into his arms before the