Read Spellbound for Free Online Page A

falter. Silence surrounded them. No wind, no birds, no cars on the street, nothing but the stillness punctuated by the sound of his own breath leaving his lungs.
    He couldn’t move. No part of him wanted the moment to end. After a couple of minutes, he realized they still hadn’t spoken. Iain ran his hands through his hair, dropped is head forward and grinned at the ground. He felt like a young lad talking to his first pretty noblewoman—the fluttering in his chest, the tightening in his stomach, the pure adrenaline that fueled his magick and made him want to shoot fireballs from his fingertips. “Sorry. I must have had too much to drink.”
    She didn’t answer.
    “I suppose I should tell ya, lassie, that I’m here to buy something, but that would be a lie. I was drawn to see ya.” The bumbling honesty surprised him. Not only did he feel like some greenhorn, he was acting like one too. “That was my brother who proposed to the local girl. Is she a friend of yours? Perhaps, if ya like, we could arrange a double date.”
    Still nothing.
    Iain finally lifted his eyes to face her. She hadn’t moved. Not even to breathe.
    “Petrified?” Iain glanced around to see who might have cast a petrifying spell. It would be just like one of his brothers to tease him by messing with the poor woman. Leaves didn’t move, not even to quiver on the branch. Insects held frozen in the garden. It wasn’t just Jane that had become a statue, it was everything. Time had stopped.
    The earth beneath him hummed. Energy and magick flowed through his veins. He’d made time stop. As he’d gazed at her beautiful face, the fleeting thought that he’d like to look at her for hours had passed through his mind. Apparently, his magick had taken its cue and made it happen. But how? That kind of spell took a lot of fuel to make it work, much more than the rows of tomatoes he’d caused to droop.
    Iain took a deep breath and released his hold. Instantly, a breeze hit him, and Jane coughed lightly.
    “Not again,” she whispered. Jane blinked several times and looked around before sighing in relief. When she faced him, she stiffened as if just remembering he was standing there. “I apologize, Mr. MacGregor—”
    “Iain,” he corrected.
    “I haven’t been sleeping and I must have spaced out. My stepbrother just delivered some family news and…” She dusted her hands on her jeans. The gesture looked automatic. “Have you come about the landscaping services? I’ll admit I would love to get my hands on your box elders. They’ve been left unattended for so long they’re starting to take over the perimeter of the gardens. Tree roots can wreak havoc on old stones.”
    “Ah, aye, I need help. The family left me in charge of the grounds, and I don’t know the first thing about…” Iain stopped himself from outright lying. Just great. He’d intended to ask her out on a date, and instead he was trying to hire her so he could play boss. No offense to non-magicks, but their way of caretaking tended to take a lot longer than a few spells and energy exchanges.
    Iain smiled as an idea struck him. Actually, the non-magick way would be perfect. She’d be at his house all the time. Maybe then he could charm a smile out of her with the thought of something other than box elder trees.
    “Do you have an idea of what you would like to have done?” Her face lit up, and she seemed to relax as she came closer to him. “I would recommend preservation over demolition. If we keep and tame down the plants that are already established, it will be much cheaper. Some can be moved and replanted. The cobblestone paths can be repaired. They obviously won’t look like new, but they are original to the design, and I think there is charm to the old—”
    “I was thinking a swimming pool and giant slab of concrete,” he teased, interrupting her rapidly processing ideas. “Just mow it all down.”
    Her mouth opened, and she looked horrified. “I, ah,