Read Online To Wrangle A Witch (Southern Sanctuary Book 3) by Jane Cousins - Free Book Online

niggly reminder eating at the
corner of her mind that the Sanctuary net hadn’t been affecting her the first
time she’d laid eyes on Locke and felt that sharp tug of attraction. 
    Stupid
conscience, it needed to learn to bury its head in the dirt more often.

 
     
    Chapter
Seven
     
    Locke
took another sip of coffee before absently checking his Patek Philippe watch
for the time.  He still had half an hour before his video conference call
with New York.  Leaning back against the kitchen counter his eyes for the
thousandth time that day drifted to the inner courtyard.  What had only
yesterday been a study in restrained Moroccan outdoor elegance was now a jungle
oasis.  There was a thirty foot palm tree out there now for fuck’s sake,
when yesterday there had been none.
    The
four bougainvillea climbers that scrambled up the columns along each side of
the square courtyard now had heavy drooping canopies of bright red flowers
weighing them down.  There were more hibiscus plants than he cared to
count, all flourishing an array of stunning blooms; reds, oranges, yellows,
whites and pinks.  Whilst blue and purple salvia bushes vied with canna
lilies, ginger plants and large feathery ferns for room and sunlight. 
    His
expensive sandstone tiles only remained now in evidence around the very edges
of the courtyard under the shaded veranda.  Had the plants eaten or
pulverised the sandstone somehow?  Damn he had really liked those tiles,
selecting them personally and importing them from Greece.  Moss covered
pathways now wound their way amidst the cornucopia of plants. And there were
two large stretches of ridiculously green, incredibly soft looking grass. 
Grass!  High maintenance, prone to weeds, messy grass. 
    The
only things left untouched by the jungle that came and ate his courtyard was
the shaded veranda area and the fountain, which burbled away, sounding for some
reason merrier than it had the day before.  Completely an utterly insane
right?
    That’s
where Serena found him.  Standing in the large airy kitchen, sipping
coffee and eyeing the courtyard with cool unreadable eyes.  Today he wore
a dark navy three piece suit that fit his lean form like a well-made glove, his
eyes the colour of midnight.
    “Morning.” 
She padded into the room on bare feet.  At least her hair was no longer a
mess, she’d found a brush in the bathroom but her only clothing option remained
Locke’s t-shirt.
    “Afternoon
actually.  You slept well?”
    “Very
well thank you.”  No this wasn’t awkward at all.  She lifted her butt
onto a bar stool at the bench across from him.  Running her fingers
absently over the polished surface of the reclaimed dark wood bench top. 
    “And
the visit with Nell?  Everything okay?”  He raised an enquiring brow,
no sign of the teasing man she’d caught glimpses of yesterday in evidence.
    “All
good.”  She watched as he strode over to the ultra-modern top of the range
refrigerator, pulled open one door, extracting a large glass full of what
looked like liquidised seaweed. “What’s that?”  She stared in horror as he
placed the glass in front of her.
    “Your
breakfast… well lunch technically.  Nell left it for you.”
    “I’m
supposed to drink that?”  Wow, so much for thinking Nell seemed a
sweetheart.
    “Every
last nutritious drop.”  There was just the slightest twinkle of amusement
in those dark blue depths. 
    Picking
up the drink she stared down at the contents.  Wrinkling her nose as the
smell wafted up to tickle her senses.  Wow the stuff smelt so bad it had
to be insanely good for her.   “Ummm.”  Dubiously she continued
to stare at the liquid, had something in there just moved?
    “Drink.” 
    “Ummm.”
    “ Drink
it.”
    Unable
to stop, Serena found herself lifting the glass to her lips and gulping down
the liquid until there was nothing left.  Slamming down the glass, she
screwed up her face in dismay.  The drink tasted worse than it smelt.