Read Online Love Potion #9 by Claire Delacroix - Free Book Online Page A

weep.
    Mitch heaved a sigh and winced as he looked at the damage one more time. It was too damn early for this kind of stuff. Even the birds were still quiet. Lilith would be asleep and Mitch wasn’t going to wake her up early for this.
    How was he going to make this come right? He shook his head and went back in the house. At least Mitch knew where the coffeemaker was. He’d treat himself to a cup of brew. Maybe that would help him come up with brilliant solution by the time Lilith woke up.
    What a way to start the day.
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    3
    The Empress
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    Lilith awakened to the sound of hammering.
    D’Artagnan was on the foot of the bed, looking smug. She sat up, eying the cat warily.
    â€œWe have a deal,” she reminded him. “No jumping on the counters, no sneaking on to my bed.”
    The cat didn’t even blink.
    Nor did he move. Honestly, he was getting too cocky for his own good! Lilith moved her foot under the sheets and he bounded away, his nose in the air as though he was insulted.
    That was hardly anything new.
    Lilith took a deep breath, not liking the humidity in the air. The sun was streaming through her sheer draperies, but not a whisper of breeze lifted them away from the open window. It was stuffy and still, even so early in the day.
    So much for hoping it would rain and clear the air. Lilith rubbed her eyes and knew she hadn’t slept that well. She reached for the deck of tarot cards beside her bed and drew a card, as she often did in the morning, to give her counsel for the day.
    The Empress. Lilith rolled her eyes. A card of productivity, of getting things done, of harvesting what has been sown, of finding a glimmer of the divine in the mundane through simple labor.
    Well, someone was being productive, there was no doubt about that, despite the hour. That hammering sounded close. And it just didn’t quit. Lilith frowned in irritation, wondering who would be building something so early in the morning.
    Couldn’t they give it a rest?
    Lilith’s window faced the back of the house and she loved to look out at her garden in the morning. It delighted her to see the sunlight glint off the dew, to watch the bumblebees meander through the flowers. It would ease her irritation this morning. She rose with a smile of anticipation, tugged back the drapes and gasped.
    Because this morning, her perfect garden was a perfect disaster.
    Lilith stared in horror at the damage. Everything along the fence line was smashed flat. Her sunflowers were broken, her columbines were trodden down, several zucchini’s were pureed on the garden path. There were leaves and petals from the roses cast on the ground, several beds were crushed beyond recognition.
    A very grim Mitch was hammering a section of their common fence back into place. His shirt was off, a glimmer of sweat shone on his tanned skin. The other three sections of the fence lay on the ground in Mitch’s yard, obviously having been moved off her plants.
    Mitch’s massive dog cowered guiltily against the garage in the far corner of his yard and Lilith recognized a prime mover when she saw it.
    But big dogs didn’t just suddenly take it into their heads to be destructive. The dog’s current manner indicated that he had forgotten himself in the heat of the moment.
    Lilith made a very good guess as to exactly what that particular moment had been.
    â€œD’Artagnan!” She dropped the curtain and turned to confront the cat. D’Artagnan strove to look innocent, as sure a sign as there could be of his guilt. “You had something to do with this. Don’t think I don’t know it.”
    The cat bolted so fast that he was no more than a silver blur in the hall. Lilith rolled her eyes, knowing she had all the answers she needed.
    But her garden!
    She turned back and found herself watching Mitch instead of looking at her once vigorous flowers. There was something about the sight of a handsome man out