Crushed (City of Eldrich Book 2) by Laura Kirwan Read Free Book Online Page B

You can’t keep secrets for long.” She looked at him to see if he got the hint.
    Russ looked back, his face carefully neutral.
    It was an expression she knew well. He was a lousy liar. If she wanted to find out about him and Natalie, this would a good time to ask. “So, Russ, um . . . about Natalie . . .”
    At that moment, Natalie screeched into the driveway in her ancient Subaru wagon and stopped inches from the rear bumper of the truck.
    “Aaaah,” Russ cried, a stricken look on his face. “Don’t smash my truck,” he yelled at her as she climbed out of the car.
    With a dismissive wave similar to the one Russ had just given Meaghan, Natalie said, “Relax. The thing’s built like a tank.” She glanced at Meaghan, then looked down, a slight flush on her face. She and Meaghan hadn’t spoken since Natalie had stormed out of the office that morning. “Hey, boss.”
    “Hey, administrative goddess, where’s my dinner?”
    Natalie looked up and smiled broadly, relieved. “In the back. Help me carry it in.”
    Jhoro ran out of the house, back in his skin-tight jeans and now wearing a snug white T-shirt, his hair still wet from the shower. “Nat-a-lie,” he roared and picked her up off the ground in a big hug. She giggled and slapped his arm lightly, but didn’t tell him to put her down.
    Marnie walked out on the porch, eyes narrowed, glaring at Natalie, who stared right back, with a defiant half smile.
    Meaghan felt a flash of anger. While she didn’t want Natalie sleeping with her brother, she didn’t want her cheating on him either. What next, Russ and Marnie? No sexual triangles—quadrangles, she corrected herself—in my house, she thought. Time to be mommy.
    “Put her down, you big oaf,” she said to Jhoro, smacking him on the arm, much harder than Natalie had.
    He gazed down at her, puzzled.
    “Put Natalie down.” She pointed at the ground. “Down.” She waited a moment. “Now.”
    With a dazzling smile, he obeyed her. Meaghan grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to the Subaru. “Dinner.” She pantomimed eating. “Help me carry it into the house.” She popped open the unlocked tailgate and pulled out a heavy cardboard box filled with warm, foil-wrapped packages, and plopped it in his arms. “C’mon.”
    On her way to the back door, Jhoro following behind like an oversized duckling, Meaghan gave Natalie and Marnie a warning look. The first jealous witch who started blasting spells was getting her ass kicked. Both women, knowing that Meaghan was the only person in Eldrich who could make good on that threat, refused to meet her eye.
    Once inside the kitchen, she pointed at the counter. “There.”
    Jhoro set the box down and looked at her with a worried expression. She sighed and patted him on the arm. She couldn’t stay mad at him. He really didn’t mean any harm and she knew the grief that was fueling it. If Finn walked through the door right now, Jhoro would never look at a woman or another man again.
    But Marnie and Natalie were another matter. If they wanted to stalk around each other like a pair of wet cats, they could do it on their own time. And if either used magic against Russ or Jhoro, Meaghan would take them apart like a pissed-off grizzly bear. No goddamn soap operas in my world. Don’t I have enough shit to deal with as it is?
    Natalie and Marnie both stayed for dinner and glared at each other. Jhoro, happily oblivious, a dish towel stuffed in the collar of his T-shirt like a bib, ate with abandon. Ribs suited him. He still struggled to use a fork, so food he could eat with his hands made mealtime more pleasant for everyone.
    After he’d polished off a rack of ribs, he pulled off the dish towel, leaned back in his chair, and stretched like a cat while sucking grease off his fingers. Marnie and Natalie stared, wide-eyed.
    Marnie leaned into him, whispered something in his ear, and pulled her car keys out of her pocket. His eyes lit up. He took their plates to the sink,