Chapter Fifteen

Between a Rock and a Hard Mattress

MILA

Mila was conscious the beanie had been her idea and that it was best for Riley and her to keep out of each other’s heads.

But right now, as she watched his inscrutable expression as he drove on through the winter storm, she couldn’t help the burning desire to know exactly what he was thinking.

Was it about her? Or was he concentrated on solving the case?

“You’re staring,” he called out, making her jump in her seat.

“I’m sorry, the silence is weird.” Then, to move the conversation along, she added, “Where are we going?”

“I thought we’d hit the hospital first to see if Mrs. Blackwell has made any progress.”

“Oh, all right.”

And just like that, they were plunged back into silence.

Mila tried to stifle a yawn, but it escaped her lips before she could. She felt Riley’s gaze on her and looked back at him sheepishly.

“Sorry,” she said.

“Don’t be.” Riley’s voice was low and rough, sending shivers down her spine. “Yesterday was a long night.”

“You probably think I’m an ungrateful brat,” she said, feeling embarrassed.

Riley turned to her briefly with a questioning look etched between his brows. “Why would I think that?”

She blushed a little as she said the next part. “My familiar told me you gave me the entire time-stretch pill, so I’ve had at least four more hours of sleep than you, and yet here I am in your car yawning like a lazy house cat.”

Silence stretched between them again until Mila broke it. “Thank you, by the way, for the pill and for carrying me to bed last night.”

Riley didn’t respond immediately, so much so that Mila began to think he hadn’t heard her. But then his eyes flickered briefly to hers before he focused back on the road. “It’s no problem.”

He took a sharp right turn, and they arrived at the hospital. Well, at least the most awkward car ride in the history of awkward car rides was over, Mila thought to herself as Riley backed into a parallel parking spot. The maneuver took him all of ten seconds, while it would’ve taken Mila at least fifteen tries, a lot of sweat, and even more cursing.

Not going to lie. The way he drove was sexy as hell.

Mila’s thoughts cooled off the moment they stepped out of the car and an icy wind assaulted them. She pulled her coat closer to herself and followed Riley inside the hospital—a large, imposing building, with its lights casting an eerie glow on the surrounding area.

They were at a regular human hospital. Since Mrs. Blackwell was human and the poison she’d ingested natural, the magimedics had deferred her here.

The receptionist at the front desk gave them directions to Mrs. Blackwell’s room, and they made their way down the hallway and up two floors.

Just as they were approaching the room, they spotted an old couple coming out of it.

Riley, projecting all his big-bad-cop aura, stopped them. “Are you friends of Mrs. Blackwell?”

He wasn’t wearing a uniform today, but somehow the two humans immediately picked up on the fact that he was law enforcement.

“Yes, Detective,” the frail old woman replied. “We all play Buraco in the same club.” Then she patted the arm of her companion. “George and I didn’t want Josephine to spend Christmas alone. Pity she hasn’t woken up yet. Awful thing, what happened to her, really awful.”

“How did you know she was at the hospital?” Riley asked, ever the suspicious cop.

“Oh, we were there last night when it happened,” the wiry old man replied. He had sad blue eyes and his voice quivered slightly. “All our grandkids go to the same school.”

Riley extracted a small notebook from his pocket. “May I have your names, please?”

Mila rolled her eyes. These two looked pathetically harmless.

“Sure,” both the elderlies said and proceeded to give Riley their generalities.

“I’m Cherry Knox,” the woman said. “And my nephew is Peter Knox.”

When it was the man’s turn, he sighed pitifully before saying, “George Harrison MacNeil and my granddaughter is Judy MacNeil.”

Riley thanked them, and after a quick goodbye nod, the couple ambled down the hall toward the elevator.

“You seriously think those two had something to do with the murder attempt?” Mila hissed once the couple was out of earshot.

“Most killers are notorious for coming back to the scene of the crime, especially if they didn’t finish the job on the first attempt,” he said, and without a second glance her way, Riley went ahead into Mrs. Blackwell’s room.

A nurse was stationed there, and from the subtle nod she and Riley exchanged, she must’ve been one of theirs, an undercover agent from the Department of Magical Justice. She had a sleek bob of black-blue hair, warm brown eyes, and slightly bronzed skin with a warm, golden undertone. In summer, Mila would’ve assumed she was tanned, but since it was the dead of winter, that must be her natural skin tone.

“Any progress here?” Riley asked in a voice of authority that landed like a ball of fire straight into Mila’s core.

If he used that voice on her, she’d let him handcuff her to the bed—or any other piece of furniture, really—whenever he wanted.

The nurse shook her head. “No change, Inquisitor King.” Her words confirmed she was DMJ. “Mrs. Blackwell is still in a pharmacologically induced coma.”

Riley approached the bed, looking down at the pale figure lying there. Mila followed him, and if what Abel had claimed in court to get her released was true—that her love potion had saved this woman’s life, Mila didn’t feel so sorry anymore about the mess she’d made. Yeah, she’d been arrested, humiliated, and had spent Christmas Eve stuck in a gym with strangers. She’d become the family weirdo, the neighborhood laughing stock, and on top of that, she was stuck doing community service with the most unsettling man on the planet.

But looking at Mrs. Blackwell’s almost serene face in her pharmacological sleep, Mila decided it had all been worth it if her potion had really saved this poor woman’s life.

“Did the doctors say when they plan on waking her up?” Riley asked the fake nurse, wrenching Mila out of her thoughts.

“It could still be a couple of days,” the nurse responded. “They’re not sure.”

“All right, Agent Callidora. Keep up the good work and thank you for sticking it out on Christmas. Olympia will be here soon to take over, so you’ll get at least to taste some bone-chips cookies with your family.”

“Thank you, Chief.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Then Chief Inquisitor Riley King did the unthinkable and winked at the nurse, who crossed her eyes and made a funny face back.

Mila stared at him in horror because, if seeing his gorgeous but unattainable side was unsettling, watching him be kind to his colleagues, joke around, and playfully wink at random nurses was dangerous on a whole other level. Especially since he’d made it clear that even if seeing her naked in the tub might’ve elicited some unwanted sexual fantasies, he was not interested in pursuing something romantic with her.

He basically had a sign on his chest stapled over his heart that said: Keep out! Trespassers will be shot on sight.

“So, what’s next?” Mila asked as they exited the room.

“I thought we could go back to the station, bounce ideas off each other for potential leads. You said last night you had a few suspects?”

“Yeah, I do.” And she wanted to share her theories with him, but just the idea of going back to the police station where she’d been dragged to handcuffed and wearing only a pink bathrobe and feathery slippers no later than last night made her feel gross all over again.

“Something the matter?” Riley asked, probably picking up on her discomfort.

“Yeah, could we not go to the police station?”

Riley studied her while they waited for the elevator, his head tilted to the side. He smiled down at her, and his words were kind rather than teasing as he said, “Mug shot still too fresh in your mind?”

For no apparent logical reason, her heart fluttered in her chest and her mouth went dry, so she just nodded.

“All right, Bennet, where do you want to go?”

Her stomach grumbled in response.

Riley’s smile widened. “Skipped on the grand meal today?”

Mila nodded. “I didn’t have much of an appetite.”

“Glad to see that’s changed.” Riley deployed the wink on her, wreaking all kinds of havoc in her already grumbling stomach. “What do you say we get Chinese take-out and then get back to mine to discuss the case?”

“Yeah, sure,” Mila squeaked, thinking this was the Cosmo’s revenge for the way she’d mentally teased her mother for squeaking in the same way.

“Great.” He flashed her another stomach-melting grin. “I know just the place.”

The entire way to the car, then to the Chinese restaurant, and finally to Riley’s house, Mila kept her raging thoughts in check by repeating to herself a string of steadying reassurances: he’s not taking you back to his place to ravage you. He probably isn’t even interested in kissing you. He only wants to discuss the case in a private space, not test his new rock-hard mattress with you, definitely not test his new rock-hard mattress with you…

Mmm, I wonder what else he has that’s rock hard…

No, no, no, no… bad Mila, we’re not interested in anything rock hard that Chief Riley King might have to offer.

Aren’t we?

Nope, one hundred percent not.

Mental sigh. If only he didn’t smell like stardust and temptation. Having spent an unhealthy amount of time in his arms, or stuck in the front seat of a car with him, the scent was ingrained in her brain.

At least now, the Chinese food they were taking to his house covered some of it and, oh, look, they were pulling over…