I was officially on my own.
I mademy way over to Marissa's house, playing the conversation with Portia over and over in my head. There was no way Grace and I were meant to be together. I liked her, respected her, and had a genuine wish to date her, but soulmates? I wasn't quite sure I believed in them. Plus there were so many women and female creatures here in Midnight Cove that the odds of it being a pain in the ass clairvoyant were pretty low. I pulled into my friend's driveway, turned off the car and considered the woman inside. Was I being blind not to notice the potential there? A part of me felt uncomfortable with thoughts heading that direction, but maybe Marissa needed more than just financial help. Portia had to be wrong. Grace and I were oil and water, fire and gasoline, not soul mates. She threw us together just for entertainment, not because we belonged together.
I knocked on the door and smiled as it opened seconds later.
Marissa lookedwaymore pregnant this time. I blinked in surprise. "Wow."
She patted her stomach. "Yeah. Wow." She held the door open for me. I stepped inside and turned to Marissa and really, truly looked at her.
She was gorgeous. I reached over and took a lock of her hair in my hand. Marissa tilted her head to the side. "Lucas?"
"I want to kiss you," I blurted.
Marissa deftly stepped aside, despite her advanced state of pregnancy, and laughed. "Uh no. I'm not sure what's happened to you, but you look like shit and your eyes look like they're haunted." She rolled her eyes at me and patted me on the arm. "Come inside and have some tea. You're welcome to have a nervous breakdown here, but if you kiss me I'm going to knee you in the balls. Sorry. I'm a one man woman and that man died and left me a widow."
"Shit Marissa. I'm sorry." I scratched the back of my head.
She waved a hand at me as she walked into her living room. "Every man gets one free pass. That's all. Plus, the rumor mill still manages to reach me here in this lonely old house. Tell me about this little clairvoyant you've been so terrible to."
I groaned. "How in the world did you hear anything about this?"
Her eyes sparkled. "Midnight Cove Mom Forum. Your family is all the rage."
"What?" I let out a startled laugh. "We're on the internet?"
"You sound like you're ancient, Lucas.Everyoneis on the internet. Especially if they love salacious gossip." She poured me a cup of tea and shoved it into my hands before she lowered herself onto a chair and sighed. "I'm enormous," she moaned.
"You look gorgeous." She did. Pregnancy had given her a glow I'd never seen before.
"Psssht. Stop stalling. Tell me all about Grace." She picked up a cup of tea and stared at me over the rim as she took a sip. "Also please do include why you're such a jerk to her when you've never been anything but a gentleman to me."
There was no way she knew about the love potion. "Tell me what you heard."
A smile curved her mouth. "Nope. Tell me all about the glorious beard you grew for your first date."
I told Marissa everything. Every terrible detail. Every incident that made me look like an enormous jackass and when I finished, she set her mug down on the table with a loud clack and stared at me, her entire body bristling with anger. "You tried to use a love potion to keep her close, abusing her own moral code not to look into your future if you tried to have a relationship with her?" She shook her head. Marissa's nostrils flared. "I would have put you down like a dog," she hissed, and I could tell she was serious. "You deserved everything you got from Morgana Comey and then some."
I hung my head. "I know."
"When are you planning on making this up to her?" She shifted in her seat and winced.
"Are you okay?"
"Fine," she snapped. "When are you going to throw yourself on her doorstep and grovel? She obviously cared about you if she agreed to go out with you again, even after you totally botched the first apology. And apparently the second one." Marissa rolled her eyes. "You'll be lucky if she doesn't put a hole the size of a dinner plate through your chest when you knock on her door."
"Why are all the women in my life so violent these days?"
"Because we have to deal with stupid shit like this all the time, Lucas." She crossed her arms over her chest, but they slid and rested on her belly which made her look ridiculous. But she was still a powerful vamp so I dared not laugh. "Do you care about her?" she demanded.
My eyes slid away.
"Ah. You do. You just don't want to admit it. That's why you came here and got all handsy! Typical distraction maneuver. You're such a tool."
"Stop insulting me!" I shouted.
"Stop doing things worthy of insult!" she shouted back.
We glared at each other. "She doesn't want anything to do with me," I admitted.
