“Keep it. I have my own blunt.”
“You’d be breaking your family curse; I’d be receiving one.”
Warrick laughed. “Savage, Selena Savage.”
She grinned at him. “But am I wrong?”
“In calling me a curse? Absolutely.”
“Have you ever considered that you are the one giving your curse its power?” she pointed out. “Take back your power.”
Interesting. “I have not considered that, no. How would I be giving it power?” All he wanted to do was erase it from his family’s books so as not to bother future generations.
“You are consumed by it. All your attention is focused on it.”
“I merely mention here and there,” Warrick said thoughtfully. Perhaps a tiny bit of preoccupation. “Should I simply forget about it then?”
“Redirect your attention to something else.”
“I could do that,” he murmured. A new preoccupation might have already formed. A wild one.
He cleared his throat.
But in that direction lay even more frustration, no doubt. Much more intrigue, though, much more than a family curse. And perhaps she was right. Perhaps he gave the curse power by refusing to dismiss the damn thing from his mind, by allowing it to take over his thoughts. However, when the evidence of it was so clear, letting it go became harder and harder.
She plopped back against the pillows with a sigh.
“I see the princess of trouble has many troubles today.” Warrick relaxed into the sofa a bit more himself. Trouble seemed to be the word of the day.
She snorted. “Why would you think anything is troubling me? I am exceptionally trouble free as I am slouched here.”
“Not true. You have a small line that draws together between your brows whenever something is nagging at your mind. Not enough to be a frown, but slight enough to take note.”
She eyed him askance. “How observant of you.”
“Being so has become a habit of necessity.”
She scrunched her face into more lines. “Spotting my frown lines has become a necessity?”
“Of course.” Everything about her had become a necessity to learn. “How else am I to decipher what unruliness you will get into next?”
“Your commitment to your task is admirable, but I’m still quite worry free.”
“If you aren’t worried, then what are you?” Warrick asked, curious.
“Woolgathering.”
“A haunting prospect.”
“Yes, I have the same thought when I contemplate anything regarding my brother.”
So did he. However, “There are better ways to pass the time.”
She sent him one of those smiles that on any other day would have warned him of imminent catastrophe. For him. “Do tell.”
He tossed the book onto her lap. “Here, read something. It will be edifying I daresay.”
She poked at the book. “Read? Please, I’ve never read a book in my life. I’m not starting now.”
