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It's In the Mix
(Wit & Wizardry)
by Ayla Ruse
Page Count: 71
Price: $3.99
Genres/Themes: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, Elves,
Dragons, and Magical Creatures, Magic
Mix 1 part narrow
minded fairy with 1 part human bachelor to get 2 parts love everlasting.
Aisling is not happy to be tending bar in a human pub. Her
fairy aunt predicted she'd find love by the next full moon, and that means she
should be back in Ireland -- not in the middle of Massachusetts.
Despite the happy married lives of his friends, Daniel is
content to remain a bachelor. After all, the pretty new bartender may want to
come home with him. Why spoil that with a relationship?
Something might have happened on its own, but a mischievous
pub owner slips each of them a Wit & Wizardry brew known to contain a
powerful love potion. Before either can say a word, Aisling and Daniel find
themselves tumbling headlong into love.
Unfortunately, all is not happily ever after. Aisling does
not want to love a human, and Daniel believes he's unfairly pressured her into
being with him. When the pair settle down to breathe, can they discover
something deeper to bind them, or will daylight make the heady effects of a
potioned brew fade away?
Excerpt:
Two hours later, Aisling had been asked her name so often
she practically growled it out in answer. That or flat out ignored the
question. She'd also been propositioned more than she had been in her entire
life. She'd had to do her best not to gag whenever a human dared speak to her.
All her senses were overloaded with smells of beer, food, human sweat, and the
thick New England accent that jarred her ears. She wasn't sure how much longer
she could take it.
"Hello, beautiful."
Aisling didn't even bother looking up when the human leaned
against the bar. She'd been hit on so often she mentally blocked all their
talk. "What'cha be needing tonight?" she asked instead and swiped a
damp cloth across the bar's work surface.
She could have sworn he murmured the word, "you,"
and her head shot up at that, but his warm smile told her she must have been
mistaken. Once she looked up at him, though, she couldn't look away. She should
be disgusted at the mere presence of him, a human, but he had the perfect,
classic dark Irish look -- hair as black as the Hidden Fairy Caves, eyes as
blue as the deepest reaches of the seaside springtime sky. To complete the
package, even though he leaned against the bar, she knew when he stood straight
he'd be tall and athletically lean. His face was chiseled, and he looked as if
he'd fit in perfectly with the clans of old. For a brief second she even
imagined him in a tartan. True, she didn't care for humans, but she'd always
loved the old stories of when fairy folk would interact openly with them. She
would be the first to admit she'd not want those days back, but looking at him
reminded her of the old lore, and she couldn't help it. She sighed.
"Miss? Are you okay?" He grinned, and his deep
voice shook her out of her musings.
"What? Oh, I'm sorry. You said you wanted... ?"
She tried to focus. He gave her his order, but nothing registered because she
was so caught up in simply listening to his voice.
"Did you get that?" he asked.
"Hmm? Oh, um, forgive me." She rubbed her temple as
if she had a headache. “The noise is getting to me, I think," she lied and
averted her eyes so she wouldn't be looking at him. "Can you tell me again
what you'd like?"
"Three house beers, please. I understand the Wit &
Wizards aren't available tonight?" He sounded amused, which both made her
upset and made her blush. She didn't like the dual feelings so she ignored both
to focus on her temporary job. She answered the man while pretending to work
her cloth over a stubborn spot on the bar.
"You'd be right. There's been a recall. It's nothing
bad. The taste was a little off. You know those Dunn Brothers. If something's
even a little off, they're not happy." Why was she rambling?
She stepped away to put distance between them and to pull
the longnecks from the cooler below the bar.
"No, I don't, actually," he said.
"What?"
"The Dunn Brothers. I don't know them. Who are
they?"
"Well, they're --"
sniveling, slave-driving, demanding Leprechauns "-- um, they're the
triplets what own the Wit & Wizardry Brewery."
"Fascinating. I take it from your accent you know them
well?"
"I work for them."
"Wow. You're straight from the source, so to speak.
Being put to work here must be the very definition of excellent customer
service."
"Being put to work here is called punishment," she
muttered.
"How so? My name's Daniel O'Hare, by the way."
"Oh, never you mind. Nice to meet ya, Daniel." She
set the opened beers on the bar top at the same time as he reached for them.
She allowed their hands to brush. Allowed because she'd kept a clear touching
distance from the humans tonight. But with this man, something told her that
she had to know what he felt like.
As soon as their fingers touched, a shock ran though her
body. She'd never felt anything like that before, and she jumped back.
"Are you okay?" he asked quickly, but he was
looking at his hands as if he'd felt something, too. Strange, very strange.
"I'm good," she answered, her left hand darting
behind her back to slip under the hem of her sweatshirt. "I'm good,"
she repeated. "And that'll be twelve seventy-five, if you please."
He handed over a twenty, and she snatched it from his
fingers so as not to touch him again.
"Keep the change," he told her and winked. She
nodded and turned to go to the other end of the bar.
Maybe she could talk
Mitchell into letting her take her break early. On top of everything else, it
was becoming strangely hot in here.
"Oh, miss?"
His words stopped her in her tracks.
"Can I know the name of the beautiful woman who served
me the best beer I'll have all night?"
She didn't even think of growling back at this human.
"It's Aisling."
His full-on smile almost knocked her back. Again, not sure
what was going on with her reactions to this man, this Daniel, she hurried to
the other end of the bar. He might look and sound like folk of yore, but he was
still a present-day living human. And that meant absolutely off-limits.
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