Free A Pinch of Kitchen Magic by Sandra Sookoo

chair.
    “ We’re not
finished.”
    With an annoyed sigh, she sat and
closed her eyes, waiting.
    “ If you needed to choose
between a man and your magic, what would you do?”
    Cold fingers of apprehension marched
down her spine. “It would depend on the man.” She frowned.
“Although, my luck with men hasn’t been good, so I suppose I’d
choose magic.”
    “ Let’s say the man in
question desired nothing more than to shower you with love and
affection, but his only request was that you give up your powers,
what would you choose?”
    The apprehension vanished under a wash
of peace. “Magic. A man should love all of me, not love me in
pieces.”
    Matteus grunted, the sound ambiguous.
“What if you loved a man with every particle of your being but he
couldn’t stand your magical tendencies? What then?”
    What would I do and why
does he keep harping on this subject ?
Aidan’s mind reeled over the question. His knee jostled hers as he
shifted in his chair. Tingles shot through her leg and she tried to
ignore them. “I’d have to dump him. My magic is a defining part of
me, I suppose. That’s like asking me to remove my nose because it
turns up slightly at the end.” When would the assessment would be
over?
    He scribbled a few notations on his
clipboard. “If your magic were taken away, would your life be
better or worse?”
    She let the question soak into her
brain before answering. “Worse. I’d have no friends, no boyfriend
but neither would I have the added flair that makes me unique.” She
heard the scratch of his pen on the paper and wondered anew at what
he was writing. “Life would be pretty boring if I didn’t have
anything special.”
    “ Would there be a point in
your life, years into the future, when you might be drawn into the
darker lure of your power?”
    “ Absolutely not.” Aidan
shook her head. “If there’s a choice between controlling my magic
or letting it control me, I’d rather you just take it from me. I
don’t want that kind of stress.” When he cleared his throat, her
eyes flew open in surprise. “Are we finished?”
    His gaze was unfathomable. “With the
questions, yes.” He abandoned the clipboard to the tabletop then
held out his hands. “Now for the Acceptance Seal.”
    “ The what?” Lazy heat
flowed into her fingertips as she reached to accept his
hand.
    Matteus lifted an eyebrow. “It’s the
verbal acceptance of your promise to keep your magic. From your
answers it’s obvious you consider the magic a part of you.” A tiny
smile curled his lips. “If you don’t do this, I’ll have no choice
but to drain your powers.”
    She nodded. “All right.” The urge to
brush a fallen lock of chestnut hair from his forehead was strong
but she tamped it. She could barely handle being this close to him.
“I have stuff to do this afternoon, you know.”
    “ Have you learned nothing
from the cooking process? Sometimes it’s best to leave a dish
simmering, low, and slow.” He gave her a full grin this time. “The
end result is the most wonderful meal you’ve ever known. Everything
melds together perfectly, no mistakes, and you’re left with a huge
dose of satisfaction.”
    “ Oh.” Aidan shivered at
the double meaning in his statement. “Give me your left hand and
raise your right in the air.”
    She did as he asked. “Now
what?”
    “ Repeat after me: I
solemnly swear to uphold and abide by the laws of magic to the best
of my ability.”
    She parroted back the
statement but touching him, being so close to him distracted her.
She pushed her attraction for him to the back of her mind. I’m being silly. He’s not into me that
way.
    “ I will respect the lives
around me and strive to leave the world a better place than I found
it.”
    Her cheeks warmed as he squeezed her
fingers, prompting her to say the passage. When he didn’t respond
with a new sentence, she frowned. “What’s wrong? Did I jumble the
words?”
    “ No.” He swallowed then
released her