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“
Let's huv
somethin' tae eat,” Quinn spoke, gesturing to a chair.

“
I'm not
hungry.”

“
Please?”

She sighed and
gave in as he pulled the chair back for her, but only because she
couldn't drag it out of his hands and do it herself. He took a seat
in front of her and pulled the lid off a silver tray in the middle
of the table. She snorted as she looked at the contents.

“
A'm guessin'
yer like hot dogs?”

“
Yes, I do.”
Who didn’t love food that wasn’t good for you?

“
Please huv
one.”

She picked one
up and bit into it. She hated that it tasted rather
good.

“
So, whit is
yer favourite food?”

Cora almost
choked on the hot dog in her mouth.
My
god, this reminds me of the date I’d had with Clay, a date that
felt like it had happened a lifetime ago
,
she thought. So many things had happened to her in such a short
space of time.

“
I like
sausage and mash.” She coughed clearing her throat.

“
Right, A've
not had that in a while. We eat different thin's in
Scotland.”

“
Like
what?”

“
Well, Haggis
is one thin'.”

“
What is
that?”

“
Yer don't
know? Yer must be the only person who doesnae know whit is in
it.”

“
So, what's in
it?”

“
Sheep.”

She choked
again. Coughing up what felt like a lung, she put the thing down
before it caused a serious injury. “Like a whole sheep?”

He laughed and
chewed on the hot dog. “Nae, not the whole sheep.” He shook his
head. “Certain parts of a sheep. It gaes nice wi' neeps and
tattie.”

She swore he
just spoke a completely different language. “Okay, so I'm guessing
tattie is potato, but what is neeps?”

“
It's turnip
and it’s lovely stuff.”

“
I know what a
turnip is, why do the Scottish put different words to
things?”

“
A could say
the same thin aboot yer. Yer Yorkshire people say different things
too.”

She sat back.
He did have a point. “I'm not from Yorkshire, but I can see what
you mean.”

“
Oh. Where did
yer live?”

“
You mean you
don't know? I assumed Alastair knew everything about
me?”

“
A'm not all
that close tae Alastair. He is the boss of our coven and A get teld
whit tae dae.”He shook his head and pulled a face. He didn't like
Alastair either? Now this changed things.

“
You must do
what the boss tells you too,” she said sarcastically.

“
Ay.”

Quinn picked
up another hot dog and started demolishing it, he swallowed the
huge chunk before continuing. “So, where did yer live?”

“
London,
before that I lived in several places.”

“
Great place
is London. A've been a few times.”

“
Yeah, I've
not been back since...well, not for a while...”

“
Yer lost yer
ma.”

“
Yes.”

“
I'm
sairy.”

She shrugged,
his apology wasn’t needed. He wasn’t the one who’d murdered
her.

“
A lost ma
when A was younger.”

“
She didn't go
through the change?” Cora asked surprised.

“
Nae. She
wasnae strong enough.”

“
I'm sorry,”
she said, feeling genuinely sad for him.

“
Thin's
happen.”

She caught a
glimpse of something in his eyes and quickly looked at the
colourful fish floating around in the huge tank.

A high pitched
song filled the air breaking the silence between them. She looked
back at Quinn in surprise, where had the music come
from?

“
It's yer
phone.”

She jumped and
rummaged through her pockets finding her phone. Once she grabbed
it, she looked at it in confusion. She didn't recognise the number.
“Hello?”

“
Hi Cora, it's
Tommy.”

“
Eh?
Who?”

“
Tommy, you
know, I’m from the Leeds coven...”

“
Where did you
get my number?”

Quinn shot her
a quizzical expression, his eyes asking her who it was.

“
I have my
sources,” he laughed.

“
Were you
calling for a reason, Tommy?”

She caught a
quick flash of something cross Quinn's face.

“
I was
wondering whether you would like to go out on a date? When are you
free?”

“
Never,” she
sighed.

Quinn sent her
a quick grin. He’d guessed the reason for the phone call and he
liked the answer she’d given. S he was starting to sound like a
broken record.

“
What about
Tuesday night?”

“
Nope.”

“
Wednesday?”

“
Nope.”

“
Now, Cora, do
you want another visit from Alastair?”

Her heart
lurched. No, she didn't want that. “Fine, Tommy. What about
Saturday?”

“
Perfect. I
will pick you up at 7pm.”

She ended the
call not bothering to say goodbye. Brilliant, so whilst she was on
a date she didn’t want to be on, she’d now organised another date
that, yet again, she didn’t want to go on. Jack was going to burst
with anger.

“
How did he
get yer number?” Quinn asked.

“
I haven't got
a clue.”

“
Come, let's
finish the tour then A will take yer home.”

She stood up
and walked with him back to the entrance. The thought of going home
made her feel marginally better but then the nerves kicked in. How
would Jack react to yet another date?

22

FIGHTING
BACK

Jack carefully
rolled over in bed, being cautious not to disturb Cora. He hadn’t
slept too good and knew that she hadn’t either. Pulling the covers
back, he tried to quickly exit before letting the cold air seep
into the warmth created by the covers.

“
Where you
going?”

He turned and
looked into her gorgeous brown eyes that were still fogged with
sleep. “I can't sleep.”

She looked at
him, an expression crossing her face like she was struggling with
something. “I will get up with you.”

“
No, its fine,
you go back to sleep.”

“
Jack, I can't
sleep unless you’re here with me.”

“
Fine,” he
murmured and smiled because he understood. “You want some
breakfast?”

“
Yes
please.”

He made his
way to the kitchen leaving her to get out of bed in her own time.
He started gathering the eggs and bacon from the fridge. Luckily
Tabitha didn’t eat this type of food all too often so they always
had an endless supply. If he’d been living with Eli he would have
to fight for the last egg.

He heard Cora
take up residence on a seat at the counter, but he didn't know what
to say to her. He hated the awkward silence between the two of
them; he just didn’t know how to deal with it. He was acting like a
typical man because communication had deserted him. He loved this
woman, loved her so much that sometimes he struggled to breathe,
but he was torn between her and the other men. How sad had his life
become when he couldn't even hold on to his girlfriend?

“
Jack...”

“
I'm
fine.”

He was far
from fine and they both knew it. She was going on a date with Tommy
tonight. It was ridiculous and very frustrating, and the ballsy son
of a bitch had rung her on her phone. Where the hell had he got her
number from? “I hate this,” he muttered.

He continued
cutting the mushrooms as the bacon sizzled in a pan to his right.
He felt her arms wrap around him, the warmth of her body against
his back helping his anger disperse.

“
I know it is
so hard for you and I hate Alastair for making me do this, but
Quinn doesn't trust Alastair either.”

“
I don't care
who Quinn trusts,” he growled, feeling the anger gather in large
doses.

He didn’t
trust Quinn. How can you trust a man who intends to steal another
man’s girlfriend?

“
Sorry, I was
just trying to explain, trying to make you see how this affects me
too.”

“
I
know.”

He turned
around as she put her head under his chin and her fingers brushed
against his back through the thin shirt he’d pulled on. Taking a
deep breath, he smelt the strawberries and felt the turmoil melt
away. For now.

As they tucked
into their breakfast, Clay and Eli entered the room arguing loudly
about the football match that had happened the night
before.

“
There are
some leftovers under the grill,” Jack said, pointing at the grill
with his fork.

“
Great,” Eli
grinned.

Cora snorted
and watched Eli gobble a slice of crispy bacon.

“
Anybody would
think he hadn't eaten for a year. I've just watched him inhale a
bowl of cereal, two slices of toast and yoghurt before we came
here,” Clay smirked.

Jack snorted,
shovelling baked beans into his mouth. He wasn’t
surprised.

“
I'm going to
get ready,” Cora said, standing and kissing his head as she walked
around him.

“
How's it
going with all the stuff... yer know?” Clay asked when the bedroom
door shut behind Cora.

“
How do you
think it’s going, Clay? It sucks right up one side of the wall and
back down the other.”

Tabitha walked
into the kitchen and picked up a piece of bacon from Eli's
plate.

“
Yeah, but
what are you doing about it?” Eli asked.

“
Everything I
can, but it’s not easy. Cora doesn't tell me about the dates.” He
looked at Tabitha and swallowed. “Tab tells me after Cora has told
her. We know that Ciaran took her bowling and Quinn took her to a
bloody aquarium that was closed. Now she has a date with Tommy, and
I haven't got a clue what he will do. Then you've got Ethan, who
hasn't shown his face yet.” He slammed his fork down on the
counter.

“
I wouldn't
worry about Ciaran,” Eli said.

“
Yeah, I don't
think Ciaran is a threat,” Clay agreed.

“
He works hard
in the shop and I don't even pay him,” Tabitha countered

He nodded his
head agreeing with each of their comments. Ciaran worked in the
shop every day. He wasn’t inappropriate around Cora, so he was the
lesser evil of all the other men.

“
You should
make a date.”

Eli’s comment
caught him by surprise. “What?”

“
Make a date,
make it all formal and things. Cora would love it. You
could-”

Eli stopped
talking as Cora walked from the bedroom into the kitchen. Her hair
hung loose around her shoulders, the soft waves of russet brown
cupped her face. She'd put a little make up on her face which made
her eyes pop so that the soft curve of her long eyelashes
highlighted the lovely warm brown eyes that were currently latched
onto his face.

As she neared
him, he took a deep breath. Sometimes he could hardly believe she
was his. He wanted to keep it that way. He grabbed her waist and
pulled her into his arms. He caught the gasp that left her lips
before his lips fused with hers.

He pushed his
hands through her hair loving the feel of it in his fingers. As her
body sank into his, he could hear the moan in her throat. He took
it one step further. His tongue caressed hers, her breathing
accelerated, he wasn’t breathing right himself. He reluctantly
pulled away, leaving her breathless. “You fancy going on a date
tomorrow?”

She laughed
and noisily kissed him making his heart stammer. “I would love
to.”

“
I love you,”
he murmured against her lips and then decided to make her head spin
a little more.

“
Love you
too,” she sighed as his lips brushed against her nose.

With a grin at
the present company, she turned and floated out of the door. He
faced the three in the kitchen who had wide smiles plastered on
their faces.

“
Now that's
the way to play,” Eli cheered.

He smirked and
nodded his head. “Damn right!”

“
So, where
will your date be?”

“
I've no
idea,” Jack grimaced.

“
Well, you
know her, so you can do something she will love,” Tabitha
suggested.

He took a deep
breath and tried to think of a good date, one that would beat the
ones with all the men that had suddenly appeared in Cora’s
life.