Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 42942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 215(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 215(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
She smiled and my heart felt like it skipped a beat.
Handing me matches, she told me to light the candle.
“Now, take a moment to visualize how bad luck has been affecting you the last couple of days.”
I was about to argue, but I saw the earnest expression on her face and in her eyes. I closed my eyes and pictured everything that had happened. It wasn’t until I actually thought about it that I realized a lot of crazy shit had happened to me. Maybe…no way.
After a minute of reflection, Hollie spoke. “Now, repeat after me: All adversity now dissolves.”
I repeated her words.
“Now, I need you to close your eyes again and picture an empty canvas.”
“An empty canvas?”
She nodded. “Yes, it’s like a do-over.”
I sighed and did what she asked.
“Fill it with whatever you want to attract.”
One eye opened and I looked at her. “What I want to attract?”
“Yes, like good fortune, a successful dig, things that would make you happy and fulfill your world.”
A kiss from the woman sitting across from me, for starters.
Yeah, I couldn’t say that out loud, so I nodded.
“Take your time,” she whispered.
It didn’t take long for my thoughts to conjure up images of Hollie. Her in my arms. Her mouth on mine. Her hands in my hair. The way she might whisper my name as I made love to her. I quickly got lost in the lustful daydreams.
When I realized my cock was getting as hard as a rock, I opened my eyes to find her staring at me. Her upper teeth were dug into her lower lip, and I reached over to pull it out. Her breath hitched and I swore something cracked in the air between us.
“You um…um… You have to sprinkle the cinnamon over the circle of salt.”
She produced another bag filled with what I was guessing was cinnamon. I took it and when our fingers brushed against each other, we paused. Had she felt the rush of energy that passed between us? No, it wasn’t energy, it was desire.
“Sprinkle the cinnamon?” I asked.
Nodding, she said, “Over the salt.”
I made little piles of cinnamon all around the salt, then handed her back the bag.
“Now what?”
She blinked a few times. “Say after me: Only good luck and positive energy flows to me now.”
With a half-smile, I said, “Only good luck and positive energy flows to me now.”
She let out a relieved breath that was a half-laugh. “Good. Now, visualize how the candle is absorbing the protective energy of the salt. The cinnamon adds a burst of good luck. Now, close your eyes and meditate for a few minutes as you replace the bad with good.”
We stared at one another for the longest time before I finally closed my eyes. Thoughts of Hollie once again filled my mind. The look on her face when she rushed into the hospital. How dark her eyes turned when she saw me without my shirt on. The way she smiled at me, and it touched her eyes.
When she spoke, she pulled me out of my thoughts.
“The candle needs to burn down completely. Once it’s burned all the way down, you’ll need to bury it in soil and say thank you.”
I reached for her hand and held it, trying like hell to ignore the fire that raced through my body at the feel of her hand in mine. “Do you feel better now?”
She nodded. “Do you?”
“If I’m being honest, I feel the same.”
A bubble of laughter slipped free from her lips, and I found that I loved that sound a whole lot.
“It’s dangerous to leave a candle going—you know that.”
“Well…,” she replied as she looked at the candle. “As long as you’re home and can watch it, it should be okay.”
I nodded. “What if I fall asleep? Who will watch it for me?”
Her tongue came out and darted across her lips. “I suppose, I mean, I could stay and watch for you. If you wanted.”
My eyes drifted down to her mouth, and it took every ounce of strength I had to keep from pulling her to me and kissing the hell out of her.
“I want that.”
“You do?” she softly asked.
“Yes.”
Her chest rose and fell, and for a moment, I thought for sure she was going to lean over and kiss me. She suddenly stood, causing the chair to scrape across the wood floor. “Are you hungry? I could make you something to eat?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the note she had been reading from. There was something else written on it, and I wanted to know what it said.
“You don’t have to make me anything, Hollie.”
“Yes, I do. I mean, I’m hungry too.”
“Okay,” I said with a smile. “I’m not sure what all I have.”
“I’ll find something. Do you need help getting back to the living room?”