Spiritbound by Dani Kristoff Page A

downright insulting.
    Declan grinned from ear to ear. ‘Fair is fair. I underestimated you but I found a way to even the score.’
    Grace tossed her head back. ‘That won’t happen again,’ she said and then stormed off, highly outraged. The children were still cheering. She shook her head. That piece of gossip would be all over the coven in a couple of hours.
    ‘We’ll see about that,’ Declan called after her. Grace wanted to flip him the bird, but didn’t as the parents had started to arrive to pick up their children. Esme’s mother waved to her. ‘How was the scone making?’ she called.
    Grace put a smile on her face. ‘They did well. Let me unlock the classroom and you can see for yourself.’
    After tramping back to the classroom she opened the door, letting the children fetch their cloth-wrapped parcels, and she cheerfully chatted to the parents while they waited. As she took her time with each parent, she secretly hoped that Declan would have left already and she would be saved the embarrassment of telling him to bugger off. She had no intention of riding pillion and heading off on a picnic with Declan I-always-have-to-win Mallory.
    It was hard to keep smiling when her teeth grated. The nerve of him, to use that tactic…and she’d fallen for it, like one of his bitch-witches would. What she couldn’t figure out was whether she was more injured by him beating her or by the fact that he could kiss her and still concentrate on other things. Her fist clenched and then Earl came up to her. ‘Here is a scone for you, Miss.’
    Grace’s heart softened. Earl was so cute with his mop of curls and dark brown eyes. ‘That’s so nice of you.’ She took the proffered scone. ‘Thank you.’
    Thinking that enough time had elapsed for Declan to have taken off, Grace chased up the remaining children, who were telling their parents how they made the scones and what so-and-so had done.
    The last child left. With a sigh, Grace surveyed the empty classroom. Everything was in its proper place. She could no longer stall by lingering there. She had to go outside and either hope he was gone or deal with him being there.
    Only her car remained in the car park. The sun had dropped lower in the sky so that dappled light fell across her car, a little red VW Golf. It was a lovely spring day in Sydney. The crunch of gravel behind her made her spin round. Declan loomed there in a black leather jacket, holding a spare helmet in one hand. ‘Here you go,’ he said, passing it to her.
    ‘Do you expect me to go with you after what you just did?’
    ‘Of course. You aren’t a spoilt sport, are you?’
    Grace sucked in an indignant breath. ‘You cheated.’
    ‘No, I didn’t. In battle you must expect the unexpected.’
    Grace spluttered. She hadn’t thought of that. ‘You can go jump—’
    ‘I’m parked near the entrance.’ He jerked his head to one side, indicating the front of the school.
    He was being so polite and ignoring her outrage. Grace chewed her lip. He’d been reasonable when pointing out her failure. It was true. She’d lost because he’d managed to distract her. She lifted her chin, not liking that he might be right.
    There had been no expectation that she’d had a chance to beat him at his own game. She wasn’t a sore loser; that wasn’t it. It was because he’d kissed her and totally drew her into his moment and away from hers. That was what annoyed her, the fact that he had power over her. She did not want that. Right then, she didn’t want to fight anymore. She had to relax and let all that tension go. Declan was back in her world and she had to deal with it as best she could.
    Declan held the helmet out to her again. Casting her doubts away, she took it and put it on her head. ‘Right then, let’s test out this bike of yours.’
    Declan grinned and then turned away, leaving her to follow. She didn’t mind so much. There was something to be said about not fighting it, as she could enjoy the man