“I . . . of course.” She lowered her hand to her lap. “I would worry about anyone in a situation like that.”
His heart sank. “Of course.” He glanced in the rearview mirror and did a double take. There were a dozen deer following them.
She eyed him suspiciously. “If you killed them with just a knife, you must be super strong and fast.”
“You could say that.” Damn, she’d taken over the offense. He was playing defense again.
“And you have super hearing.” Her eyes narrowed. “What other superpowers do you have?”
“Super smell and vision.”
She gasped and crossed her arms over her chest. “X-ray vision?”
He turned to ogle her breasts with great enthusiasm. “I wish.”
“Watch where you’re driving,” she grumbled. “Can you do that thing that Tino did?”
Howard groaned inwardly. How could he avoid telling her the truth? “I have to beg you not to tell anyone about him. He’s a sweet kid, and he deserves a normal life—”
“Don’t worry. I already told him I wouldn’t say anything. As far as I can tell, he saved my life. And besides that, I really like him.”
With a smile, Howard nodded. “He’s a great kid, isn’t he?”
“He certainly likes you. He kept telling me what a wonderful guy you are.”
“He’s absolutely correct.”
She scoffed. “So are you going to tell me what happened?”
Howard took a deep breath. “All right. I’ll stop procrastinating.”
“Thank you.”
He glanced at her, wondering how she was going to handle the truth. “Tino teleported you.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You mean like ‘Beam me up, Scottie’ teleportation? He can do that?”
“I doubt he can do it into outer space, but yeah, he can teleport.”
“He’s a child who can teleport?”
“That’s what I said. He started doing it when he was a toddler. Really freaked his mom out the first time.”
Elsa grimaced. “How can he do it?”
“His DNA is a little different.”
Her eyes widened. “Because of his father, the mad scientist?”
“Roman isn’t mad.” Howard winced. “How did you hear about him?”
“Tino told me. He said Shanna was his mom, and his father was a scientific genius.”
“They’re good people—”
“Who experimented on their children?” Elsa asked with an appalled look.
“It’s not like that. They love their children. And you talked to Tino. You saw how normal he is.”
“There’s nothing normal about teleportation.” She shook her head. “It’s hard to believe. If it hadn’t happened to me, I don’t think I could believe it.”
“He saved your life.”
“I know. It’s amazing.”
“What’s really amazing is that he managed to teleport a hundred and seventy pounds with him. Usually only an adult can—” He stopped when he realized she was glaring at him.
“A hundred and sixty,” she ground out.
His mouth twitched. “Are you sure about that?”
She swatted his shoulder.
“I was kidding. You couldn’t be an ounce over a hundred and sixty.”
She crossed her arms. “So why didn’t you just teleport me back here?”
He glanced at the rearview mirror. Damn, the deer were still following them. “I don’t teleport.”
She sat back, regarding him with a shocked expression. “You can’t do something a five-year-old can do?”
His eyes narrowed. Time to take the offense again. “I have a different set of skills.”
“Such as?”
He pulled the SUV over, shifted into park, then leaned toward her. “I can touch beautiful women and make them burn.”
Her mouth fell open.
He leaned closer. “Does any other man make you burn?”
Her mouth snapped shut, and she looked away, her face flushing.
“I’m the only one, aren’t I? Your face is burning now, and I haven’t even touched you. Yet.”
She gulped. “I don’t know why it happened.”
“We could speculate.” He touched her cheek and felt the heat of her blush, the soft pliancy of her skin. He traced the line of her jaw, then gently cupped her chin. “It could be instant attraction.”
Her mouth parted slightly.
“Or desire.” He ran his thumb over her lower lip.
She drew in a shaky breath.
He lifted his gaze to her forest-green eyes. “Or it could be something even stronger, a feeling that we were destined to meet, destined to be together.”
Her eyes searched his. “Do you really believe that?”
“From the first moment I saw you on television, I was drawn to you. I felt attached to you.” When her eyes widened, a sudden thought popped into his mind. What if he sounded like a crazed fan? She’d already accused him before of being crazy.
He lowered his hand and sat back. “You probably get fan mail like that all the time.”
“Not really.” Still blushing, she fumbled to open the passenger door. “I should get back to work.”
Howard climbed out. “I’ll walk you back.”
“It’s not necessary.” She hurried toward the house and waved as Alastair peered out the front door.
“Have dinner with me tonight,” Howard blurted out. When she glanced back with a wary look, he quickly added, “Alastair, too. We can celebrate you guys signing the contract.”
Alastair rushed down the stairs. “Did Shanna agree?”
“I don’t know for sure,” Howard confessed. “But the Shanna I know has always been able to convince her husband to do what she wants.”
“Excellent!” Alastair grinned at Elsa. “We shall be delighted to dine with you tonight. Right, luv?”
She shot Howard an annoyed look.
Damn. His offensive play may have been too . . . offensive. He’d have to try a different strategy tonight. “See you later.”
Elsa was relieved when Alastair launched into another of his long, amusing anecdotes. Howard seemed to be enjoying the stories, but she hadn’t said two words over dinner, and that was the way she wanted it.
She was going to remain calm and aloof. Even though she wasn’t. She wouldn’t let Howard suspect she was attracted to him. Even though she was. Because it was ridiculous to be this attracted to a man she’d just met the night before. The man who had activated the curse. Even though she didn’t believe in such nonsense.
Of course, after this afternoon, she might have to adjust her definition of nonsense. Last night, she would have considered a five-year-old boy who could teleport a bunch of nonsense. What was going on at that secret school? What other secrets was Howard hiding? He had admitted he couldn’t teleport, but she had no doubt he possessed other powers.
Just thinking about the way he’d stroked her cheek made her face flame with heat. For a second, she’d thought he was going to kiss her, and God help her, she wouldn’t have resisted.
But she was resisting now. She’d made a point of not dressing up for dinner. She was still wearing her jeans and T-shirt. Her hair was pinned to the back of her head with a plastic claw.
She forced her gaze to wander around the small restaurant, anything to keep from looking at him. He had dressed nicely. Khaki trousers and a crisp dress shirt. No tie. Not that she was noticing. He was sitting across from
