“All right.” Ildaria turned and plucked a muffin off the large plate, set it on her own smaller one, and picked up her knifeto cut and butter it as if everything was fine. But she was already worrying about this counseling thing. She wasn’t usedto talking to people about her past. In fact, G.G. was the first person she’d told it to, and she’d only done that becauseshe’d felt he should know if they were life mates . . . and despite not knowing him long, she trusted him. Opening up to someoneelse . . . Yeah, this was going to be hard.
Nine
“Yo.”
Ildaria glanced up from the computer and smiled faintly as Sofia pushed the office door closed and crossed the room.
“Yo,” she greeted back. “What’s up?”
“That’s what I was wondering,” Sofia said dryly as she dropped into the chair in front of the desk. “What is going on? G.G. only stuck around for a few minutes tonight and then he left that new guy, Jarin, to man the door and wentto take a nap.” She widened her eyes incredulously. “What the hell? I never thought I’d see the day. The man is always working.”
Ildaria shrugged mildly, but her mouth was twitching with amusement. “I guess he’s tired.”
“You think?” Sofia asked sarcastically, and then asked. “So what has him so tired? And what’s going on with you two? This last week he’s still exhausted, but in a much better mood. And where did you guys go today? I saw you pull up together in his pickup just before we opened. Where were you coming from? Why is he smiling all the time when he’s still exhausted and there’s been no Mimi yet? Or has there been Mimi and I’m just misreading things? Because what I’m getting from his head feels like shared dreams rather than the real deal.”
Ildaria stared at her with eyebrows arched for a moment, torn between annoyance at the intrusive questions, and an eagernessto spill her guts and tell Sofia about her and G.G. When Sofia simply waited, apparently impervious to the look she was receiving,Ildaria finally gave in to her urge to talk about the man. “We talked last week. The day you took me shopping. Well, the morningafter when he came to collect H.D.,” she corrected. “I told him that the dreams he’s having are shared dreams and that he’sa possible life mate. He agreed to be my life mate.”
“Yeah?” Sofia asked with a smile, and then smirked. “Yeah, you look and sound all stoic and calm on the surface about this,but your inner voice is doing the squealy girl thing.”
Ildaria sneered at the suggestion. “I don’t do squealy girl.”
“Oh, yeah, you do,” she said on a laugh. “You’re practically singing ‘Sweet Mystery of Life’ in your head.”
“I am not,” Ildaria denied quickly, but she and G.G. had watched Young Frankenstein the day before, and the song Madeline Kahn sang when Frankenstein made love to her had been running through her head ever since.
When Sofia just laughed at her, Ildaria scowled and turned her attention back to the spreadsheet on her computer.
The room was silent as she pretended to concentrate on work, but Ildaria was very aware of the woman seated across from her.She knew Sofia was trying to read her thoughts and tried to block her, but couldn’t think of anything to recite at the momentexcept “Sweet mystery of life at last I’ve found you.”
“Wow.”
Ildaria looked up sharply at the word to see Sofia frowning now.
“So, he’s agreed to be your life mate, but not to the turn and you aren’t having real sex either?” she almost whispered withdismay. “Oh, man, Angel.”
Flinching at the pity in her voice, Ildaria scowled. “Don’t call me that.”
“Sorry,” Sofia said unapologetically. “G.G. has started calling you that and it’s kind of stuck in my head.”
Ildaria didn’t comment. G.G. had started calling her Angel since agreeing to be her life mate. He said it was her real first name, and suited her better anyway. But when she’d instinctively protested at his using the short form of the first name she’d forsaken for safety’s sake centuries ago, he’d offered to pick a different endearment if she wanted and suggested a couple. But when faced with either Petal, Flower, or Angel, she’d said Angel was fine. She was in North America now, far from Juan Villaverde, and at least Angel was the short form of her real name. The other two endearments made her sound like some weak, delicate—
“And counseling,” Sofia murmured suddenly, and then blinked and said, “And you went bowling?”
Ildaria’s thoughts scattered and she scowled at her coworker sharply. “Will you stay out of my head?”
“Nope,” Sofia said without guilt. “I like G.G. I like you too. I’m rooting for you both, so I’m going to be all up in yourbusiness until you two sort things out. Now tell me how your first session with Marguerite’s son-in-law went, and explainwhy you went bowling of all things?”
“It’s called dating,” Ildaria snapped with irritation, answering the second part first. “We are dating. Getting to know eachother.”
“Building trust,” Sofia said with a nod. “At Marguerite’s son-in-law’s suggestion.”
“His name is Greg,” Ildaria snapped. “Dr. Greg Hewitt.”
“Right. Dr. Greg,” Sofia said with disinterest. “So . . . how was your first date?”
“It wasn’t our first date. We went out for breakfast and then watched Young Frankenstein the afternoon before that,” Ildaria told her reluctantly.
“Ah, that’s where ‘Sweet Mystery of Life’ comes from,” Sofia said knowingly.
Ildaria rolled her eyes. “Is there a reason you came in here other than to annoy me?”
“No,” Sofia said with a grin. “Mostly I wanted to hear about the bowling thing because I picked up something weird from G.G.’s mind about his never having been kicked out of anyplace . . . before you.”
“We didn’t get kicked out,” Ildaria said at once, but felt her face heat up.
“Only because you controlled the bowling alley owner’s mind, calmed him down and made him let you stay,” Sofia argued.
Ildaria huffed irritably. Really this having her mind read
