She shook her head. “No. I need to be alone right now.”

She walked out and emptiness washed through him at her absence.

“I can’t believe you went without me last night,” Gage said when she answered her phone. She’d been wallowing a little, letting herself get sucked into a thousand boring little tasks to stop wondering if Dominic was going to call. Not that it had worked.

“First things first, how are you feeling?” Food poisoning sucked. No two ways about it.

“I’m good. My mother came over and did something, heaven knows what, but I’ll take it. I may even be ready to go back to work tomorrow. Are you all right? What happened?”

“He’s keyed in to the font now. Took care of it myself. Still, there’s a risk of exposure. I’m going to have to think on it and how I’ll approach it with the council next week. For now, I think the wards will hold and do the job.”

“I might pop over there just to check it out myself. Nell and I went to a club for paranormals in Las Vegas. I don’t actually think it’s the worst idea ever. It’s nice to have a place we can all go.”

“It is. Yes. But not at risk of exposure.”

“Goes without saying. Okay, so, Meriel, you know I’m your friend too, right? Is there something wrong? You sound … off.”

“I appreciate that very much. I do. I can’t really talk about it right now. I’m trying to get it all straight in my head and I have a hearing in an hour so I need to focus on that.”

He sighed. “Do you need me to hurt someone for you?”

She laughed. “Thank you for the offer. But no. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Offers of shoulders and ass kicking are open-ended. You know where I am if and when you want to talk.”

She hung up and stared at her screen for a few minutes. She’d been off her stride since she first looked Dominic in the eyes the night before. She hadn’t slept much, but she had to keep faith and believe he would call. The dating plan was solid, she felt. Real. And it would enable him to retain a measure of control.

A smile crept onto her face as she thought about that last bit. Dominic Bright was most definitely the kind of man who liked to be in charge. She hummed her appreciation at the naughty thoughts that had inspired.

Tossing and turning all night long hadn’t helped. She was utterly sure, but he wasn’t and she wasn’t sure she could change that if he wouldn’t listen. Who was she to mess with free will? He had to come to her of his own accord.

However, it didn’t mean she wouldn’t use every single tool at her disposal. Hello, this was a sort of contest. His wary resistance to clans against her appeal. She sat up with a smile. She had no doubt he wanted her as a woman, but he couldn’t trust that and he had good reason. So the dating thing would allow regular contact and a way for them to move in a positive direction she sincerely hoped included his bed and his naked body very soon.

He was a highly sexual man. Sensual in his choice of decoration in his home and even his office. The kind of man who knew exactly what he wanted and would pursue it relentlessly. Being the thing he pursued had to be pretty awesome.

She laughed, getting up and grabbing her files. This would be all right. They could do this, and she had no doubt they’d both enjoy it even more when they finally did end up sleeping together.

“SO repeat that.” Simon sipped a cup of coffee and grabbed another biscuit.

“Told you last night, dumbass. She’s my bond-mate.”

“So you met this person who’s like your magickal other half. She’s one hot-looking woman of immense power and training and she’s not here why?”

Dominic sighed. “I don’t even believe in this shit, Simon. I can’t just meet a woman and fall down in love with her ten minutes later. I don’t care what some mystical bond thing says. It’s not real. I don’t like not having a choice in how I feel.”

“Yeah, make believe like witches and werewolves. You’re full of shit.” Simon shrugged. “You won’t be the only person on Earth who can key into her magick. Eventually someone else will find her and then she’ll be his and no longer attracted to you. But shit, Dominic, why would you want that? You have this beautiful, magickal thing; why not accept it like a gift? I know you like to say you don’t believe in fate, but I do. Sometimes you just have to let go of cynicism and let yourself believe in something.”

Dominic stirred his coffee as he thought that outcome would be totally unsatisfactory. The idea of her feeling the way they had the night before with anyone else was untenable. “No matter what bond shit there is or isn’t, I’m not walking away from Meriel. I just don’t want to play house with her ten minutes after I met her either.”

“Ten minutes? She was asking you to marry her and live in her house and have babies last night?”

“Oh fuck you, Simon, you smug asshole. You know she didn’t and you know what I mean.”

“No, I really don’t know what you mean. Either you want her or you don’t. Which is it? Also, chemistry is always a player between two people. She has pheromones and you have them. Some pheromones don’t appeal to some people and some do. That’s a fact. So right there you’ve got the basics of what you have with Meriel. And that’s not even taking into account the fact that you cannot be a witch and still think things like bond-mates aren’t real. Says who? Humans? You’re not human and you should just admit it to yourself.

“You’re running from it because it has clan written all over it. I say fuck that. Her foremothers built Clan Owen into a powerhouse of a clan. Nothing happens in the magickal world without their say or input. That’s power and that’s hot. She is special, Dom. Unique. Powerful and absolutely mouthwatering.”

Dominic groaned and scratched his beard. “I’m not denying her appeal as a woman.” He paused. “Or as a witch. Yes, yes, she’s powerful and I can’t lie and say I don’t find that very alluring. She and I have something, I admit it. But this is sudden and this is big. I don’t know if I want to be sucked into the world of these clans. All those rules and politics. She’s not just an ordinary witch. There’s no halfway with her. I’ve spent my life deliberately not engaging with them.”

Simon growled as he polished off his eggs. “You want some skeeze who’ll jump on your cock five minutes after you give her a free drink? Huh? ‘Cause you have that already and I don’t see you any happier than before. But the way you are since last night? Well, that’s interesting.”

“I don’t have time for interesting.”

“Boo-fucking-hoo. When did you become such a whiner? This is sudden? Fuck yeah. Totally sudden and life altering. My dad has a thing about those moments. Revelatory thinking. You think all this life-altering stuff happens on a schedule?”

“Doesn’t mean I have to lose my mind over it.”

“You told me she advised you to think on it and to call her if you wanted something with her. How is that losing your mind? You’re a witch. You can pretend you aren’t when it suits you, but I hasten to remind you that you don’t mind being a witch when you have to set wards or use spellwork.

You can’t have it both ways. Own who you are and stop whining about what you aren’t. It’s not going to change either way. It’s just a waste of time to deny the importance of this all because you’re willing to deliberately lie to yourself rather than admit freaky shit happens sometimes in the world we live in. Be grateful and grab it tight and don’t fret so damned much.”

“Why are you acting like Dr. Phil all the sudden?”

“Because you’re going to turn your back on something for a dumb reason and someone needs to call you on it.”

“I’m not turning my back on anything. I’m going to call her later and ask her to dinner as it happens. Nothing wrong with wanting to get to know her.”