Page 7 of Lawful Mate
“What happened?” Theo asked.
“Well, I did manage to make him say ‘ribbit’ three times, or at least I thought I did. He was probably just messing with me, though.”
“Now that you’re all grown up, you should ask him,” Daphne suggested. Turning to Dante, she whispered something in his ear, low enough so another shifter couldn’t overhear. Dante smiled and looked adoringly at her.
Theo was sure Daphne didn’t notice Ivy’s reaction, given her sudden preoccupation, but he did. Ivy gave a noncommittal nod, then added a tight, forced smile that didn’t reach her suddenly sad eyes. She took another long swig of beer, and Theo felt the overwhelming need to protect her from whatever caused her pain, so he changed the subject.
“You know, Ivy asked me earlier if wolves actually howled at the moon.” It worked, and Ivy and the rest of the table laughed.
She playfully smacked his arm. “I did not. You don’t, do you?”
“Only on Sundays,” Dante deadpanned.
“On that note, Daphne here,” Ivy began, a mischievous sparkle in her eye, “is going to teach me how to growl, so…yeah, I’ll put the fear in other shifters.” She ended her speech with a snort, followed by her downing the rest of her beer, then pouring herself another helping.
“A little tipsy, are we?” He’d call her a lightweight, but he lost count of how many beers any of them had. Probably too many. Shifters just had a stronger tolerance.
“Pfft! Totally fine.” She waved him off. “I am a powerful witch, you know.”
Throwing his head back, he laughed, then couldn’t help staring for a beat too long, a beat he was sure didn’t go unnoticed by the other occupants of their table, who suddenly found other parts of the bar interesting. The playful smile she beamed at him was absolutely breathtaking.
“Oh yeah? Let’s hear your best growl, oh powerful one.”
Her smile suddenly disappeared, her brows furrowed, and she looked as if she was about to say something when they were interrupted.
“This is what you left me for?” Delphine shrilled.
“Excuse me?” Daphne said, ready to do battle for her friend.
Delphine looked at Ivy with disgust before turning back to him. “Can we please go somewhere private and talk?”
Standing, Theo felt a growl building in his throat but didn’t release it. “No,” he simply said. His patience had already worn itself out. No more explaining why he didn’t want to talk to her. He owed her nothing.
Delphine looked around her, noticing people were staring. Theo knew she didn’t like that. Not in a negative light, at least. She put on her best fake smile and acknowledged the rest of the table, including Ivy, who had remained stoic throughout the exchange, giving nothing away. That’s what he’d learned about her this past week—she listened and pondered before uttering a single word.
“Forgive me,” Delphine began in her best put-on saccharine voice, “That was incredibly rude of me. I’m Delphine Blanchett of Martin Corbin Laurent and Associates.”
Theo rolled his eyes at her need to introduce herself as belonging to a law firm. They weren’t at work right now. He was debating if he should sit back down and hope Delphine would value her dignity enough to simply walk away when Ivy stood up with a smile, a smile more predatory than saccharine, aimed solely at Delphine.
“You must be that poisonous little lynx Kim was going on about.”
Well, that certainly wasn’t what he was expecting. Delphine looked taken aback, letting out an “ugh.” Meanwhile, Dante sucked in his lips to keep from laughing while Daphne’s eyes bulged, and her mouth hung open with shocked excitement.
Ivy ignored them all. She wasn’t done.
“She doesn’t like you very much. I hope she doesn’t find out you were here.”
Delphine looked scared, and not for the first time, he wondered what hiring Ivy was really all about.
Ivy turned to Theo. “I think I’ve had a little too much to drink. Would you mind taking me home?”
He didn’t mind at all. He needed to have a talk with his little witch.
Daphne and Dante were ready to go as well. After Theo insisted on taking care of the bill, the four of them left the bar, heading for their respective vehicles and leaving a shell-shocked Delphine behind. Since Theo’s shifter body had already burned off the effects of the alcohol, he had no qualms about driving rather than taking Ivy home in a cab.
On the drive over to Ivy’s apartment, Theo asked, “My mother told you about Delphine?”
Ivy hiccupped before answering, which Theo found adorable, despite the tense subject.
