“Is she in love with you? Are you in love with her?” Phoebe fiddled with her diamonds nervously.
“There was mutual flirtation. Does that make you jealous?” Alistair asked, trying to read her facial expressions. Except for nervous fiddling, he couldn’t read anything off her.
“Shouldn’t it?” she said half-heartedly. After a long pause, she added, “After all, I’m your bride to be.” As if it were an afterthought. Phoebe took a seat on the couch across from his desk. She smoothed out her pretty skirt and fiddled with her diamonds some more.
Feeling annoyed and eager to get back to Sarai, he crossed the room to lean againsthis desk. He crossed his arms and glared at her. “What do you want, Phoebe? I’m working here.”
“I only wanted a minute of your time. I know you’re busy.” She paused and audibly swallowed. “I had to talk to you, I didn’t want to wait any longer.”
“Then talk.”
“Oh, this is just so--”
“Phoebe, spit it out, or get out, I’m busy.”
“That pixy, out there. You were about to kiss her. When I walked in, you were about to kiss her.”
“Yes. Yes, I was. Are we done here?”
“If she’s your girlfriend, you can say so.”
“No. she’s not my girlfriend. Maybe a lover, but not a girlfriend.”
“A recent lover?”
“If you must know, yes.”
“Do you know Teagan Walker?”
“Yeah I know her. She’s one of my shifter clients. She works out here all the time. Why?”
“Well, Teagan is my lover.”
“Really?” Alistair ran his hands through his hair and laughed. He’d never even considered the possibility that Phoebe had her eye on another shifter. “Her?” He smiled again, relief coursing through him. “Why Phoebe, I had no idea. Well, that’s wonderful. I hereby call this marriage off. Now if you’ll excuse me, my lover is waiting for me to come back and kiss her.”
“It’s not that simple, Alistair. There will be consequences, serious consequences, if we don’t follow through with this wedding.”
“Consequences be damned.” Alistair shrugged. “Our parents’ ways are outdated and it’s time we stood up to them. Don’t worry about our parents. I’ll deal with them. I’m the stronger of the two of us, I can handle it. You do what your heart desires. I’ll do what mine desires and we’ll end this show once and for all.”
“What are you going to say?” she asked, getting to her feet to allow him to hug her.
“That it’s archaic and it’s time to join the new century. That just because we mate with humans or another breed of shifter doesn’t mean we’re going to go extinct, or be tainted. There will always be dragons. How do the wolves feel?”
“I don’t know yet. I think she was waiting for my answer.”
“Well, if it counts or matters, you have my blessing.”
“And you have mine, if you and the pixy take it further.”
“Human.”
“What?”
“Sarai is a human. At least as far as I know she is.”
Phoebe giggled. “Oh, I thought she was a pixy. They live amongst us too.”
“Yes, I knew that. What were you going to do if I wasn’t interested in a human?”
