Truth be told, I never planned for the job with the mysterious Saint to be something where we’d be working so closely together. It was going to be a quick consultation before the tour, see what they could come up with, and then they’d join the tour as part of the staging crew.
Distant. Hands-off. No plans for them to be living in our godsdamned house.
But now that I’ve met her in person, my gut feeling is screaming at me to keep her close.
Yeah, she’s not leaving my sight. She’s got that squirrely look about her, like she’ll dip at the first chance, and this time, it won’t be another eleven months before I find her again. It’ll be forever.
Her eyes dance in the half light and for a second I’m struck by the color of them, brown with a coppery ring around the iris. They should be boring, just like the rest of her should be.
She’s tech support. An engineer with a touch of magic, nothing all that special about that.
But something tells me that’s not the full picture.
She scrunches her eyes up and appraises me. I guess trying to work out my angle for wanting to pay her such an astronomical amount of money to join us on tour.
I shrug back, barely knowing the answer myself. Sure, partly it’s because whatever her specific brand of magic is, it’s some powerful shit. But other than that, I’m going with my gut which says this is the right direction for us.
I can taste Sinjin’s mixed emotions in the air right now. She’s intrigued, but she doesn’t trust us for shit. She isn’t trying to shield heremotions, either. She’s raw and unfiltered. And I bask in the sensation. A grin stretches across my face and she eyes me suspiciously.
Ah, suspicion, it tastes even better on my tongue.
It’s weirdly refreshing.
Or, at least it’s something different from the usual blast of lust or the desperation which taint most of our interactions.
People always want something from us. Whether it’s riding our dicks or our coattails, it doesn’t really matter. The feeling is basically the same.
We’ve surprised Sinjin, that much is clear. From the distrustful emotions I can taste coming off her, she’s not going to say yes tonight.
I should have expected as much, especially the way she reacted when Jules turned up at her shop. Maybe sending Jules in was a bad idea, but the timing was shit. I only got her location details yesterday and we’re heading to our cabin in the woods tomorrow before we spend the next month eating, sleeping and dreaming of the tour before it kicks off. We had a bunch of PR shit to deal with today, so I couldn’t go myself.
“You’d have creative control,” I add, hoping that might sweeten the deal.
It’s true. Mostly, anyway.
As well as being pushy, I have a controlling streak, and I manage most of the decisions about what goes on with our tours.
But if I need to take a step back for Sinjin to do her best work, I’ll fight my instincts and let her lead.
She’s gonna make all the difference, I just know it.
I glance at Micah, whose empath nature means he’s a lot better at discerning individual emotions than I am. I know how the big ones taste, but subtler emotions are harder to distinguish. When he gives the slightest nod, I know that it’s time to pull back.
“Think about it. Take your time,” I say.
See? I can act like I have chill, even if it’s a total lie. Thankfully, the words don’t come out as strained as they feel since I’m fighting all my instincts to just toss her over my shoulder and bundle her into the car to bring to our cabin.
“I’ll give you our numbers and you can let us know what you decide.” I whip out my phone and hand it over for her to add her contact and then immediately text her mine and Micah’s numbers.
She gets to her feet and nods at each of us, tucking the napkin into her pocket and shoving her phone away with her other hand.
“Good to meet you, I guess,” she says, sounding less than convinced.
My lips quirk up and I stifle a chuckle. She couldn’t sound less enamored with us if she tried.
Fuck, I think I want to stick her in my pocket and keep her.
She shakes each of our hands and strides off toward the elevator, and I can’t drag my eyes away from her.
