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“Looks like a battleground in here.” He laughed, bending and giving Shona a swift kiss on the cheek.
“Yes, and Amelia won.” Shona grimaced.
“I can see that.” Bryn cast a rueful glance at Shona’s stained shirt.
Ivy sighed. “Bryn, would you take them and give them a bath? I need to have a girl talk with Shona.”
“Sure, babe. Come on, you little devils.” With one hand Bryn unclipped a suddenly angelic Amelia from her high chair. Landing a kiss on Ivy’s lips, he left, jiggling a laughing twin on either arm.
“See you soon, girls,” he called over his shoulder. “Don’t get up to anything I wouldn’t.”
“That gives us a lot of leeway,” Ivy called after him.
Shona sighed. “I love what you two have together,” she said wistfully. As a human tour guide Ivy had met Bryn in the Purple Lantern District two years ago, and it had been love at first sight. “If I ever meet someone, I want it to be just like this, so much love and laughter.”
“And you will meet someone and they’ll be perfect. Want a glass of homemade elderberry wine? I’m indulging now I’ve stopped breastfeeding.”
“Why not?”
After handing her a glass of the deep pink wine, Ivy drew up a chair next to her. “Seriously though, maybe it’s time to consider dating again.”
Shona sipped her drink to hide the fact her cheeks were heating. “Oh, I don’t know…”
“As long as you avoid vampires, right?” Ivy added.
“Yeah, that’s a given.” Shona gave a little shudder, then glanced over her glass at her friend. “What kind of species—if, say I decided to start dating again—could you see me with?”
Ivy cocked her head and nibbled on her lower lip. “Hmmm, I don’t know. A fae maybe, if they weren’t too vain, but they’d hate you to outshine them.”
“Yeah, they can be really narcissistic—with reason, I guess. They are always so beautiful.” Shona thought about the young fae who’d photographed her, such a pretty boy. “I don’t know… maybe I’m wanting someone a bit hunkier.”
“Dragon?”
“Nah. They can be temperamental.”
“Gargoyle?”
“The only decent one’s taken.”
“Okay, then…” Ivy smirked. “How about being swept off your feet by an orc?”
Shona nearly spat a mouthful of elderberry wine across the room. “Why on earth?—”
Ivy grinned from ear to ear. “Bullseye! You are blushing, Shona Dove. What’s going on?”
So of course Shona had to tell Ivy a teeny tiny bit about the infuriating, way too sexy orc who’d shown up at her office that morning.
“Tor Arquin, you say.” Ivy tapped her lip thoughtfully. “And he used to live here in the East Quarter? Danny next door probably knows him. Maybe Bryn does. I could ask around.”
“No, no.” Shona put an urgent hand on her friend’s arm. “I really don’t want to know. Honestly. It’s just some pheromone thing going on. It’s just… he makes me feel like… acting out of character.”
Ivy’s green eyes danced. “Like you want to rip all your clothes off and offer him your body to feast on?”
“NO!” Shona’s eyes widened in horror, then crinkled as a smile she couldn’t hide swept over her lips. “Well, kind of—maybe. Hadn’t quite got as far as clothes shedding, but I definitely wondered what it would be like to…” she leaned in and whispered, “kiss a guy with tusks.”
Ivy’s dimples deepened. “Talking of his tusks, what are they like?”
“Really neat, bright white. Not at all large for such a big guy.”
