“It makes more sense in Italian.” I returned with a selection of baked goods. “Would you like a coffee, tesoro?”
“Do you have any tea?” Bridget ripped off a piece of croissant.
I pressed my hand to my heart as if she had wounded me. “Ah, no, you do not like coffee? This is unacceptable.”
The roll of her eyes, and the little mocking sigh, should not have made me so happy. “Oh, the Italian loves coffee. How original.”
I beamed at her. “Brava, carissima. Of course we have tea. I will bring you one.”
When I brought back the mug with one tea bag bobbing around, I was pleased to see Bridget had eaten most of the treats. “Good girl,” I said, nodding at the half-empty plate. Bridget blushed slightly, and a small frisson of… something that slipped into my stomach surprised me. Perhaps I was hungry as well.
“What does tesoro mean?” She played with the tea bag.
“The direct meaning is ‘treasure,’ but it really is like ‘sweetheart.’
“And fiore?” She looked up at me through her lashes. I couldn’t help smiling at her shy expression.
“‘Fiore mio’ is ‘my flower.’ Because of your scent. I hope it is okay?”
“You can smell me?” she asked, her expression changing to dismay.
“Senz’altro. Of course. You have a wonderful scent, like a garden,” I said. “But also sweet, like honey. It is especially lovely now.”
Bridget’s face was so red it looked like a sunburn. “I didn’t think it was strong enough for anyone to really… You can smell menow?” She sounded horrified.
I reached for her hand. Why was she so distressed? “Itisfaint. But I can, yes.”
“Oh god,” she moaned, putting her face in her hands.
“Carissima, it is okay.” I pulled her into my arms. She kept her hands over her face, her forearms pressed to my chest. “I do not understand what is wrong.”
“It’s fine.” Her voice was muffled through her hands. “I’m just freaking out that maybe some people may have smelled certain things at certain times.”
I pressed my chin to the crown of her head and suppressed a laugh. “If these ‘certain people’ refer to Andrew and me, you do not need to worry.”
Bridget groaned again. But when I pulled her arms down and around my waist, she didn’t protest.
“I will do my best to never smell you again,” I said with mock solemnity.
Bridget laughed weakly into my chest. I leaned back slowly until I was half-reclined and supporting Bridget’s weight. Something about her in my arms feltright. My earlier jealousy felt silly now, when she so clearly belonged here with us. Even if it was only temporary, I reminded myself.
She dozed off again, her tea forgotten. Had she slept at all the past few days?
Andrew returned shortly after. I made eye contact with him as he walked through the door. The heady mix of tenderness and lust that flowed down our bond as he saw Bridget sleeping in my arms shocked me in its intensity. I inhaled sharply, trying to school my instinctive reaction to his passion. Sometimes the bond acted as a loop, feeding our desire back to each other, and that couldnothappen around Bridget.
“She okay?” Andrew mouthed, his hands full of paper bags. He was wearing the black cap and sunglasses he used to go incognito, though fewer people recognized him nowadays. Inodded, and he disappeared into the kitchen to put the groceries away.
I would let her sleep a little while longer.
Chapter 19 - Bridget
Gabriel and Andrew’s apartment was beautiful. It was on the top floor and the view of downtown was incredible. The windows showed a forest of gleaming buildings, all the way out to a scrap of the gleaming bay just visible on the horizon.
The furnishings were comfortable and simple, and there were no pictures on the walls, but it was so much nicer than anywhere I’d ever stayed. My bed was heavenly soft, rather than the creaky old mattress I’d had at the Center.
All of this conspired to make me feel like an intruder, no matter what Gabriel and Andrew said.
The first night of my stay passed in a haze of exhaustion. I hadn’t slept properly since I left the Center, and my body was eager to catch up. It was patently insane, but something about Gabriel and Andrew’s scents made me feel safe. It was a trick of my Omega brain, my pheromones recognizing theirs as compatible, but that didn’t change how I felt.
