“Fine? Pssht. Come on, you just had a meeting with the top ten enchanters of the Global Guild. You gotta be better than fine.”
“It wasn’t that big of a deal.” Milo scratched the back of his head nervously.
“Not that big of a deal?” Diaz slapped his thighs in protest. “You been here less than a year, and you’re meeting with top brass. Meanwhile, I’ve got a decade under my belt, and they still make me get special clearance to bring Priscilla into Global Guild facilities.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, they don’t believe in accommodatingpets.” Diaz rolled his eyes.
“Well, the meeting was mostly just me being told my theories weren’t warranted, and just because IthinkI saw a possibility, they firmly assure me that I’ve misdiagnosed the potential futures.”
“Did they try to explain to you how your own branch works?” Diaz asked. “Please tell me they tried it at least once.”
The pair laughed.
Diaz slapped a hand on Milo’s shoulder. It sent a shiver through Milo that spread to me like a furious flame. While Milo did well burying his arousal for Diaz, it surfaced fast and bright in his thoughts. And quite frankly, it didn’t bother me. Attractionhappened a lot, sometimes without the mind fully registering the thought. I’d remind Milo he could stare or fantasize. It wasn’t like my eyes didn’t wander on occasion. What mattered was that my heart and body stayed with Milo and that Milo’s heart and body stayed with me, too.
“How are you liking the city?” Milo asked, putting on a silly southern accent not at all similar to Diaz’s. “I know it’s a big ole change from big ole Texas.”
“Vanessa and the kids are still adjusting to the move.”
“Sorry I made you drag your whole family up here.”
“It does ‘em good to get a little change in scenery. Plus, I can be with them day-to-day on this long-term mission as opposed to the constant traveling for casework and blowing back to the house once or twice a month.” Diaz tipped his hat. “You did me a favor, friend.”
“Well, glad to hear it.”
“You know, it’d be an even bigger favor if you considered joining us for a date night.”
“Oh?”
“Absolutely not.” I shot Milo a look.
He simply gave me a minxy grin. “What’d you have in mind?”
“Maybe a family night.” Diaz shrugged. “Maybe get a sitter and hit the town. Vanessa and I haven’t explored much since we got here.”
“We’ll think about it,” I said.
Milo nodded, and we stared at Diaz silently for the longest thirty seconds.
“Thanks, babe,” Milo said randomly. “So, we talked it over, and we’d love to hang out.”
“Wait, really?” Diaz cocked his head.
“Telepathy,” Milo replied.
“Gotta love that trick,” Diaz said, turning on his heel. “I’ll text you the details.”
“See you soon.” Milo waved.
“I hate you.”
“I love you, too, sweetie.”
Benpractically choked the life out of me when we stepped out of the car. He flat out refused to walk, begging for a lift. He wrapped his arms around my neck and squeezed his legs around my waist. By the time we reached the porch, his grip had sufficiently cut off my circulation.
I glowered at Milo, linking our minds. “How did I let you convince me to do this?”
