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“Is that a good thing?”

“Not if you’re a Lillip.” His gaze ran over her. “When you’re focused on something, your mind is easier to tolerate.”

“Wow, I’m glad you find me tolerable.” Sinead tried to make her tone light, but she couldn’t deny the stab of hurt in her gut. She knew how frantic and disorganized her mind was. She just didn’t appreciate it being pointed out.

“Are all humans like you?” Talyn asked.

“Well, I guess so. I mean, we all have the same minds. Maybe we think about different things, but I bet the majority wonder about what to have for breakfast or what their working day will be like or about the argument they had with their friend yesterday. The usual stuff.”

“I didn’t realize human minds were so busy. This will be a bigger challenge than I anticipated.”

“You mean finding your mate through My Single Alien.”

Talyn sat back in his seat. “I do.”

“You’re not excited about it?”

“That’s not a word I’d use to describe it. My sister wants to see me settled. I don’t disagree that it will be nice to have somebody in my life, but if human minds are like yours, I’ll need to make adjustments.”

“That’s what every relationship’s about. You adjust to each other. Your mate will need to get used to your... levelness.”

He lowered his chin and glared at her. “My levelness?”

If he was throwing veiled insults her way, she’d do the same back and see how he liked it. “Yes, the way you’re flat about everything. Is there anything that gets you excited?”

“I choose not to get excited.”

“Everyone has a passion,” Sinead said. “What’s yours?”

“The sound of silence.”

Sinead pressed her lips together. If Talyn would relax, there might be a nice guy in there. But he kept returning to this stone-cold, emotionless act. It sort of suited him, and she had to admit he was a good-looking guy.

She smiled to herself, glad Talyn had his guard up so he couldn’t hear her thoughts. It was no use lusting after a potential client. That was a surefire way to have her marching orders presented to her. Talyn was attractive, but he was too intense and complicated for her.

“Tell me more about your sister and her relationship. I can get some idea of what you’re interested in. What’s your idea of an ideal family?”

Talyn’s shoulders relaxed. “My sister, Laya, was one of the lucky ones. She joined with another Lillip, so it makes the empath link easier to handle. They have an agreement to tap into each other’s feelings, but if the other one asks them not to, they must respect their wishes.”

“Why would they do that?” Sinead asked. “If you’re in a trusting relationship, you have nothing to hide. You don’t need to mask your feelings.”

He smirked at her. “Everyone has their off days. As you said, there are devils in your head that make you think dark things. When you have a bad day, you don’t want to inflict it on your partner, so you ask them to take a step back.”

Sinead nodded. “That makes sense. I wish I could do that, ask people to stay out of my way when I’m having a bad day.”

“You have bad days? You have a permanent smile on your face.”

“Not all the time.” Sinead worked hard to keep her sunny demeanor in place, even when she had a level five hangover and coasted on no sleep. She didn’t like to worry people. She was the fun one, always up for a laugh. Sinead was a good-time girl. There was nothing wrong with that.

“Frown,” Talyn said.

She stared at him. “Why?”

“I want to see if you’re as cute when you’re grumpy.”

She laughed out loud, and it made her head ache. “I don’t do frowning.” Sinead hadn’t missed the fact Talyn had called her cute.

He looked away and shrugged.