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“No trust.” She sighed. “Okay, this will sound a little nutty.”
He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Remember who you’re talking to, Angel. I’ve been holed up here for over two years, bouncing off the walls.”
“Fine. You know I read a lot.” He nodded. “I tend to read kids’ and teens’ books, and I like fantasy—Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter—that sort of thing. The characters become real to me when I read, and sometimes they pop out of the books and talk to me.”
“Like Dobby?”
She beamed at him. “Yes, exactly like Dobby.”
Duncan looked around. “Was he here just now?”
“No, it was other characters.” She tugged on the box. “Can I have dessert now?”
He held it tight. “In a minute. How often do these characters pop up?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“And you know they aren’t real, right?”
She hoped her look was scathing. “Yes, Duncan. I know that when I talk to Gandalf that he is only in my head and the pages of a Tolkien book.”
“Okay, then, have at it.” He pushed the tiramisu towards her and sat back in his seat.
“That’s it? You aren’t worried that you hired a lunatic?”
“Nope. Everybody talks to themselves. You just prefer it when your inner voice has a fictional face.” His smile was pure sexual invitation, and the temperature in the room suddenly seemed to shoot up. “Want to tell me what they were saying about me?”
She felt herself flush. “What makes you think they were talking about you?”
“So that’s how we’re playing it. I’ll make you a deal, you tell me what they were saying, and I’ll...” He searched around for something to offer.
Donna jumped in when he hesitated. “You’ll give the lecture at Glasgow School of Art, just this once.”
He frowned at her, and she thought he’d tell her to stop interfering. “Okay, I’ll do it. Just this once. But you have to come with me so that I can show you around.”
A surge of pure longing made her knees go weak, and she was glad she was already sitting down. “I can’t. It’s Mairi’s birthday that weekend,” she lied, hating herself for it at the same time. She looked up at him through her lashes. “Does that mean the deal’s off?” She tried to sound hopeful so that he would think she wanted to back out.
; “No, the deal’s on. I’ll take you another time.”
“So, you’re really going to lecture, just to hear what my imaginary friends told me about you?”
“Aye.” His jaw firmed with determination.
“I’ll be mad if I embarrass myself and you back out.”
“You have my word that I won’t.”
Donna almost pumped the air in victory. “Fine. Then I’ll tell you. Hermione says I should make my apologies, go to my room and forget all about tonight.”
“I don’t know who she is, but I don’t like her,” Duncan rumbled. “What about the rest?”
She swallowed hard and reached for her wine. “Molly Weasley told me to use protection if we sleep together.”
“Did she now?” He leaned forwards and rested his arms on the table. “What did you tell her?”
“That I didn’t think the spell she gave me would work.” Her voice had become a husky croak.
