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"Right. I'll just hit the bathroom and then I'll walk you to your car," Wyatt said when she finished and set down her glass. Glancing to G.G., he asked, "Where are the washrooms?"
G.G. pointed toward the back, and Wyatt nodded and murmured, "Thank you," before following the silent instructions.
"Well?" G.G. said the minute Wyatt was out of hearing. "What are you going to do?"
"I don't know. I understand why Mother acts the way she does, and I've tried to be patient, but . . ." Elspeth closed her eyes with frustration. "She doesn't realize what she's doing to us. And tonight I think she was actually trying to get me to break council law so that I'd be banished and sent back to England."
"That sounds whacked," G.G. said, his eyebrows climbing his forehead, and then he grimaced and added, "But I meant what are you going to do about your friend."
"Wyatt?" she asked with surprise.
"Is that his name?" G.G. asked innocently, and then pointed out, "You never introduced us."
"Oh! I'm sorry, you're right," she said with amazement. She'd been so befuddled by her inability to read and control him that she'd--
"You couldn't control him," G.G. said as if reading her mind.
"How do you know that?" Elspeth asked with surprise.
"Because you didn't control him and make him leave," G.G. said dryly. "Besides, I saw you look at him like you were trying to fry him with your eyes. I assume you were trying then to read or control him?"
"Yes," she admitted solemnly.
"And couldn't," he said with certainty and when she nodded, added, "So . . . life mates?"
Elspeth grimaced, but shook her head. "If we were life mates, we would have had shared dreams today while I slept. He's staying with his grandmother on the floor below my apartment," she pointed out. "We should have had shared dreams and didn't. Ergo, we are not life mates."
"Or maybe he wasn't sleeping. He is mortal after all and was probably awake all day while you slept," G.G. pointed out. When Elspeth sighed, her shoulders sagging in defeat, he smiled and said, "So, Wyatt is your life mate."
Elspeth closed her eyes unhappily. This was not something she wanted to have to deal with just now. She had enough on her plate. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she opened her eyes and shrugged. "A possible life mate."
G.G. tilted his head. "You don't want him for a life mate?"
Elspeth avoided his gaze, her mind returning to that incredible kiss on Meredith's back porch. Finally, she said, "It's not that I don't want him, I just . . ." Closing her eyes briefly, she sighed and then admitted, "I want to have a life, G.G. You were right when you said I've led a sheltered life. I haven't been able to do anything. I've never dated, never been kissed properly until today, never had a girl's night--unless you count the pajama party we had for Lissianna's birthday when she met Greg. And even then our parents were all there," she added with a grimace. "I want to experience at least some stuff before I settle down to a life mate. I want to go on dates, go dancing, eat popcorn in movie theaters, have fun girl's nights, and . . ." She shook her head unhappily and then noticed the crooked smile on G.G.'s face and raised her eyebrows. "What?"
"I was just thinking God must have an ironic sense of humor," he admitted with mild amusement.
"How's that?" she asked with curiosity.
"Well, most immortals are pining for their life mate, and probably on their knees praying every night to find them, but they don't," he said solemnly. "While you, who isn't at all interested in finding her life mate, and who just wants some freedom to experience life for a change, has your life mate thrown at you right out of the gates." He shook his head. "I sometimes think God, or the fates, or whoever it is he puts in charge of this stuff, really needs a good slap up the side of the head."
Elspeth smiled wryly, thinking he might be right. After all, she wasn't the only example of God's sense of humor. There was G.G. himself, a mortal whose mother had been widowed while he was still a boy, and then found herself a life mate to an immortal. She'd allowed the immortal to turn her, and then when G.G. was eighteen, had offered to use her one turn to turn her son. But where most mortals would give a lot for such an opportunity, G.G. wasn't interested. Of course, that had crushed his mother. She didn't want to have to watch her son grow old and die. So his stepfather had bought the Night Club and given it to G.G. on his eighteenth birthday with the hope that one day, an immortal would walk in that G.G. might be a life mate for, and he might yet agree to be turned.
"Wow, this place is something special."
Elspeth turned at that comment as Wyatt returned from the washroom.
"The bathrooms are first class, and I spotted a room through a glass door on my way there that looks like a high-class New York dance club."
"If this place is anything like the Night Club in London, there will be other rooms too, all with different themes," Elspeth said with a faint smile and then glanced to G.G. "Are there?"
He nodded. "Lucern had it set up pretty good, but I did redecorate a couple of rooms to my own taste when I bought it."
"You own this place?" Wyatt asked with amazement.
G.G. nodded.
"Wow," he breathed, and then said solemnly, "Well, you have a real classy place here. Nice job."
"Thank you," G.G. said with dignity.
"We should get going," Elspeth said, standing up. "My mother and sisters are probably still with Merry, and I wouldn't want to inflict them on your grandmother for any longer than necessary. Besides, I do have to get to work eventually."
"Yeah." Wyatt got up and pulled out his wallet. "I've got our drinks."
Elspeth exchanged a glance with G.G. and then quickly rolled up the money she'd taken out earlier and passed it to G.G. in a handshake as she murmured, "Thank you."
"My pleasure," G.G. said solemnly, but held on to her hand. "You're going to have to confront her, Elspeth. I know there's a reason for her behavior, but this isn't healthy for any of you. Not only is she making you and your sister's lives miserable, she's hampering your development. The twins are like a couple of sixteen-year-olds, and you . . ." He shook his head. "This has to end. You have to find a way to end it."
"Yes," she said on a sigh, and withdrew her hand when he released it. Noting the curiosity on Wyatt's face, she forced a smile. "Shall we go?"
Nodding, Wyatt held a fifty out toward G.G. for what he thought were a Coke and four power drinks, "Will this cover it?"
"It's all good," G.G said, waving the money away and walking around the bar. "I'll see you guys out and lock the door."
Wyatt tried to protest, but fell silent, his eyes widening incredulously when the man reached them. Wyatt was probably an inch over six feet tall and well built, but G.G. was a giant in comparison, and twice as wide.
Grinning, Elspeth took Wyatt's arm and urged him toward the door. "Come on. Let's get moving and let G.G. finish getting ready for the rush."
