but couldn’t think of anything to recite at the moment except “Sweet mystery of life at last I’ve found you.”
“Wow.”
Ildaria looked up sharply at the word to see Sofia frowning now.
“So, he’s agreed to be your life mate, but not to the turn and you aren’t having real sex either?” she almost whispered with dismay. “Oh, man, Angel.”
Flinching at the pity in her voice, Ildaria scowled. “Don’t call me that.”
“Sorry,” Sofia said unapologetically. “G.G. has started calling you that and it’s kind of stuck in my head.”
Ildaria didn’t comment. G.G. had started calling her Angel since agreeing to be her life mate. He said it was her real first name, and suited her better anyway. But when she’d instinctively protested at his using the short form of the first name she’d forsaken for safety’s sake centuries ago, he’d offered to pick a different endearment if she wanted and suggested a couple. But when faced with either Petal, Flower, or Angel, she’d said Angel was fine. She was in North America now, far from Juan Villaverde, and at least Angel was the short form of her real name. The other two endearments made her sound like some weak, delicate—
“And counseling,” Sofia murmured suddenly, and then blinked and said, “And you went bowling?”
Ildaria’s thoughts scattered and she scowled at her coworker sharply. “Will you stay out of my head?”
“Nope,” Sofia said without guilt. “I like G.G. I like you too. I’m rooting for you both, so I’m going to be all up in your business until you two sort things out. Now tell me how your first session with Marguerite’s son-in-law went, and explain why you went bowling of all things?”
“It’s called dating,” Ildaria snapped with irritation, answering the second part first. “We are dating. Getting to know each other.”
“Building trust,” Sofia said with a nod. “At Marguerite’s son-in-law’s suggestion.”
“His name is Greg,” Ildaria snapped. “Dr. Greg Hewitt.”
“Right. Dr. Greg,” Sofia said with disinterest. “So . . . how was your first date?”
“It wasn’t our first date. We went out for breakfast and then watched Young Frankenstein the afternoon before that,” Ildaria told her reluctantly.
“Ah, that’s where ‘Sweet Mystery of Life’ comes from,” Sofia said knowingly.
Ildaria rolled her eyes. “Is there a reason you came in here other than to annoy me?”
“No,” Sofia said with a grin. “Mostly I wanted to hear about the bowling thing because I picked up something weird from G.G.’s mind about his never having been kicked out of anyplace . . . before you.”
“We didn’t get kicked out,” Ildaria said at once, but felt her face heat up.
“Only because you controlled the bowling alley owner’s mind, calmed him down and made him let you stay,” Sofia argued.
Ildaria huffed irritably. Really this having her mind read all the time was becoming tiresome, she thought, but admitted, “Yeah, well, he thought we were deliberately breaking those white thingies.”
“You mean the pins?” Sofia asked, amusement claiming her expression.
“Whatever,” Ildaria said with a shrug, and then added, “He mistakenly thought G.G. was the one who had done it and was sure it was on purpose just because of his Mohawk. But it was me, and I didn’t do it on purpose.” She grimaced. “I just couldn’t seem to knock all the pins down at once like G.G. did, so thought if I hit them harder I might. But I used a little more strength than I meant to.”
Sofia was laughing now, and Ildaria found herself smiling at the memory of G.G.’s expression when the pins had exploded in all directions with her strike. It had been like a bomb going off. Pin pieces had spread over at least two lanes on either side of the one they were using. It had been quite the show. But they’d had fun. This whole last week had been fun. Ildaria had never dated before, so hadn’t realized what she’d been missing.
They’d started slow, grocery shopping together one day, and then washing their vehicles the next. Grocery shopping had been interesting in that it had shown her what G.G. liked when it came to food and such. As for washing the car, that had ended in a water fight that had left them both soaked and laughing. The day after that they’d taken H.D. to a dog park, and chatted as they walked along together. The next day had been Ildaria’s first appointment with Greg Hewitt, and G.G.’s had been the day after that. Those days they’d had breakfast together before the appointments and grabbed