a mini plantation. The three would probably have plenty to talk about.
Inside the apartment, he ran his hand above the bowl of windowsill crystals and absorbed the energy. While she dressed for the day ahead, he stood before the photograph of Merlin’s cave. Inside his head, he tried to make sense of a Venn diagram showing him, her, Summer’s brother, and someone he hadn’t seen in quite some time. Dr. Hadley Ortoma
Hadley was the government project’s giant brain. He was a quintessential tweedy professor known for his dapper bow ties. Looking at him, you’d assume he lived in a world of black and white TV and had pocket protectors for miles. The truth, however, was stranger than fiction. Arnie’s life was altered forever after Hadley pulled back the curtain on a different world. Once the clairsentient door was opened, there was no going back.
Was he crazy for thinking the framed picture was significant? What were the odds of a random girl and his Merlin connection intersecting? He’d be an idiot to ignore what had to be a sign.
The back of his neck prickled. He sensed the call—saw the dark mist starting to crowd the corners of his mind—but resisted the lure. Now wasn’t the time.
He thought about Summer. She was a rare creature with feet balanced in two worlds. He was sure she wasn’t aware of her gifts, any more than she was aware of how people reacted to her. Over the years, he’d encountered others like him but never experienced the soulful connection he had with Summer—nor had he slept with any of them.
“All set,” his perky companion announced as she bounded into the room like an eager puppy anticipating a walk. “Sit,” she commanded in an about-face that made him jerk with surprised laughter.
“Did you just tell me to sit?”
She pointed at a chair on the other side of the front door. “There should be good.”
Befuddled and amused, he did as commanded and teased her for the hell of it. “You sound like a dominatrix again. I’m telling you, Summer. It’s in your nature.”
“I have a hard time picturing you in a submissive role.” She shuddered, and to him, her reaction was comical as hell.
“That makes two of us,” he replied with a sly grin. “Although for you, pretty Summer, I’d give it a go if that’s what turns you on.”
She bent quickly and kissed him. “I know you would, but Imma pass if you don’t mind.”
He tried not to pry—okay, maybe he didn’t try all that hard—but ended up anyway with a surprising view of her thoughts. Despite her lady-in-charge ways, Summer was an old-fashioned girl with traditional tastes when it came to gender roles. She was attracted to his strength. Her desires were straightforward, adorably kinky, and totally focused on him as the relationship alpha.
Relationship alpha. Wow.
Arnie flinched when her fingers touched his face, and he felt something cold and wet on his skin.
“What are you doing?”
“Sunscreen,” she muttered. “Not just in the summer. Year round.”
His eyes closed as she smoothed the lotion all over his face and lectured him on the necessity of proper skin care—something she swore was a blond thing.
So much shit happened inside him that he couldn’t wrap his mind around even half of it. In his recollection, no one had ever cared for him like this unless it was out of duty or expectation. A cold, heartless stepmother and a parade of nannies left marks on his psyche. Experiencing Summer’s caring and concern shook him up.
She kept up a near nonstop narration. The lady knew a little bit about everything, and what she didn’t know was nothing but a challenge to learn more.
While he stocked up on snacks at a gas station, she struck up a conversation with the pimply kid manning the cash register. After listening to a public service announcement on the store’s radio, she went off about animal rescue organizations and how much she despised people who were careless or negligent with pets. The kid, of course, agreed with everything she said. Her charm was hard to resist.
At the Jeep, she matter-of-factly stated, “I want a dog and maybe a cat. One of my friends has a couple of little goats.” She shrugged like it was nothing, but he heard the wistfulness in her voice.
“I have a dog guy,” he told her as his mind unpacked everything he knew about the Justice Canine Program. Recently, a former colleague from the DOJ came through with a shit ton of