Sandra squeezed my fingers. “That could be true, too, I guess. I don’t claim to know him. But I do know you,” she said, pressing her fingertip to the tip of my nose, the way my dad used to do when I was little. It made me smile. It made me a bit sad, too. “And you need to take back your power. I understand that. I encourage that. So, I’m going to give you this.”
She let go of my hand and pulled one of the silver bracelets off her left wrist. She closed her eyes and brought it to her lips, kissed the surface, and the air in the room charged with magic instantly. I watched in awe as a slow breeze blew my hair back, even though the windows were closed. The smell of her magic was strange—not like it had been when she altered Dominic’s appearance. There was a citrusy scent to it now as well, and when she opened her eyes again, the scent vanished instantly.
“Wear this. As long as you have it on, he won’t be able to smell lust or desire or arousal on you.”
My cheeks burned even more.
“Thank you,” I whispered and put the bracelet around my left wrist eagerly. It was beautiful—just a straight silver band with horizontal lines on it, but it was a bit big. If I wasn’t careful, it would slip off my hand. Luckily, I planned to guard that thing with my life, so I didn’t think it was going to be an issue.
“That is nothing to be ashamed about, sweet child. It’s perfectly natural to be attracted to people. It’s healthy, too. You shouldn’t have to feel guilty about it,” Sandra said.
I appreciated her words more than she knew.
“I know, but I do, anyway. And I wish I didn’t react to him the way I do, so this is a huge deal for me.” I touched the cold metal of the bracelet. “So, thank you again, Sandra. I’ll never forget it.”
She smiled, and for some reason, this time, it didn’t quite reach her eyes. They remained completely black and dull, not a single spark in sight.
“Come. Let’s get you in that dress. It’s almost time to leave.”
The cold of the bracelet against my skin gave me comfort, and by the time I put on the dress and the stilettos and looked at myself in the mirror, I felt whole. I felt brand new. Safe because no matter what I felt tonight, Dominic wasn’t going to know. I couldn’t keep this bracelet forever, but there would be plants that could shield my scents. I’d have to give Mom a call. She’d know exactly what to send me, and I would most definitely get over this very soon. But until I did, there was nothing wrong with having a little help.
I already couldn’t wait for the day the sight of Dominic didn’t make my heart skip a beat.
The dayin which my heart wouldn’t skip a beat at the sight of Dominic was not today, it seemed. I walked out of the bedroom with Sandra to see that he was dressed and ready to go, too.
In a tuxedo. An honest-to-God tuxedo, with the crisp white shirt and the bow tie and the jacket that melted around his shoulders like it was as desperate to hug him as I was.
No. I was not desperate to hug him. Or touch him. Or kiss him. I wasn’t. This was the brand new me, a Teddy who would not let anyone get the best of her, not even wolf-ass here. In a tuxedo.
Still, tonight was going to be very…problematic. Just a feeling I had.
And it didn’t help that his eyes lingered on my face too long and that they scrolled down the length of me and stopped on the slit of the dress that revealed a bit of my left thigh, before coming back to my face again. It most definitely didn’t help that his lips parted and his eyes caught fire, like he was burning on the inside.
I avoided looking at him as much as I could, and though I was in control of my body, more so than usual after the day I’d had, there was still a very big part of me that craved him like a drug.
He can’t smell you anymore, I reminded myself, and touched Sandra’s bracelet again. The relief that knowledge gave me was incredible. I could feel freely tonight. I could have some damn privacy from him for once. And that was so much more than I could have asked for.
This time, I took the microphone and put it on my dress myself—I didn’t let him or any other agent do it. And this time, I didn’t shy away from the admiring gazes of the other agents, either. Instead, I smiled at them to let them know I appreciated what their eyes said. I looked good, and it felt good to know they thought so, too. If that made me naive, so be it. I was pretending to be the naive girlfriend, after all.
For the next twenty minutes, we went over everything we were going to talk about with the people who’d contacted Noah Bennett’s manager for the meeting. Dominic had decided to write all the numbers he hadn’t memorized on a handkerchief that he was going to keep in his breast pocket and pull out when we started eating. The agents confirmed with everyone in the room two more times that we couldn’t see what he’d written before they were convinced.
“Take this, just in case,” Tailsburry said from behind me, and when I turned and saw the small gun with the holster in his hands, I was surprised.
“Really?” I’d never been given a gun before because I’d never gone hunting in the real world for as long as I’d worked for the ODP.
“Yes, really. You do know how to shoot.” He smiled sheepishly.
“Of course.” I took the gun and tested the handle. It was small, and it fit perfectly in my hand. I beamed.
“You probably won’t need it, but we’re only taking precautions.”
“Thank you,” I told the agent and took the leather holster from his hand, too. Then, I went back to the bedroom and strapped it to my thigh. It fit perfectly, and when I walked, it was a bit uncomfortable, but it wouldn’t bother me much.
Finally. A gun. I had an actual gun with me, and by the time I made it back to the living room, I was already feeling braver.
Sandra did her illusion magic on Dominic, this time much faster than before. It was a relief, actually, that he no longer looked like him. I’d just have to make sure that I touched him only when it was absolutely necessary because I was convinced that that had been my undoing. I’d never had trouble controlling myself around him before because we didn’t talk, and we never touched. But now, I’d been practically forced to hold his hand, hug him, dance with him—and I’d actually sat on his lap the night before. My God—it had all gotten to my head fast. I was ready to get it all out of my head now, though. Even faster, hopefully.
Sandra kept smiling at me sadly, almost like she felt sorry for me. Still, I didn’t regret telling her what I told her. She was the only one who could help me right now, so I took her looks of pity and sucked it up.
Dominic didn’t hold my hand while we went to the elevator or in the car, but he did wrap his fingers around mine when we walked out into the lobby. The two bodyguards were waiting for us there. I put a smile on my face and pretended I didn’t even notice how his skin felt against mine, then reminded myself again that he couldn’t smell anything on me anymore.
But even so, I already knew that it was going to be a long night.