Easy there, Tiger. His tiger had never been this restless, even more so as the days passed, working side by side with Ivy on the Petrov case. The whisperings at the office ceased after the ripping he gave his pride, and Ivy grew more relaxed. He’d noticed she found a new friend in Daphne, another one of the firm’s recent hires.
Friday morning, Theo found Ivy in his mother’s office, thick as thieves, speaking in hushed tones that ceased when he would have been close enough to overhear them. He wondered what that was all about.
His mother had surprised him when he got back from vacation. He had called her while his plane had been taxiing to his gate, and she told him about hiring Ivy. He’d thought they’d begin interviewing candidates together when he got back from Hawaii. Not that he was complaining since it got him out of having to do interviews. He was confident if Kim Jensen liked her that quickly, she’d be a good fit for their firm, so he hadn’t dwelled on the subject.
“Am I interrupting?” he asked, stepping into his mother’s office.
“Not at all,” his mom replied. “I was just telling Ivy what a great job she’s doing.”
Theo agreed, though he was sure that’s not what they were talking about.
Ivy stood to go, and with a herculean effort, Theo restrained himself from shutting his eyes to bask in her scent before she left the room. What the hell was happening to him? He had no preconceived prejudices about witches, but since when had they ever been mates to shifters? Although he had heard about the 135th precinct’s detective sergeant being mated to a druid priestess last year.
His mother gave him a knowing look.
Theo really needed to rein it in. He didn’t want to make things awkward for Ivy. He’d interacted with witches but knew little about them or if they could even sense such a thing as mates. Perhaps it was wishful thinking, but he sensed there was some attachment for him forming on Ivy’s part. He’d caught her staring on more than one occasion, a blush staining her cheeks when she realized she had been caught.
He had things that needed to be tied up, though, in the form of Delphine Blanchet, his cheating ex, who was determined to have him mated to her. That was never going to happen. Not only was Delphine not his true mate, but she also had the audacity to blame him for her straying.
You drove me to it, he still remembered her saying two months ago. He wouldn’t take her for his mate, so she had revenge sex and made it easy for him to finally step away from her. The incessant phone calls, texts, and unannounced visits began after to the point he had to block her and tell security, both at the firm and his apartment building, she was not to be let in. Finally, he ran off to Hawaii with a few of his buddies to surf for two weeks, a much-needed break. Delphine must have gotten the message since he hadn’t heard from her since he got back.
“So, you want to tell me what that was about?” Theo asked, referring to his mom and Ivy’s hushed conversation.
“No,” she simply said, leaving no room for argument. He was glad she didn’t lie about it. “I hope she stays on.”
“What do you mean?” Theo couldn’t help the panic that set in at the thought of her leaving. He’d had no idea she was only a temporary hire.
“I hired her to fill in for Roslyn.” And there it was—a knowing smile. His mother quickly schooled her features before she continued. “She has roots back home, you know. I think she’s just testing out the waters of living and working in a big city.”
Now she was lying. Theo shook his head but said nothing. He would get to the bottom of this. In the meantime, he’d have to figure out if Ivy really was his mate and if she was, convince her to stay.
He got up and walked around the table to his mother and kissed her on her head before going back to his office. He had a trial to prepare for and an innocent man to exonerate. When he passed by Ivy’s closed office door, she was on the phone, whispering about how she had no news yet. “I love you, too, Nana,” she said before ending the call. Theo may have felt guilty for eavesdropping, but if he was going to convince her to stay, he needed to know what she and his mother were up to.
CHAPTER 4
Theo rarely joined the team for happy hour on Fridays at the nearby shifter bar, often wanting to relax after a long week of work, but when he heard Daphne invite Ivy and Ivy’s acceptance, he knew that’s where he’d be tonight.
By the time Theo arrived at the bar, the place was packed. Ivy was sitting at one of the tables with Daphne and her husband.
“Dante, how’s it going, my man?”
The two of them shook hands, and Theo joined them. He liked the guy—a lone alpha wolf. Not too long ago, he took over the spot on the Council from his grandfather and was doing a bang-up job to boot, according to his mother. Theo liked Daphne, too. A budding young attorney with spunk, she had some of the douchebag members of his pride and firm cowering before her, and he loved every minute of it. Said douchebags were here tonight, crowding an already overcrowded table when there was plenty of room at his. Theo bared his teeth at them, and wisely, they bowed their heads and turned away. Perhaps it was time for some housekeeping, not only at his firm but also with his pride. He could growl and lecture until he was blue in the face, but those three tigers would never change their stripes.
Ivy touched his arm. “They’ve been polite to me all week.”
“Glad to hear it.” He missed her touch when she pulled away, but he hadn’t missed that little spike in her heartbeat. “What are you drinking?”
“I’ll just have a beer.”
“Girl after my own heart,” he said with a wink. His tiger reveled in the subtle hitch of her breath.
“I really don’t get it,” Dante began. “We are all part of the supernatural community.”
“I don’t either, man.” Theo signaled for the waiter. As Dante and Daphne were also on board with beer, he ordered a pitcher for the table. Several pitchers later, he found himself laughing and having a good time. He hadn’t been this relaxed since Hawaii. Before that, it had been prior to meeting his ex.
“So, you really can’t turn someone into a toad?” Daphne asked, causing the four of them to break out in laughter yet again as Ivy debunked some witchy myths.
“Nope,” she said before taking a long swig of her beer. “Not that I haven’t tried, mind you.” She told them a story of how, when they were six years old, she tried to turn her best friend into a toad after he ate her last cookie.
