“No, I just wanted to ensure everything was in order on the off chance we were.”
I frowned. I wasn’t sure why, but something just didn’t feel right. “Mike, is everything okay?”
One dark eyebrow rose. It made his nose look overly large. “Yes, of course it is. Why?”
“You just seem… out of sorts.” I cleared my throat. “And then there’s the dinner invitation, which basically came out of nowhere.”
“Not really. Your mother and I —”
“I’m not Mom,” I reminded him gently. “I can’t give you what she gave you.”
Something close to horror flitted across his face. “Good god, you don’t think I want to —”
“No,” I cut in hastily. “I don’t. But I do think that perhaps you’re missing her, and I’m the next best thing to being with her.”
But even as I spoke, I couldn’t help noticing that for all his outrage, his gaze remained steely. Calculating.
Something was definitely going on, and maybe I needed to find out what. And hey, what was one more problem on an already overloaded plate?
“I do miss her,” he said. “Enormously. But to imply I might wish to capture what I had with her with you is beyond —”
“I didn’t mean to offend you, Mike,” I cut in again. “The invitation surprised me, that’s all. And I’m more than happy to have dinner one night.”
“I have no desire to make you uncomfortable,” he replied, voice cool.
“Mike, it’s fine. I’m busy for the next day or so, but I’m free anytime after that.” If the Raziq, my father, or the wanna-be queen of the world didn’t have other plans for me, that is.
He sniffed. It was an oddly regal sound that stirred the edges of memory, though I wasn’t entirely sure why. “Friday then?”
“That would be lovely. Thank you.”
“I shall let you know when and where. Until then, good-bye.”
And with that, he hung up. Great. I’d managed to offend the man my mother had not only trusted financially, but apparently depended on emotionally and physically for a good part of her life. It seemed to be my lot of late to make all the wrong moves.
“You have trusted your instincts up until now,” Azriel commented. “It would be foolish to ignore them, even if the person involved was a friend of your mother’s.”
I twisted around. He was back in his usual spot, his arms crossed as he stared out the window rather than at me. The morning sunshine caressed his skin, lending it a warm golden glow.
“Which is why I agreed to meet him for dinner. It’s easier to sense when someone is lying face-to-face.” I eyed him for a moment, sensing tension even if there was no evidence of it in the way he stood. “Are you annoyed that I’m meeting him?”
“No. And you do not have to explain your motives to me.”
He might be saying he wasn’t annoyed, but the emotion swirling through the link between us suggested otherwise.
“I agree – I don’t. I just wanted to.” I flipped the bedcovers off my legs and walked over to him. He didn’t move, so I wrapped my hands around his waist and rested a cheek on his shoulder. “Misunderstanding, an unwillingness to trust, and sheer pigheadedness – all mostly on my part, granted – is no way to start a relationship. I’m trying to make up for all that, but you have to do the same, Azriel.”
“I do not understand what you mean.”
But he did. The tightening of his shoulder and arm muscles was evidence enough of that. If his hands had been visible, I very much suspected they’d be clenched.
“Why are you so annoyed that I agreed to have dinner with Mike?”
He was silent for a moment, then said, “I do not actually know. It is irrational given I know full well your reasons for doing so.”
I couldn’t help grinning. “It may be irrational, but it makes my little heart sing.”
He turned and wrapped his arms around my waist. “And why would that be?”