Page 85 of Seer

Andhe’daskedmeout, I reminded myself when my old body image insecurities tried to flare up.

Greg ran his eyes from my feet up to my face. A jolt of lust tore through our connection and went straight to my dick.

I gasped and couldn’t stop my hand from grabbing my junk. While standing in my open doorway.

Greg gaped at me, then his face went red. “Uh, I guess you felt that?”

“Fuck!” I hastily moved my hand in case any of my neighbors walked by. “I guess so,” I said faintly. Had that been real? He wouldn’t have been able to fake it, would he?

“Sorry?” He rubbed the back of his neck and gave me a bashful look from under his lashes.

I emitted a kind of half-laugh, half-groan. “Uh, no problem.” My mind was reeling. Greg was honestly attracted to me?

Still red-faced, he looked past me into the apartment. “Are you watchingProject Runway?”

Gratefully I latched on to the new topic. “Ms. Jackson is. They like reality TV. So far I haven’t gotten them to try any fictional shows, but we’ll get there.”

Greg called, “Hi, Ms. Jackson!”

The entire board sparkled, which they’d started using as a greeting.

“I’m ready when you are,” I said.

“Great.”

I locked the door, and we went down to the car. “So, who are we having dinner with?”

“One of the Wonders in my District. His name is Ruben Tooley. His daughter Karla is in her twenties, and she’s been dating an NPC—sorry, that’s someone without magic or at least not in the know.”

“Yeah, I remember what it means.”

“Right. Sorry. Um, Karla wants to tell her boyfriend about her Wonder side and everything that goes with it. I need to meet him first and give my approval or withhold it pending a background check.”

I mulled that over as I got into Greg’s SUV. “So no one can disclose the secret without getting your buy-in first?”

He shrugged one shoulder. “It happens, of course. But I know Ruben. If he’d told me this guy was trustworthy, this would be a ‘welcome to the family’ visit rather than an interview.”

“He doesn’t like the boyfriend then.”

“No. But he’s worried he’s not giving the guy a fair chance since Karla’s his daughter and this is her first serious relationship.”

I grunted. “What do you do if someone finds out about Wonders or magic and tries to tell the public?”

He flashed me a grin. “Discredit them. It’s easy enough with the number of people we can call on to say the person misinterpreted what they saw or they’re just trying to get attention, that sort of thing.”

I smiled. “Sounds like fun. Let me know if you ever need help.”

Greg laughed and glanced over at me, his grey eyes sparkling silver in the early evening gloom. Delight and affection poured through our connection.

I looked between me and Greg, but I still couldn’t see it. He could see connections, though, so the ability wasn’t something that required being bonded to kick in.

“Can I ask about bonding?”

If I hadn’t been looking at him, I wouldn’t have noticed the sudden tension in his shoulders.

“Sure.”

“Like, how does it happen? Do you just have sex, and—bam!—you’re bonded? Or is there a, uh, ritual or something?”