Page 13 of A Bear in a Birdbath

“Don’t go!” he cried, and Eva realized that she was poised to flee back the way that she’d come. “I won’t hurt you!”

Eva was sure that if he could arrange something like this, she would not be able to get away with something so simple as running away anyway, so she walked bravely forward.

He gazed down at her as she came close, and he was so tall—and she was so short—that she had to crane up and up to see into his face.

Eva had been enspelled before, forced to love and adore, and she was puzzled now, because this was so like this…and so completely different.

Bruno was fascinatingly manly. He was broad-shouldered and beautiful, and he smelled like musk and metal. He had shaved clean for this meeting, but it didn’t make him look young or naïve. Eva somehow knew that he was safe and reliable, and he was undeniably attractive.

She was drawn to him, but it was not like the insidious love spell that had threatened to destroy her soul. This was not control, it was certainty. She knew beyond any shadow of doubt that this man could make her happier than she’d ever been in her life…but only if she let him.

How did she resolve this with him being Margo’s mate? Was it only because she loved Margo that she could sense the goodness of this man? Was it some lingering magic that had been dormant in her heart?

“I’m Bruno,” he said, offering her one of his hands.

“Eva,” she breathed, when she remembered her name. His handshake was one of the gentlest things Eva had ever felt, and he let go before she could feel trapped.

He held her chair for her and a waiter melted out of the surrounding greenery to put a fresh salad at her place.

“So, I guess we sort of met, a few weekends ago,” Eva finally said, when Bruno offered no conversation, looking for all the world as if he felt as awkward about this as she did. There was no use trying to pretend, and the salad didn’t last long.

“You were tossing Frank’s office at Wilson Kinetics.”

“To be fair, Mar—my friend did most of the tossing,” Eva corrected him. “But I was the one who broke in.” If this was some elaborate attempt to get Margo in trouble, she wasn’t going to fall for it.

Bruno gave a laugh. “She has an amazing arm,” he said, reaching up to rub the back of his head.

He had amazing arms.

“Wha-What’s all this about?” Eva had to ask. If he wasn’t trying to trap Margo, maybe he wanted information about her for other reasons. Did he think that she could give him tips for courting her or catching her? Eva was hopelessly lost.

“Tobias set this up,” Bruno said. “I never pictured him as such a matchmaker, but I had no idea who either of you were, or how to find you.”

“I’m sorry. For breaking in. And wrecking the place up. And assaulting you.”

“It meant I met the two of you,” Bruno said without regret.

Eva’s salad bowl was replaced by a steaming plate of gourmet pasta while she was staring at her lap. “Oh, thank you?” The waiter vanished before she could make shy eye contact.

A steak was placed before Bruno, so thick and juicy that it was on its own platter.

Dinner was a traditional framework for dates. Eating was supposed to give her something to do, and inane comments about how delicious her meal was ought to flow effortlessly into intimate conversation about favorite foods. Instead, Eva dropped her fork, nearly fell off her chair picking it up, and then tried to eat with it before a scandalized waiter could come and bring her a new one.

Bruno seemed to be faring no better, sawing at his meat with a knife too delicate or dull for his fare, muttering under his breath. Eva thought she heard him say, “Not hugging,” but it might have been “Snort muggings.”

She ought to say something witty. “Noodles are funny,” she blurted. “Even the name is funny. Nooo-dles.” She winced. That was not even close to witty.

“Your friend, what was her name?”

There it was. He was on a fact-finding date for Margo. Because Margo was his mate.

The sauce that had a bite ago been as good as any meal Eva had ever eaten went tasteless in her mouth. “Margo,” she said faintly.

“Margo.” Bruno said it with approval, like he was tasting it in his mouth. “She kissed like a Margo.”

“Wait, you kissed her?” Eva didn’t understand anything that was happening. Margo had kissed her, she thought jealously.

“Kissed her, nearly molested her. Got knocked out by her with a popcorn machine. I spent maybe five total minutes in her company, and we’ve already done a lot.”

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