Page 28 of Incurably Cupid

“You can’t order someone to be compassionate and thoughtful. I know. I’ve tried.”

She shrugged again, looking uncomfortable.

“Well,” I said softly, “is it okay if I lie down for a bit?”

Indie nodded. “Sleep well. I’ll wake you when dinner’s ready.”

Before Lance rolled me toward my bedroom, I glanced back at her. She was pulling ingredients from the bags, the soft afternoon light turning the kitchen golden. It caught in her hair, warming the delicate pink tones, making her skin look luminous.

Indie was beautiful. Stunning, really.

She could be sharp and blunt, but the more I got to know her, the more I realized her prickliness was just armor. She didn’t tolerate nonsense, and she had a very direct way of speaking, but there was kindness beneath all of that. Also, a wicked sense of humor.

At her core, Indie was… exactly the kind of female I could see myself falling in love with.

And that both thrilled and terrified me.

As I pulled the sheets back, and Lance lifted the chair so it was easier for me to slide into bed, I thought about the fact that Indie had been looking for my soulmate for over a year without any luck. As much as I wanted and needed my soulmate, as much as Ilongedfor her, for the first time in a really long time I started to hope... that maybe it would be okay if she was never found.

Chapter 10

Mesmer

“Love respects boundaries. It even encourages them.”

Cupid Inc. New Recruit Training Manual

Iwoke to a hand clamping over my mouth. Instinct surged through me, and I reached for my dagger.

“It’s me,” Indie whispered. “Try not to kill me, please.”

She lifted her palm, and I pushed up onto my elbows, my abs and back protesting the movement. But I ignored the discomfort the second I saw her face. She knelt beside my bed like an irate parrot, her eyes sharp and furious as she glared toward the rest of the house.

“What’s going on?”

"Someone just bypassed all of Leo’s locks and failsafes and broke into my home," she seethed. "I’m going to make them wish they had let me get a full night’s sleep. I need you as a witness to tell the police that whatever happens next was self-defense."

“I’ll come with you.” Anything to help my cupid avoid time in prison.

She helped me sit fully up, and Lance moved close to the bed so I could transfer. I unstrapped the gun hidden beneath my bedside table, slid in a magazine, and flicked the safety off.

“Lance, get closer to the door,” I whispered.

From the direction of the kitchen came a series of clattering noises—whoever this was, they were either a terrible thief or completely unconcerned with being caught.

I cracked the door open. Pitch darkness swallowed the house. I couldn’t see a thing. Indie, of course, slid past my wheelchair before I could stop her. I hissed her name, but she was already out of sight.

Lance moved me forward just as a loud clang rang through the house, followed by the heavy thud of a body hitting the floor.

Leo turned on the kitchen light, illuminating the scene.

We all had different reactions.

Indie, triumphant: "He’s definitely here for you."

Leo, incredulous: "He was in special forces, and you just knocked him out with a candy bowl!"

Me, stunned: "Dante?"

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