Page 19 of Charmed By Destiny

“Fine. I’m pissed for this new inspirit. His necro is a selfish prick.”

“Did you meet the necro?”

“No, Lucas came to us alone. Last time I checked, we didn’t pick up stray necros, just inspirits.”

“Then how do you know he’s a selfish prick?”

Richard vented his frustrations to Maribeth and explained everything he’d learned about Lucas’s situation.

“Okay, babe, but he did send him to us,” Maribeth said once Richard ran out of breath.

“Lucas was summoned ten years ago.”

“Ten years without knowing how to find your soulmate is shitty.”

“Exactly!” Richard exclaimed.

“Describe this guy to me.”

“We haven’t met.”

“Not the necro. Your friend Lucas. What’s he look like?”

Richard tensed as a vivid picture of Lucas floated into his mind. “Uh, dark hair. Wavy. Kind of shaggy. Gray eyes. Tall. Maybe six feet if I had to take a guess.”

“You’ve described cheese to me in more detail.”

“Mari, what do you want from me?”

“I don’t know, Richard, why are you being so weird?”

“What do you mean?” Richard asked, hearing the hint of fear in his own voice. What was he afraid of, and why couldn’t he act normally if the subject of Lucas arose?

“Well, I spoke with Eric the night he met Lucas. Our favorite boy practically painted me a picture of your gorgeous one-dimpled inspirit. And he barely notices anyone unless they’re a ghost or Gabriel.”

“Just because Eric thinks Lucas is gorgeous doesn’t mean I do. We have different types.”

“Gabriel is everyone’s damn type.”

“You aren’t even attracted to men.”

“I have eyes, Richard. I don’t have to want to climb into bed with someone to notice their beauty.”

“I know that.”

“So, you’re attracted to Lucas and you’re fighting it, right?”

Richard closed his eyes and didn’t bother to hold in his sigh. “I hate how well you know me.”

“Girl, why work yourself into a snit because you noticed a sexy man?”

“For one, I have to work with him. And noticing how sexy someone is hasn’t exactly worked out well for me in the past.”

“You must be doing some heavy fantasizing about Lucas to be so worried that you’ll wind up in bed with him.”

“I wish you were here so I could storm out of the room.”

Maribeth’s laughter was vibrant, and Richard smiled despite his annoyance with his own hormones. “You could hang up the phone.”

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