Page 67 of Charmed By Destiny

But earlier in the week, as he’d scrolled, a few items had screamedLucasto him. The inspirit stuck to a few colors—blues, grays, black, and white. Richard had given no thought about his decision to add Lucas to the group of people he routinely shopped for.

Now, there would be a box arriving in a couple of days with things for Lucas. Richard hadn’t asked for permission, nor would he accept one cent from Lucas for anything he’d bought. Learning he was as awful as his father pushing a car that had already been paid for onto Lucas didn’t bring Richard any joy.

Would it be better to alert Lucas to what he’d done or wait for the evidence to arrive? Before Richard could argue both sides in his head, someone knocked on his open door. Guiltily, Richard exited his email and was nearly relieved to find Douglas standing there.

But the frozen hostility in his gaze kept Richard tied in knots.

“Do you have a minute?” Douglas asked.

“Of course.”

“Thanks,” Douglas replied.

Richard said nothing as Douglas shut the door behind him, enclosing them in the office without an audience. It was unusual for Richard to have private meetings, but not unheard of—and especially not with the co-director of the department. Not that Richard bothered worrying about office gossip. He was related to the owner; it followed him wherever he went anyway.

“It’s been a long week,” Douglas said, taking a seat on the small couch in Richard’s office.

Since he felt foolish staying behind his desk, Richard rose and sat opposite Douglas in a tonal black chair reminiscent of the sheets he’d rolled around on with Lucas last night. While the workdays were awkward thanks to the rift between him and Douglas, the rest of the week had flown by for Richard.

“Yes, I don’t want to pry, but how are you doing?”

Douglas’s mouth firmed, and anger flashed in his eyes. “I’d prefer to keep our private business away from work, but since you asked and we’ve been friends for years, I’ll be honest. I’ve been better. You’re making a mistake. One that is robbing us both.”

“I’m sorry, Douglas. I hate that I’ve hurt you, but I disagree,” Richard replied. “The last thing I’d ever want to do is upset you. If I had a way to take away the pain you’re feeling now, I’d do it without hesitation.”

“The way you care about others is one of the reasons I respect you. Which is why, despite my feelings, I wanted to let you know that the offer still stands. Whenever you’re ready to discover if we’re soulmates, I’ll be here for you.”

“Douglas, I don’t want you to wait for me. You deserve your soulmate. It’s not me. Please don’t stop living or seeking the person meant for you.”

“You’re making an assumption without evidence, but I refuse to argue with you,” Douglas snapped. He closed his eyes, sucked in a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. “Let’s set that aside for now. We have an office to run. It’s impossible to do that if we’re at odds with one another. Gossip is spreading about how we haven’t spoken this week, and that’s not good for morale. We need to patch things up publicly.”

Richard wanted to insist Douglas give up the idea of them being soulmates, but it would lead to more arguing. Like Richard, Douglas was a stubborn man. The chatter hadn’t reached Richard, and Lucas refused to comment, but the rumors didn’t surprise the necromancer. It wasn’t so large a staff that things went unnoticed often.

Which was why Richard was careful about his words and how often he spoke to Lucas in the office, but that was another issue and not one he’d involved Douglas in. With Douglas’s refusal to take his offer off the table, Richard didn’t know how to reveal the truth about his relationship with Lucas. That was a problem for another afternoon, unfortunately.

“Of course I’m willing to be professional and work as a team,” Richard said. “I’ll respect your desire to not push for friendship right now. I hope you’ll consider prioritizing yourself.”

“Thank you. I believe I’m doing the best for myself in every respect.”

“Okay. While I have you here, is there anything we need to discuss for this weekend’s events?” Richard asked. “I’m pretty sure we covered everything through email, but I thought I’d check anyway.”

Douglas had sent Richard countless messages. It’d taken twice as long as normal to complete anything, but Richard hadn’t complained or marched to his office to finalize plans for upcoming events, though he’d been sorely tempted.

“No, I think we are set. However, we should meet early on Monday because I have questions about the upcoming education conference.”

“Join me first thing on Monday morning and we’ll go over it step by step,” Richard promised.

Douglas nodded and stood. “One more thing before I go.”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“One of the other rumors that I’ve heard several times both yesterday and today is that our newest inspirit, Luke, has started a relationship with Holly. It’s none of our business who either of them are sleeping with, but I wanted to let you know. You remember what happened last year after Morris and Kelly broke up? Kelly quit. Morris transferred. It took us weeks to straighten things out around here.”

Richard bit his lip and wondered how that rumor had started. Holly was a human who’d worked in the office for the past two years. The pretty redhead was outgoing and friendly. Richard didn’t know her relationship status, but he could guarantee she wasn’t sleeping with Lucas. Unless, of course, the man had tired Richard out and escaped Gabriel’s security undetected to gallivant to Holly’s house sometime in the previous week.

Feeling mischievous and preparing his ammunition to tease Lucas later, he swallowed to prevent a chuckle from escaping.

“Interesting, when did that start?”

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