Page 16 of Guarding the Rock Star
Martha and Angie practically sprang from their seats.
“Good luck with this conversation,” Angie whispered, giving me a pat on the shoulder as she walked by.
Once my coworkers had run away like scared rabbits, Tasha sat at the table across from me, sipping on a bottle of water.
“What were they talking about?” she asked. “Why was she calling me a mate?”
I took a deep breath and met her gaze. “In the supernatural world, there’s this concept of fated mates,” I began. “It’s like soulmates. We believe that if we’re very lucky, fate brings us the one person in the entire world who is perfect for us. We know them the instant we see them.”
“Like love at first sight?” she asked.
“Yeah. We catch their scent and our inner being, the part of us who’s not human, gets excited, kind of like they’re waking up or something,” I explained. “And then when we touch our mates for the first time, even just shaking their hand or something, it awakens a primal need inside us to claim the person, to make sure everyone knows that they’re ours. Our mark is like a supernatural wedding ring.”
“And you felt this when you saw me?” she asked. “This, what did you call it? Primal need?”
I nodded, unable to lie to her.
Tasha huffed out a laugh.
“That’s ridiculous. I mean, I know we’re attracted to each other, but we don’t even know each other that well. There’s no way we can be soulmates. That’s just a myth. Fairy tale crap that teenage girls believe before they find out what the world is really like.”
She looked suddenly sad as she wrapped her arms around her waist, as if to protect herself.
“You sang a song about soulmates,” I reminded her. She’d made me watch the video recently as part of her campaign to convince me that I would like more than just classical music.
“That doesn’t mean I believe that shit,” she said. “I mean, no offense if you do, but you have to admit it’s kind of ridiculous.”
When I didn’t answer she laughed again, although it seemed forced. The sound was like a little knife in my heart. I couldn’t believe that my mate was rejecting me and my culture. We were very different people, and of course I was much older than she was, but I still thought we could make it work. Fate never got it wrong when it came to soulmates. But clearly Tasha didn’t feel the same.
“It’s fine Tasha, really. I’m perfectly capable of putting my feelings aside and doing my job, but if you would feel more comfortable, I could ask Lois to give you another agent.”
If she said yes it was going to kill me. But it was a sacrifice I’d make for my mate. Her happiness was way more important to me than my own was. Tasha shook her head, and I blew out the breath I was holding.
“No, we’ve already sold you as my cousin, I don’t want to have to explain some new person hanging around here now.”
As glad as I was that Tasha didn’t want me to be reassigned, I wished it was because she wanted to be near me, not because she didn’t want to come up with a new story. But for now, I’d take what I could get. My first priority was to keep her safe. Everything else would have to wait.
“The team thinks we should head up to your cabin early,” I told her. “It will be easier to keep you isolated there. Sooner or later your stalker will get twitchy, and hopefully that’s when we can nab him and put all this behind us.”
Tasha looked like she was going to say something, but instead she just nodded.
“Fine, let’s leave tomorrow.”
Tasha’s phone beeped and she pulled it out of her pocket, looking down at the message.
“That’s Chloe. She’s on her way over and wants to talk to you about the package. Can you ask her to come see me in my music room when y’all are done?”
Tasha
I spent the night tossing and turning in my bed, thinking about everything that happened that day.
It had been an ordinary day until we’d received the latest package from my stalker. I hadn’t seen the letter or the picture that had been in the box with the rat, but I had no doubt based on Wanda’s reaction they’d been bad.
Then there was that kiss. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It had felt monumental somehow, like it was more than just a first kiss with a woman that I was attracted to. Was it the mate thing? Did it affect humans the same way it did the supernaturals? It seemed ludicrous, but then again, there were many things in the world that I didn’t understand.
I’d been surprised to hear Wanda talk about it. Shocked even. Her description of mates had sounded like some kind of fairy tale. I wasn’t a fairy tale woman, and I certainly hadn’t pictured Wanda as my knight in shining armor. I’d learned long ago to take care of myself, to be practical, and not to trust anyone but myself. Well, and Chloe. She’d earned my trust.
The two of us had spent over an hour holed up in my music room while I told her about the kiss and the conversation I’d overheard after. At first my best friend had been irritated that Wanda had acted unprofessionally and taken advantage of me when I was scared, but when I told her that it was actually me who initiated the kiss, she settled down.
