Mind Tricks by Adrianne Wood Read Free Book Online Page B

the dogs for any problems before they went in to feed them. Ian had
dressed for the hot and humid weather, wearing a tank top that showed the
freckles on his skinny pale shoulders and shorts that looked comical with the
knee-high rubber boots he was wearing.
    He pointed out a shallow hole
inside one of the kennels. “Look, Goldilocks is digging.”
    “Just what we need: another dog
who’s watched The Great Escape too
many times with her parents.”
    “I’ll spend more time exercising
her today. Maybe she just has too much energy.”
    “Good plan.”
    They walked in silence for a few
moments. How to introduce the subject? So,
Ian, speaking of getting exercise, that wasn’t what I was doing with Jake yesterday….
    But Ian did the job for her. “I
didn’t know you were a friend of Jake’s,” he said, glancing at her quickly and
then looking away. “So if I said anything yesterday about him that pissed you
off, I’m sorry.”
    Oh, jeez. The poor kid had probably
stayed up all night, worrying if he’d offended her.
    Moving on instinct, she wrapped one
arm around Ian’s shoulders and pulled him into a half hug. She’d forgotten to
seal off her mind, though, and his thoughts abruptly cascaded into her like
confetti thrown from a cruise ship.
    …idiot…think
before you open your mouth…Cynthia was surprised…Jake’s known as a smart guy,
so it makes sense he’s with Emma…is she angry?…
    She breathed out slowly and removed
her arm. All right. So now she knew she definitely hadn’t lost it. She’d
wondered yesterday if perhaps her ability to read people had faded, since she’d
had so much trouble with Jake. But there went that theory. In fact, if
anything, her gift seemed stronger after being sent into hibernation for so
long.
    Damn
it. She squeezed her eyes closed for a half second, hoping Ian believed it
to be a strong blink against the morning sun and not her forcing back sudden
tears. Was she ever going to be normal? Ever be able to touch someone without
having his or her thoughts thrust into her head?
    “Ian, I’m not pissed off.” Deep
breath. Another smile at him. “I wouldn’t even call him a friend, really. But
he can’t—” She snapped her mouth shut. Jake blanking out about the night Ginny
was killed was his private information, not something she should spread around.
    She took a different tack. “You
know how I sometimes do energy work on animals to help them relieve stress?
Well, I was doing something very similar to Jake. With his friend being killed
the night before last, he was pretty stressed. And he fell asleep in the middle
of it.” There: that should scotch all the
he-fell-asleep-in-the-middle-of-having-sex-with-her rumors.
    “I didn’t know you did bodywork on
people, too,” Ian said. He looked impressed.
    “That’s because I don’t. It was an
experiment—and one I don’t think I’ll do again.”
    “Well, you must be good, if you
relaxed him enough to make him fall asleep.”
    Narrowing her eyes, she studied
Ian’s expression. Nope, no sarcasm. “Thanks, but I think he was pretty tired,
too. Anyway, don’t worry about offending me. He’s not a friend. I doubt we’ll
even see him over here again.”
     
    • •
     
      “Hi,” Jake said as soon as Emma opened the
door.
    Emma’s eyes widened, but Jake
couldn’t tell whether she was unpleasantly shocked or pleasantly surprised to
see him on her threshold. Given how they’d left things yesterday, he’d be
deluded to imagine that she was speechless with delight. Before she could tell
him—again—to get out, he said quickly, “Want to go to lunch?”
    She gave him a suspicious look.
“With Mickey, too?”
    “Nope. Just you and me.”
    “Why?” she asked baldly.
    Because he was desperate. Because
his brother was in a coma, his buddies had abandoned him, and Mickey wasn’t
answering his phone or—as Jake had just discovered two minutes ago—at home.
Emma was close by. She’d helped him yesterday, as