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"I&039;m back"

Jeanne Louise lifted her head at that cheerful announcement and forced a smile for her assistant, Kirin on her face and a spring in her step

"Lunch with Arthur?" Jeanne Louise teased, or at least tried to tease The words ca about her was flat lately

"Lunch and other things" Kiht of the mortal male who had replaced Fred in security The two had become rather close rather quickly over the last feeeks Well as close as an iet "He&039;s the cutest little s too," she added with a laugh "I hardly have to slip into his thoughts and show hi them"

"Hmm" Jeanne Louise lowered her head Thewhen Paul had kidnapped her had been the same way He probably still was She wouldn&039;t know She hadn&039;t seen hi to her old life She hadn&039;t really seen anyone since then Jeanne Louise had been avoiding friends and loved ones like the plague sincePaul And she had absolutely no interest in seeing her oldup beside her "I&039;ll keep an eye on it while you have lunch"

"I&039; the knob on the e reflected in it was a complete blur of color

"You skipped lunch yesterday too What&039;s going on? Ied a weak smile at the joke It was a play on menopause, their word for immortals who moved past the desire for food and sex Kiot too busy to bother about lunch and in the past she would have laughed She didn&039;t feellately, but Ki her lifehim

"Jeanne Louise?"

She glanced to the girl, and noting the concern suddenly plucking at her lips, pushed her stool back and stood up "You&039;re right I should go for lunch"

Kih, didn&039;t hide her concern Jeanne Louise ignored it and et her purse She then headed for the door

"Jeanne"

Pausing, Jeanne Louise glanced back in question

"If there&039;s anything I can do to helpyou knoill, right?" Kim said quietly

"Help hat?" Jeanne Louise asked with a frown

She hesitated and then said apologetically, "They say new life mates are easily read, but it&039;s hts At least that&039;s how it is with you"

She aze for a moment, and then looked away "Thanks," she murmured and slid out of the lab

It seemed it didn&039;t matter that she&039;d not told anyone It sounded like she was telling everyone anyway That explained why people were avoiding her eyes and being especially nice to her lately, she supposed, and breathed out a sigh She was the tragic figure, a living symbol of what every immortal feared, one who&039;d found and lost her life ht and head up and picked up her step There was nothing she could do about other ihts, but she didn&039;t have to be the pathetic creature they all thought she was She had found a life mate and couldn&039;t claim him It didn&039;t mean she wouldn&039;t find another, hopefully one as already i that depressed Jeanne Louise She didn&039;t want another She wanted Paul But not just for a few decades She already wanted hi she had ever wanted in her life, even her father&039;s love And that was after just a couple weeks She couldn&039;t iine how much it would hurt to have him for a mortal life and then lose him Jeanne Louise couldn&039;t even fatho pain now than coony later orth whatever aht as she reached the cafeteria

That was the proble the counter on autohts kept fluctuating She yearned to see his shter, look into his eyes She craved his kisses, to feel his arainst hers But she knew, deep in her heart, that losing him later would kill her However, that didn&039;t stop her froht on her way to work, in the hopes of just seeing hi like so to scare her Every night after driving past she cursed herself and felt shaain But that next night, she did it again

Jeanne Louise blew her breath out on a sigh as she paid for her lunch She then turned to carry her tray to an e as she went if she could convince her uncle, aunt, and father to do a erous, but if it didn&039;t kill her and succeeded, she&039;d stop hurting She wouldn&039;t re met him, wouldn&039;t have to recall and ache for his kisses, wouldn&039;t knohat she&039;d lost

"You should really try the bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches if you&039;ve lost your taste for halanced up with a start at that sole as she peered up at the hts Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, with dark glasses covering his eyes, he looked ready to head for the beach, and obviously wasn&039;t here for work

"Paul," she said faintly as her body roared in response to his very presence "What-?"

Her words died as he reached up and slid the sunglasses off She stared blankly at the glowing silver green eyes that flashed at her, and stared and stared, unable to process what she was seeing

"Your uncle Lucian paid me a visit yesterday afternoon," he said quietly and then smiled wryly and added "Well, your uncle Lucian, your aunt Marguerite, your father, stepmother, two brothers, their wives, and the hunter na family," he added wryly "I think I like them They-"

His words ended on an oomph as Jeanne Louise suddenly launched herself from her seat and at hihtly as he kissed her, but she pulled back mid-kiss to ask, "Who turned you? How? Why?"

Paul sht away Instead, he scooped her up in his ar, "Your uncle did the honors He apparently ripped his wrist open, though I didn&039;t see it, then slapped it against my mouth Most unpleasant," he added with a reh the doors and started up the hall toward security