Bound by Light (4 page)

“You never pass up the opportunity, huh?
Your dinner schedule must be pretty booked, then. So I’ll just go
ahead and—” She took a step toward the door.

“Wait. That’s not what I mean.” He dragged
his hands down his face. “I’m sorry. That made me sound like an
arse.”

Sydney bit her lip. “A bit of a player,
maybe, but not an ass.”

He smiled. “I promise I’m not a player.”

“Which is exactly what a player would
say.”

“Go to dinner with me,” he pled.

“What if I’m an ax murderer?” she countered.
“I could be a really beautiful ax murderer and if you take me to
dinner, the world will lose an international treasure.”

“You think I’m a treasure?”

“You are on the big screen, but I don’t know
what you’re like in real life. I don’t believe everything I read,
so I tend to reserve judgment on people who have publicists.”

Thane watched her in fascination as she grew
more animated by the second.

A beautiful pink covered her cheeks. “Sorry,
I’m rambling. I think it’s really nice that you would like to take
me out to dinner, but—”

“Before you say no,” he interrupted.

“No.”

“
Before
you say no,” he repeated,
“will you think about it? I’ll give you my number and you can ring
me.”

She let out a quiet snort. “I’m not going to
call
the
Thane Allen.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re... well, you’re... you. This
is just insane.”

“Is it?” Thane was beginning to feel a
little insecure. Why was it so difficult to convince his mate, the
woman he was destined to be with until death, to go to dinner with
him?

“Wait…” Sydney cocked her head to the side.
Her expression grew guarded. “Did Lucy put you up to this?”

Lucy?
“I’m sorry, lass, but I don’t
know who Lucy is.”

“Is this like that one time when you took
those orphans to that Fallen Crown concert? And now, you’re being
sweet because of my situation…” Her voice caught and tears formed
in her eyes. She blinked them away.

What bloody situation?

“You don’t have to do this. It’s very sweet,
but not necessary. I’ll tell Lucy you tried.” She pulled out her
phone and shook her head. The pain in her eyes made him want to go
to her, to hold her and make everything better.

Not wanting to confuse her more, he held his
ground. “Nobody put me up to anything. I just want to take you to
dinner.”

Sydney gave him a dismissive wave of her
hand. Her smile looked forced. “You know what? You’re as good an
actor off-screen as on. Has anyone ever told you that?”

Something was wrong with his mate, and he
couldn’t fix it if she wouldn’t even let him take her to dinner.
He’d never worked this hard for a date. He’d never worked for a
date,
period
. Hoping he didn’t sound as desperate as he
felt, he said, “How about you give me your number and I’ll give you
a ring?”

The door opened and Pam said, “Thane, we
really need to get a move on?”

He turned to her. “Just give me a
minute.”

“We don’t have a minute.”

“I’ll just get—” He turned back to Sydney,
but she was gone. “Damn it.” He rushed into the hallway, but he
couldn’t see her in the throng of people.

“Thane! Can we get a photo?”

“Thane, over here!”

Shite
! He’d lost her. He smiled as
best he could at the reporters, covering a river of bubbling
frustration, and then slipped back into the private suite.

CHAPTER THREE

A
S SOON AS Thane was
distracted, Sydney rushed out of the room and into the elevator,
pressing the lobby button multiple times. Her cousin had to be the
sweetest person in the world, and it would be just like Lucy to set
Sydney up in order to lift her spirits. But it was a pity date, and
only made her feel pitiful. How the heck did Lucy know Thane Allen
anyway? Sydney’s aunt and uncle had money, which meant they had
connections; maybe Lucy contacted him through one of them.

The doors popped open and she walked to the
lobby, finding Lucy in the sea of faces. Her cousin rushed toward
her. “There you are! I thought you’d left.”

“Sure you did.”

“I just got here. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m okay. Really, I am. Look, what
you tried to do was sweet and all, but...”

“What the devil are you talking about, Sid?”
Lucy demanded, seeming to be genuinely confused.

“The whole Thane Allen thing.”

“What Thane Allen thing?”

Suddenly Sydney wasn’t so sure about her
cousin’s involvement.  “Oh, come on, Luce. It’s blown. You
really expect me to believe that Thane Allen asked me to dinner,
and you had nothing to do with it?”

“What the—?”

Sydney waved her hand. “It’s all good. I
figured it out. Like I said, sweet, but not necessary.”

“Hold on a tick.” Lucy grabbed Sydney’s arm
and pulled her to a stop. “Thane Allen’s here? In this hotel and he
asked you to dinner?”

“Yeah. But you knew that. You set it
up.”

“I bloody well did not! If I was going to
set anyone up with Thane Allen, it would be me!”

“Lucy, quit messing around.”

Lucy scowled. “Sydney Roslyn Warren, I am
quite literally
not
messing around. Did you or did you not
meet Thane Allen, and did he or did he not invite you to dinner?
For real?”

Oh, crap!
Sydney’s heart raced. “I
really met him and he really asked me to dinner.”

“Oh, my giddy aunt,” Lucy breathed out with
a groan. “What did you say?”

“I told him he was a really good actor.
Onscreen and off.” Sydney swallowed with a grimace. “I thought I
was being set up. I thought it was a pity date.”

“Sydney! You didn’t!” Lucy wailed. “Bloody
hell, love, you are the daftest woman I’ve ever met.”

“You really didn’t put him up to it?” Sydney
asked as she wrung her hands.

“And exactly how the hell would I have put
Thane Allen up to it, Sid? Oh, my
god
, just because we live
under the rule of the same queen does not mean we all know each
other!”

“I never said you did,” Sydney grumbled.

Lucy pointed to the elevator. “You need to
go back and accept.”

Sydney’s mouth dropped open. “I am
not
running back upstairs and begging him to take me out,
Lucy. Let’s just go home.”

“The sexiest man alive just asked you out,
are you really going to blow him off?”

“What possible reason would the sexiest man
alive have to want to take me out, Lucy? It’s ridiculous.”

Lucy crossed her arms. “Maybe he thinks
you’re gorgeous.”

“Then maybe he’s blind.”

“You’re an idiot, lovie. Truly.”

Sydney rolled her eyes. “I’m starving. Let’s
just get home, okay?”

“I’m going to talk to Dad and see if he can
get in touch with him.”

“No you’re not!” Sydney squealed. “Please,
Lucy, don’t okay?”

“Fine.” Lucy sighed. “I think you’re insane,
but fine.”

“Thanks. Now, lead me home.”

Lucy giggled and they headed toward the
Tube.

They arrived home to an empty house, and
Sydney decided some cooking therapy was on her list today. She had
to find something to distract her from her strange encounter.
“Luce!” she called up the stairs. “Spaghetti and meatballs sound
good?”

“Sounds amazing!” Lucy called back. “Need
some help?”

“No, I’m quite capable of setting the house
on fire all by myself.”

Sydney grinned at Lucy’s four-letter
response. Lucy couldn’t even boil water, which blew Sydney’s mind.
Even though both families had plenty of money, the cousins couldn’t
have been raised more differently. Sydney did her own laundry,
cooked twice a week when she was home, and contributed to the
household chores. Lucy, not so much. The Ashworths had a live-in
housekeeper, along with Leticia, who provided meals six days a
week. Tonight was her night off, so Sydney was taking her chance to
get in the kitchen.

She grabbed her iPod, cued it up to the new
Fallen Crown album, and got her groove on while she seasoned and
rolled out meatballs. For the first time in a long time, she was
feeling a sense of relief. She’d felt it when Thane had touched her
and now she felt it again. Strange, but she wasn’t going to
question it too much. It was a nice feeling. One she’d like to get
used to.

Once the meatballs were formed and cooked,
she made her magic sauce, and then boiled the pasta. She and Lucy
had a quiet dinner, albeit fancy since Lucy insisted on setting the
table with the good china, and then Sydney powered up her Kindle
and got lost in a book.

Tonight was the first night in forever was
determined to actually relax. Turn off her brain enough to enjoy an
epic historical saga. Maybe she’d even sleep. It would be
bliss.

* * *

“Sydney Warren,” Thane said as he paced his
hotel room. “All I know is that she’s American.”
And she’s in
trouble.

“That’s not much to go on,” Niall said.

They’d just finished their interviews and
were now back in Thane’s suite discussing the events of the
day.

“Have you tried to speak with her… you know,
telepathically?” Charlotte asked.

“Aye. I can’t quite find her thought
pattern.”

“Is this her?” Charlotte asked, and turned
her laptop to face Thane.

He leaned down to see the screen. “Yes! How
did you do that?”

She giggled. “It’s called a Facebook
search.”

Thane sat down and took the computer from
her, scrolling through Sydney’s profile. “Damn, it’s set to
private. I can only see her profile picture and her friends.”

Charlotte waved her hand toward him. “Hit
the friend request button. If she accepts it, then I’ll be able to
see more and reach out to her.”

“Done,” he said, and handed the laptop
back.

“You really don’t have a Facebook page?”

“Not a private one,” he admitted. “My team
handles all my social media pages and such.”

Charlotte rolled her eyes and closed her
computer. “You and Niall are so old.”

“You may want to hide yours before this
movie hits, Charlotte,” Thane warned. “If you don’t, you could run
the risk of people finding out things about you that you’d rather
stay private.”

Niall picked up the computer and began
hitting keys.

“Nye, what are you doing?” Charlotte
asked.

“Hiding your profile,” Niall said.

“What? What do you mean?” Charlotte gasped,
grabbing for the computer. “You can’t just unfriend people,
Nye.”

“I didn’t,” he said.

She frowned at the screen. “Gah! You shut
down my account?”

“It’s safer.”

She glared at him and Thane knew she was
yelling at him telepathically. Niall raised an eyebrow at one point
and then Charlotte blushed beet red.

“Really, Nye? You’re unbelievable,” she
snapped.

He chuckled. “I know, baby.”

“I hear your concerns,” she said carefully.
“But I just sent a request to Sydney. If my account is disabled,
she won’t be able to respond.”

Niall stared over at Thane. “You have a man,
right?”

“Aye.”

Niall smiled and turned back to Charlotte.
“Thane’s man will find her.”

She rose to her feet, closing the laptop as
she did. “Excuse us, Thane. I need to verbally spank my husband and
would rather not have an audience.”

“Moira’s next door, love,” Niall pointed
out.

She let out a frustrated groan. “And she can
hang with her sitter for a few extra minutes.”

Niall chuckled.

Charlotte gave Thane a saccharin smile.
“Sorry, Thane, I have a man to murder.”

Thane choked back a laugh and nodded. “Don’t
let me stop you.”

She headed for the door and Niall rose
slowly to his feet, a goofy grin on his face. “Have a great day,
brother.”

“You as well.”

Thane watched as Niall followed his mate and
shook his head. Niall had changed. He was the epitome of a good
man. He always had been. It kind of made up for the actions of his
brother, Max, who was somewhat of a loose cannon. Niall was the
nice guy, the one who never lost his temper, and the one who had
patience in spades. But when Niall met Charlotte, he suddenly had
an edge. Not one that made him difficult, just one that made him
sharper. Charlotte had a unique set of gifts and if Niall had been
a lesser man, their marriage could have been disastrous.

Thane smiled and grabbed his cell phone. It
was time to call his “man.”

“Hello, Thane,” Wallace said, cheerily.
“What can I do for you?”

Thane chuckled. “Actually, I’m wondering if
you can find someone for me.”

“Of course I can. Who?”

“I don’t have much.” He rubbed his forehead.
“A name and nationality…general description, that sort of
thing.”

“No worries. Just give me what you
have.”

Thane gave Wallace what he knew and then
moped around the hotel suite while he waited. The London premiere
was in two days and tomorrow would be full of more interviews and
press before he’d get a break. Once the premiere was done, he could
go home; however, it was the first time in a very long time that he
wasn’t interested in escaping to his cottage. Right now, he wanted
to find his mate and go about wooing her so they could go home
together.

He poured a glass of whiskey and stood at
the window overlooking Piccadilly. His thoughts turned to Sydney
again, wondering where she was. He couldn’t imagine she was far if
she’d ended up in his hotel. At least, not so far he couldn’t get
to her relatively quickly.

Dropping his forehead to the cool glass, he
closed his eyes and focused. Maybe if he could settle his mind, he
might be able to speak with her. His natural gift of empathy should
give him that ability, but he wasn’t sure how it worked with a
human.