Into a Dangerous Mind (7 page)

to the emergency room, too,” she warned.
 
“Get out of my head.”

Zach visibly tried to control his smile.
 
“Anyway, I think I should pose as your boyfriend.
 
That way no one will be suspicious if I stay close for a while.”

Wow, talk about temptation on a silver platter.
 
But Zach’s idea made sense.
 
Having a gorgeous man watch her around the clock sent her imagination into overdrive.

Zach interrupted her thoughts.
 
“And here’s the hard part—you can’t tell anyone I’m FBI.”

“But…”

She’d never in all the years she’d known Kathy been able to successfully keep a secret from her friend, let alone outright lie.
 
How the hell was she supposed to make Kathy believe she’d gone away for one weekend and suddenly rustled up a hunky and attentive neighbor after a string of relationship disasters that would put a soap opera to shame?

“You’re just going to have to convince her.”

Cassidy touched her fingers to her temples.
 
“I can feel you inside my head again.”
 
She gasped as the full import of what that meant hit her.
 
“You were able to hear everything I thought last night and—” she gasped and covered her mouth, her cheeks burning, “this morning, weren’t you?”

Zach reached out and gently unclenched her crossed arms and captured each of her hands in his.
 
Cassidy glanced up at him as he began to speak.
 
“I believe in being honest since it doesn’t serve much purpose to lie to people who have our talent.
 
Yes.
 
I’ve tried to respect your privacy as much as possible, but I can hear your direct thoughts since you haven’t learned to shield yet.”

truly was nothing more than a dream.
 
“Wait, you’ve said shield a few times.
 
What does it mean?”

“Shields are a mental barrier you learn to erect around your mind to keep your own thoughts in and other’s thoughts out.”

Her brow furrowed, and a ghost of a smile curved the corners of his lips in response.

“Let me see if I can explain more clearly.”
 
He picked up the red chili pepper salt shaker and placed it on the table between them.
 
“Pretend the chili pepper is your mind.
 
Every time a synapses fires inside your brain, a tiny spark of psychic energy is created.
 
People who are sensitive enough can detect those sparks both from themselves and from others.”
 
He held his hands around the shaker, making a circle with his touching fingers.
 
“Using psychic power, a mental shield can be constructed that acts like either a filter or a total barrier.”

“I’ve definitely got to get some of those.”

Luckily, he made no gesture that said he’d heard her last thought.
 
“I’ll make you a deal.”
 
He looked her in the eye before she could glance down again.
 
“Once you can make and maintain your own shields, I’ll let you shield me for a while.
 
That should equal out the embarrassment factor, since no one is good at editing their own thoughts.
 
And that will also help you practice.”

Cassidy thought about her immediate options.
 
She had to learn to use these new powers in any event.
 
She might as well take any perks that presented themselves along the way.
 
A slow smile bloomed across her face before she could stop it.
 
“A chance to see what a man actually thinks?
 
Who would I be to pass up such a monumental opportunity for women-kind?”

“I figured you for a resilient woman.”
 
Mischief danced in his gaze.
 
“Why don’t we finish up breakfast, and I’ll teach you how to shield?”

She took a deep breath, and a trickle of excitement snaked through her as she thought about exploring her new ability.
 
“Ok, let’s get to it.
 
But I have to warn you, I’m something of a perfectionist.”

Zach smiled.
 
“Tell me about it.
 
Sometime we need to discuss why anyone would alphabetize their spices.”

“Hey now, no need to resort to language like that,” Zach scolded.

“If I shielded properly, you wouldn’t have heard me swear, now would you?” she asked in her most sarcastic tone.
 
Her frustration at not being able to perfectly produce the shields had begun to wear on her.

“Take a deep breath and try once more.”
 
His deep voice reverberated over her in sensuous waves of sensation, distracting her from her headache.
 
“I’ll talk you through it.”
 
He capped the request with a boyish grin—the one which employed his killer dimple and turned her into instant goo.

Gritting her teeth, she allowed pure stubborn pride to force her to try again.
 
“Okay, talk away.
 
But this is the last time.
 
Then I need a break.”
 
She pierced him with a stern stare to ensure he knew she was serious.

“Take a deep breath, let it out slowly, and close your eyes.”

the small sparkles of energy which comprised her psychic power.
 
That feat alone had taken her the entire first hour.

“Good.
 
Now gather your energy and fashion it into shields.”

Originally she’d tried to picture the children’s blocks like Zach did, but just couldn’t make them work.
 
So, she’d switched over to the Star Trek-type force field shields which shimmered and sparked opaque.
 
Those turned out to be worse than the blocks, so she’d moved on to a large castle-type wall.

Mentally gathering the psychic elements into a large sparkling ball, she pictured a solid blue-gray stone wall built in a giant sphere around her mind.

“Good.”
 
Zach’s mind gently brushed hers.
 
“Now don’t forget the windows, so you can choose to let information in or out as you decide to.”

As if triggered by his words, small castle windows appeared at regular intervals inside her wall, square on the bottom and coming to a v point on top.
 
The adrenaline of triumph began to flow through her, but then the walls wavered and floated away, becoming nothing but small sparkles once more.

“Damn!”
 
She opened her eyes, and the pain in her head doubled, throbbing in time with her pounding heart.
 
“This is really pissing me off!”

message she knew had to be burning on Zach’s lips.
 
“Are you expecting anyone?”

Cassidy shook her head, which did nothing to calm her headache.
 
“Whoever it is, I hope they have cold beer.”

“I’ll get it,” he said over his shoulder as he strode toward the door.
 
“My team would’ve alerted me if it was anyone suspicious, but I’d rather be safe.”

Cassidy heard the unmistakable sound of her best friend’s whiskey voice at the front door.
 
“Well, well, well.
 
Please tell me you’re my birthday present from Cassidy this year, and I’ll die a happy woman.”

Cassidy bolted for the door to intervene before Zach replied.
 
She could tell by the expression on her friend’s face, Kathy assumed she’d just barged in on a tryst.

“Kath!”
 
Cassidy rushed past Zach to give her friend a big hug.
 
She pulled Kathy into the room and motioned for Zach to close the door.
 
“God, I’ve missed you.
 
How was
Chicago
?”

“Boring, endless rehearsals and no one to gossip with on breaks.”
 
Kathy set her purse and a brown paper sack down on the couch and trained her sea green gaze on Cassidy.
 
“So, spill. Who’s the Adonis you have answering your door?”
 
She gestured toward Zach as if he were a new piece of furniture she liked.

“Kathy Martin, this is Zach Hatcher.
 
Zach is my new neighbor.”

Kathy shook Zach’s hand and held on.
 
“Sooooo, I can see my best friend already snapped you up.
 
Do you have any twin brothers?
 
Cousins?
 
Unmarried friends who aren’t pigs?”

Zach chuckled.
 
“I may have a few friends who might do, but that all depends on your definition of pig.
 
One woman’s swine is another woman’s stud, from what I’ve heard.”

Kathy’s easy laughter filled the room like warm flowing wine.
 
“I like you, Zach.”
 
She tapped his chest with a French manicured fingernail.
 
“Just take care of my girl, or I’ll kick your ass.”

She turned her attention back to Cassidy.
 
“So, do you have time for a girl catch up session and a couple of pints or do you want me to come back later?”
 
She smiled meaningfully over her shoulder at Zach.

Zack answered.
 
“I’ve got to go and get some things done at my place.
 
You two have fun.”
 
He leaned over and gave Cassidy a quick kiss on the cheek.

The contact sizzled through her, reminding her of their steamy kiss from last night.

She tried to reach out mentally to see how Zach felt about it, but still tired from their practice, she couldn’t reach him.