"You think he wants to kiss you?" Tristan asked scornfully. "Strangle you, maybe! Ivy, don't be stupid.
These are tricks."
Silently she told Tristan, "I know what I'm doing."
˜Gregory followed her over to the counter and slid his hand around her waist.
"Gregory, please," she said.
"Please what?" he asked, his mouth close to her ear.
"Eric is here," she reminded him, and glanced over her shoulder. But Eric was on the other side of a rack, lost in a world of costumes.
"My mistake," Gregory said softly, "bringing Eric along."
"Get rid of Gregory," Tristan cut in. "Get rid of both of them and lock the door."
Ivy slid away from Gregory.
"Call security," Tristan continued. "Ask them to walk you to your car."
"Besides," Ivy said to Gregory, "there's Suzanne. You know Suzanne and I have been friends forever."
"Ivy!" Tristan exclaimed. "Don't you know anything about guys? You're setting yourself up. Now he's going to use one of those old excuses."
Ivy silently retorted, "I know what I'm doing."
"Suzanne is too easy," Gregory said, moving closer to Ivy. "Too jealous and too easy. I'm bored."
"I guess it's a lot more interesting," Tristan remarked, "to get it on with the girlfriend of the guy you murdered."
Ivy jerked her head as if she had been slapped.
"What's wrong?" Gregory asked her.
"Ivy, I'm sorry," Tristan said quickly, "but you're not listening to me.
You don't seem to understand-" "I understand, Tristan," Ivy thought angrily. "Leave me alone before I mess up."
"What are you thinking?" Gregory asked. "You're mad, I can tell." He smoothed her brow, then traced her cheek, his fingers lightly touching her neck. "You used to like it when I touched you," he said.
Ivy could feel Tristan's anger surging up inside her. She felt as if she was losing control. She closed her eyes, focused her attention, and pressed him out, out as far as she could from her mind.
When she opened her eyes Gregory was staring at her. "Out?" he said.
"Were you talking to me?"
"Talking to you?" Ivy echoed. Terrific. She had spoken aloud. "No," she told Gregory, "I don't remember saying anything to you."
He frowned at her.
"But you know me," she said cheerfully, "I'm just a little crazy."
He continued to stare at her. "Maybe," he said.
Ivy smiled and moved past him. For the next fifteen minutes she paid attention to Eric, helping him find parts of costumes, while keeping one eye on the shop door, waiting for security to pass by. When the guard did and pointed to his watch, signaling that it was well past nine-thirty, she called out to him. Since the mall was officially closed, she asked him if he'd show Eric and Gregory a door where they could exit.
Then she locked the shop door behind them and leaned back against it, limp with relief. "I'm sorry, Tristan," she said, but she was pretty sure he didn't hear her.
Tristan watched Ivy, her head bent over the store receipts, her curly hair a web of gold under the one light that now shone over the desk at the cash register. The rest of the shop was dimly lit, its corners receding into darkness.
He wanted to touch her hair, to materialize his fingers and feel the softness of her skin. He wanted to talk to her, just talk to her. But he remained hidden, still angry, hurt by the way she had thrust him out of her mind.
Ivy raised her head suddenly and glanced around as if she sensed his presence. "Tristan?"
If he stayed outside of her, she wouldn't hear him. But what did he have to say to her? That he loved her?
That she had hurt him. That he was terrified for her.
She saw him now. "Tristan." The way she said his name could still make him tremble. "I didn't think you'd come back. After putting you out like that, I didn't think you'd come to me."
Tristan stayed where he was.
"And you're not coming to me, are you?" she asked.
He heard the tremor in her voice and couldn't decide what to do. Leave her? Let her wonder for a while.
He didn't want to fight, and he had work to do that night.
If only you knew how much I love you, he thought.
"Tristan," she said silently.
He was in her mind now and knew the thought they had shared: If only you knew how much I love you.
Ivy was crying.
"Don't. Please don't," he said.
"Try to understand," she begged him silently. "I gave my heart to you, but it's still mine. You can't just come in and take over. I have my own thoughts, Tristan, and my own way of doing things."
"You've always had your own thoughts and your own way of doing things," he said. Then he laughed in spite of himself. "I remember how you were leading your guide around your very first day in our school-that's when I fell in love with you," he told her. "But you've got to understand, too. I'm afraid for you.
What were you doing, Ivy, playing like that with Gregory?"
Ivy slid off the desk stool and walked toward a dark corner of the shop.