Stone Chameleon (Ironhill Jinn #1) Read Online Free Page A

receptionist, and I have to say, this connection is stunningly clear for someone who’s gone to the moon to collect pixies.”
    I pulled the phone away from my mouth for a moment so my laughter wouldn’t reach him. Every few days I’d given Gloria a new ridiculous excuse why I couldn’t see or speak to him. I didn’t know how his giant ego survived my constant rejection. Perhaps that’s what drove him so hard to change my mind.
    Upon reaching the winding, tree-lined drive that would lead me to the sprawling IPC facility, I turned in and waited for Simon to open the iron gates. “Someone like you doesn’t want to know a lowly pest exterminator like me, Mr. Bassili. When you tell me what it is you want from me, I’ll consider seeing you. Now, unless you have a pest you need me to remove,” other than you , “please don’t contact me again.”
    I ended the call and tossed the cell onto the passenger seat. To prevent my hands from shaking, I clamped one onto the steering wheel and fished my polished black ebony stone from my pocket with the other. It was one of a kind. I’d found it while BASE jumping at the Cave of Swallows in Mexico, and local geologists had been intrigued when I showed it to them. They’d even let me name it. With grain-like striations in the rock, it reminded me of ebony wood, so it had been a no-brainer.
    I rubbed my thumb over the smooth surface. It warmed and vibrated with song—one only I could hear—at my touch. Bit by bit, my angst subsided, and the dust cloud of my mind settled.
    Amun, the cheeky bastard. I was an average looking woman who lived over an antique store, and he could have been the poster boy for Egyptian Gods ‘R’ Us. He owned three city blocks worth of office buildings I knew of, and I worked in the sewer half of the time. He and I existed in different worlds.
    “Amun’s a persistent bastard, all right.” Harper chuckled and groaned from the back. “But you have to admit he is the hottest man, like, ever. It’s those dark eyes that make you believe he’s thinking all kinds of wicked things to do between the sheets. Aren’t you the least bit flattered he’s after you?”
    “He’s not after me, not the way you mean,” I said too quickly, relieved when Simon poked his head out of the security booth and waved before pointing to the phone pressed against his ear. “He’s a businessman first, and he wants something, I can feel it. I just haven’t figured out what it is, and quite frankly, I have much larger issues at the moment.” They didn’t come much bigger than Isaac.
    “Well, I say no woman could possibly say no to that tasty piece of pie. You are human, after all.”
    I winced, glad to have her at my back. She’d asked about my origins in a hundred different ways over the years before she’d given up and taken me at my word. Each time the lie passed my lips, it chipped another sliver off of my heart. Her observance, though beneficial in our line of work, had made it hard to hide my secrets from her.
    “I’m a woman with standards, Harper. Unlike you, I won’t crawl into bed with any man who offers, no matter how pretty his packaging might be, nor with one who dangles a Twinkie in my direction.”
    “Hey, I have standards, they’re just different from yours. And if it’s his Twinkie he’s dangling in front of me, well…”
    “Harper Fox!” Laugher burst out of me, harmonizing with her giggles until she took up moaning again. The memory of Dom’s worried gaze stole away the rest of my humor. “I feel like a wretch for leaving Dominic to deal with Gerry. He looked so frightened right before he shut us into the van.” And more, he appeared determined. I hoped he wasn’t planning to do anything stupid on my behalf.
    “He talks about you like you’re an untouchable Amazon warrior, Lou. He’s scared for you because he doesn’t know you well enough yet to know he shouldn’t be.”
    I squinted at that. “What do you mean?”
    “We’ve