Return of the Ascendant (The Ascendant Series) by Raine Thomas

it couldn’t have been. He was just answering her question.
    Turning back to Sem, she asked, “Can you hear thoughts, too?”
    He shrugged. “I can hear Ty’s thoughts since he’s the Dem-Shyr , and if I’m assigned to protect someone, I can read theirs.”
    “So you can read mine?”
    “Only the Dem-Shyr can read the Ascendant’s thoughts.” Seeing her look of relief, he grinned. “Glad that I can’t hear your inappropriate thoughts about me, Kyra?”
    Ty gave them both a quelling look.
    “Mr. Dane,” came a female voice, making them all look over. “I’m Rinaldi. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
    Kyra watched as a gorgeous woman stepped next to Margo. She must have come out of the door behind the counter. Ty was blocking most of her view, so she wasn’t sure. Margo gave a slight bow and made a discreet disappearance, leaving the four of them alone at the counter. Sem urged Kyra forward until they stood closer to Ty.
    It took her a moment to process the reality that Rinaldi wasn’t a fifty-year-old, rotund Italian guy. The last person she’d been expecting was this tall, model-thin bombshell with long, strawberry-blonde hair, striking sapphire blue eyes, and an Armani suit. Next to her, Kyra felt like a dwarfish hobo.
    And when Rinaldi looked at Ty with more than just friendly interest, Kyra wanted to leap over the counter and leave a mark on her flawless face.
    Ty glanced at her, reminding her that he could read her thoughts. Heat scorched her cheeks as she pretended to be interested in the aging ceiling tiles. Why the hell was she reacting this way to a guy she’d only known for a few hours?
    You’ve known him much longer than that , an inner voice told her.
    That brought her gaze back down from the ceiling. Of course . It wasn’t like she’d really never met him before. If he was her assigned Mynder, surely they’d known each other before she ended up on Earth. And it wasn’t likely that his appearance had altered that much over time, so if she was attracted to him now, that meant she had probably been attracted to him before.
    She tuned back into the conversation when Rinaldi’s eyes widened and latched onto her. “Of course, Dem —Mr. Dane. I’ll take care of it immediately. Give me a couple of minutes and I’ll escort you through security myself.”
    Ty didn’t respond. He took Kyra’s arm and led her a short distance away as Rinaldi picked up the phone and began issuing orders.
    “Didn’t she know who you were when she saw you?” Kyra asked Ty, curious about the other woman’s reaction. “I got the impression that you’re some kind of bigwig on Alametria. Shouldn’t she know your face?”
    “She knew who I was,” he said.
    Kyra waited for him to explain. It had been obvious to her, at least, that Rinaldi was surprised by their presence. When he didn’t, she looked at Sem.
    “She recognized him,” her friend explained. “She didn’t recognize you.”
    Her mouth opened on another question, but Rinaldi said, “Right this way, Mr. Dane.”
    Ty once again took her arm. She was beginning to expect it. They followed Rinaldi through the terminal, bypassing security through a special line. Kyra had no idea how or why, but whatever Rinaldi showed the security guard and said to him had them walking on to the gates without incident.
    Every so often, Rinaldi looked over her shoulder and caught Kyra’s eye. It was like she wanted to say something or ask her a question. After the fourth time, Kyra almost blurted out a “What?” But Ty gave her arm a squeeze and she bit her tongue.
    They traveled to a part of the airport Kyra had never seen. It was a lower level leading right out to where the planes were fueled. Her eyebrows rose towards her hairline as Rinaldi led them to what was clearly a private plane. It was smaller, sleeker, and fancier-looking than anything Kyra had ever seen outside of movies or TV.
    A man and a woman stood at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the plane.