Draven chuckled as he sat down and put his feet in. “I think he needs some swimming pointers.”
Holy shmoley!
Draven was in board shorts and nothing else.
I about had a heart attack.
In my inattentiveness to what I was doing, my tiger’s weight shoved me underwater. I took on water like a ship that was capsizing as I tried really hard not to ogle the beautiful man with washboard abs, a chest that probably made grown women weep, and skin a burnished bronze, and swim at the same time.
I shook my head, getting the water out of my ears and nose, and swam to the pool ledge so I could avoid drowning. I cleared my throat. “A little help?”
He smiled and pushed off the edge into the water.
My tiger watched him carefully, looking like he was learning some pointers. When Draven got close enough, he got off my lap and went swimming with the vampire.
And man, could that vampire swim! I guess he technically didn’t need to breathe, so coming up for air was unnecessary, which meant that he could spend hours under the water, swimming from one end to the other. After we swam ourselves out, we got a good game of pool volleyball going, the only volleyball I could actually play. I had my familiar on my team, though I didn’t really want him because he was a ball hog. In the end, he just ended up popping the ball with his 4 inch canines and long claws, and we had to stop.
Note to self, buy Draven a new ball.
I had been trying, for the last several weeks, to ignore the feelings I was developing for my boss.
There were so many reasons why my attraction to him was a no no. At the top of that list was that I loved my new job. It was actually my dream job. And if we dated and then broke up, I didn’t know what I would do. Probably go beg a job from Rhys.
And second, I was a little damaged from my past. More than I’d realized, because the idea of opening up to someone made me feel like I was about to get up in front of ten thousand people and give a speech: sweaty hands, racing heart, the feeling that I needed to lie down, general nausea. My brain knew that supernaturals were different. That they felt different to my empathic senses. That they didn’t overwhelm or hurt me. Dravenespeciallyfelt really peaceful to me. So my brain knew this, had actually experienced it for the last several months, but my heart, I’d found, was still leery. It wanted reassurances and more data.
It seemed so much easier in books and movies. I mean, sure, there was always something keeping the couple from just diving right into a relationship right off the bat, but usually, those things seemed doable.
This. This did not seem doable.
And besides, I’d had zero indications that Draven even found me attractive. The guy was locked up tighter than Fort Knox.
We got out, and Draven immediately went to sit in a huge lounge chair under a very wide, very UV protecting umbrella. My tiger got out using the steps, shook himself off, then laid down next to me in the shade, yawning and obviously tuckered out. It was so hard being a big cat. Play, eat, sleep. Repeat.
“Did you want something from the fridge?” I asked, as I looked over my sunglasses at Draven.
He gave me a look, and then nodded. “I’ll get it. You rest.”
I slipped my sunglasses back up and laid back. Draven came back with what looked like an old-fashioned Coke bottle with dark-red fluid inside. Yeah, that was blood. I was icked out, but I refused to show it. Draven was testing me. He hadn’t yet shown any real signs of vampiness around me, and I’d been waiting for him to so I could show him I was cool with it. I wanted him to trust me. It was really important to me. Also, I wanted him to be able to fully relax around me. And so far, he’d been unable to. This was an important step for him. As an empath, I had things about me that were not convenient. I got burned out by being around people too much. I needed frequent breaks and alone time so I could detox from all the emotions swimming around me all the time. With Draven, he needed blood. End of story. And he couldn’t change that anymore than I could change my need for frequent solitude.
He popped the cap on the bottle, and plopped a straw in the liquid, before he started slurping it up like it was a soda.
“Yummy?” I asked with an eyebrow arched.
He gave me a look, and then he laughed, his shoulders settling as the tension drained out of him.
Yep. I passed.
I mentally high-fived myself.
Way to go, Mia!
I could be cool. I could be chill.
Totally. Chill.
“Yes.” And then his smile turned wicked. “Want some?” he asked, holding the bottle out to me.
My nose scrunched up. “I’m going to pass on that one, big guy. But you go to town on it.”
