Instead of answering, I head for my bedroom and the books lining the one shelf on the wall. The top row is dedicated to my favorite stories, which happily includes several vampire books. I pull them all down onto the floor with me and rifle through their pages. I know the basics, but I don’t know what’s true and what isn’t. I mean, the guy was in my kitchen sucking down coffee like a trucker at a gas station.
After paging through the third book, I drop it and groan.This is crazy! I should be panicking, screaming, doing anything other thanthis.
My phone vibrates. It’s Dax again. Reluctantly, I pick up. “Hey.”
“Hey?” He sounds frantic. “First you’re late to work, then you hang up on me, and now you’re ignoring my messages? What the fuck, Millie!”
I distract myself with another book as we talk. “I’m sorry. Something came up.”
He’s quiet for a second. “It’s Ronnie, isn’t it?”
Fair assumption. Verity probably told him that she texted me, or he saw Ronnie in passing while doing the rounds. I take my bottom lip between my teeth and chew. I can’t tell him it’s because I have a vampire hiding out in my house. So I take the bait and dig my heels in, even if Ronnie is the last thing I want to lie about.
“Yeah. I just…” I pause for effect. “I’m just not ready to see her yet.”
“You should have just said that,” he grumbles. I can almost picture him slumped down in his cracked leather seat, resigned to moping in his office. “You know I’d let you have the night off if you just asked.”
“I know.” And I do. He’s a great boss. “I guess I just panicked.”
He’s quiet again, as if contemplating his next words. “I got to talkin’ to Lilah.”
“And?” I set the book in my hand down between my legs. I guess we’re talking about this whether I want to or not. “What did Lilah say?”
“Said she was happy.” I can hear the shrug in his voice. “I guess they’re getting married in the spring. Fixing up an old house, too.”
I sigh. “That’s great. Really.”
“Is it?” He hesitates to go on, waiting for me.
My earlier mission is forgotten, replaced by the echo of all my past mistakes since Ronnie broke it off. He’s trying to be my shoulder to cry on again, but I’ll admit, I don’t have a lot of tears left to shed on the subject. I cried enough when it was all over, after she made me choose between her and my job. If anything, I feel caught off guard by Ronnie and Lilah’s pending nuptials. It never struck me that the reason Lilah might have left the club in the first place was so that she could be with Ronnie instead.
“Lilah was a good friend to both of us,” I start, staring at the chipped polish on my nails. “I’m sure it was natural for the both of them to end up together. I just didn’t know anything about it.”
Not that I have a right to know anything about Ronnie’s life anymore.
“She asked about you,” he says plainly. We might have sex occasionally, but deep down, I know Dax cares about me. He cares about everyone. He’s great like that. “Lilah, I mean. I told her you were doing good and you just took some time off.”
I can’t help but smile. Always looking out. “Thanks for that. I mean it.”
“No problem.”
I hear the sound of feet on the floorboards coming down the hall. That’s my cue. “Well, I’m going to sink into a bath and order out. I’ll text you.”
“Cool,” he says. “Night, Cheeks.”
“Night,” I say, knowing I owe him a big one. Maybe I’ll surprise him with donuts and a cinnamon latte as a thank you.
“A friend?” Gray’s deep, smooth voice drifts into my room.
When I turn around, I see him toweling off his hair, wearing the same outfit from before. For someone who’s been wasting away in a church attic, he is really well built. Tall, broad-shouldered, with muscles that just touch the surface of his abdomen. I can’t help but ogle him a little. Not a lot of men can pull off a Hello Kitty tee and make it look hot. Still, the man is in need of a haircutanda new wardrobe.
“My boss, Dax.”
”Dax? What an unusual name.” Gray raises a brow. “You said he’s your employer?”
“Yes, but that’s none of your business,” I say, jutting my chin out as I cross my arms over my chest. I want to appear as if I’m in control of the situation, since my first impression went horribly wrong. “I’m not answering any more of your questions, got it?”
He lowers the towel to his shoulders and tilts his head curiously. “Is that so?”
