“I suppose you’re right, I thought it was implied. What can I do for you this morning, Griffin?” I’m a little shaken, not only by his presence, but with the thought of someone being in my space again without my permission.
“Do you want todosomething for me, Quinn?” Griffin’s voice goes the slightest bit deeper with the question.
“I’m just wondering what I did to get back on your radar. I figured I passed the security tests when you stopped showing up all the time.” I glance at the clock. I have another hour before my first meeting is scheduled. I kind of wish I had an excuse to get him out of here. I’m finding myself wanting to tell him that someone was in my office, and I just don’t know if that’s a good idea. For all I know, it could have been him snooping around. I narrow my eyes on him. That could explain why he’s back here now, still checking up on me.
“Rest assured, Quinn, you haven’t left my radar, as you called it.” Griffin places his elbows on the arms of the chairs and steeples his fingers near his lips. “Do you always invite vampires to dine with you?”
“What?” I’m taken aback by his abrupt change in topic and the question itself.
“You invited me to lunch, Noah to breakfast…I’m just wondering if it’s a habit of yours.”
Several thoughts are running through my head at the same time. The fact that he just told me he’s a vampire, and the disgruntled tone of his voice, are just the first two. I ignore those and ask, “Would that be a problem if I did?”
Griffin’s brows rise. It doesn’t seem that he gets surprised often, and I think I just did that. “Well, considering you are not a regular donor, it could become a problem.” His face shifts again, his lips slightly turned down as well as his eyes as if the thought is unpleasant.
“Whoa, slow down. I’m not looking to become a donor…well, unless there was a shortage…is there a donor shortage? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I want to help, and if—”
Griffin cuts off my ramble with a raised palm. “No, there is not a blood shortage.”
Once my brain wraps around what he’s saying, my mouth catches up. “Are you implying because I asked you to lunch, I was offering my vein?” The last part of my question comes out as a whisper.
Griffin’s eyes darken, but it must just be some trick of the light. My gaze is drawn to his mouth when the corner of his lip pulls in, as if he’s biting the inside of his lip. I get the barest flash of a sharp white tooth before his mouth presses into a firm line. “In some instances, yes, that is what is assumed.”
I fall back into my seat, my hands slapping against my thighs in the process. “I didn’t invite Noah to breakfast, he asked to join me, or…” I try to think back on how exactly he worded it. I can’t even recall right now. That’s my first thought, to deny the fact that I invited Noah, not to assure Griffin that I had no idea he thought I was offering more than to share a table.
Griffin raises his hand to his face and draws his palm over his mouth then down his chin. “You’re human,” he announces, as if it’s news to me. “The only human living amongst a group of supernaturals.”
I swallow and nod, not quite sure where he’s going with this.
“Some among us might take advantage of you and yoursituation.” Griffin tilts his head as if to emphasize his meaning.
“Whatsituationwould you be referring to, other than the fact I’m human?”
He clears his throat and mutters a dark, “Fuck,” under his breath. Let’s be honest, cursing isn’t something new to me, or anyone else, but I’m a little surprised to hear him say it while at work. Although, he may not be technically working yet. It’s still early. I check the clock again, only seven minutes has passed since the last time I checked.
“If this is making you uncomfortable, I can ask someone else, talk to someone else,” I offer when Griffin doesn’t continue. His head snaps up again and he glares in my direction. “So, I’m going to take that as a no.”
“I am not uncomfortable. You couldn’t make me uncomfortable.” Griffin sounds the tiniest bit offended.
“Right.So, what situation do you mean?” I press, not sure I even want the answer at this point but feeling like I need to know.
“I just don’t want there to be any misunderstandings.” Griffin’s chest expands as he takes a deep breath and peers at me down his nose. “That’s all we need, some human woman running to the authorities, telling them you got bit because of your own stupidity.”
My mouth drops open at Griffin’s harsh words and tone. Holy hell, where did the open hostility come from?
I can’t even form a response, I’m so caught off guard. I look away from him and train my gaze on my desk. “If there isn’t anything else, I have some things to take care of,” I retort, when my tongue comes unglued from the roof of my mouth.
Griffin rises slowly, but I don’t allow myself to look in his direction, though I do see him out of my peripheral vision as he halts as if he has more to say. I pretend to be engrossed in my monitor instead of suffering from whiplash with his mood swing.
“Leave the door open please,” I find myself asking softly, when he grabs the knob to close it behind him. Griffin pauses again, but then walks out.
Griffin
“Fucking hell!”The curse falls from my sneered lips the moment I’m out of her human hearing range.
The door to my office, only steps from hers, springs open, with Millie poised at the entrance. She would have known exactly where I was, and exactly when I left Ms. Shaw’s office.
Millie went through her blooding several months ago, and while most newly blooded vampires yearn for fresh blood, she is still surviving off the bagged stuff and what I provided to her to ease her crossover, so her connection to me is stronger than it should be.
