Julien picked up his phone and pushed a button on the base. “Stella, I’d like some coffee please. Hold on.” He looked up at Emory. “Would you like some? Or a bottle of water?”
“Water would be great. Thanks.”
Julien asked for that as well, then stood, slightly stretching his back as he turned his attention on Emory. He frowned. “It feels ridiculous to have you standing around when nothing is going on. It’s possible that…creature…lost interest.”
“It hasn’t. It’s been here all afternoon.”
Blue eyes widened. “That’s interesting. I felt its magic last night, but I’m not sensing it now at all. You can tell?”
Emory nodded. “I can feel its magic, though it’s a little difficult because you have a lot of beings of magic working here. Is that on purpose?”
“It was at first. I’ve always been able to see you. After I hired the first few preternaturals, apparently word got out that this was a friendly company, so more came to apply. Even my CFO is something more, though he doesn’t know that I’m aware of that. You’ll no doubt meet him if this arrangement lasts for more than a couple of days.”
“You expect it won’t?”
Julien lifted an eyebrow. “I expect you to catch it.”
“I will do my best, but it may take more than a couple of days. Penumbras are notoriously difficult to pin down. Why didn’t you ask that CFO to try and trap it?”
“I’m a very private man. I prefer my employees not be brought in on a personal issue.”
His assistant brought in the drinks, giving Julien his coffee first before handing a bottled water to Emory. This time, she didn’t stare, instead keeping a perfectly professional expression as she stopped at the door. “Did you need anything else, Mr. Davenport?”
“You can go for the day, Emily. I’ll need the Baring reports in the morning.”
She nodded and left the room.
Julien sipped his coffee, that piercing gaze back on Emory. He said nothing, just stared, and Emory had to resist the urge to squirm a bit under that penetrating gaze. Normally, it wouldn’t bother him in the least—he was used to people staring. Even the ones who saw nothing more than his streaked blond hair, gray eyes and quick smiles. He knew he was a good-looking man, andit wasn’t arrogance. It was just fact. That and the angel part of him seemed to affect everyone.
But Julien’s regard felt…sharper. Heavier. And Emory couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking because nothing in his expression gave his thoughts away.
“I’ve changed my mind about staying late tonight,” Julien announced as he picked up a briefcase off the floor and began stacking folders inside it. “I live in Discovery Park, so I’m only a few minutes away. I have a guest room for you.” He set a laptop inside the briefcase. “When I leave the office early, I use my home gym before dinner. You’re welcome to join me.”
“In the gym or for dinner?” Emory couldn’t help but ask.
“I meant dinner, but you are welcome to use the gym as well. I normally use it in the morning as well, but I was distracted today.”
“Having a penumbra after you would do that.”
“It’s an annoying disruption.” He paused and gave Emory a very direct stare. “I do not like disruptions in my carefully constructed world.”
Emory got the feeling those words were some kind of warning.
Chapter Five
Julien
A part of Julien relaxed when his yellow house came into view. It had a wide front porch he never used, and though it was a two-story, it technically had four levels, including the basement he’d turned into a laundry room and gym. He couldn’t help but wonder what Emory thought of the house because it certainly didn’t fit what people usually saw in Julien. It was warmer and cozier. Two things Julien was not. He’d been told that often enough the two times he’d actually tried being in relationships. Both women had gotten fed up fast with him. Since the last one had ended over a year before, he’d been alone, and it was honestly better for him.
Though he did miss sex.
He glanced into his rearview mirror to find Emory still behind him in his black SUV. For some reason, the angel made him miss sex more, and he couldn’t imagine why because he’d never been attracted to a man. Thing was, Emory was absolutely beautiful and almost ethereal in that beauty. It probably had something to do with him being an angel. But if the lore ofheavenly angels wasn’t true, then neither was their apparent inherent goodness.
Emory had one hell of a wicked cast to the prettiest lips Julien had ever seen. The upper lip jutted out in a sort of reverse pout. It invited biting. Tasting. The fact that those thoughts entered his mind surprised him.
Emory also emanated goodness in a way Julien would have expected from an angel. But if an angel was just another species and not one of those mythical good and magical beings, then why the light? Fuck, it was confusing.
He did not like confusing.
