Warmth spirals through my chest.
“I’m glad you approve.” I close the door behind us and drop my human glamour, pleased to see my assistant has already set up the conference table with the takeaway I requested. “Let me take your coat.”
She removes the conservative dark gray trench coat and hands it over, revealing...
For fuck’s sake, Westlyn Avery. It’s possible you’ve found a way to send an immortal to his grave.
I take in the outfit, head to toe. Thigh-high black leather boots that are already giving meverybad ideas. A black leather skirt that laces up the sides, entirely inappropriate for the office. Some sort of strappy black leather-and-metal halter top that leaves very little to the imagination and is somehow evenlessappropriate than the skirt.
“Draegan? You still with me?” She waves a hand in front of my face, her eyes bright. “You zoned out for a minute there.”
“Miss Avery, when I said to wear something inconspicuous tonight…” I clear my throat, trying like hell to keep my eyes on hers and not on all that smooth, bared skin. “It seems something was lost in translation.”
“It’s New York City! This istotallyinconspicuous. Besides, Jude ordered me a bunch of new clothes. I wanted to try them out.” She laughs, flipping her long hair over her shoulder. “And if you think theoutfitis extra, you should see the bras and panties he—”
I hold up a hand, cutting her off before my heart bloody stops.
“Have a seat at the table. I’ll be right with you.” I force a polite smile, then bury myself in the closet, taking my time hanging up her coat. Of all the negotiations I thought I’d be engaging in tonight, trying to convince my cock to settle down wasnotone of them.
“What’s all this?” Westlyn asks when I finally join her at the table.
“I’ve only just sent word to Mr. Klaiburn—we’ve got some time before he arrives. I figured you might be hungry, so I had my assistant order in for us.”
“Wait. You… have an assistant?”
“Oh, yes. He’s worked for us for years. Joshua Barrons, he goes by now, though I’m not sure what his original name is. It’s impolite to ask.”
“I take it he’s not human?”
“Fae. We don’t have many employees at Blackmoor—we prefer to handle most things ourselves, and we use subcontractors for the few tasks we can’t or don’t want to deal with. As for the rest, we’ve adopted astrictno-humans policy. Given the nature of our work, we can’t risk the potential exposure.”
“Is he still here? Can I meet him?”
“No.” I pull out one of the leather executive chairs and gesture for her to take a seat. “Like any good employee, Joshua knows the fine art of making himself constantly available, yet entirely unseen.”
Westlyn doesn’t take her seat. She just stares at the food, absently chewing on her thumbnail.
“Far be it from me to criticize your sophisticated palate,” I tease, “but I’m almost certain the takeaway is better than your thumbnail.”
She lowers her hand and smiles, but doesn’t make a move to sit. “Thanks, but I think I’m too nervous to sit, let alone eat.”
“Miss Avery. I’m quite certain you haven’t eaten tonight.”
She laughs. “How could you possibly know that?”
“Before we left Blackmoor, you spent the first hour of your evening engaged in a thorough… ahem… non-discussion with Jude, followed by a shower and entirely too much time getting dressed, considering what little clothing you’re actually wearing. There was also an unscheduled wandering of the orchard with Lucinda and Huxley… I very nearly left you there.”
“I wasn’twandering.” She heads over to the massive windows, gazing out across the city. “Jean-Pierre was in town. We were catching up.”
“Catching up?”
“He’s not as comfortable around new people as his siblings, so he’s been keeping a low profile. He brought me this, though.” She turns toward me again, fingering the jeweled hairpin fastened above her ear. “He’s thoughtful like that.”
“I’m sure he is.” I try not to sigh. “You still haven’t mentioned eating anything.”
“I had a latte.”
Leaving her chair pulled out, I take a seat at the head of the table, shaking out a cloth napkin and placing it in my lap. “You’re a human girl, and you need to eat real food. You can’t subsist on caffeine and sugar.”
