“You have got to stop appearin’ out of nowhere.”
“You smiled at your phone,” he points out.
“That’s not illegal.”
“It should be.”
I bite back another grin while looking down at the screen.
Alexei: You can fix that. Dinner tonight.
Then I type carefully.
I’m startin’ to think your house might be dangerous for me.
Three dots appear almost immediately.
Alexei: And yet you’re still coming tonight.
My shiver runs down my spine. I smile harder.
“Maggie,” Jules says with deep concern, “you’re glowing. It’s upsettin’.”
“Oh hush.”
He studies me for another second. Then his eyes warm despite himself.
“Well,” he murmurs, “I hope he deserves you.”
That takes me by surprise. Under all the teasing and drama, that’s who Jules really is—protective, loyal, always on my side.
I bump my shoulder lightly against his while walking past him toward the hallway. “You’re stuck with me, you know.”
“Unfortunately.”
“I mean it.”
One corner of his mouth lifts. “I know, honey.”
Then Kevin screeches from the lobby like a tiny banshee.
Jules closes his eyes. “That cat is going to be the death of me.”
I laugh as we head toward the noise together. And for a little while, with the barking dogs, Jules’s constant jokes, and Kevin causing trouble, I almost believe my life still makes sense. Almost.
9
ALEXEI
The phone remains in my hand long after Maggie’s last message.
Maggie: I’m startin’ to think your house might be dangerous for me.
A slow grin threatens the corner of my mouth before I force it away.
Dangerous.
If Maggie understood even half of what exists beneath the surface of my life, she would stop calling this place dangerous for the reasons she imagines.
