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Holding the door for him as he passed, Jodi was struck again by just how huge he was. It was like hosting a pro-basketball player crossed with a professional wrestler in her tiny, snug little apartment.
She and James fit here nicely, since she was the normal height for a woman and he was much less than the normal height for a man. But Vorn looked like a giant standing in the middle of her postage-stamp-sized living room.
Most of the apartment was decorated in a severe black and white motif with a black loveseat with white cushions, a round, braided, black and white rug on the floor, eggshell-white walls, and black curtains in the windows. The ebony end tables on either side of the loveseat held elegant black porcelain lamps with white shades and the pictures on the walls were framed Ansel Adams prints.
Jodi had done the decorating herself and all her friends admired it and talked about how sophisticated it looked. So she waited for Vorn to say something complimentary as he looked around her living area speculatively. But all the big Kindred said after staring around for a minute was,
“Huh.”
“Huh?” Jodi asked, frowning. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. Just wondering if this is how you see the world.” He waved one ham-sized hand around. “In black and white—in absolutes.”
Jodi glared at him, offended.
“Why you…look, the way I decorate my apartment reflects my taste—not my world views!”
“In my experience, the two usually go hand-in-hand. But whatever…” He shrugged, his big shoulders rolling under the crimson uniform shirt which looked annoyingly spectacular against his dark tan skin. “I’m here to protect you, not criticize your design choices.”
He looked down at the loveseat, which looked a little like a child’s toy beside his muscular bulk.
“I take it that’s my bed while I’m here? Or would you rather I slept outside the front door on the ground?”
“Of course I’m not going to make you sleep on the ground and there’s no way you’d fit on the loveseat. Not without breaking it,” Jodi snapped. “Just give me a minute and I’ll get my, uh, office ready for you. There’s a spare bed in there.”
Without waiting for his reply, she marched into the spare room and closed the door firmly behind her.
God, why did he get on her nerves so damn much? What was it about the big Kindred that was so damn irritating?
Well, maybe it was the fact that she was going to be losing her “play room” as she privately called it, for as long as he stayed here. Speaking of which, she needed to get a lot of things cleared away before she let him in.
Jodi stared around the small room in dismay as she realized this. She was neat to a fault, but due to lack of storage space and the complete disinterest James displayed in her more…esoteric interests, she had let herself spread out in here which left a lot of things on display.
Things that really shouldn’t be on display. At least not in polite company.
Well, they would all have to go, she decided. And since there was no way she was going to carry them out right under the big Kindred’s nose, they were all going to have to go into the tiny closet at the far end of the room.
The closet was unfortunately, already packed with seldom-used winter clothes, however. She was going to have to get creative with the space.
Well, never let it be said that she couldn’t pack creatively—or quickly. Marching to the closet, Jodi threw it open and began bundling away the contents of her playroom where Vorn would never, ever find them.
She was damned if she’d discuss her private hobby with the big Kindred—it was none of his damn business.
Six
Melli felt like a princess in the arms of her prince, being carried down the wide hallways of University mall in Liosh’s strong arms. A few of the mall patrons stared but the fact that she still had a light cast on her leg seemed to answer any questions. Most people just smiled at the considerate young man carrying the sweet young lady instead of using a wheelchair or crutches to get her around.
They found the big and tall men’s shop in the middle of the mall with no problem and Liosh carried her around to the different racks so she could pick out some clothes for him. After she’d selected several pairs of jeans and some XXX-L t-shirts she thought would fit him, he asked the store manager for a chair and made sure she was settled comfortably before going into the dressing room to try some of the things on.
He came out in the first pair of jeans and a T-shirt which had the Nike logo on it and turned slowly around for her benefit.
