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I nod. “Perfect. The two men I have in mind are both shifters, but they’re capable of siring children with a witch or half-witch. Though chances are the offspring would be shifters, as well. Would that be a problem for your sister? Having shifter children? If so, there’s a merman on the council of elders but he spends most of his time in the ocean. He isn’t the most sociable person or particularly charming upon first meeting.”
Blaire frowns. “Yeah, I’m going to say no on the merman and yes on the shifters. At least for now. Mostly because I’m confused about how a man with a fish tail is able to make babies and because Annie is afraid of the water. She never learned to swim.”
“Mer-people have legs when they’re on land,” I say, lips hooking up on one side, “as well as all the necessary baby-making parts.”
“Huh. Good to know,” she says, her cheeks flushing pink.
“Are you blushing?” I ask, enjoying this chink in her tough-girl armor.
“No,” she scoffs. “At least not for the reason you think. The truth is…” She exhales and drags a hand through her hair. “You can’t tell anyone about this, okay? If I tell you? Not even Colin or any of your other brothers. It stays between us. Top secret.”
I nod. “All right. I promise.”
She pulls in a breath and confesses in a rush, “Annie’s never had sex. I know that seems weird, since she’s thirty-four and everything, but we led a very isolated life. There were only a few boys in the village near our cabin and we’d known them our entire lives. They were like our brothers. But Annie is a homebody. She never wanted to join the rest of us when we went boy hunting in other towns. She was happy with her books and her quilting club and—anyway.” She shakes her head. “The point is she doesn’t know how important sexual compatibility is to a relationship. She has no idea that not all kisses or touches or butt squeezes are created equal. She doesn’t know that her fiancé’s touch should make her tingle all over and that if it doesn’t, that’s a problem. A big one.”
“So, Colin…” I lean against the cabinet beside her as I add in a softer voice, “He doesn’t make her tingle?”
She shakes her head. “No. I don’t think so. No offense to him, he’s a good-looking guy and is okay to be around when he’s not in a bad mood, but…you know how it is. Tingles don’t always make sense.”
My gaze travels over her frizzy curls, sweat stained shirt, and mannish overalls. “No,” I murmur, “they most certainly don’t.”
When my gaze returns to hers, she’s smiling a knowing, almost sympathetic smile.
“What?” I ask.
“Nothing,” she says, glancing down to her knees. “I’m just…” She lifts her eyes again, sending a sizzle across my skin as her gaze locks with mine. “I’m glad we’re on the same page.”
“Me, too,” I say. “Though I confess I have no idea which of the eligible men in town will be to your sister’s taste.”
She waves a hand. “Leave that to me. Just point me toward the two shifters tonight. I’ll be able to tell if either of them has potential. She needs someone soft-spoken, but intense, who loves to read and think and share ideas as much as she does. And with intense, moody brown eyes, I think. Like one of the heroes from her gothic novels.”
Colin loves all of those things and possesses a fine pair of moody eyes—though they’re blue not brown—but I don’t mention this to Blaire. Colin and Annie might share a love of books, but that isn’t enough to sustain a marriage, and this meeting isn’t about finding areas where they’re compatible.
I hold my tongue as she rattles off a few other traits she thinks might get her sister’s tingles going and agree to meet her at dusk at the renovated barn near downtown. It’s where we hold the harvest celebration every year and where Colin and Annie will make their first joint offering to the earth mother at the bonfire tonight.
With the meeting set, she hops off the counter and collects her pack from the floor near the island. “All right. I’ll see you then. If I’m a few minutes late, don’t worry. I’m installing shelves for Sally this afternoon. I don’t think it will take more than a couple of hours, but that depends on whether she was able to get the materials on the list I gave her or if I have to swing into the hardware store myself.”
Trailing her to the backdoor leading out to the patio and the bluff trail, I ask, “But you will make time to shower and change into something more suitable, I presume.”
She turns back to me with her hand on the door. “Why are vampires so obsessed with fashion? It’s weird.”
“I’m not obsessed with fashion; I’m concerned about your smell.”
“I don’t smell,” she says, propping a fist on her hip. “I wear deodorant and—”
“And it doesn’t work,” I cut in. “Even now, after your hike up the hill, your scent is more intense and provocative than it was last night. And we want these men focused on your sister’s charms, not your own. If you understand my meaning.”
She looks genuinely confused for another moment, then the blush returns to her cheeks. “Are you… You mean…” She lowers her voice as she adds, “You guys think my sweat stink is…sexy?”
“I don’t,” I lie. “But werewolves are just like puppies, eager to stick their nose into the spiciest crotch.”
“Ew,” she says, her lip curling. “I resent the implication that my crotch is spicy, but yes, I’ll shower and change clothes. And put on extra deodorant. Just in case.”
“Don’t bother. I’ll bring some lavender for you to tuck into your purse. Shifters don’t care for the smell.”
Blaire nods and turns the nob. “All right. You’re the expert on supernatural stuff, but I’m the expert on Annie, okay? If I say a guy isn’t going to work, that’s it. You trust me and we move on to the next one. Got it?”
I give a mock salute.
