3. Reese
Chapter 3
Reese
“ Y ou’re hired.” I sat back in my chair with a smile. I felt so much confidence in his abilities. Surely a vampire would be able to look at my situation in a new way.
I told myself I wouldn’t get involved with someone, but damn, Wolfie was cute. I adored his stilted way of speaking. The way his dark eyes gleamed when he looked my way. And the sweet way he showed off his hint of a tan. “When can you start?”
“This instant.” He stood, looming over me and Tracy. Since I found this position appealing, my heart fluttered, smacking my ribcage.
Wolfram’s gaze homed in on my neck. Could he hear my racing pulse?
Tracy looked like she was going to pass out and slump onto the floor.
“Perfect.” Standing, I struggled not to sound giddy. I get to hang out with Wolfie. I get to hang out with Wolfie, I sang in my mind. “How will we handle this?”
“Reylor has paperwork you’ll need to complete,” he said. “And I’ll ensure you receive it within a day or two.”
“That’s fine.”
“I shall travel with you to your abode and survey the situation,” he said. “I’ll need to remain close to you at all times to ensure nothing and no one harms you.”
Sounded wonderful to me. “Will you turn into a bat and cling to my gutter above my front door or . . .” I wasn’t joking. Not too much. Why did I have an overwhelming urge to tease him?
“I’m capable of assuming mist form, and it’s quite common for a vampire such as myself to utilize this means of travel, but I do not take on the form of a bat,” he drawled.
His stilted way of talking should be a total turn-off, but it made my skin tingle instead. Perchance it was his drawl. Or what I took for flames flickering in his dark eyes.
No, I told myself sternly. There were no flames in his eyes. He was looking at me as one might a client, not as a woman he wanted to slip between the sheets with.
As for me, I’d bet anything flames blazed in my eyes.
Was I developing a crush on my vampire bodyguard or was this just a transient thing? He could be married, with seventeen born vampire children.
“Are you married?” I asked.
Tracy gasped. “This hardly matters.”
“If he is, she might not like him spending all his time with me,” I said, implying I would be willing to accommodate whatever needs his vampiress wife might ask for.
“I have not yet had the honor of wedding anyone,” he said. “Though I do believe that time will be upon me soon.”
“Why?” Tracy asked, standing again. “Sperm count getting low?”
“Tracy!” I stared at my assistant, wondering what had gotten into her. “You can’t say things like that to Wolfie.”
“Wolf, if you’ll be so kind, please,” he said, his eyes sparkling when he looked my way.
“You don’t like me being assertive, huh?” Tracy whirled around to face me. “Then what can I say? This situation is horrifying. I can’t believe you’re hiring a blood sucker to be your bodyguard. That’s not any different than hiring a wolf to guard your sheep. You’re his prey , Reese. Prey!”
“She is not,” Wolfram said. “I assure you I only drink donated blood.”
“This situation between us cannot continue,” Tracy shouted.
“What do you mean?” I stared at my assistant, wondering if she’d been body swapped by aliens because she’d never behaved like this before.
“You. You’re the problem. You didn’t listen when I told you it was a huge mistake to sell your apartment in New York City and move to this wretched, backwater place. Massachusetts. Who the hell wants to live in Massachusetts?”
“I do,” I said quietly. “Cape Cod is amazing. I grew up in Mystic Harbor, and I missed it. I’ve said this numerous times.”
“It’s a middle of nowhere beach destination for tacky tourists.” From the way her gaze zipped up and down my frame, I got the feeling Tracy was lumping me in with those tourists. “I distinctly told you not to buy that ancient building near the water. It’s perched high on a steep cliff. One landslide, and you and the money you’ve wasted will slide into the sea.”
“Tracy.” I slumped in my chair, stunned by this woman I’d called a friend. “It’s gorgeous, both the house and the view. And the inspectors and structural engineer signed off on it. It’s not going to slide into the sea.” I gaped up at Wolf, who was scowling at Tracy, his hands clenched to fists at his sides. “I’m sorry. I had no idea she felt this way.”
“As for the shells spelling out Leave Town ,” Tracy minced in a pretend, high-pitched voice, “and the lipstick writing on your mirror, I think you did it yourself. The blender was a fluke you tossed in to make all this sound serious.”
“Why would I do something like that?” I asked, now hurt more than stunned. This woman had worked with me for four years, and I’d always considered her a friend. Yet, all this time, she must’ve resented me.
“To draw attention.” Her face screwed up into a caricature of herself. “Please help me, everyone,” she mimicked. “Someone’s trying to scare me! You’re a drama queen, and I’m telling you right now that you’d better straighten up fast or else.”
I stood, returning her glare, my voice deadly. “Or else what, Tracy? I’ll remind you of who employs who in this situation.”
“Well fuck you,” Tracy snarled. “I hate you. And I hate even more that I’m locked in an office right now with a predator who’s eager to drain all my blood.”
“The door is not locked,” Wolf said with the hitch of one dark eyebrow. His thin lips twitched. “And you can trust that I’ll never seek your blood.”
“Predator,” Tracy shrieked. She raced around Wolfram’s desk and started smacking his chest, screaming at the top of her lungs that he was trying to kill her.
“Tracy, stop!” I flung myself across the top of the desk, skidding and tumbling toward the floor on the other side.
Surprisingly, I didn’t hit the hardwood surface, because Wolfram did a misty thing and melted away from Tracy only to reappear beneath me.
“Oh, um.” I braced my palms on his chest, levering myself up enough to look down on him. His heart beat at a furious pace behind his ribs, the heavy thuds vibrating up my arms. “Thank you for saving me from getting hurt.”
“Performing my duties admirably already, am I not?” he asked.
If I hadn’t caught the gleam in his eyes, I’d think he was completely serious. I liked that he could joke about something like this.
“I didn’t realize vampires had beating hearts.” I smoothed my hands across his chest, wishing I could undo some buttons and touch his skin. Would it be cool or warm?
A shudder ripped through him, and I thought he’d mistify again, but he remained where he was, his body throbbing beneath mine. Of course, I’d made up the word “mistify,” and now I liked it.
His gaze focused on my mouth before it glided to my throat where my pulse beat as feverishly as his. “Now your blood, I would gladly taste.”
“See? See?! I quit,” Tracy raged, glaring down at me straddling Wolfram with our groins lined up perfectly and him doing nothing to make me ease away from his stiffening cock.
But wait. What did Tracy just say?
“Excuse me?” I should be looking up at her, but all I could do was stare into Wolfram’s gorgeous dark eyes.
In fantasy romances, it was said the fae could lull a person and make them do whatever they pleased.
Could vampires do the same thing?
“I said I quit,” Tracy fumed.
With that, she rushed to the door, wrenched it open, and stomped out into the hall.