Chapter Sixteen
A sweep of black across her eyelids and a flick of mascara was as much as Verity had time for. Yanking the hem of her dress down for what must have been the hundredth time, she ran out of the cafe bathroom, threw her work clothes behind the counter and grabbed her handbag.
“Holy hells, look at the pins on her!” Cora heckled as she cleaned tables. Half the customers turned to look with nods and smirks.
“Stop it,” Verity snapped. “I’m so late.”
“Make him wait,” a man called, and Verity turned on him.
“Don’t you encourage her.”
He laughed. “As if she needs encouraging.”
Just two nights into the contract from Elliot, and the cafe was buzzing non-stop.
Most of the customers were from out of town, visiting for training courses.
One meal at Cora’s, served with her special brand of wild sweetness, and many chose to come back for the morning rather than sitting in their hotels or bars.
It felt homely and casual and everyone loved Cora. Verity couldn’t be happier.
Cora ran over, pulling out a tissue to wipe at the black smudge of eye shadow. “I mean it, you look fucking gorgeous. Adam’s gonna just eat you up.” She made slurping noises and Verity turned on her heel, heading for the door.
Lying to Cora was horrible. She felt awful when her friend accepted her every word so easily, and positively dreadful when she jumped about, excited for her best-friend.
“I know it’s only the second date, but I wouldn’t judge you…” Cora sang out across the room.
“Stop it or I’m calling in sick tomorrow!” Verity called, slipping out and searching the street.
There, at the next junction, sat a familiar SUV. The engine burst to life as she ran up and opened the door.
“Do you even check your phone?” Theo asked.
“I do.”
“Then reply to my messages,” he snapped but Verity was having none of it.
“If you’re gonna be a dick, this is going to be a very long morning,” she warned, pulling the sun visor down to examine her makeup again.
“You look nice.”
“Nice?” Who wants to be told they look nice. “I look like a fucking panda.” Theo’s snort marked the end of her resolve. “Fuck’s sake!” She scrubbed at the makeup, desperate to get it off but only making the corner of her eye sore.
“Stop, Verity. Stop that. You look good.”
“Good?” Good was hardly better than fine!
The car pulled over and Theo turned, grabbing her face with one hand and licking the thumb of the other.
“Don’t you fucking dare!” she raged, pulling away.
“It’ll sooth the irritation,” he said, lunging for her with his thumb.
“Eww! No!”
“Hold still or I’ll lick you!”
“Theo!”
“You don’t usually mind.”
“That’s different!”
Wrestling him off was all the more frustrating because she knew he could pin her if he really wanted to. Instead, he let her grab his hands and push his chest, touches that were entirely unprofessional but in a moment would need to be as natural as breathing.
“Are you trying to piss me off on purpose?” she asked, eyes rolling when he smirked.
“No, I’m trying to help.”
With one last shove she pushed him away and leant back to look out the window.
“You look beautiful, Verity. Truly.”
Her heart kicked and she hated the way the words softened her irritation.
Turning to him she paused, noticing the box in his hand. Small, black with a golden insignia on top.
“Jewellery?” she asked, looking between Theo and the box. “Theo, I can’t.”
“Well, it is Valentine’s Day. I couldn’t turn up empty handed. We are meant to be a couple after all.” He extended the box, frowning when she didn’t move. “You’re right, Verity. It’s going to be a very long night if you don’t play along.”
Opening the box, he pulled a fine gold chain ending in a sparkling flower. The snap of the box closing made Verity jump, and she looked up to see Theo chewing his lip, brows drawn.
“Just leave it in the car later if you don’t want it,” he said, fiddling with the clasp.
“Can I see?” she asked, taking the flower in her hand for a better look, and holy gods. “Are they diamonds?” she asked. It sparkled like a night’s sky, each petal covered in tiny chips of moonlight.
“If you don’t want it…” he started again, but Verity cut in.
“It isn’t that I don’t want it. I was just… surprised.”
She ran her fingers over each petal before turning her back to him and holding her hair out of the way. Cool fingers brushed against her neck sending shivers down her spine, as he fixed the necklace in place.
“I just thought,” he mumbled. “That once all this is done, you can have something to remember this Ostara by. Not that you’d want to remember.”
“As if I could forget,” she said, examining the necklace in the mirror. “It’s beautiful, Theo. Thank you.”
Putting the car into gear, he nodded but didn’t look convinced. “No worries.”
The rest of the drive passed in silence, Theo’s hands tight on the wheel, brows drawn unable to relax. Pulling into the valet he heaved a sigh. “Ready?” he asked, and Verity shrugged.
“Probably not but it’s too late now.”
SubRosa was heaving. Pink light bathed the dance floor where every inch overflowed with couples dancing and writhing in each other’s arms. The centre looked almost choreographed with graceful twirls and the occasional lift, but the closer to the edge, the messier, more lustful the dancing became.
There was kissing, there was biting, and there was blood.
The plan was simple. A couple of drinks, a couple of dances, talk to as many people as possible and no private rooms. The night with Theo’s friends was the soft launch, the practice run before presenting a united front to the masses. This was the real test.
The past week might have made Verity feel more comfortable at Theo’s side, made it feel almost natural as his hand slid into hers, but the scene unfolding before them reminded her why this was necessary.
She thought back to uni, to the way boys would roam dance floors in packs, searching for a pretty face and a good time.
Only these weren’t boys, and they were hunting for far more than a bit of fun.
“You okay, angel?” Theo murmured in her ear, as his hand slid around her waist, pulling her into his side as they approached the bar.
Angel? Her eyebrow quirked in question, but she supposed there was no harm in looking a little… cutesy.
“Fine,” she replied, letting him press her against the bar as he had before.
Not now, she begged her core when he leant over her to order their drinks; but lightning shot between her legs at the feel of his fingers digging into her flesh, holding her against his chest.
“Tell me, Verity, do you waltz?” he asked.
A most unladylike snort escaped her lips and Verity shook her head. “When on earth would I have learnt to waltz?”
She turned to look at him, eyes level with his fang tipped smile as he said, “I’ll teach you, once we’ve made the rounds.”
Verity was about to protest when the bartender placed two glasses of champagne and two whiskeys in front of them. Liquid courage was one thing, but Theo had been deadly serious about not getting drunk.
He’d been deadly serious about a lot of things going as far as insisting on a safe word, seeing as the nose scratch had some obvious flaws.
So, they settled on the word “coin”. He even made her practice a few phrases to ensure she’d be ready if need be.
Two sides of the same coin, flip a coin, to coin a phrase.
“I’m not sure I should…” she said, pointing at the drinks and watching as Theo tipped one whiskey into the other and knocked them both back with a wink.
“Wow,” Verity said, reaching for her champagne. “That’s gross.”
“Gross?” Theo exclaimed, leading her away from the bar with a hand on the small of her back.
“I thought people only drank whiskey to get drunk. How can you drink that stuff with a straight face?”
“Because I’m a grown-up and I like it?” Theo said.
Verity hated whiskey, hated the burn, but the smell of it on his breath was different. Holding her close, his tongue curled around a fang as he tasted the alcohol on his lips and every thought evaporated from her head.
One thing they hadn't discuss was whether Theo planned on feeding tonight. After seeing so many vampires drinking from a partner’s neck, Verity was desperate to try. Her head tilted, exposing her bare neck to him. It was against regulations, of course, but would he do it anyway? If she asked?
His eyes trailed from hers to her lips, her neck. Maybe she wouldn’t need to ask, judging by the darkness enveloping his eyes maybe he would just take what he wanted.
He lowered his mouth to her ear but before he could speak a woman called out, “Theo!” A vampire threw her arms around him before kissing both cheeks. “I haven’t seen you in an age! How are you?”
The woman held him at arm’s length, drinking in the image of him, and Verity’s blood boiled. How dare this woman barge in like that? She wanted to slap her hands away but instead stood there like an idiot, waiting to be acknowledged.
“Hello Liz,” Theo smiled, only irritating Verity further, until his eyes caught hers and the woman turned to look at her and the scowl on her face.
“Oh gods,” she cried, pulling away and pushing Theo back towards Verity. “I’m sorry! Look at me taking you away from your valentine.”
Theo’s arm wrapped back around Verity as he looked down at her. “This is Verity. Verity, this is Liz.”
“Lovely to meet you,” Liz said but before she could reply another vampire appeared, shaking Theo’s hand, and then another and another and suddenly they were surrounded.
Theo gave her side a little squeeze as everyone talking over each other, vying for the Lord Mayor’s attention and Verity became all but invisible. She supposed it was easier that way, being ignored, no one expecting her to contribute to discussions about people and places she had never heard of.
“Have you been with Lord Chapel long?” a voice asked. Verity turned to find a human smiling at her - a short woman with a petal-pink bob.
“A couple of months,” she replied, sipping her champagne before extending her hand. “Verity.”