“No, you need to talk to her and try to fix that horrible first impression. Drink a pouch of blood first so you don’t go over there all feral.”
I growled. “Fine.” I threw one hand up. “I’ll go be more chipper and kiss her ass like you and Lucas just did.”
Sebastian turned his hand palm up. “We weren’t kissing ass, we were being cordial,” he said. “You should try it sometime. Maybe if you got out of the house more and met people, you’d get more practice.”
“I meet plenty of people at work.” That was an exaggeration. I mostly worked alone in the lab during the night shift and barely saw anyone. “I’ll go handle it.”
I walked over to her apartment and found the door open. About to announce my presence, the words petrified in my throat. Nova faced the windows with her hand on the string. She was about to open the sun-blocking shades.
“No!” The sun! My undead heart jolted against my rib cage.
I rushed forward and tackled her. As she fell to the ground, she shrieked.
Chapter 3
Diego
Nova stared up at me with wide-eyed surprise. I was just as stunned.
My body pinned hers down. Worse, I was aware of her soft parts touching me, reminding me how long it had been since I’d been with a woman. It didn’t help subdue that rush of desire that had captured my thoughts. And her fragrance—it was right in my face now. Tackling her probably wasn’t the best option. It took all my self-control not to bend closer to her throat and sink my fangs into that enticing column of flesh.
In the next heartbeat, she shouted, “Get off me,” and tried to squirm out.
I attempted to climb up, but as she grasped me, she ended up pulling me back down. My hand landed on her breast.
“Ah!” I reacted with an unmanly high pitch and yanked my arm away.
Our joint attempts to escape this compromising situation tangled us more. When her hand accidentally brushed my semi-erect shaft, I moaned. The already mortifying situation turned exponentially worse.
When she extricated herself out of the farcical mess, she sat up, breathing hard. “Why did you just attack me?”
Aye, aye, aye. “Attackyou? You almost killed me.”
After I stood, she stared at me with confusion. “What?”
“I’m a vampire. The sunlight would fry me like an egg on a griddle.” I walked over and offered her a hand and helped her get to her feet.
She narrowed her gaze and folded her arms around herself. “Why did you sneak up on me?”
Avoiding looking at her, I replied, “I was trying to come over here and be friendly after I realized how frosty I might have come off.”While fighting an urge to taste your blood.I shrugged to feign nonchalance and mask the discomfort with how I’d botched that up with some epic flair. “So I came to welcome you properly.”
She laughed with disbelief. “I wouldn’t say there was anything proper about that greeting.”
I groaned. “Survival instinct.” When I pictured an alternative reaction that I could have taken—namely stepping back into my apartment and away from the sunny death ray—I cringed. After that unexpected reaction to her scent, I definitely wasn’t on my best behavior.
“Sorry, I tackled you.” I shuffled from one foot to the other. What could I say to fix this situation? Uh, pretty much nothing. “I’m-uh-going to go now.”
Idiot, idiot, idiot,I cursed myself.
After I headed out, leaving her bewildering aroma behind, I almost ran into Sebastian. “What happened? I heard shouting.”
I scowled at him. “Great advice, man.”
“What did you do?” he asked with stern curiosity.
I’d tackled my new landlord to avoid an excruciating death. “Listened to you. And now I’m regretting it.”
Sebastian knew nothing about being a vampire. I was better off brooding than burning.
