“She should be more afraid of me,” I mumbled.
“Sam,” Harley warned, “be careful.”
I closed the distance between us. “I can feel your jealousy.”
She brushed me off with a swat of her hand. “Pfft. We’ve had this convo. We’re just friends with the occasional hookup. Besides, I have a date tonight.”
My brow creased. “Who’s the lucky guy?”
“None of your business.”
I moved an errant strand of hair off her face. “He better treat you right or else.”
“You know I can handle myself.”
As a vampire, she could. “It’s not your physical strength I worry about.”
She rubbed her hand up my chest before raising up on her toes and kissing me on the cheek. “You’re a great friend, Sam. Don’t let anyone tell you you’re not.” She started for the lobby desk. “I’ll let you know how my date goes. And make sure you don’t hurt that human in there.”
Heat traveled to my groin at the thought of Layla. “I can’t promise.”
She giggled as she traded places with Ruth.
The door finally opened, and Layla glided out, smiling, until she laid eyes on me. Then her expression soured.
I smirked. “Feeling’s mutual, babe.”
She narrowed her blue eyes. “Don’t call me that. I’m no one’s babe.”
My father came out a second later, reading something on his phone. “Sam.” His warning tone went in one ear and out the other.
“It’s okay, Steven,” Layla said in a downright sexy voice. “I can handle Sam.”
Not on your life.“After what I did to Rianne, are you sure about that, Red?”
My father looked at her like she was insane. “Have you forgotten I was in your head?”
His interesting reaction made me tilt my head at my old man.
She blushed, shy and sweet, sending my stomach into a whirlwind of butterflies.What the fuck?I didn’t do butterflies. I’d never had that reaction to a chick.
She addressed my father. “Can I see my sister now, please?”
My father nodded. “Layla, wait here.” He stabbed a finger toward the entrance to the lobby. “A word, Samuel.”
Once we were on the other side of the room where Layla couldn’t hear us, he said, “I see why you like her. She’s a beautiful woman.”
I reared back. “What happened to ‘I’m warning you. Nothing good can come out of getting involved with an Aberdeen.’? Or ‘I’m worried what will happen if you let your dick drive you into a situation that will start a war.’?”
He sighed. “I’m still cautioning you. She likes you, but she wants you dead, and I’m not surprised, given her background. Still, I don’t want a war between us and her family.”
I didn’t either. “Is that what you read in her mind?” Not that her wanting me dead was a surprise. Nor was the fact that she liked me—or rather lusted for me.
“I didn’t get far. She kept blocking me, much like you and Jo do when you don’t want me to know something.”
“So she’s hiding something?”
He regarded Layla, who was talking to Harley, then stepped closer to me. “I believe she is, and my gut is telling me it’s big. But she did come clean on something. She was hired by a human named Dowell. He wants you.”
