He chuckled. “He’s probably heard of me.”
“Because of the Famous guy’s daughter?” I asked.
“Yeah. Because of that.”
I narrowed my eyes, realizing he’d never answered my question about PDAs. “Why is that a problem, again? PDA are bad there or what?”
A voice shouted from somewhere out of sight on his end. “Not another one! Why are you like this Qhev’in?”
Qhev groaned. “My manager,” he said. “I have to go, gorgeous. Send me your Eissoini’s name. Call you later.” With a wink, he ended the call.
I looked at Mr. Darcy. “Alien boys are strange,” I said. “But honestly, about what I’d expect.” He meowed, and I nodded. “Right. You wanted to watch the Vampires.”
We watched most of the first season, and I was getting tired, so I left the TV going for Mr. Darcy and went to get ready for bed. I slipped into a satin cami and short set and pushed my hair back with a big, puffy headband made of terry cloth. I flossed, brushed my teeth, and was halfway through my skincare routine when my phone started burbling with another BMM call. I swiped with my pinky to answer while I continued smoothing serum on my face.
“It’s getting kind of late for me,” I said. “I’m getting ready for bed.”
“Then I caught you just in time,” said a much deeper, rougher voice than Qhev’s.
I looked down at my phone on the counter with a gasp. “Yiri.”
Oof, he was handsome.Wherever he was, the light was a low ambient glow, throwing the hard lines of his face into sharp relief. As I watched, he reached back and pulled his shirt over his head. There was something dark on the material, but he tossed it aside before I could see what it was.
“You were expecting someone else,Aneah?” he asked, one dark brow arching as he turned to the side and faced a mirrorinstead of the camera. He lifted his arm and twisted, inspecting the skin of his upper flank.
“Oh my god,” I said, nearly dropping my serum. “Are you bleeding? Is that a cut?”
“I’m fine,” he said gruffly, using a cloth to wipe away most of the blood. “Who did you think was calling? Your friendQhev?” He made a face when he said the name, but it could have been because of all the fresh blood oozing out of the cut below his arm.
“Yes,” I said. “We talked earlier. And heismy friend, actually. He’s not looking for a bride. Or a mate.”
“Hmm.” He still studied his injury in the mirror, cleaning it again, and then aiming a small device at it. He sucked in a sharp hissing breath as bright blue light hit his skin in a slowly traveling beam. Wherever it touched, the skin knit back together, leaving an angry red line behind.
“Yiri, seriously, what happened?” I watched the process with morbid fascination. “How did you get hurt?”
“Swimming,” he said.
I threw up a hand, annoyed. “What were you doing? Swimming with sharks or something?”
His head canted to the side for a moment before he glanced at the camera. “Yes,” he said matter-of-factly. “It seems our cekets are very similar to your sharks.” He paused. “I think your sharks are larger. Cekets are this long.” He spread his hands about four feet apart, and then changed their position, showing me a vertical measurement of about a foot and a half. “About this much girth. They swarm at night. I was out too late.”
“Um. Okay. The man swims with sharks.” I said, shaking my head. “He laughs in the face of danger.”
“How did you know,Aneah?” He asked with a rakish, quasi smile.
Stop it ovaries. This one’s trouble.Big, tattooed, muscular trouble.
“I know your type,” I said. “Tough guys.”
“Tough guys,” he repeated under his breath, but I saw another almost smile cross his face as he pulled a fresh shirt on, covering up a lot of stuff I wasn’t done looking at.
Frowning, I returned my gaze to my own mirror and finished putting on my serum. “How was work?” It seemed polite to ask.
“Productive,” he said. “I made some personnel changes that will be beneficial to my family’s business. How was your day?”
“Good,” I said. “I did some things around my apartment that I haven’t had time for with work.”
“And you’re tired now?” he asked, his focus back on me. I watched his eyes trace over everything my camera was catching, and then took another look in the mirror.
