Avery’s lips parted and her eyes narrowed. “Are you kidding me?” She turned back toward Raven. “You can’t show him what your dress will look like before the wedding! This is the type of thingI’mhere for.”
“You’re right. I should have called you.” Raven grinned stiffly at her sister.
Avery’s gaze darted between the three of them. She seemed to guess there was more to the story, but she shook her head like it wasn’t worth her time. “Fine. We need to go.”
“Go where?” Raven asked.
“The cake tasting! Didn’t you get the appointment I sent you?”
Raven shrugged. Was it Saturday already? “Yes. Come help me get changed.”
She hooked her hand in Avery’s elbow and led her toward Gabriel’s old apartment, leaving the boys to clean up the mess.
Chapter Nineteen
She wasn’t sure about the wine. Rowan strode toward Nick’s apartment building, wearing a little black dress that was a few inches of fabric away from being scandalous and carrying a bottle of her favorite Malbec. Yesterday Nick had said he wanted this to be a date. A real date. But when he’d texted her later, he’d also asked her to teach him everything she knew about vampires. Not exactly date material. Was this a date or an interrogation? She wasn’t sure.
Vampire lessons made her far more uncomfortable than the idea of romance. If Nick knew how to kill a vampire, he might try to do it. But chances were he’d get himself killed in the process. As a human, he wasn’t fast enough or strong enough to survive if a coven of vampires wanted him dead. Much better if the dress and the wine set the tone for the night.
She walked right into his building and took the elevator to his floor. No security. That wasn’t good and was another sign he shouldn’t be taking on vampirekind. No, what Rowan wanted was to keep Nick safe. She’d need to ward his place against supernatural threats as soon as possible. If he insisted, she would teach him about vampires, but she planned to do everything in her power to make sure he’d never face one again.
Stopping in front of Nick’s door, she heard panting on the other side, a series of sniffs, and smelled the faint aroma of canine. That’s right, Nick had a dog. She smiled. A dog was always a good sign. A well-cared-for animal meant a man was capable of loving something other than himself and was a universal sign of trustworthiness. She raised a hand and knocked.
“Move out of the way, Rosco,” she heard Nick say. There was a tap dance of dog nails on hard floor, and then the door opened. Rowan had a difficult time keeping her mouth from popping open. Nick stood like some sort of chiseled male art form on the other side of the threshold, his broad chest stretching a plain black T-shirt at the shoulders.What must it take for a human to attain that kind of physique?she wondered.
“Wow, you look good,” he said to her. Ironic, considering she was thinking the same about him.
He ran a hand across the hard planes and valleys evident beneath his T-shirt. “Maybe I should change.”
“Why?” she blurted, then curbed her rabid and embarrassing enthusiasm for the lucky stretch of cotton clinging to his chest. “I mean, I’m the one overdressed.” She lowered her gaze to her stilettos. “When you invited me to dinner, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Last time I saw you, you said you wanted a date.”
He gave her a slow, assessing once-over. “I did… I do…” He rubbed the back of his head. “You look beautiful, and you wore exactly the right thing. I wasn’t sure what to wear for vampire-killing lessons.”
“Vampire-killing lessons?” She raised an eyebrow. “You asked me to teach youeverythingI knew about vampires. Believe me, actually trying to kill them is what I know least about, and doing so is a matter of last resort.”
He backed up and motioned inside. “Come on in before one of my neighbors hears you talking about vampires or killing. I’d never hear the end of it from my colleagues if someone called the cops.”
She stepped inside and was immediately surrounded by his sandalwood-and-spice scent. By the Mountain, her eyes almost rolled back in her head. She braced herself against the wall.
“Are you okay?”
“Fine. It smells good in here.”
He pointed his thumb toward the kitchen. “I’m making chicken. I hope you like it.”
“Love it.”
“Good. I’m just glad it doesn’t smell like Rosco.” He stared at her for a moment with a smile in his gray eyes that was so sexy she almost lost her balance again. What was wrong with her? He took the bottle of Malbec out of her hands. “Come on in. Make yourself at home. I’ll pour this.”
Turning, he walked into the kitchen area, a galley style attached to the main room, and dug in a drawer for a corkscrew. The place was simple and small but undeniably cozy. A charcoal-gray sofa was pushed against a wall that was painted a warm blush color. Marigold and navy throw pillows offset a pair of plaid chairs in the same colors across from a glass coffee table. There was a painting of an autumn forest on the wall, the yellow and red leaves seeming to welcome her into the room. The furniture wasn’t new, and although the place was clean, Rosco’s toys were scattered here and there. Despite being raised in a palace and familiar with luxury, it was possibly the most welcoming room Rowan had ever been in.
She walked deeper into the apartment and noticed another open door. His bedroom. She could see the edge of the bed inside and detect his scent, stronger there.
“See anything interesting?” he asked in a gritty voice.
Her cheeks warmed. “You have a lovely home. It’s delightfully cozy.”
He popped the cork. “Is that code for small and suffocating with embarrassingly little storage space?” He poured the wine into two short glasses and handed one to her. “Sorry, no wineglasses. Not a lot of room in here for the extras.”
