“Georgie wants to go home tomorrow.” Mary didn’t look at all surprised. “You knew?”
“She and Josh were talking about it in the kitchen this morning.”
My mouth fell open. “What? Josh agreed with her?”
Mary pulled a stool closer and sat down. “No, Josh definitely didn’t agree. We both tried to convince her to stay. But she said she was done. Once your heart has been hurt too many times as Georgie’s has been, there’s no going back.”
“Unless we make sure her mind is changed,” I murmured, then grimaced, barley believing the words had fallen from my mouth.
“Yes, that’s an option.” Mary didn’t bat an eyelid. She must have seen and heard everything over her lifetime with Karson. “But it’s not one she will thank you for if she ever finds out. I don’t think a friendship would ever recover from that kind of betrayal, Amy.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. If I didn’t let Karson change her mind then she might die, but if I did and she found out she would hate me. But she would be alive to hate me, at least. “I don’t know what to do.”
Her eyes ran over my face with affection. “You do, you just have to still your mind and listen to your heart.”
I sighed. “That’s easier said than done.”
Rodney’s laughter and voices coming from somewhere in the house cut through the room.
Mary glanced at the open door; her lips thinned. “Let’s hope the prick doesn’t stay too long.”
He probably heard her. I threw my hand over my mouth and chuckled.
Her eyes sparkled. “The cacti of Mexico have nothing on him.”
“Stay for a drink with me?”
She shook her head. “I can’t, I have a room of old farts and a game of bingo calling my name tonight.” She patted my hand. I stifled a gasp; her touch was as cold as a sheet of ice. “I will see you tomorrow.”
I watched her leave. Despite the warmth in the room, a cold rolled over my skin. Throwing down the rest of my drink, I poured another. I felt the vampire behind me, his presence. It was not unpleasant, it tingled like bubbles in champagne.
“I’m looking for Bruce Lee.” His voice like gravel and silk, rocketed to my heart.
I sat completely still, barely breathing, staring into my drink, barely believing. “If you’re looking for him, you’ll need to travel to another realm,” I answered, tears burning in my eyes.
“Did a six-foot-seven basketballer take him out?”
“No,” I whispered, the lump in my throat taking my voice. “He could have handled him pretty easily.”
“Lucky.” His voice slipped to a low growl. “Or a vampire might have had to kick both their asses.”
I couldn’t sit still anymore. I twisted back. He stood just inside the door wearing a long-sleeved white top like an angel sent from heaven. His dark hair had grown and was tousled over his forehead. His eyes glinted like a summer’s ocean.
“Ethan,” I cried, lurching from the stool and throwing myself into his arms. He wrapped them around my back and twirledme around, laughing. When he stopped twirling, we clung to each other, his body warming my skin, his presence warming my heart. I rested my cheek on his shoulder.
“Hello, little witch,” he murmured.
“I missed you,” I breathed, inhaling his sweet, honeyed scent. I didn’t realize just how much I’d missed him until I saw him standing here. Emotion choked my chest and tears of joy slipped down my face. I tried to blink them back, but it was useless and they just kept falling.
Too soon, he pulled back, cupped my cheek in his hands, and studied my face. He feathered the tears off my cheeks with his thumbs. “You look?—”
“Like shit,” I finished for him, wiping quickly at my face with my knuckles. Lack of sleep these last few days and crying probably had my eyes looking like a three-part deflated balloon.
He waited for me to still. His eyes locked with mine, the blue in them as deep and mysterious as an ocean. “I was going to say beautiful.”
Even though he was lying, his compliment was sunshine to my veins, and my face flushed with heat. My eyes dropped to the damp patch on the top of his shirt. I wiped at it lightly and smiled. “Don’t even think about cracking a joke about that wet patch I left on you.”
His returning smile lit up the room. “Only in my dreams.”
