“Just preparing him for what he’ll deal with if you bring him home for dinner, sis.”
Rune listened to them bicker and suddenly missed his brother with an intensity that physically hurt.
“Why don’t we go upstairs and eat the food that I brought?” he interrupted before they could devolve into violence.
Both women turned to look at him with a sharp glint in their eyes. Sylvie was the first to relax.
“Thanks for the invite, Rune, but I’ll pass. Have a nice time with my sister here. I have a feeling I’ll be seeing you again.”
With that, she sauntered to a door on the other side of the basement and disappeared inside.
ChapterSix
Astra was at a loss.
Rune Ferguson was a vampire.
The few vampires she’d encountered before were usually during security consultations. They struck her as cold and distant with an edge of cruelty.
Rune was none of those things. He was warm and funny. He didn’t talk at her or down to her. He treated her like an equal.
And a woman.
To most of the men she dealt with, she was a boss, a warrior, an enemy, or someone to impress. But never a woman.
She reveled in it. He was exactly the type of man she wanted in her life.
It was too early to call it a relationship, but it was…something.
“Are you hungry?” she asked after he’d been standing in silence, staring after her sister, for a few long moments.
Rune seemed to shake himself before he faced her. “Yes, I am.”
“Let’s go back up to my office and eat then.”
He seemed deep in thought as they rode the elevator back to the third floor. When they entered her office, he said, “We should eat outside. It’s a beautiful day.”
Astra glanced out her window and nodded. “That sounds great.”
She was ready to get out of this building for today.
“Let me get my bag. I think I’m done for today,” she said.
Rune watched her gather her things. “I’m sorry if I made things difficult for you.”
She glanced up at him and then frowned. “You haven’t done anything but be yourself. None of this is your fault.”
“You’re upset.”
She walked over to where he was standing next to the table and the cooler. “Yes, but not with you.”
He grimaced. “I still don’t like the way it feels.”
Astra laughed a little. “You can feel what I feel now?”
“Not truly, but I don’t like knowing that you’re upset and that I can’t do anything about it.”
“You can’t fix everything, Rune,” she said. She touched his cheek, marveling at the clear grey of his eyes from this proximity. “It will be okay.” Astra dropped her hand. “Let’s go have some lunch and enjoy each other’s company.”
