Glenn gave him a perfectly charming smile.“You see?It’s nothing outside your skillset.”
Ross wanted to beg to differ.Instinct warned him to do so.He couldn’t manage to get the words out.“I have one more question for you.”
“By all means.”
“The name on the business card you handed me.Is that the name the world knows you by?”
“Not at all.The world knows me currently as Glenn Regan.I work as a real estate developer.”
“Okay.Thank you for answering.”
Glenn set the cup on the saucer and looked him squarely in the eyes.“Have I answered all of your questions, Mr.Young?”
“Enough, I think, at the moment.I still want to see what apartment you have for me, and ask questions of exactly how payments and processes work, but that’s the nitty gritty.”Ross blew out a breath.As expected, the interview had only cemented what his gut had already informed him.There was no good reason to turn down the job.“I wish to accept it.”
Glenn’s expression lit up.He truly looked like a child about to dive into a toy store.“You’re a joy to us, Ross.I fully expected you to flee after the elemental burned the store around you.”
“Why?Because being around supernatural things suddenly took a turn for the worse?”Ross snorted at the idea.“As you accurately pointed out, I’ve always interacted with the supernatural world.I just didn’t recognize it for what it was.I fail to see how closing my eyes and sticking my fingers in both ears will solve anything.”
“So practical.”Glenn slapped his hands against both knees, a man satisfied.“It’s why I like you.Alright, let me show you the apartment.Then we’ll attend your welcome party.”
Ross stood before that last sentence sank in.“What welcome party?I came in for an interview.”
Glenn waved this off as he guided Ross out of the study.“We all knew you’d take it.”
“Because I’m practical, and it was the practical choice?”
“Precisely!”
Ross really did wish he wasn’t so predictable some days.
“I told them to set up on the back patio.The evening is nice and we have a lovely sunset view—” Glenn stopped mid-sentence, head swiveling toward the back French doors leading outside.“Oh.Hmm.”
Ross followed Glenn’s gaze, and while the view was naturally restricted through the narrow windowpanes, it certainly looked—and sounded—like the party was in full swing.“Glenn, that sounds pretty noisy for a party that hasn’t started yet.”
The vampire growled wordlessly before stalking for the back doors.Upon reaching them, he flung them open and stepped outside, looking this way and that.
Ross stopped in the threshold for his own look.Yes, this was definitely a party in full swing, alright.In fact, it looked like they’d been at it quite some time.Ross wasn’t sure how he’d not heard them while pulling into the drive.Unless the large pool house to his left had served as a sound barrier.It bracketed the patio well enough to do that.
A large streamer hung between two tiki torches, proclaiming, “WELCOME, ROSS!”in brightly colored letters.Various party chairs had been brought in, arrayed around four round tables, and a buffet table full of drinks and some snack foods sat on the far left.The fully roasted pig in the center of the table seemed to eye the partiers in a very judgey way.All of it was squeezed onto the paving stones of the patio, blocking most of the view to the pool beyond it, where even more people were strewn about on lounge chairs or indulging in the pool.It was nicely set up, really.Ross had been to worse parties.
And then there were his new…co-workers?Clan?Ross had no idea what to call them.
People were practically everywhere, in every position imaginable, and while they weren’t drunk, they were starting to…list.That didn’t even touch upon the half-naked people in the pool precariously perched on floaties.Or not on floaties.Which was insane, because today the high had been sixty-two degrees, and it was supposed to drop down to forty tonight, so they’d be half-frozen popsicles playing in that pool.They had portable space heaters and a fire going in an outdoor fireplace to heat the area up for a reason.
It was, in a word, chaos.
Two of the werewolves had half-shifted, their clothing in tatters, and one chewed on the other’s tail in a half-hearted fashion.“Gleeeeenn~” the chewed-upon werewolf whined like a toddler.“He’s chewing on me again!”
Glenn soundly ignored the pair, looking around for someone in particular before finding them.Grabbing Annabella by the arm, he hauled her upright and demanded, “Why didn’t you wait?The party isn’t supposed to start for another hour!”
She blinked at him, blonde hair mussed around her face, a flush to her pale cheeks.“It was too much for our fragile willpower.Good booze!”
Like a cheer, the rest of them took it up and held up their choice of beverage.“Good booze!”
Glenn just sighed.“It was a mistake to put you in charge of the alcohol.I regret that now.Ross, you’re not allowed to quit because of your welcome party.”
“Don’t go,” Annabella cried, throwing both arms around him and hugging him like a child would a favorite stuffed animal.“We finally got you!”
