“It looks better on you, Kitten.” Brianne’s husband strolled forward on long, slender legs. He laced one arm around his wife, pulling her close. He extended the other to display his sparkling, pointed nails. I barely saw them.
Longish dark hair danced at the edge of his collar. Pale, flawless skin almost shined under the dark sweater and jeans he wore on his long, lanky frame. He smiled at me. It was a welcoming smile, not-at-all menacing.
Yet a chill ran up my spine. His grin exposed extended canines, each scalpel-sharp.
“Nice to finally meet you, Simone. I’m Nate Steele.”
His hand was ice cold. His voice was syrup and honey.
Holy cannoli. Brianne’s doting husband was a vampire.
I gulped. I literally gulped.
“Brianne’s spoken a lot about your latest life changes.” Nate continued like I wasn’t standing there with my mouth hanging open. “I must say, I admire your ability to take on something so massive with such grace.”
“Oh, I don’t know that I’ve been the least bit graceful.” A woman could get lost in eyes like that. Everything I knew about vampires was lore or from bad movies. Here was one, in the scary-ass flesh, complimenting me on a grace I didn’t possess after wrestling with his half-human kids.
I couldn’t stop staring. Oh God, was he possessing me with those piercing blue eyes? Did vampires possess? No, it was called something else.
Enthralled. Was he enthralling me? Did I feel enthralled?
No. The only thing I felt was stupid. Brianne and her husband had welcomed me into their home, and I was gaping at him like he was in a zoo. I closed my mouth.
“Definitely not handling anything with grace,” I repeated, wiping drool off my lip. “But I’m trying to adapt.”
“Which is a form of grace itself.” He released my hand and planted asoft kiss on Brianne’s cheek. “The hellions and I are going to clean up for dinner. Then we’re setting the table so you two can talk.”
At the kids’ twin groans, he sent them a look that rooted me to the spot. Damn, he was scary. To me.
Natalie stuck her tongue out with a wicked giggle, and his menace turned to mirth in the blink of an eye. With a vicious, fake hiss, he scooped her up and over his shoulder. Her shriek tensed every inch of my body. Nolan emitted a warrior’s whoop and, brandishing a fake sword, chased after them.
“Mayhem.” Brianne shook her head as if the scene had been totally normal. Which, I suppose to her, it had. “Thank you for the wine.”
“It’s, uh, red.” I shrugged my shoulders.
“Our favorite.” Brianne turned toward the kitchen. My feet followed. “I probably should have told you. You know, about Nate. But I thought seeing the look on your face would be hilarious.” She popped the cork and poured three tall glasses. I watched the swirling liquid in a daze as she handed me one. “Gotta admit, I was right.”
“House chose the wine for me. I see it shares your sense of humor.”
Brianne’s head tipped back. When she laughed, I was surprised to find I was able to join in.
Dinner was a surreal collage of idle chatter and hearty foods. Nate sipped his wine and spooned another liquid from a wide bowl. I didn’t want to think about what it was or where it came from.
“Eat your broccoli, darling, not just your blood.” Brianne nudged Nolan’s plate closer, stabbing a stalk with a fork and waving it at him when his face dropped into a grimace. “It won’t go away just because you don’t like it.”
“One day it will,” he mumbled. I couldn’t quite suppress the shudder that blanketed me.
“So.” I finished a bite of the lightly fried fish Nate had cooked perfectly. “How did you two meet?”
“We worked together back in Atlanta.” Nate slid his hand over Brianne’s, his eyes shining. “She was the best accountant at the bank, and I was the head of finance. Her boss and four times her age. It was wildly inappropriate.”
For a moment, they gazed at one another as if they were the only ones in the room. Natalie sighed dreamily while Nolan made gagging noises—their parents clearly did this often.
“Brianne, you have an accounting background?” I asked. “I thought you were managing the Magnolia.”
“I do. And I am.” Brianne pulled her attention away from her husband. “I do the basic bookkeeping for the Magnolia, but I’m not using my degree to its full extent.”
There was an interesting wistfulness to her voice, like she wanted to do more. I still hadn’t given much thought to the business of the Magnolia. It seemed like wasted effort, particularly if I couldn’t keep the therapy practice going. Eventually, if I managed to become Supreme, I’d want to know more. But in the meantime, I was letting the place run itself.
