“I’m sorry.” He pulled me into his arms. “They can wait to meet you. I’m not sure of the schedule, but I’ll find time and we can walk around the city. It’s been weeks since you’ve been able to go for a run. I’m sure that isn’t helping your restlessness.”
“I’m okay. No worries. Besides, I want to meet the players. How else am I going to be able to talk shit about them?”
Laughing, he pulled me toward the bathroom. “Let’s get cleaned up and see if there’s anything I can do about all that pent-up energy of yours.”
I pulled away, searching for voyeuristic ghosties. A few were still hanging around.
“Sam?” Clive paused, expression concerned.
“I’ll be right in,” I said.
I could tell he thought something was up, but he nodded and went into the bathroom, turning on the shower.
This time, I led with anger, not fear; anger born of horrible embarrassment. I did not want creepy people from the other side watching Clive and me. I gathered them in my head again, uncoiling that metaphorical golden thread in my chest—my magic—looping it around them and shouting MEGY! Thankfully, they did, and I relaxed as I walked into the bathroom.
One very long and exhilarating shower later, I was blow drying my hair again and Clive was in the bedroom getting dressed. Hair up or down? I wanted to make a good impression. Why, I’ll never understand.
I was finishing up my makeup when I heard, “Darling, this dress is lovely. Is it new?”
I went into the bedroom, still wrapped in a towel. “Yeah. I asked Audrey to go shopping with me, as she knows what’s expected at these kinds of vampy things.”
“That word,” he murmured, rolling his eyes.
“Thing? Anyway, Audrey said most of you guys would be wearing black, so I should wear color.”
“And she was right. This will be stunning on you,” he said, giving me a kiss. “It matches your eyes.”
The dress was dark green, with a fitted, sleeveless bodice. Baring my arms still made me uncomfortable, but it was summer, and I needed to woman up. The dress flared at the hip, the fabric imperceptibly moving from solid green to a very subtle green floral with hints of blue. The skirt hit just above my knee. Audrey had even found forest green stilettos to wear with it. I wore the blue diamond art deco earrings and bracelet Clive had given me that matched my wedding ring.
Once I’d strapped on the shoes, I looked in the mirror. “Too much?”
Clive came up behind me, wrapping his arms around me and resting his chin on my shoulder. “Perfect.”
I looked down at the large diamonds on the cuff bracelet. “No one’s going to try to steal this, right?” Wearing expensive things made me so nervous. What if it slipped off my wrist?
Clive kissed my jaw. “I think you’ll be safe from pickpockets.” He moved toward the door. “Shall we?”
“Wait.” I ran back into the bathroom to grab the dark green clutch, stuffing my phone, key, and lip gloss inside. “Hey, what’s with there being no cell service here?”
“I hadn’t noticed.” He pulled his phone from his pocket. “I have service.”
I checked my phone and sure enough, I had bars. “Interesting. Earlier today, there was nothing.”
“We can ask.” He opened the door and held his hand out to me.
“Do you know where we’re going?”
He squeezed my hand, his thumb brushing back and forth. “I do.”
The hall seemed longer than it had this morning when we’d arrived. Maybe it was the high heels. Probably it was the dread.
There were two vamps talking in the large reception area. Clive didn’t acknowledge them, so neither did I. I was acutely aware of how much noise heels clicking against marble made and I irrationally began to hate them. I slowly let out a deep breath, trying to force myself to calm the fuck down.
Was I willingly walking into a room with some of the most powerful vampires in the world? Yes. Did that make me an idiot? God, yes. Such an idiot. The things we did for love.
Clive paused before we hit the open door. Tugging my hand to pull me closer, he kissed me. You’re not an idiot.
Stop reading my mind!
