Luckily for me, she did grab a pair of jeans, so at least I had that to pair with my sleepy tank tops, which had to be good enough for now.
Mateo had also dropped off a gaudy-looking spiky chainmail-eqsue necklace that clearly belonged to Seth. The necklace had a cloaking spell woven into it, and as long as I wore it, no ghoul would be able to track me through magical means. Which meant I could actually leave the penthouse with Graham without looking over my shoulder every five seconds. The only catch? The damn thing looked like it belonged in a Renaissance faire reject pile.
I’d also found my swimsuit stuffed in the duffel, which was why we’d been spending so much time poolside.
Graham and Gunnar were out protecting some politician while they were in town, and Eamon had been called in by the EA for some work needing his demonly expertise.
“What are you going to wear on your date with Graham tonight?” Lillian asked.
“It’s not really a date. He’s still showing me around Darlington, remember.”
“Psssh.” She waved a hand. “Tomato, tomato.”
I laughed. “You said that the same way.”
“Exactly!”
Nugget, who had her head cocked listening to us, squawked.
“See, Nugget agrees. And no offense, but it’s not like you have that much waiting for you back in New York. An okay job. No friends.” Subtlety, clearly was not Lillian’s playstyle. “We’ve been trying to get Graham matched up for a while. I say you lock that shit down stat. And plus, you have us here.”
“What Lillian is trying to say is that you have a place here if you want. No pressure.”
Lillian snorted. “No. Actually, I’mtotallypressuring her. I feel bad when Graham disappears whenever we hang out because he feels like the odd one out. You’re good for him, Meera.”
“I don’t think he’s looking for anything serious.”
And this had them both cackling like I’d said something funny. Nugget cackled along with them, thinking it was a game.
“You’re literally the only woman he’s ever shown any interest in, Meera. Like theonlyone.”
“Do you guys know why?” I asked, hoping I’d get something useful from them.
“I don’t know the whole story, but it’s some girl he liked literally a century ago,” Lillian said. “Gunnar mentioned her when I asked, but he didn’t sound like he liked her much. The guys hate how her memory hangs around like a freaking ghost.”
“There’s no actual ghost though,” Tansy assured me. “Nugget would’ve seen her if there was. From what I gathered, they weren’t even that close. He just decided he was done with women after that. Until you came around. But if you want the whole story, I think you’ll have to get it from Graham. If he ever decides to talk about it.” Tansy stood, stretching. Even pregnant, she looked gorgeous in her swimsuit. She put her hand on her belly. “Okay, little one, let’s go for a swim.”
She gracefully lowered herself into the water as Lillian put her popcorn aside before cannonballing into the deep end.
“You’re supposed to wait after eating!” I yelled as she resurfaced.
“Bite me!” was her reply.
I grinned, then deciding a few laps would do me good, I joined them in the water. I got a few laps in before I started feeling the sun on my skin despite slathering on a good amount of Lillian’ssunscreen. But not wanting to use more of her imported Korean skincare, I decided I’d pick some sunscreen up for myself and just hang out under the umbrella for the rest of the afternoon. It was much sunnier today than it had been yesterday.
A big, greenish-gray hand helped me out of the pool, and I found myself plastered against Graham’s chiseled chest. He was topless, but I was also getting his jeans all wet, but he didn’t seem to care.
“Swimwear suits you.” He looked down my body with a predatory grin.
Then with one fluid motion, he swept me into his arms and I found myself being carried to the French doors and back into the penthouse. He didn’t stop until we were in his suite, up the stairs, and in his room. He plopped me down onto the bed.
“Yes, you definitely need another bikini.”
I giggled. “I’m getting the bed all wet.” I’d tried to swim without dunking my head under, but my hair was wet anyway.
But his eyes weren’t on the wet spots I was leaving on the bed; they were on my shoulders.
“You’re turning red.”
