“Thanks, Archer. That’s really good of you.”
“You don’t have to hide sadness, to shove it into a dark alleyway.”
“I don’t. It’s simply nothing important.”
Archer’s gaze smooths across my forehead and cheeks like a soft touch. “Your feelings are always important.”
I shrug. “But you told me not to do the reading. I did it, and I ended up dealing with a couple of rough critics.”
His features pull into sharp lines and angles, and his eyes spark with danger. My heart speeds up and I take a step back. He looks… deadly.
Chapter 14
Colette
Nostrils flaring, he looks back at the bookshop, then at me again. “Who critiqued you? What did they say? What did they look like? I will take care of this.”
I grab his hands. “No, Archer. It’s silly. They aren’t right and I know that. It just hit me for some reason.”
He looks down at the snow between our feet. New flakes sparkle from the clouds and land in his ebony hair. The wind stirs, and his spicy scent fills my nose. My fingers twitch, wanting to hold on a bit longer.
Finally, he exhales and meets my eyes. “All right. Your choice. But if you change your mind…”
I force myself to drop my hold on his largefingers. “You’ll what exactly? Tear their heads off? Drain them dry?” I grin and give his arm a little pinch, trying to lighten the mood.
But his eyes darken and his lips part, showing his fangs. His throat moves in a swallow and I don’t know whether I want to run from him or climb him like a tree.
“Of course, I wouldn’t,” he says quietly.
I don’t believe him. The gentleness is gone from his features, replaced by a wild sharpness. He is all hunter right now. I tug my cloak tightly around me.
“I’m sorry if I offended you. I didn’t mean it. I know you wouldn’t.”
“Vampires are dangerous, Colette.” Head turned, he keeps his focus on our surroundings. “I am only half vampire, so I am less unpredictably violent, but you should watch what you say around my kind.”
He sounds genuinely concerned, not like he’s being a typical male and arrogantly over-explaining things I already know. Worry laces his words and tightens the edges of his eyes. I don’t like the tension in his slightly lifted shoulders. He still seems ready for a fight.
“I will. I promise,” I say.
His fingersfind mine once more, squeeze gently, then let go. I take an unsteady breath. If I lean forward, his mouth will be just inches from mine.
“Good,” he says, his voice even. But he doesn’t appear relieved as the word suggests. He is agitated.
“Merrrrooooowwww!”
The inn’s door swings open and Mossette trots out. The inn shuts its front door once more and the kitten begins to wind around Archer’s ankles. Some of the tense lines around Archer’s eyes soften. He bends to pick up the kitten, a question in his eyes.
“Hello, Mossette,” Archer says.
“She isn’t very careful around you.”
The little cat rolls until her belly is showing and she claws at Archer’s hand.
Archer grins with one side of his handsome mouth as he strokes Mossette’s green and orange belly. “I wish this tiny fellow could fix all my problems,” he says, his voice so quiet that I can’t truly tell if that’s what he said or not.
I wonder what deep problems he has and if he’d ever talk to me about them. I try to keep my foot from bouncing, to be still and patient. “If you need someone to listen…”
“Thank you, Colette. I appreciate it.” He hands Mossette over and I accept the bundle of fur and purr.
