Aida hesitated as she stood at the end of thehall. She should go, but she needed coffee and food. It was goingto be an endless day, and as much as she’d love to say screw it andgrab something from Dunkin’, the long line at this time of themorning would take too much time, and Nicolette would get crankierif she had to wait.
Aida held her chin high as she walked intothe kitchen. She went out of her way to avoid touching Julian,which was difficult in the cramped space. He also seemed a lotbigger in the tiny kitchen.
She scooped some coffee into the maker, addedsome water, and turned it on. Usually, she had the coffee pot allset and ready to hit start in the morning, but in her agitationover seeing Julian last night, she forgot to do it.
That only added to her irritation, and shenearly slammed the cabinet doors after she found a granola bar. Sheunwrapped it and bit angrily into her bar as she glowered at thecoffee and willed it to brew faster. She was pretty sure the dropsstarted going backward.
CHAPTER 10
Julian edged his way around the counter and backinto the living room, where he leaned against the counter to watchAida. She kept her attention focused on the pot like she wasSuperman trying to see through a wall.
Aida didn’t have to look at the others; shewas acutely aware they watched her as she tapped her foot andwaited for them to continue talking. She didn’t want to hear aboutall the women Julian met during his travels, but she found herselfon edge while she waited for his response. Had it been dozens,hundreds,thousands?
She saw how many women Kyle went through, andin her opinion, Julian was more handsome. He also had an aura ofmystery around him that drew women like a moth to a flame.
“So, back to those women,” Kyle said.
Julian had missed his brother, but he’d neverwanted to punch anyone as much as Kyle right then. Aida’s foottapped faster as the coffee filled the pot.
“I’m guessing Nicolette called you in towork,” Cassidy interjected.
Julian cast his sister a grateful smile asshe rose from the couch and walked over to stand beside him. Atleast his sister didn’t have a one-track mind.
“She did,” Aida said.
“Do you have to rearrange everything?”Cassidy asked.
“Yep.”
“I bet the gallery looks terrific,” Cassidysaid.
“She doesn’t agree with you.”
“She’s an idiot.”
“She runs a successful gallery; that’s noteasy to do in this city. In my mind, it makes her a genius.” Evenif, half the time, she wanted to strangle the woman.
Julian was out of the kitchen, but it stillfelt cramped and too hot. The whole place was too crowded. Aida wasgrateful she’d knotted her hair into a bun as she pulled at thecollar of her sweater and a bead of sweat slid down her nape. Thetemperature was set at sixty-two, not by their choosing, butbecause the landlord lived on the first floor and controlled thethermostat.
For the first time, sixty-two felt far toowarm. She glanced at the window. It was still too cold to have itopen; maybe she could stick her head in the fridge.Yeah,because that was a totally reasonable thing to do.
When she turned to get her travel mug out ofthe cabinet, her stupid eyes betrayed her and went to Julian beforeshe could stop them. It wasn’t fair that he woke up looking betterthan he did before going to bed. The way his coal-black hair stoodon end was utterly adorable, and her fingers itched to run throughit.
He looked delectable, and she looked likeroadkill. She’d spent most of the night tossing and turning as shekicked off her blankets only to retrieve them and do it again. Shefinally fell asleep only to have Nicolette call.
Shadows rimmed her bloodshot eyes, which feltgritty from lack of sleep. She’d have to change before the showtonight, but for now, she wore a pair of old jeans, a baggysweater, and her hair in a bun.
While she was getting ready, she focused onwork and refused to acknowledge that Julian was in her livingroom—or possibly still in her living room; she could have woken todiscover he’d hopped a plane to California.
But if he were still here, she wouldn’t lethis presence make her dress differently than she usually would ondays like today. Now, she wished she’d listened to that nigglinglittle voice telling her looking like a schoolmarm was not anexcellent way to start her day. However, she could never competewith the horde of women he left behind him, and she didn’t wantto.
The coffee wasn’t halfway through brewingwhen she pulled the carafe out and poured the liquid into hertravel mug. Dripping water sizzled as it hit the burner; she shovedthe carafe back into place and turned the coffee pot off. Shescrewed the top onto her travel mug and turned to face theothers.
Ninety percent of the time, she forgot shelived with vampires. Then she would open the fridge, discover thebags of blood, and recall her life was an episode ofThe AddamsFamily.
Looking at them, she couldn’t forget theywere predators as every one of them was abnormally still whilefocused on her. None of them would harm her, and she had no doubtKyle and Cassidy would do everything they could to protect her. Atone time, she believed the same of Julian, but now he might walk onby if she were dying in the street.
However, the way they were watching her wasunnerving. The sympathy in Cassidy’s eyes was annoying; theobliviousness in Kyle’s was almost amusing, and the… well, she hadno clue what was in Julian’s eyes.
