Page 45 of Only Fangs

I think he’s going to kiss me.

I think I want him to.

But if I let him, I can hardly claim last night was just a one off, just a quick snog in a hotel room before sense took over and we both shut it down. If I let him then maybe I have to admit I have feelings for him. But admitting that is a disaster waiting to happen.

Chapter 24

Brody

Iwalk the long way home from dropping Ari off at her flat, keen to let the cool air take the last vestiges of my inebriation and give myself time to hold onto the memory of the night before reality comes crashing down.

For a moment I’d thought she was going to kiss me.

And I wanted her to.

Oh, how I wanted her to.

I know she’s my boss. And a vampire. And that she pushed me away last night. And that I have horrible taste and always fall for the wrong girl. But what if I’m not wrong this time? What if she really is the perfect woman for me?

I should have been braver this evening. I should have initiated a kiss. But she was tipsy and on a high from the news of the bank loan and I didn’t want to misjudge the situation and make things even more weird between us. She doesn’t date and I need to respect that, however much I want her to have a change of heart.

Matt is still up when I let myself into the house. “Where the hell have you been?” he calls out from the living room. “You were due back from Wales hours ago.”

“Just out with Ari,” I tell him, adjusting the volume of my voice as I walk toward him.

“Oh my god. Like on a date?” He sits up from his prone position on the sofa to stare at me. “You’re grinning like a lunatic.”

“It wasn’t a date. Just a celebration. It looks like we’re going to get the loan.”

“Seriously? That’s amazing news.” He stands up and pulls me into a hug.

We watch an episode of the Office – the American one, obviously. After it finishes Matt makes us hot chocolate with squirty cream on top and I dig out some treats from the secret stash of chocolate. It’s not actually a secret but it’s buried in the back of the kitchen cupboard so we don’t see it every time we’re hungry. We watch an episode of Brooklyn 99.

“Right,” I say as the credits roll. “I’m going to head to bed.”

“To dream of your sexy vampire boss?” Matt asks.

“No.”

“Not even after last night?”

“Nothing really happened last night.”

“But you went on a date this evening?” He cocks his head as if he’s trying to understand the situation.

“It wasn’t a date.”

“But you had drinks and then dinner and a romantic stroll along the canal.”

“We went out to celebrate,” I remind him, standing up.

“But not on a date?”

“Definitely not on a date,” I say as I leave the living room and start to head up the stairs. “She doesn’t date. You were the one who told me that.”

He does this little head wobble as if to concede that he was indeed the one who imparted that particular wisdom. “You like her though.”

“I do not,” I say, reaching the top of the stairs.