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He rolled his eyes at Kenton. “I hadn’t realized that, thanks for pointing it out. Besides the obvious reasons for keeping quiet, we technically weren’t supposed to be there.”
“Speaking of which,” Alessandra said, lighting up, “I take it your date went well otherwise?”
Well wasn’t the word he would have used.
“Extremely,” he said. “By the way, I told Toni tonight about the bank. The deal went through.”
Alessandra whooped, a touch of modernity that made him laugh, and ran to him, throwing her arms around his shoulders. “Oh my goodness, I’m so happy for you.”
He’d never thought of Alessandra as anything other than a sister, but he grinned at Kenton just the same. Yes, he did love to tease the man.
“Just what I’ve always wanted,” Kenton griped. “A Derrickson as a permanent neighbor. Or perhaps you’ll move now that you’re staying—”
Alessandra pulled back and aimed a scowl at her fiancé.
“Actually, I’m quite comfortable here,” Lawrence said. “I’m thinking once the bank is finished some renovations may be in order.”
“In which case.” Kenton looked at him, his expression stern. “You’d best be careful. Slipups like tonight—”
“I had no choice,” he said, knowing Kenton was right. In the past, he’d been forced to move before he was ready, but Stone Haven was different. He could not simply relocate this time without consequence.
“I’m sure you didn’t.” And for a change, Kenton wasn’t censuring him or being sarcastic. He understood the struggle of pretending to be human when they no longer were.
He nodded. “Thanks for coming,” he said, not wanting to keep them.
As they turned to leave, Alessandra paused and turned back around.
“Thank you for saving Birdie’s shop. I know Toni will be grateful you intervened.”
He would have intervened regardless. It wasn’t in him to ignore a break-in. But he simply said, “You’re welcome,” before adding, “You’ll let Birdie know she’s safe?”
“I’ve got it. Though Toni will be shocked when she wakes up tomorrow. The girl usually doesn’t sleep past 7:00 a.m. even when she’s off.”
Tomorrow, she would. The effects of his bite wouldn’t fully dissipate until sometime later in the day.
“Do you know if she’s supposed to work at Murphy’s tomorrow night?”
Alessandra shook her head. “I’m not sure. It’s not one of her usual nights, but she works so damn hard, I wouldn’t be surprised if she picked up an extra shift—”
“I’ll take care of it.”
He’d not get any sleep with Toni under the same roof, so he’d use the time to do some research instead. Luckily, he did not need as much sleep as a human. If there were Cheld in this area, besides Alessandra, now or any time in the past, Lawrence would discover them.
