by Ava Benton
I was tired of tiptoeing around with him. Just because I’d promised some unseen force that I’d be a nicer person didn’t mean I had to let him walk all over me.
“It’s none of your business, and that is a stone-cold fact,” I growled. “My private life has nothing to do with you. You exist solely to keep me safe. Do you understand?”
Silence hung between us as we plummeted down to the ground floor.
When the doors opened again, he nodded. “Understood.”
I couldn’t help feeling like shit, but he needed to remember his place.
I knew his last charge had been a lot more easy-breezy than I ever was with Elias, so he had an idea that we would be friends. He was wrong. One of us had to rein it in. I let him hold the door open for me as we walked out of the lobby, and again as we entered the coffee shop at the corner.
I swept over the room immediately on entering.
He wasn’t there.
Of course not. Every day, the possibility that I might have imagined him grew bigger and bigger.
It was my dream leaking into reality, as crazy as it sounded. No crazier than having the same dream every single night about a man I had never met, who I could only identify by a pair of eyes.
“I’ll get a seat,” Holden announced, leaving me on my own to stand in line.
I told myself it was for the best. I didn’t need any friends—and the closer we became, the more dangerous things would be for us. He couldn’t protect me if there were personal feelings involved. A business relationship was best for both of us.
I remembered the cold, aloof attitude I took toward Elias and wondered how I could ever have been so thoughtless. And I wished for the hundredth time that I could go back and apologize to him for being such a bitch.
To him and my sister, both.
My laptop bag hung over one shoulder and reminded me of the research I was pretending to do as a reason to sit for hours in front of my computer the way humans liked to. Pretentious jackasses.
It wasn’t like I hated learning more about the history of witchcraft’s evolution after our coven came to the New World, but it wasn’t my idea of a good time.
The approach of Halloween put the thought in my head, and it seemed like as good a reason as any to sit around doing research.
It was a stupid, childish excuse and I didn’t owe Holden anything—still, it provided a cover story in case anybody asked him for a report on my well-being. And something told me my mother was, on the regular.
I didn’t know how she contacted him. Cell phone, most likely. While he was in his room, alone, where I couldn’t see or hear them talking about me. It was enough to make my blood boil.
Which was why I spun so abruptly, latte in hand, and bumped into the man standing behind me. Coffee splashed out of the cup and splattered his jeans and shoes.
“Would you believe that’s the second time that’s happened to me this week?” he asked with a wry chuckle, as I scrambled for napkins.
I looked up at him as I handed them over and almost dropped my cup in surprise.
“You,” I whispered before I could stop myself.
Because it was him. I was sure of it.
The surprising thing was, he looked at me with just as much surprise.
“You,” he murmured in reply.
We shared one breathless moment before the reality of the situation trickled through, in the form of a barista asking if we’d please step aside so other customers could place their orders.
“I’m so sorry,” I breathed. “That was awful of me. Please, let me buy you a cup of coffee.”
“No, no, that’s all right. I shouldn’t have been standing so close to you. That’s what I get for not respecting personal space.” He chuckled good-naturedly.
I couldn’t help but notice the way his eyes kept grazing me, like he was just as stunned to see me as I was to see him.
“Can I at least ask you to join me?” I pointed to the table by the window where Holden waited.
Even with sunglasses covering half his face, I knew he was staring at us. And judging by the way his jaw was set, he wasn’t happy. There was a surprise.
“It looks like you already have company.”
“Oh, Holden? He’s just… my brother,” I stammered, hating myself the second it was out of my mouth.
My brother?
What was wrong with me? I was just so happy that this man existed, that I hadn’t made him up, I would’ve said anything to get him to sit with me for a little while.
“Ah. In that case, sure. I would love to.” His smile was wide, bright, perfect. Dazzling.
My insides turned to jelly at the sight of it. What was happening to me? Turning into a pile of mush because of a man’s smile. I was too old for that nonsense.
Besides, he was human. My heart sank a little.
I didn’t know what I expected—there was no aura around him when I first noticed him, either, nothing to indicate the presence of magical blood. Even so, a human was less dangerous than a sorcerer, so it was better for him to be ordinary.
“Who’s this?” Holden asked when we reached the table.
I glared at him when the stranger couldn’t see. “I invited him over when I spilled my drink on him. Promise you won’t play the protective big brother, please.”
Don’t ruin this for me. Shut up, shut up.
He only raised an eyebrow and nodded slightly, making me breathe a shaky sigh of relief.
“Holden,” he said, holding out his hand to shake.
“Gentry,” the stranger replied, shaking his hand before sitting across from me.
I couldn’t stop staring at his eyes. Just the way I had dreamed them, along with a strong jaw and square chin and that beautiful, disarming smile. I drank him in, fascinated. He existed.
And he drank me in, too, which was even more fascinating. Why did he look at me that way?
“So, Gentry. What do you do for a living that you can afford to visit a coffee shop in the middle of a weekday morning?” Holden leaned back in his chair, arms folded.
I wanted to slap him. My hand twitched.
But Gentry didn’t seem to mind. “I’m in town visiting my mother. She’s… well, she’s only got a few weeks left. Days, perhaps.”
“I’m so sorry,” I murmured as I kicked Holden under the table.
Gentry nodded slowly, looking down at his cup. “Of course, I’m looking for a new job at the moment, too.”
Holden kicked me back—not as hard as I’d kicked him, naturally.
“Doing what?” he asked.
“I’m not sure.” Gentry shrugged. “I’m at what you would call a crossroads. I drove from California and am living in my childhood apartment, if you can imagine that.”
“It sounds fascinating,” I said, cutting into whatever Holden was about to say. “I mean, driving cross country like that. I’ve always been interested in that sort of trip.”
I glanced at Holden, daring him to say anything to the contrary. He only shook his head. It wasn’t a lie, either, but he wouldn’t know that. It was easy to forget he hadn’t been with me for very long.
“What about you?” Gentry turned the tables on Holden.
I bit the inside of my mouth to keep from laughing. I could feel my Nightwarden’s anger rise.
“I work in security,” he replied smoothly.
Where had he come up with that one?
“I see.” Gentry turned to me. “What about you?”
Only when Gentry smiled at me did I realize he had been scowling at Holden. The difference was like night and day. His face lit up.
“I... I don’t do much of anything,” I admitted.
I could’ve lied. I had lied before, so many times. When I opened my mouth to tell him one of my smooth lies, one I had told so many times to so many people, I came up short. I didn’t want to lie to him. It made no sense. I didn’t even know him.
“I’m sure you have to do something,” he smiled. “Even if it doesn’t s
eem like it would be all that important to anybody else.”
Holden barely held back a snort of derision, and I kicked him again. “I forgot to pick up my scone in all the excitement,” I said, staring at him. “Can you please go to the counter to get it for me?”
The way he set his jaw told me he wasn’t happy, but he got up anyway.
“He’s intense,” Gentry murmured, and I wished he hadn’t. He didn’t know Holden could hear everything from a distance.
He’d be listening, too. I would’ve bet anything on it.
“Yes, he’s very protective,” I covered. “I’ve had some difficult times lately. He’s sort of my bodyguard right now.”
“Oh. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have made light of it.”
“You didn’t know.”
Good. He probably thinks I’m a spoiled heiress who needs protection. I would rather him think that than know the truth.
Since when did I want to hide who I was?
He took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “I should go. He obviously doesn’t want me around, and I understand that.”
“No, please, don’t.” I’ve been waiting for you. I’ve been looking for you. Don’t leave me now.
He stood anyway, but smiled. “I want to see you again. Tonight. Seven o’clock. We’ll have dinner.”
“Where?” I asked.
He chuckled at himself. “I haven’t been in town for so long, I don’t know any of the good places anymore.”
“It’s always changing, isn’t it? Do you like sushi?”
“I practically lived on it out in LA,” he grinned.
I gave him the name of my favorite spot, and we agreed to meet there.
He was still smiling when he walked past the window on his way down the street.
“You got rid of him,” Holden muttered, dropping the scone in front of me.
“Don’t act like you weren’t listening to every word we said when you were gone.”
“Sushi,” he scowled.
“You’re not coming in with me.”
“Like hell, I’m not.”
“You are not. Coming in. With me.”
We glared at each other.
“I mean it, Holden. What did I just remind you of before we got here?”
“You don’t have to remind me again,” he growled.
His nostrils flared as he breathed harder, and I knew I was pushing him to his limit. Then again, he was pushing me to mine.
I tried another tactic. “Listen. I know this is new for us. I haven’t been on a date while you’ve been in my service. There’s bound to be friction when something like this happens.”
“Suddenly you’re diplomatic,” he muttered with a wry, humorless smile.
“I’m trying to be. I can drop the diplomacy in a heartbeat if it would make you feel better.”
“No, no, by all means.” He growled under his breath. “I don’t like him. There’s something I can’t put my finger on.”
“You’ll have to deal with that on your own,” I informed him, flipping my hair over one shoulder and turning my attention to the scone.
I wasn’t even hungry. My stomach was too full of butterflies.
He was real.
And his name was Gentry.
And I felt like a teenager again.
7
Gentry
The first thing I noticed when I saw her get out of the sleek, black car was her beauty. I would have to be blind not to notice.
That face, those pouty lips, those luminous eyes. I had spent decades surrounded by Hollywood starlets, but none of them came close to her.
She had a sort of magic that hung in a cloud around her, like perfume, and it drew the attention of strangers as they walked past.
She didn’t notice any of them. She only had eyes for me.
The next thing I noticed was her brother. What the hell was this?
My temper had been infamous in my circle and well beyond for as long as I’d lived in LA. I was the guy who everybody wanted to be friends with, if only to taste the lifestyle I enjoyed, but that adoration came with a price. And I had known it, and I had loved it.
The fear even my friends felt toward me. The almost comical deference of everyone from the guy who washed my cars to the staff at my favorite restaurants. They knew how volatile Gentry Duncan was.
Stories about me were legend in the underworld in which I’d traveled.
That familiar stirring of rage began in the pit of my stomach. I hadn’t felt it in weeks, not since my humiliation back in LA. I didn’t know whether to dread it or welcome it. At least one part of me hadn’t disappeared when I lost my powers.
This isn’t you anymore, I reminded myself, but that voice was nothing compared to the growing roar of frustration as the two of them approached.
I shoved my hands into my coat pockets before tightening them into fists. What I used to do with those hands…
“I think there was a misunderstanding,” I said, looking straight at him without saying hello to her first. “This was supposed to be dinner for just the two of us.”
“And she explained to you that I provide protection for her. That means everywhere she goes,” he growled.
Oh, what I would’ve done to him. I would’ve loved every second of it and replayed it for my amusement again and again.
Maybe I’d have set his shoes on fire for starters and laugh while he screamed and jumped around. Or I’d sic a few dozen rats on him—it was New York, so there were bound to be plenty nearby. Or I’d make the skin bubble and melt off his smirking face until he writhed and shrieked in agony
But no, I couldn’t do any of that. Not a single thing like that.
Instead, I turned to her. “Do you feel that you need protection from me?”
“No, but it would make him feel better if he could wait outside. He won’t be coming in with us.”
That was something, anyway.
I held his gaze—at least, I thought I did, though there was no telling with him wearing those ridiculous sunglasses.
Who wore sunglasses after sunset?
Assholes, that was who.
Men who felt the need to intimidate others with their appearance.
I had always kept in shape and knew my way around a boxing ring, but I had never tried to lord my physical strength over strangers.
Because you didn’t need to, a nasty, taunting voice reminded me as I opened the restaurant door for her. You had your powers. You were nothing but a stupid, petty little bully. Do you think anybody you sparred with would’ve dared knock you out? Stop kidding yourself.
I tried to shake it off, just as I had shaken it off throughout my cross-country drive. There was little else to do when traveling down seemingly endless stretches of empty highway other than get lost in thought.
“I’m sorry about him,” she whispered once we were inside.
“I’m sorry if I caused any trouble with him, for your sake.” I helped her with her coat and swallowed hard at the sight of her body in a sweater dress which hugged her like a second skin.
It covered everything while promising so much. I could’ve fallen to my knees and worshipped her then and there—not only for being the most exciting, most arousing creature I’d ever set eyes on, but because she understood what so many women didn’t: leaving things to the imagination was far sexier than the alternative.
She shook her head, unaware of how I wanted her. “No. I just really hope you understand. Things were… pretty terrible for a little while, and it’s better for me to have him around. Not just for my physical safety, either. He makes me feel better here.” She tapped the side of her head.
My heart softened. “I feel like a jackass. I should’ve thought before I reacted. It’s just that I saw him and thought you didn’t want us to be alone.”
“I want that. I want it very much.” She swayed a little, closing the distance between us.
I picked up the scent of her hair, and her skin and desire reared its head again
.
She awoke a part of me I hadn’t given thought to since the disaster at the club.
It had been weeks since I’d even looked at a woman, much less thought about one the way I was thinking about her.
Then again, she was special.
We took our seats and wiped our hands with the hot towels a smiling server offered.
I couldn’t stop glancing at Vanessa, studying her. She couldn’t possibly know what was going through my head…could she?
I wouldn’t have imagined it if she hadn’t kept glancing at me, too.
Her cheeks went pink when our eyes met. “You probably think I’m rude,” she murmured.
“For looking at me? I was looking at you, too.”
“It’s just that…” She heaved a sigh. “This is going to sound ridiculous.”
I snorted. “Try me. You might be surprised.”
“I don’t know. This is pretty crazy.”
“Please, go on.”
She sighed again. “I feel like I know you from somewhere. I told you it was crazy.”
“It’s not. I feel the same way.”
“You do?” Her face lit up.
“I don’t normally sit down with a woman after she spills coffee all over me,” I grinned. “Even if she is the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen.”
She took the compliment with ease, like a woman who’s used to being called gorgeous and didn't bother pretending she doesn’t know it. “I didn’t think things like this could happen. You know. Meeting a person and feeling that instant connection. This sounds stupid. I should stop talking.”
“Don’t.” I could’ve listened to her all night. All week.
Her voice was like music. Every movement was as graceful as water cascading over rocks or a bird taking wing.
Her eyes narrowed slightly. “I’m not used to meeting men who don’t want something from me.”
“Is that who your brother is protecting you from?”
She chuckled, but looked away. “Something like that.”
There was deep fragility in her, something broken.
I wished my protective instincts didn’t react as strongly as they did when I noticed the flash of pain that twisted her mouth into a grimace. I wanted to promise to protect her. She didn’t need her thick-necked brother to do it for her.