“Well, I clearly don’t have a husband or a boyfriend. You’ve been through my closets, after all.”
The side of his mouth lifted. “They were really nice closets. So neat.”
“I like to know where things are.”
As their no-BFD conversation petered out and they fell silent, her awareness of him expanded to fill the basement, her attention so rapt, she forgot to track the sounds inside the townhouse or look out for threats. He was just that… captivating. He was like an animal, she realized—and she didn’t mean that in a pejorative sense. Sitting here on her yeah-whatevers blue-and-white couch, with his eyes trained across her little cellar and his limbs relaxed… he was anything but casual. He was like a tiger, poised to attack, even at rest.
She pictured him fighting that shadow in the bookshop, all vicious moves and power.
Then she remembered the pair of them going through her house just now, him out in front, leading the way with that big body of his, everything from the cut of his jawline to the set of his broad shoulders promising one hell of a beatdown if anything got in his way.
Or threatened her in any fashion.
Funny, she’d never found protective, he-man types attractive before. Then again, he wasn’t some posturing roid-junkie with gym-honed muscles and a chest-thumping attitude toward people who cut in line at Starbucks or tollbooths.
He was the real deal.
He was… unlike anything she had ever met before in her life.
Well, duh, he was her one and only vampire.
Feeling like she was getting way too deep, she glanced over at her washer and got back to her feet. “You need some clothes.”
“You mean this towel makes my ass look big? Is that what you’re trying to say?”
Over at her dryer, she popped the Maytag’s door. “Your ass is perfect.”
“Oh, my God, you’re making me blush—but keep going.” His voice deepened. “What else do you like about my body.”
As she flushed, she fished out the load she’d put in there three days ago. No Peanuts-happiness-is-warm-laundry going on. The stuff was cold as a corpse.
“I like that you know how to use it in a fight, how’s that,” she answered.
“I can do other things with it.” When she lifted an eyebrow in his direction, he put up his palm. “Not the time. I totally agree.”
Sifting through all kinds of sweatpants and hoodies and leggings, her classic dark load, she tried to find the biggest sizes. Good job she liked things loose.
“Here, try these.”
As she walked back over to him, she considered the long list of never-before’s that had rolled out tonight. Never-would-believe’s. Never-would-forget’s.
He was the latter, she thought. She was going to indelibly remember him whenever he left to go back into his world.
Assuming he let her.
“Thanks,” he said as he took the clothes.
“I’ll avert my eyes to give you privacy.”
“What if I’d rather put on a show for you?” He closed his lids and shook his head. “Sorry. I’m trying to stay on my side of the bed—line. Boundary. Fuck.”
Erika felt herself smile, and didn’t bother hiding it. “You’re funny.”
“Any chance you find funny males attractive? Will it work in my favor—” He pursed his lips. “I’ma just shut up and get my naughty bits covered.”
Turning away, she put her head in her hands and laughed. Then told herself to lose the modesty routine. They were grown adults, who, P.S., had been very horizontal right up until he’d had that weird feeling—
“How did they know to put your cell in my bag?” she asked into her palms.
“V’s a smart guy. He knew I wasn’t going to leave you.”
“So I guess he found my driver’s license and that’s how he knew my address.”
“No offense, but he doesn’t need your government ID to find you. What do you think?”
“I think he’s good with a computer then—”
“I mean about my change in wardrobe.”
Erika turned back around—“Oh. My.”
Balthazar looked like he’d been shrink-wrapped in sweatshirt material—and not only was everything tight, it was way too short. There was a four-inch band of bareness around his waist and big gaps at his wrists and his ankles. On her body, everything was all kinds of room-to-grow. On him, the Nike-wear turned him into a birthday present.
And what a present he would be to rip open—
Clearing her throat, Erika tried to get back on track. “I’m sorry I don’t have anything larger—God, you’re huge.”
He clasped his hands to the center of his chest. “You say the sweetest things—oh, wait, were you just talking about how tall I am?”
As her face flushed, she smiled again—and God, she loved this back-and-forth. It was a reminder of how long it had been since anything had made her… happy.
“You know,” she murmured, “this is not supposed to be fun. Hiding in my basement from whatever the hell we’re hiding from is just not supposed to be fun.”