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"Sunrise is in fifteen us will be tele - " He stopped with a strangled sound
She froze, wondering rong She’d leaned over to pick her robe off the floor Glancing back, she noted his eyes ide-open, blazing with heat, and that he was gazing directly at her - Oops She straightened with a jerk She’d forgotten howover had given her a blasted wedgie And given him an eyeful
She slipped on the silk kiht red, just a shade darker than her cheeks, no doubt "You were saying?"
Alittered in his eyes "They’ll be here anyhow eager you are to start your new job"
"Okay I’ll get dressed, then"
He nodded "I’ll ym clothes"
Gym clothes? She noticed for the first ti the usual khaki pants and polo shirt He was dressed in a white T-shirt and judo pants, and his hair was pulled back into a ponytail "I thought ere going to practice shooting"
"We’ll be doing a lot of things Fencing, karate, kick-boxing, wrestling What do you usually do for cardio?"
"Ishop?"
He stared at her with an incredulous look
"I moved here yesterday Had to carry all these boxes upstairs It was quite a workout" She didn’t aze wandered over all the boxes and suitcases "All this stuff belongs to you?"
"They’re my treasures I always visit local markets whenever I’e That’s a lot of walking, you know Very healthy"
He cocked an eyebrow "Put on soym clothes I’ll meet you downstairs in five lared at him and shut the door Men never understood how important her treasures were to her Not that they were expensive treasures Some of the to her, and she took them everywhere with her
She opened the nearest box and s dolls were cradled in a thick woolen sweater she’d bought in Poland She’d started collecting irl, so she had over a dozen now She grabbed two of the wooden dolls and set them on an empty bookshelf Out of all the bedrooms on the first floor, she’d picked this one because of the two empty bookcases that could hold all her treasures
FiveCarlos’s demand That was hardly reasonable She rushed into the bathroom No tiht before
Four minutes later she stood in a lacy bra and panties in front of her open closet, chewing on her bottoowns and three cocktail dresses aside She’d learned early on at the State Departlamorous functions at the embassies
Business suits, no She pushed them to the side Jeans and T-shirts? She put on a turquoise T-shirt, then moved to the dresser In her pajaray boxer shorts They looked sorta like gy around her hips Carlos had been barefoot, so she’d do that, too
She ran into the bathrooloss to her lips Strawberry flavored, as Carlos would discover if she could ain
"Hmmph" She fluffed up her hair Even if he found a were-panther woy and decrepit, with a crooked tail and snaggly teeth
She couldn’t bla to discover more of his kind, but marry one of them? That was crazy Just because a woman was a were-panther didn’t mean she would be automatically compatible with him
But it wasn’t crazy for hihed She knew she shouldn’t flirt with him, but it was damned hard to pretend she wasn’t attracted to him, especially when she kneas attracted to her
Part of her understood she should respect his wishes to find a were-panther mate, but another part wanted to scream at him that he’d never find anyone as well-suited for him as her Their kiss had sparked more than a physical response It had touched her heart with a feeling of co connection she’d felt toward the girls, Coco and Raquel How could her feelings for hihty desire deep inside her to see how far she could push hi she was proud of, but it was there A wildly romantic fantasy that he would ache for her soto toss aside all his concerns just to be with her
Don’t be selfish, she chided herself This wasn’t a fantasy where he could fall ically work out
Frustration seeped inside her, and along with it came an unfortunate impulse to tease and torment him It’s not his fault he has to reject you She would try to s Maybe a little friendly flirtation would be harmless
She padded down the carpeted stairs to the kitchen on the ground floor He was alone at the table, spooning cereal into his rulanced out the kitchen"But it’s still dark"
"As soon as the sun rises, they keel over dead, so they need to be prepared ahead of time" Carlos sipped sous and Emma are in their usual place on the fourth floor"
Caitlyn poured herself a cup of coffee "Do they stay here often?"
"Either here or the base on the current level of violence Things are calht now, so we’re safe to stay here" Carlos pointed at an empty bowl on the table across from him "Have so her nose at the cereal he was eating "What is that? Meow Mix?"
He shot her an annoyed look "It’s the only cereal in the house We’ll have to buy soal pad next to hi a list If there’s anything you want, telldown and poured soo the store, if you like Shopping is runted and drank h when she realized he really was a puss
He arched a brow "Soe to fetch so" She pulled out the carton "Full fat?"
"So?" He spooned more cereal into his mouth
"I’m used to skim" She splashed a tiny bit into her bowl "This will taste like creah Of course the kitty likes his crea" She beamed "I’m a naturally positive, happy person" She returned the e She spun back toward the table and he quickly focused on his cereal bowl, shoveling the last of it into his mouth in a few quick bites
Herher rump "So where’s Lara and Olivia? Are they too busy with their Vamp hubbies to eat breakfast with us?"
Carlos sipped soone They were in town for Tino’s birthday party and now they’re off on new assignments"
"Oh" She approached the table and sat across from Carlos "So we’re the only live ones in the house today?"
"Yes" He jumped up and took his empty cereal bowl to the sink "I’ll see you in the basement in five minutes" He nearly ran out the door