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Or is it worse? Is herepulsedby me? Like, obviously, he wanted me. But…

Noah’s face softens, his eyes full of misery, and he slides his hands onto my shoulders—gently this time. “No.”

“So…do you want to try the smoothie?”

Laughing softly, he drops his forehead to mine. “I don’t want the smoothie, Pip.”

I gasp, backing up. “Don’t you dare.”

His smirk returns, soothing some of my worries. “It’s cute.”

“If I was a boy cat,maybe.”

He grins, shaking his head.

I turn back to the blender. “What are you going to eat for breakfast?”

“Do you still have steak?”

“My fridge is fully stocked with cow.”

“I’ll make steak and eggs then.”

“Such a carnivore. It’s not good for your heart, you know. At least eat a carrot or something.”

He laughs as he pulls out the cast iron pan, but my attention is pulled away with a text.

Max: Is Olivia working this morning?

Piper: She might be. I forgot to ask.

Olivia often has painting parties in the morning at the studio. Since it’s Wednesday, she probably has a senior group.

The doorbell rings, making me jump. I look at Noah for guidance, again feeling like a kid and hating it.

“I’ll see who it is.” He abandons the package of meat on the counter and leaves the kitchen. I tiptoe to the window over the sink to look into the front yard.

My anxiety eases when I see Cassian’s fancy car—though I’m not sure that’s the right response to have to the vampire. Either way, my heart is already slowing to a normal pace when Noah returns to the kitchen with him in tow.

“Good morning.” The vampire is in a navy blue, short-sleeved shirt with a subdued floral print, khaki-colored shorts, and a pair of white tennis shoes that shouldn’t look good but do. It’s a summer-in-Venice sort of style, completed by a pair of aviator sunglasses carelessly hung from his front pocket. Few men could pull it off, but he does it spectacularly well. “I was afraid I might wake you.”

“I’m an early riser,” I say, not fully trusting the vampire who looks like a model in an expensive watch commercial.

He nods knowingly. “I’ve recently become a morning person myself.”

“Because of the daylight medicine?” I ask.

Cassian gives Noah a pointed look. “For not liking me, you certainly talk about me a lot.”

“She asked how you can go out during the day,” Noah says dismissively, going back to his steak. “I answered.”

Cassian turns to me, a hint of a crooked smile on his lips. “I like that even more.”

He’s a chronic flirt, and he’s had several hundred years to perfect his art.

“Yeah, okay,” I say. “I just wanted to know since my doctor and the billion pamphlets she gave me said vampires couldn’t go out while the sun was shining.”

He chuckles, turning his eyes back on Noah. “It looks like I arrived just in time for breakfast.”