Page 111 of My Vampire Plus-One

“Good old Al Capone,” I sighed, feeling suddenly wistful for the 1920s. “A bit of a dickhead, but he really did throw the best parties.”

Amelia grinned at me. “Whohaven’tyou met?” she teased.

“I’m pretty sure I’ve met everyone of consequence from the past few hundred years,” I lied, pompously. She raised a suspicious eyebrow, pulling a smile out of me. Having her see right through my boasts and my bluster, and wanting to spend time with me anyway…

It was almost too good to be true.

“Speaking of bullshit,” she said, grinning now, “can you help me figure out how to reply to this email I just got from John Richardson?”

“What I just said to you wasnotbullshit,” I said, pretending outrage. I doubted I pulled it off, though. I was grinning at her from ear to ear. “But yeah, of course I can help. If you think Icanhelp. What does the email say?”

She pointed at her screen, and I leaned over her shoulder to get a closer look.

“This part where he asks if others from his group should come to the meeting,” I said, pointing. “Tell him no.”

Amelia frowned. “You don’t think if the whole group is there it would save time? Maybe they’d see reason faster this way.”

I shook my head. “Tell him whatever you need to keep him from bringing anyone else to this meeting. He may not suspect anything now, but he will when you start laying out your terms. Hedefinitelywill when he sees me there with you.” As soon as Amelia told me about her plan to confront Richardson in heroffices, I’d insisted she bring me with her.For protection, I’d said. I’d have worried myself sick otherwise.

Fear over what might happen to Amelia welled up in me all over again at the thought of her being in the same room with more than one member of The Collective.

No.

Absolutely not.

“The last thing we need is for John Richardson to have ready backup,” I clarified. Most vampires wouldn’t be nearly as well-behaved in a building full of humans as Frederick and I were. If I had to guess, The Collective likely chose this John Richardson to be her interface because he was better mannered around humans than the others.Heprobably wouldn’t run amok in her building and start indiscriminately snacking on CPAs. But I had no idea if the other members of The Collective would be so self-contained.

I kept all this to myself. There was no need to frighten her. Especially since the rest of The Collective wouldn’t be coming.

“Okay,” Amelia said. “I’ll tell him we only need him to come tomorrow.”

“Good,” I said, satisfied.

“Any other thoughts before I type up this reply?” she asked, facing her computer again.

A thought occurred to me. “Yes. Tell him he’s an idiot and an asshole.”

“I’m not typing that.”

“Please?” I batted my eyelashes.

She laughed. “I wish I could, believe me. But I can’t. He’s still technically my client.”

“Can I do it, then?” I asked, pantomiming taking her laptopaway and banging on keys while she swatted playfully at my shoulder.

“How about you serve me those pancakes you made instead?” she asked, her hand on my arm. “They smell delicious.”

I looked down to where she was touching me. Her soft, warm hand was pale against my dark shirt. I could feel the heat of her touch as though I were wearing nothing at all.

Was this what it would be like for us? Me taking care of Amelia by cooking for her and making her laugh whenever she needed a break? Amelia laughing at my jokes, gratefully accepting my company, and holding my hand whenever the world got to be too much?

I had to shut my eyes against the sudden blinding joy of it all.

We just had to get to the other side of tomorrow, and it could be ours.

“I’ll get the pancakes,” I said, when I found my voice. “I hope you like them.”

THIRTY