Page 43 of Sweeter than Honey
She’s theonlyone who values our work as much as I do.
How did I not see it before? How did I not seeherbefore? Out of everyone, Lily is the one that I trust the most, the one that I know I can count on. I hadn’t realized it, but she’s the person I look forward to seeing when I rise from my coffin each night.
She means so much to me. It takes all of my willpower to leave her.
As I close her bedroom door behind me softly, I can still taste her blood on my lips.
Chapter 15: Human Resources (part two)
Renata
The first email in my inbox the next night is from Lily, confirming that she canceled my donor. It makes sense, of course, I don’t need him now. Although I’m upset that she was working during the day. She should have been recovering and not thinking about work.
But that’s the way she is. She takes her professional duties extremely seriously. Almost as seriously as I do, and I set the bar for myself very high.
I tuck my phone into my pocket and rise from my coffin to prepare for the day. My clothes and jewelry are already spread out across my vanity, so it’s only a matter of freshening up in the bathroom and then changing. I like to be ready quickly so I can begin the night’s work.
As I comb my hair and fasten my emerald earrings, I can’t stop thinking about Lily. Drinking blood from a human can create a magical bond with them, and I suppose since I’ve also shared my blood with her, it’s cemented our connection even further. So I suppose it’s natural that I’m thinking of her. Of how her eyes looked up at me last night, so trusting and sweet. Of how she buried her face into my chest when I carried her up the elevator shaft. Of how she moaned when I drank from her thigh.
I shake my head. I can’t think this way. Lily is my employee, and not only that, she’s my most trusted, competent employee. I wasn’t exaggerating or flattering her when I told her that the hotel needs her to function. It’s true. In the past year and a half, I’ve come to rely onher to streamline my schedule and manage crises that I can’t deal with while I’m resting.
And we’re in sync, her and I. We have the same work ethic, the same values. I know that if I give her a project, she’ll do it almost as well as I could do it myself, and that’s really saying something.
Ican’tlose her. And I can’t compromise our working relationship in any way. There’s too much on the line.
I step into my Jimmy Choo heels and onto the elevator. I check my smartwatch, and find to my dismay that my routine took me seven more minutes than it usually does.
This distraction isalreadycosting me time.
“Good evening, Ms. Espina,” says the receptionist.
“Good evening.”
I hear Lily’s humming heart before I see her, and I smell the scent of sunshine and daffodils emanating from her down the hallway.
My god. Drinking her blood has tuned me into her, in a way I wasn’t before.
And…another tantalizing scent mixes in when she spots me. Something sweet…
She blushes when she sees me. Just a little flush below her cheeks, but easy to spot now.
I had always thought that her heart raced because she was nervous around vampires, and intimated by me in particular. I’m used to it, when I’m around normal humans.
But now, I wonder. Was there something else?Isthere something else, in the frantic beat of her heart?
“Good evening, Lily,” I say to her.
“Good evening, Ms. Espina,” she replies, with a little nod.
She wears a cream-coloured silk shirt that hugs her in all the right places. I’m sure it’s soft against her skin. Her hair is pulled up on her head, into a ponytail, exposing her neck.
Did she do it on purpose?
No, I can’t entertain such a thought.
“Thank you for canceling the donor,” I say, trying to keep my tone as neutral as possible.
“Of course.” She breathes in. The thin material of her shirt shimmers across her chest. “Would you like me to rearrange yourschedule, see if there are any appointments I can move earlier in the evening?”