Page 143 of Taming His Vampire Mate

“We’ll see how it plays out,” I said. “If it does at all.”

“It will.” He kissed me, smiling. “Fate always has a way of working itself out.”

“Don’t be a sap,” I admonished. But I was smiling back, so perhaps I was a bit of a sap too.

* * *

“We need to divide into two teams,” I said, reading from a small card containing the instructions. “Someone from each team actsout the scenario on the card they draw, and their teammates guess what the word is.”

“Sounds fun,” Tobias said gamely.

“Um—are you… okay?” Bryan stared at me, baffled. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you willingly play a party game. Or… um… be nice.”

I sniffed. “I’ll have you know I’m quite frequently nice.” Then I paused, my irritation getting the best of me, as it so often did. “Though it amazes me none of you can see the very basic flaw in this plan.”

Jeremy and Michael traded a grin that should have been irritating but somehow wasn’t. My progeny spoke first. “Which is?”

“We’re all telepathically bonded! How exactly are we supposed to play this game—or any game—without cheating?”

“That’s actually a good point,” Danny said.

We spent several minutes arguing over house rules to make the game fair.

We would have continued, but Rico entered wearing his ridiculously frilly apron again, carrying another tray of muffins. Belatedly, I realized that even though he’d been baking and I didn’t smell smoke. That was always a good sign.

“Err—does anyone want a muffin? They just came out of the oven. They’re chocolate chip.”

I surprised myself by rolling my eyes and saying, “I’d like a muffin.”

Rico grinned, his eyes lighting up. “Yeah?”

Jeremy smirked as I plucked one from the plate.Careful, or they might realize how much you love them,he warned.

I ignored that. Inspecting the muffin, I saw it was much closer to what it should have looked like than I’d ever seen from the young vampire’s baking efforts. Another very promising sign.

Rico watched me, seeming uncharacteristically nervous.

I took a bite. It certainly wasn’t the best thing I’d ever eaten, but it actually tasted like a muffin this time. More or less.

After swallowing, I met Rico’s gaze. “You’re improving.”

He beamed, eyes shining bright. “I think weallare. Thanks, Thierry.”

Every single pair of eyes in the room was on me.

“Yes, well,” I said stiffly, doing my best to scowl at him—and failing miserably. “Frame it, because it’s unlikely to happen again.”

But I doubted that was true. In fact, I rather hoped it wasn’t.

* * *

Godric showed up later that night, while Jeremy and I were sitting on the back porch drinking mint juleps and listening to the silence of the night.

“We must speak,” Godric said without preamble. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, his expression intent as he met my gaze.

“You’re brave,” Jeremy remarked, his eyes flashing gold as they sometimes did when his wolf was close to breaking free. “Last time, Danny and Bryan chased you off with a shotgun.”

It was true. The ancient, decidedly love-struck vampire from my past wasn’t welcome at the house. Michael and Tobias seemed marginally more willing to hear him out, but Danny and Bryan had flatly refused to let Godric near Rico. They were fiercely protective of our young vampire, much to his chagrin.