Page 3 of Fangs and Fudge

Vena: You wouldn’t… *wow emoji*

“Do I even want to know what you’re texting back and forth?” Shepard asked dryly.

“I’m trying to get her to accept your request to track her. She’s being a little stubborn.”

“Tell her there’s a five-hundred-dollar sign-on bonus and another one hundred monthly to keep it active.”

I glanced up at him. “I’m not sure if I should be impressed that you know her well enough to know money would sway her or offended that you think money can get you your way?”

His smile melted my insides a little.

“I’m smart enough to know money motivates some people and only use it when I’m trying to protect those I care about.”

“Good answer,” I said, typing out the text.

He glanced down at his phone and chuckled.

“She’s accepted me. Talk her into accepting Anchor, too.”

“You mean in the app, right?”

Shepard’s gaze lost some of its humor. “There are worse things than saying yes to a wolf, wouldn’t you agree?”

“That’s not what I meant,” I said quickly. “There is absolutely nothing wrong with werewolves. I think they’re great and nice. I haven’t met one yet who isn’t amazingly good-looking.”

Someone downstairs barked out a laugh, and I felt my face flush.

“What I did mean,” I continued, “is that I don’t want Anchor’s heart bruised by Vena. She’s flirty and fun and not ready to be serious yet. I’ve already warned her, and I’ve told her to cut it out. I love her, but Vena is like a wrecking ball. She comes in hard and fast, and sometimes people get hurt.”

Shepard reached out to brush a thumb over the fading cut on my cheek.

“She doesn’t sound like a good friend.”

“Ah, that’s where you’re wrong. Once she’s set her loyalty, there’s no shaking it. She doesn’t just jump two feet into her own trouble but mine as well. She has saved me more times than I can count. And not because she was the one who got me into trouble. At least, not the majority of those saves. Vena is my no-questions-asked yes-man. She’ll bring the shovel and a chair for me to sit on while she cleans up my mistakes.”

“So she’s the person you trust most in this world?”

“Absolutely.”

“I see. I’ll warn Anchor as well then…unless you’d rather have someone else stay at your house until we have the vampire infestation cleaned up.”

“No. Anchor’s great,” I said quickly.

His distractibility, when it came to Vena, would come in handy since Cross had no plans to stay away. Especially not when I had over two million dollars of his money in my bank account, and he still needed my help to find somewhere to live.

“Good,” Shepard said. “Anchor will be there tonight, then.”

“How long do you think the vampire infestation will take to clean up? I’m not hinting you should rush or anything. I’m just wondering if Vena and I should maybe condense into one room so Anchor can have his own.” I wasn’t actually thinking anything of the sort. I just wanted to know how long Anchor was going to be staying with us.

“Anchor stays on the couch. It should only take a few weeks. Definitely not worth the effort of moving all your things.”

I nodded and looked around the VIP section one last time to make sure I didn’t miss anything.

“Do you want me to let Vena know we’re working tonight?” I asked.

“If you’re sure you’re up for it. I was thinking of opening the doors at seven.”

Seven was much later than usual, but a short shift during prime hours didn’t sound like a bad thing.

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