Page 59 of My Vampire Plus-One

I glared at her. “This trip is nothing but a family obligation. It isnota vacation, andnotan opportunity to hook up with anybody.”

“But you’ll be there withReggie,” she said, voice adopting a bit of a singsong when she said his name. Her eyes danced with mischief. “Are you sure you won’t have better things to do with your time than taxes?”

I ignored her suggestive tone. “There’s never any better thing to do with my time than taxes.”

Sophie snorted. “Oh, stop it. You told me the way he looked at you the other night. He couldn’t take his eyes off you. You’re seriously going to waste that?”

“I never said that.”

“You said that when he saw you, he shut up for the first time since you’d met him.” Sophie smirked. “I bet he had a hard-on before even getting into that Uber.”

“Sophie!” I dropped the file I’d been about to put in my briefcase, scattering papers everywhere. I tried to think of how to get her to stop harping on this but was coming up empty. Especially since Reggiehadbeen unable to keep his eyes off me for a good portion of Gretchen’s engagement party. But thinking about my possibly having given him a hard-on…

No.

That would lead to nothing good.

Certainly not right now, when we were about to spend five hours together in a car, and then an entire weekend at the cabin. I’d assumed my family would rent one big van and go up together, the way we used to when I was younger. But everyone had different obligations this weekend and needed to leave at different times. So it would just be me and Reggie, alone in an enclosed space for hours.

Sophie watched as I continued packing. “I think you’re into him, too.”

I stared at her. “I am absolutely notinto him.” I put special emphasis on the last two words, as if the mere concept were beneath me.

“Hmm.”

“What he and I have is just…just…”

Sophie arched an eyebrow. “Just what?”

“It’s just anarrangement,” I finished, lamely. “It’s purelytransactional.It isn’t real.”

“I know. But would it be so bad if it became real?”

“Yes.”

“But why?” Sophie must have sensed I was struggling with this, because all the teasing had left her voice. “He’s interesting, isn’t he? And funny? Also really good-looking?”

I couldn’t even deny what she was saying, because hewasall those things. But what she was suggesting was ridiculous. “I can’t make this real, Soph. For one thing, he has no Internet presence at all. That’s weird, right? I have a feeling that if I look too closely, I’ll come across skeletons in his closet I’ll regret discovering.”

Sophie shrugged. “So he has a few red flags. Who doesn’t?”

“I also don’t have time for a relationship.” When Sophie didn’t reply, only stared at me with a smirk on her face, I rolled my eyes. “Please don’t tell me you think I need a boyfriend, too, Soph. I don’t think I could handle it if you did.”

“Not at all.” Sophie sat down next to me on the bed and put a hand on my knee. She gave it a squeeze. “If you want to stay single for the rest of your life, I support you. But I also don’t understand why you’re fighting your attraction to this guy as hard as you are.”

“I’m not attracted to him,” I said. I wasn’t. I mean, sure, he wasattractive. And yes, I found myself revisiting funny things he’d said or kind things he’d done at odd moments. Like when I was taking a shower, or riding the El to work, or trying to focus on this damn Wyatt filing.

But none of that meant I wasattractedto him. Did it?

Sophie gave me a knowing look. “Just think about it, okay? While you’re up there, if the opportunity presents itself to turnthis arrangement into something real, don’t think your way out of what could be either a good thing or, at the very least, a short-term good time.”

A short-term good time.

Was I even capable of something like that?

The sad thing was, I didn’t think so.

I needed to change the subject, and fast. I reached across the bed to where Gracie was still curled up and dozing, oblivious to this conversation, and stroked her fur. “Be a good girl for Auntie Sophie while I’m away, Gracie,” I cooed.

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