Page 77 of Blood and Buttercups

“But you’re renting a room from me. They have no right to tell me who can or cannot stay in my house.”

His focus sharpens on my face. “Actually…that might work. Hurry, let’s sign a contract and backdate it.”

“So, if you have to remain here anyway, will they let you stay on as my conservator?”

“I doubt it. They’ve probably already moved me over to the vacuum salesman.”

“No,” I say, fear clawing at my chest. “No.”

“Piper…”

“I don’t want a different conservator—I want you. This is ridiculous.”

Though still frustrated, he looks quietly pleased. “Say it again, just to boost my spirits.”

I smile despite myself. “I want you.”

He smirks. “It has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. Too bad we’re just friends.”

“Too bad.”

“Come on.” I abandon my toast but grab my smoothie. “We’ll go to my office and draw up the contract.”

Thirty minutesafter Daniel’s warning, Noah gets a call from his boss.

“Hey, Reid,” he says like he doesn’t know what’s coming, looking over our newly signed contract. “A new assignment? Why?”

I pull my legs up and cross them in the computer chair, watching Noah.

“I mean, that’s fine. The situation is a little complicated, though. Piper is a friend. She found out I was back in town and didn’t have a place, and she offered to rent me a room. We’ve already signed a contract.”

That’s almost the truth.

He continues, “I ran into her before she was assigned to me, but it did seem like an ideal situation, especially considering herstalker.”

I twist my hands, and Noah winks, silently telling me he’s got this. After his initial explosion, he went into recon mode. He said he was going to take care of this, and I believe him. But it might get messy.

“It should be in her file,” Noah says, like he’s confused. “The vampire who bit her has been in contact. He added his contact info to her phone, and he’s messaged several times.” Another pause. “Why would her file be locked? And what happened to her history? You realize this woman’s boyfriend was murdered the day before she was infected, right? The guy on the news?” He grins to himself, apparently liking the direction the conversation is taking. “Yeah, that’s the one.”

Mindlessly, I pull a piece of computer paper from the printer and begin folding corners.

“Itisstrange her file has been swept clean.” Noah nods like he’s agreeing with something his boss said. “It’s fine if I stay here, right? I can send in the rental agreement if you like. And I’m sure Piper would be happy to chat with you as well.” He pauses. “If you don’t mind driving over. This afternoon at the Glenwood Springs office?”

I nod when he raises his eyebrows to ask me if that will work.

“Yeah, this afternoon is fine.” His jaw tightens a little. “I can meet Colin tomorrow. But you’ll need to get someone switchedto Piper right away. I don’t think it’s safe leaving her alone right now.” He nods again. “Thanks, Reid. We’ll see you in a few hours.”

“How did it go?” I ask when he ends the call.

He nods to the paper in my hands. “Practicing your origami?”

“Is he going to let you stay here?”

“We’ll see. We head into the office at two.”

“What will you do if they tell you that you have to move out?”

---