Page 12 of My Big Fat Vampire Wedding
Pandora would like to claim that things like clothing didn’t matter. But her family was big on their fashion. Sure, that fashion was stuck in the Victorian period for many. And the Renaissance or Medieval periods for others. Still, it mattered to them.
Her mind flashed back to her mother’s obvious displeasure about her work uniform earlier that evening. “All right. Maybe we can buy a nice suit and make the finalists try it on.”
“Now you’re getting on board,” Lucy said, grinning.
“Are we setting the bar too high?” Pandora asked.
“Hey, if we are going to do this, we are going to do it right,” Lucy said. “And when you are super rich and powerful, don’t forget who helped you get there.”
“Oh, I won’t forget. Yours is the couch I will be sleeping on for eternity when all of this falls apart and my parents completely disown me.”
“OK. Someone is getting grumbly. Are you hungry?” she asked. “I think your fangs are looking a little longer. You’re probably hungry.”
Pandora reached for her mobile, bringing up the camera and pulling up her lips to inspect her teeth. They looked perfectly fine to her.
“I’m going to go get some dinner,” Lucy said. “A nice, juicy steak for me,” she added, her eyes seeming to flash a little yellow at the idea of some relatively fresh meat.
Pandora noticed that her best friend’s werewolf tendencies got stronger as the moon cycled toward full. From her estimation, they were two days away from the hunter’s moon. Which meant that, for three nights in a row, she wouldn’t see Lucy as she went and wolfed out with her pack.
“And a pint or so of some vein-vino for you,” Lucy said, leaving her clipboard on the counter and going to grab her handbag. “Hold down the fort. And start to think about features. Do you want a brunette? A blond? Maybe even a redhead?” She made her way toward the front door, pulling it open and allowing the wind to send a small flurry of dried leaves into the shop, then disappeared out into the night.
Pandora was truly thankful for Lucy in times like these. She would normally be in an anxiety spiral, if not for Lucy’s upbeat enthusiasm. But thanks to her encouragement, Pandora was almost starting to believe she could pull this off.
Her best friend had spent the better part of an hour discussing all of the plots of the arranged-marriage books they’d read, and the mistakes that had made the situationships fall apart, so that Pandora would be smart enough to avoid them.
Even just ten minutes after Lucy had left, her uncertainty started to creep back in, making her set her mind to deep-cleaning to avoid overthinking things.
That was why she missed it when someone walked in.
“What is this?” a familiar voice called. She popped up so fast she whacked her head on the underside of the countertop, making pain ricochet across her scalp.
“Ow.” She rubbed her head as she stood and turned to find Caramel Macchiato Cutie standing there.
With the clipboard in his hand.
Pandora squeaked. “Oh, um, notes.”
He started to read out loud. “Good at waltzing.Smoldering…delivering romantic lines…”
“It’s for a … er … play!” she said.
“You’re putting on a play?” he asked, brows pinched.
“We’re considering it.” She took the clipboard out of his hands and stuffed it under the counter, hoping her embarrassment wasn’t written all over her face. “The usual?” she asked, forcing her gaze to stay on his pretty eyes and not, under any circumstances, slip to those generous, frowning lips of his.
And she certainly couldn’t let herself imagine reaching across the counter, grabbing him by the front of his shirt, dragging him halfway across the counter, and sealing her lips to his.
Or, at least, she couldn’t let herself imagine that for long.
“Ah, yeah,” he said, making her gaze flick up, realizing with no small amount of humiliation that she had, in fact, been watching his lips.
“Coming right up.” Pandora slipped some extra cheerfulness in her voice, hoping it might distract him from the aforementioned ogling. “I was starting to think you weren’t coming in tonight,” she said as she pumped caramel syrup into his cup.
“Actually, this is going to be my last time,” he said, making her head whip up.
“What?” she gasped out.
“Yeah, I, ah, it looks like I am going to need to drop out of UCL,” he said.
