Page 56 of Hopelessly Teavoted
Vickie heard the sharp intake of his breath on the line.
“Friends. Right. Okay. Evelyn is here too. I think more eyes on what happened here is better, short of involving the Council. And I’ve got my reasons for avoiding them; once they get involved, they’ll cut us out entirely.”
“Understandable. That would make paying my soul debt difficult. Evelyn is fierce, and so is Prissy. But don’t worry, Az, I’ll come over and protect you.”
Az laughed. It was rasping and loud on the line. It wasn’t hurtful, and it wasn’t mean, but it sounded rusty, like it had been too long since someone had made him actually laugh.
She should have called him this week. Or the one before it. Or maybe every day. Maybe she wanted to call him every day from now on, and if she couldn’t, maybe she wanted to pretend that she could.
“Thanks. My knight in glittering hairspray.”
“Don’t you own an actual suit of armor? So theoretically, I could just be a knight in shining armor.”
“Obviously, I do. But it’s my size, so it’s much too tall for you. I can pick you up in about twenty minutes, if that works.”
“Az, have you actually tried it on? And I can drive myself.”
“No comment on the suit. We have a break-in to solve. Let me come get you. This has all been a lot, and driving clears my mind.”
“That sounds like an excuse foryouto be a knight in shiningarmor. How do I know you’re not going to show up in a metal suit, driving a car?”
“Well, for one thing, it would be much too hard to drive in. I’ll be there in fifteen.”
“Fine. But no armor.”
“Suit yourself,” he said, hanging up before he could hear her cackle at the silliness of it.
CHAPTER 17Azrael
Driving helped distract Azrael from his desperation to pull more of those soft gasping noises from Vickie. It was terribly bad form to be fantasizing about her thighs while he should be focusing on figuring out who was responsible for the break-in at the manor.
Vickie was sunshine and butterflies and soft, soft kisses. But she was also burning fire and a hidden, tender heart that he had once glimpsed for long enough to be willing to shatter his own to protect it. He shoved those feelings out of the way and concentrated on the task at hand.
He cleared his throat.
“So, uh, how’s business? Picking up?”
“Ah.” Vickie paused after the nonanswer, and he wondered if it would be better to sit in silence than to endure the weirdness of the stilted conversation. “It’s improving, but you could say that I have theboosabout the whole thing. I’m getting there, but it’s tough. Your mom was a force of nature.”
Good. This was good.
He drummed his finger on the steering wheel. “Well. I guess you have somesoul-searching to do, then.”
Vickie laughed, and when he glanced over, she was staring out the window.
Azrael let her have the space. He wanted to tell her that hewasn’t entirely sure that his survival instinct could outweigh his need to touch her now that he was seeing her again.
“Vickie, I know we said pretend, and I know pretend is safer, but I want you to know that if things were different—”
“I know,” she said softly.
“Can I tell you anyway?” His knuckles were white against the wheel now.
“Of course,” she said. He could see her knitting her fingers together in her lap.
“I would want to give it an honest shot, if things were different.”
“Me, too, Az. I would want to see where it goes. But things are what they are.”
