Page 58 of Spies without a Face
I’d more than like to return to bed with Austin, too. Last night was amazing, and I’d love a repeat of that. “He’s probably wondering where you are.”
Austin took a bite of his eggs and chewed with a thoughtful expression. After he swallowed, he asked, “Do you want to get together later?”
The fluttering sensation that tingled inside assured me that I did. But I should also keep some sense about this. We spent one night together. One wonderful night where our connection felt—magical.
Amazing sex didn’t mean we’d jump into a relationship.
“Yes,” I said with a smile, which then faltered. “But I don’t want us to rush into anything. Can we take things slowly?”
He studied me and then broke eye contact. His expression tightened as if he was wrestling with something. “Of course.”
Although I’d saidI wanted to take it slow, I didn’t put much behind those words with my actions. It seemed almost impossible for us to stay away from each other. After all, we lived only feet apart and could traverse the short distance within seconds. We didn’t go a night without texting each other, if not spending the night together, most of the time ending up at my place.
Marius hadn’t made any more attempts to contact me after the concert. Since almost a week had passed since he’d seen me there with Austin, I hoped he’d taken the hint that I wasn’t interested in resurrecting our long-dead relationship and had moved on.
Unfortunately, I still walked around with the unease of being watched. But I didn’t see any of those strange little creatures with big eyes. Would I ever shake that sensation?
At the Network, my staff couldn’t hide their interest in their forced nonchalant questions disguised as small talk. I hadn’t told them anything about Austin, choosing to keep my personal life private, but they knew something was up. And I knew that they knew.
When I bumped into Lucas in the kitchen one morning, he asked a new variation of a question, trying to find out more. “What’s up, boss? Have you been doing anything fun lately?”
I tipped my head. “Lucas, I’m sure you know.”
“Know what?” he asked with faux innocence.
I planted one hand on my hip and gestured with the other toward him. “Since I introduced the two of you, and I know you’ve been friendly, you can drop the act. Besides, there’s more speculation in your eyes right now than a hungry rookie on Wall Street.”
“Ohhh.” Lucas gave me a small nod and laughed. “You’re talking about my new buddy Austin. How’s he doing, anyway?
“Fine.”
“I asked him to hang out the other night, but he was busy. He didn’t say what he was doing.”
I walked by Lucas and boiled water for tea. “I suppose I should thank all of you for setting us up—even if it was ridiculous.” When I pictured their hijinks at Gianna’s club, my lips twitched into a smile. “So yes, I’ve been spending time with Austin. Go ahead and say, ‘I knew it’ or tease me or however you want to gloat about your hand in getting us together.”
“I’m not going to tease you, Pandora, or gloat in any way. I’m happy you’re happy. And it sounds like Austin’s happy, too.” Lucas’s smile broadened, and he started to move his feet from one side to the other as he hummed a familiar tune.
“What are you doing?”
“I won’t gloat but let me sing a few lines.” He then sang the lyrics to Daft Punk’s “Happy” and clapped along as he danced to the tune.
I couldn’t resist a chuckle. Typical Lucas.
AUSTIN
Spending time with Pandora was phenomenal. She worked a lot, but when she had time off, she’d show me some of her favorite places in the area. We often walked hand-in-hand along the shore, her dark hair tousled by the sea breeze. We drove up to Rockport one day and strolled through the village stores in Bearskin Neck. Then we ate sandwiches at a picturesque spot overlooking the sea. Pandora loved to walk near the ocean.
Each day I spent with her, I fell for her more and more. It wasn’t just this intense connection between us and knowing she was my mate, but it came with discovering all the little things about her. How she’d developed a love for Shakespeare at her academy. How she was the eldest of two sisters and developed that older sister mindset of taking care of others. How she preferred baking over cooking.
Fortunately, I had somewhat of a distraction by starting my new job. At least, it kept me doing something with my hands while I was outdoors for the most part. The need to claim her as my mate still gnawed at me.
I asked Lucas to meet me for a drink and mentioned what I wanted to talk about.
“Sounds like you might want to come talk to the three of us. Why don’t you come here?”
I met them at the house after the vampire Diego had woken and before Sebastian went to work.
Lucas handed me a beer. “Careful, you might dream you’re a rhombus.”
