invitation. Too personal. Fen came back into the room holding two long-necked bottles in one hand and she straightened.
“Don’t let me interrupt your snoop. My ereader’s on the nightstand if you’re looking for the really good stuff.” She glanced again at those sketchpads. She bet the really good stuff was in there.
“I pegged you as a science fiction fan.”
“I like science fiction. I’ve always had a thing for horror too.”
“Ah.”
“Ah?” He sat on the couch, crossed his ankle over his knee and stretched his arm across the back. His head was cocked slightly to one side in that attentive pose he sometimes assumed and one eyebrow was raised. “You have a verdict already?”
“These things take time.” She took a sip of the beer he’d handed her. “There are no pictures on the wall, so I’m thinking you don’t have a lot of family. Did your parents pass away?”
“Nope. This is their house though.” He patted the couch. “The pictures they had up were all embarrassingly adorable shots of me growing up. They retired and decided to travel for a few years. My lease was up anyway, so I moved in here. They’re visiting a clan in Belgium right now. Then they plan to hop over to a little place in Norway.”
“That would be nice.” It was a dream a lot of clan had for after they’d fulfilled their time of service. Not many made it. It was dangerous hunting demons. Her older brother hadn’t survived ten years at it.
“I haven’t lived here very long. You’d have to dig through the boxes stored in the basement for photo albums and home videos.”
“No movies?”
“I don’t like clutter. When it’s not organized, the walls start to close in on me.”
“Music?”
“On the computer, the house is wired off that.”
Huh. “I’m thwarted then. I’ll have to get to know you the old-fashioned way.”
She dropped onto the couch and started to prop her feet on the table before jerking them back. She flushed. It was too easy to forget herself around Fen. Her manners flew right out the window. He hooked his hand under her knee before her foot hit the ground and pulled it back up. “What’s the point in keeping thirty-year-old furniture around if you can’t abuse it?”
“Are the gardening books your mom’s?”
“I don’t look like a gardener to you?”
His grin invited honesty. “You look nothing like a gardener.”
He looked like trouble. His tattoo peeked from beneath the sleeve an old T-shirt. He was still wearing shit- kicker boots and the worn-out jeans that suited him perfectly. He had the kind of body jeans were created for. Narrow hips and long, straight legs. He looked like a loner and an artist. He looked dangerous—and not to cabbage worms and squash bugs.
“It gets me outside, you know, when I’m not killing things.” He took a long pull from his bottle, but kept his eye on her.
“So you’re a nerd.”
He choked on his swallow. “You think I’m a nerd?”
“Afraid so.” She ticked off her fingers. “You live in your parent’s house.”
“I
She held up a second finger. “You have enough computer equipment in here that I bet you’ll have to upgrade the electrical system soon...if you haven’t already.”
“Last year, before I moved in. It’s why I haven’t had the extra money to decorate.”
“You enjoy reading and gardening.” She paused. “Do you have a cat?”
He winced. “She’s a stray. Scared to death of me, but she keeps coming back for the food.”
“I’d be surprised if you could coax a cat into living with a hound.”
“Smart creatures, cats. So what’s the verdict?”
She wiggled her fingers and dropped her hand. She hadn’t made a five count, but she thought she’d made her point anyway. “Nerd. Even if you don’t look like one.”
“And what does a nerd look like exactly?”
“Different from you,” she said after a too-long pause, feeling suddenly that it wasn’t the best idea for her to have come here alone.
Seemingly struck by the same thought, Fen took another drink and then changed the subject. “So how’s the wedding coming along?”
“It’s coming. There’s not much to do. Everything’s been arranged forever, down to the china.”
“Are you and Christian okay?”
She kicked off her shoes and turned on the couch to face him, resting her back against the armrest. “He’s not reneging on the contract.”
“I didn’t think he would.”
She stared at the bottle in her hands, picked at the label. “I heard him talking about me the day I arrived, during the welcome party.”
Fen didn’t comment. He was patient that way, not judgmental. She liked him—a little too much. But she wasn’t going to think about that now...or ever. She
“I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, I was in the restroom and with the vents...sound carries in there. He was talking to Aiden about me.”
Fen stared at his bottle, his thumb circling the wet rim. “It’s never a good idea to believe things that you overhear.”
She tilted her head to the side. “Why? It’s more honest than what people will tell you to your face.”
“Not always. There’s usually just a different set of agendas at play.”
“I didn’t take you for a cynic, Fen.”
“I don’t consider myself one, Rocky. What did he say?”
He knew. She could tell by the tone of his voice, unhappy but not particularly surprised. “That I was his duty. That he wouldn’t back out even if he wanted to.”
“And you assumed that meant he wanted to?”
“What else was I supposed to think?”
His hand touched her leg briefly before lifting away to rest on the back of the couch again. “You dumped that revelation on him about your problem to see if he’d walk?”
She flinched. She hadn’t looked at it quite that way. “I thought I’d give him an out, all of you. It’s better that you know it upfront.”
“Agreed.” His eyes were so dark drilling into her like that. “Look, Aiden’s been stressed out about the trouble we’re having with the portal. He put a lot of pressure on Christian to make sure this wedding thing goes smoothly. What you heard was probably Christian lashing back. Duty is important to Christian, but I’ve seen the way he looks at you too. You’re wrong if you think he’s only in this for the halo.”
Her cheeks heated. “Yeah, there’s that.”
“There’s that,” he echoed. His mouth pulled into a grimace. This was a mistake, talking to him about his friend. She was embarrassing him and putting him in a weird position. “Just...talk to him. He’s not stupid or uncaring. He’ll hear you out and if you ask him about it directly, he will tell you the truth. Christian won’t lie to your face.”
The doorbell rang and Fen practically leaped to answer it. Raquel smiled wryly. Poor guy. He might be willing to be her friend, but she couldn’t keep leaning on him so hard. It wasn’t fair to him, her or Christian either.
Rocky’s little sister, Audrey, showed up after the pizza arrived, which was a relief. Sort of. Fen wanted Rocky alone, liked talking to her even if it hurt, was flattered and fascinated that of all the clan, she seemed to
