Mate. The word seemed foreign to her, but the more she thought it, the more right it felt. It made a lot of things make sense. What didn’t, was how much better she felt after just a kiss. Though she supposed that it wasn’t just a kiss really. She lifted her fingers and touched her lips gently, almost swearing they still tingled. How she was going to get through the day without getting completely side tracked, she didn’t know. She didn’t have to be at the café at all, and she had no freelance work to be getting on with either. Sometimes she wished that she’d taken the time at school to find herself a proper career. She didn’t need the money, and a proper career would probably get in the way of her dealing with the frosts year in year out. Or in the way of looking after Izzy. Or all the ten thousand other things she needed to do. But still, being able to say she did something with her time other than write the occasional blog post and work in a café would be great.

Eira pulled her cardigan around herself, snuggling into it to avoid the cold. She frowned. That wasn’t right. She never felt the cold, there was no reason to when she was the cold. She’d just have to chalk it up to her body reacting weirdly to the bond between her and Josh. She’d heard that mates often took on characteristics of each other; maybe she’d be making green sparks soon too. Curious, she lifted her hand so that it was in front of her and summoned her magic. Much to her disappointment, pure white snowflakes danced across her palm, without a touch of green in sight. Just like they had when she’d summoned them for Leth the previous evening.

An upbeat pop song came to life and she jumped. It was quiet in her flat, and the last thing she’d been expecting was the cheery melody. Even so, she found herself singing along before realising that it was her ringtone. She looked around the flat hastily, searching for where she’d stashed her phone. Her eyes rested on the clutch bag she’d taken with her the night before and she scooped it up. One glance at the caller id told her that she didn’t know the number. But something was telling her that she needed to answer it, and who was she to ignore a gut feeling?

“Hello?” she asked after pressing the button.

“What’s this I hear about a date?” The slightly familiar male voice sent a thrill went through Eira

“How do you know about that?”

“It’s my business to know.” She should probably feel at least a little bit creeped out by that, but somehow, when it came in Rueben’s smooth baritone, it didn’t come across that way at all.

“Dammit, Josh,” she muttered quietly, and was rewarded with a low chuckle. She’d momentarily forgotten he was a vampire, and that there was no chance he hadn’t heard her.

“Do we need to be jealous, Eira?” He dragged out her name in a way that made her think of sweaty naked bodies and entangled limbs. Lots of limbs, far more than there should be for just the two of them. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the distracting images.

“You tell me,” she said, sitting down on her sofa and leaning back, feeling surprisingly smug for the conversation they were having.

“I don’t think we do.”

She cocked her head. He might not be able to see her, but his words definitely had her curious enough to want to question it further.

“You don’t even know who it’s with,” she said after a moment’s pause.

“Are you sure?”

“Unless you’re stalking me, then yes I’m sure. And you better not be stalking me, Rueben. If you are then you can kiss goodbye to any chance you have with me,” she told him. Leth breaking in the night before had been enough, she didn’t need a vampire stalker on top of that. On the other end of the phone, Rueben was laughing almost uncontrollably, pissing Eira off that bit more.

“Which means I have a chance with you?” he asked once his laughter had subsided.

“You know you do,” she snapped, softening almost instantly as she thought back to their almost kiss from the night before. Damn Josh for interrupting when he did. Wait, what about Josh? They’d kissed earlier and there’d been actual sparks, yet here she was talking to another man about how he had a chance with her too. Something didn’t quite stack up, and the lack of guilt she felt over the entire thing only added to her confusion.

“What are you thinking about so hard?” Rueben asked, his voice softer and calmer than it had been previously.

“Erm...” She had no idea what to say. How on earth was she supposed to explain to one man how she’d kissed another one just a few hours ago. Or a third man the night before, and yet didn’t feel guilty about any of it. She wondered what that said about her, but pushed the thought away, now wasn’t the best time to consider it.

“Maybe about Josh’s kiss? Or Leth’s.”

“What?” she spluttered, sitting bolt upright in shock. Just how much had Josh told him? And why had he told Rueben any of it in the first place.

“Josh told me, but you shouldn’t be worried Eira, it’s going to be me waiting for you when you get home tonight.”

“It is?” she squeaked, equally excited and nervous.

“Yes.”

“Don’t you need to be invited in?” she asked, causing another low chuckle from Rueben.

“What is this? A bad fifties movie?”

“Well I’ve never actually met a vampire before, how should I know what you can and can’t do?”

“Of course you’ve met vampires before. We’re everywhere.”

“I don’t go out much at night.” She could hear Rueben gasping soundlessly on the other end of the line, and guessed that he was laughing again, which only incised her more.

“We can go out during the day, Eira. And we don’t have a problem with garlic either. Italian is by far my favourite food.”

“Are you being serious?”

“Deadly.” The one word was said with such certainty that it took her a moment to realise that he was joking.

“Now you play the vampire joke card?” His soft chuckle told her all she needed to know.

“I’ll see you tonight, Eira. I look forward to it.” All of the laughter was gone from his tone, and instead it sounded like he was making a promise. A promise that she would more than likely enjoy. All she had to do was get through a date with an intrusive man she knew nothing about. He hung up the phone before she could answer, and she sat there dumbfounded. How had this happened to her? Just twenty-four hours ago she was overdue for any kind of male attention, now she seemed to have three after her. Now that was an image she could enjoy.