As he got out of his truck, Darius reminded himself that this was not a real date. Audra had been very specific when she’d called—Chad was going to be having a late dinner at Barcelona, and the private investigators weren’t available. Did he want to go with her to watch for any signs of the lamp, and to take it from Chad if the opportunity presented itself? It couldn’t have been a more businesslike invitation.

But still, he didn’t go out with attractive, talented women often. And if they were going to fit in with the crowd at the posh tapas restaurant, he had to look nice. So he’d taken his blue suit to the cleaners and begged them to press it for him last minute, and he’d shaved with extra care and put on cologne. Rebecca had gotten him some new cologne with actual pheromones in it for his birthday, which seemed like overkill to him when it came to seducing women. But as much as he’d scoffed at it when he’d opened it, he’d worn it tonight.

He left the collar of his cream colored dress shirt open—no tie—so hopefully he didn’t look like he was trying too hard. But as he walked up the steps to her door and looked down at his freshly shined shoes, he realized he probably did. Oh well. It was too late now.

He lifted his hand to rap on the door, but before he could do so, a man opened it. The guy was…medium. Medium build. Medium brown hair. Medium height. Medium looks. He would have been utterly forgettable if not for the fact that he was in Audra’s house. A brother? Darius could only hope so, or this was going to get very awkward. Hadn’t she just broken up with Chad, or had he misunderstood the timeline?

“Wow,” said the guy. “I’m not interested in guys, but if I was, I’d hop all over you. You must be Darius.”

Darius blinked and half stuck his hand out, not sure what to do. “Uh…yeah. Who are you?”

“I’m Beef. Audra’s bestie. She’ll be down in a second.”

“What kind of name is Beef?” asked Darius.

“The kind I have,” said Beef simply.

“Okay then.”

The two men stood amiably at the bottom of the stairway, sizing each other up. They didn’t have to wait long. It couldn’t have been more than a minute before Audra appeared at the top of the steps. She wore a long, beige colored dress with fascinating fluttery panels that made her look a bit like a fairy princess. Too perfect to be real. Golden clips held her long blonde hair away from her face, which shimmered with golden makeup. Darius would have been reassured that he hadn’t overdressed except that he was too busy trying not to stare with his mouth open.

“Damn,” said Beef, grinning with admiration. “You clean up good, girl. Are you sure this isn’t a date?” He looked from Audra to Darius and back again as if sizing them up.

“We’re following Chad. I told you.” Audra’s glance at Darius was shy. “I’m sorry. He figured a bunch of things out, and I had to tell him about the lamp. But…I said nothing else, okay?”

“She wouldn’t betray a confidence,” said Beef reassuringly. “And I wouldn’t pry.”

“Okay,” said Darius, drawing the word out. “I trust your judgement.”

“You know, if this isn’t a date, it’s not too late to make it so.” Beef turned to Audra. “I know I gave you a hard time about the whole dating thing, but I like this guy. You have my blessing.”

“Thanks so much,” said Audra dryly. “We should be going now.”

“Right.”

With a flourish, Beef opened the front door and ushered them out. “Have a good time, kids. Make sure to do lots of things I wouldn’t do.”

Then he shut the door behind him with an emphatic bang, leaving the two of them standing on the front walk, staring at each other. Audra looked amused, but Darius felt fairly shell shocked by the whole thing.

“Does…he live with you?” he asked haltingly.

“No. He’s using my computer to dig up some information on Chad. It’ll keep him busy, and it seems like a good backup plan. If he doesn’t go to the lamp soon, we might be able to track it down anyway.”

“That’s a good idea.”

Darius offered his arm and, after a moment’s hesitation, she took it. He ushered her to the truck and opened the door for her. There was a moment’s awkwardness where he wasn’t sure whether to boost her up or not, but she managed to get inside without a problem, even in heels.

As they pulled out of the parking lot, she said, “I have to admit I have an ulterior motive.” His stomach flipped. An ulterior motive for what? Asking him to dinner? Then she said, “My condo is warded. I though Beef would be safer there.”

“Oh,” he rumbled. “Of course.”

 

Barcelona was the place to go for dinner and had been ever since it opened a few months earlier. Darius wasn’t sure how Chad had managed to get a table on such short notice, or how Citrine had duplicated the feat. He’d only been there once—with Rebecca, of course—and while the food had been quite good and the Spanish-inspired décor had been quite nice, it hadn’t even come close to justifying the price tag in his opinion. He could whip up a better meal from his Food Network magazines at half the cost. He’d been really wanting to try to make paella, in fact.

The table was as promised. It was a small two-top, tucked away in a mirrored corner. They decided that Darius would sit facing the room. Although he was bigger, Chad would be less likely to recognize him. Audra would face the mirror, where she’d also be able to see the room. They got settled a few minutes early and spent a little time talking about which empty table they thought would be his.

“What do you think you’re getting to eat?” he asked.

Audra looked a little embarrassed. “Actually, I was eating when Citrine called, so I’m not particularly hungry. I’m thinking I might have a couple of small plates and call it quits.”

Although that wouldn’t even begin to blunt Darius’s hunger, he didn’t mind. He could always eat something else later.

“Maybe we could share, then,” he said. “Are you a fan of calamari?”

She looked hesitant. “I’m not much of an adventurous eater. I’ve never had it before.”

He brightened right up. “Let me pick a few things. I love food—if you can’t tell—and I’d love for you to try my favorites.”

She agreed, and that made Darius feel really good. He chose carefully. Calamari and saffron-dusted shrimp. Chorizo. Spanish omelet. And a brussels sprout dish he’d never tried before. He pointed them out, and she nodded nervously.

“I’ve never had any of them before, but okay. I trust you,” she said, meeting his eyes.

In all the excitement of the past few days, he hadn’t realized that her eyes were a muted hazel-green. They held his, and suddenly it felt like he couldn’t quite catch a full breath. Almost of his own accord, his hand crept across the table and captured hers. Her skin was soft, but her hands held a hint of strength that reassured him. This was not a woman he would break if he embraced her. At that moment, he wanted to. Badly.

“You look beautiful tonight,” he said quietly. “Beef was right. I wish this really was a date.”

After what felt like ages but was probably only a second or two, she said, “Me too. I know that—”

“No way!” he exclaimed, cutting her off short.

He couldn’t believe his eyes. He’d been focused on Audra. Honestly, he had. But movement behind her head had caught his attention, and the familiar copper hair had locked it in. What was Rebecca doing here? The sight of Chad walking behind her with his hand on the small of her back nearly made him leap out of his seat and start throwing things. He wasn’t a violent person, but everyone had limits.

“What?” asked Audra, her eyes going reflexively to the mirror overhead. “Oh no. Please tell me they’re not together.”

“Oh, but they are,” said Darius.

“I didn’t realize they even knew each other.”

“She interviewed him earlier today. I didn’t think to warn her to stay away from him. Frankly, I thought she had better sense. Although I suppose Chad’s shown that he can hide his stupidity when he wants to.”

Darius knew he was scowling, but he couldn’t help it. It wasn’t a terrible thing for her to be dating an interviewee. After all, once Darius had realized who he’d interviewed, he’d sent Rebecca a regretful email saying that he didn’t think Chad was quite right for the job after all. To her credit, she hadn’t argued. She’d probably been eager to accept Chad’s offer of a date. He was just her type. Hot, charming, and disposable. Darius didn’t judge her for not wanting to be tied down, but he really wished her latest fling could have been with anyone but Chad.

He felt blood rushing to his face as his animal instincts kicked in. He usually had them locked up hard, because big men like him couldn’t afford to lose control. But somehow this was too much. He’d already been off kilter from the moment with Audra, and now Rebecca had hit him with what felt like betrayal even though he logically knew that it wasn’t, and that approaching full moon was making itself felt.

“Are you okay?” asked Audra, concern written clearly on her features. “You look a little…tense.”

“I think I need a moment. A bit of air. Will you be okay?” he added automatically.

“Of course. But are you sure I shouldn’t come with you?”

She made to rise, but he gestured her back down.

“No, no, I’m fine.”

Somehow, her concern settled him. But still, he felt like taking a moment would be wise. He turned from the table and promptly barged right into someone’s chair. The man sitting there wore a white dress shirt, unbuttoned halfway to show a copious amount of chest hair. When Darius ran into him, he was in the process of taking a drink of red wine, which promptly went right down the shirt.

“Oh no,” said Darius, feeling instantly sheepish. “Sir, I am so sorry. I will happily pay your dry cleaning bill...”

But the man with the wine-covered chest hair wasn’t having it.

“What are you doing, you imbecile!?” he exclaimed in a voice loud enough to attract all of the attention in the room. “Do you know how much this shirt cost? It is Italian!”

While Darius had been agitated a moment ago, he fell into an automatic calm now. He’d practiced and practiced for years with his father when he was young, learning how to control his temper. Any time someone tried to push his buttons, those lessons came back to him. The long, slow breaths. The deliberate relaxation of the muscles. The iron fisted control necessary when you could turn into a giant scorpion and kill everyone in the room within minutes.

“I told you,” he said quietly. “I will gladly pay for it. If I don’t have enough money here today, I will give you my card so you can contact me and make payment arrangements.”

He fished in his inside coat pocket for his wallet, but before he could produce it, the man knocked his hand away.

“I say you are a coward! I should punch you in the face!” said the man, breathing wine fumes up Darius’s nose.

Clearly, this fellow had had a few before Darius had intervened, but that didn’t mean punching him in the face was the right course of action. It was tempting anyway. He needed to shut this situation down before it got out of control and he lost his composure, because it would happen if this guy didn’t get out of his face. A quick glance showed him that Rebecca and Chad had already spotted them. Audra had turned around in her seat to watch the commotion, so they’d probably seen her too. The cat was out of the bag as far as secrecy went, but that didn’t mean he wanted to make a spectacle of himself any further.

He took a step closer to the drunken man and allowed his grip on his scorpion to slip, just a bit. He could feel the heat in his eyes and knew that he’d allowed just a hint of red to creep into his pupils. It was enough to make the drunken man back away, yelling incoherently. Then he was caught by his apologetic dinner companions, who took the opportunity to drag him away to the bathroom or the exit or something. Darius didn’t care as long as it wasn’t here.

Their waiter hurried over with a towel and a glass of club soda, a bit late if you asked Darius. He wore an apologetic look, as if the actions of one drunken lout might be his fault since they happened in his restaurant. Darius assumed that some people probably jumped at the opportunity to blame anyone for their inconvenience, but he wasn’t about to hold the man at fault for something that was out of his control.

“Sir, I am so sorry. Did you get any wine on you?” asked the waiter. “My manager is on the way, as soon as he is finished settling down the other gentleman.”

“It’s not your fault,” said Darius, urging patience with his hands. “I was the klutz in this situation. Can I give you my card? I really will pay his dry cleaning bill. He might have been a drunken jerk, but that didn’t mean he deserved the red wine bath.”

“Better than him drinking it. He’d already had enough,” muttered the waiter, and then he looked scandalized. “I’m sorry, sir. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No, I agree with you. And there’s no harm done.” Darius handed him a business card and sat back down. Oddly, after this altercation, he no longer needed a moment outside. He felt calmer than he had before the man had tried to pick a fight with him. Funny how that worked. “Although I think I’ll be drinking water for the rest of the night, since apparently I don’t know my own strength.”

Both Audra and the waiter smiled.

“Very good, sir,” said the waiter.

Darius felt good, too, until he looked over and saw Rebecca. She gave him a sarcastic thumbs up, and then Chad took her hand and kissed the back of it. Then he wanted to vomit. From what he’d heard of Chad, he didn’t want the guy near anyone he cared about. Not that he had the right to enforce it, but that didn’t stop him from wanting it.

Now he had extra reason to watch Chad. And watch him he would.