Something jolted Selena awake. Confused, she sat up and looked around her darkened surroundings. Embers burned in a fireplace. The shadow of a piano stood to her right. This wasn’t her bed. This wasn’t her bedroom. This wasn’t her house.

Then it all came back to her in a rush. Mateo. Vampires. The balcony. The accident.

But as unbelievable and crazy as all of that was, it wasn’t what had woken her.

It was Paula. She’d forgotten about Paula.

Hearing the front door open, she jumped to her feet, heart pounding in her ears, and tiptoed across the room. She peered into the entryway, saw Mateo, and relaxed just a fraction.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his eyes darting around. He was holding a grocery sack that he set on the entryway table. “Are you okay?”

“I’m just jumpy, that’s all. But I realized I never found out if Paula made it home okay.” Without realizing it, Selena had sent her employee—her sweet, lovable, and somewhat clueless employee—into the mouth of the dragon. If anything happened to her, if she didn’t come back… Selena closed her eyes, not wanting to go there. “I need my phone.”

“She’s not a sweetblood like you,” he said, handing it to her. “Chances are, she’s fine.”

That was only marginally reassuring. She looked at the phone and her heart sank. No cell service. “I have to go check on her.”

Mateo shook his head. “It’s almost daybreak.”

“I unknowingly sent her into danger, Mateo. I need to know that she’s okay. Now. If you can’t come with me because of the sun, I understand, so I’ll just go myself.”

Mateo glowered at her. “You’re not leaving this house alone until I’m convinced the threat to you has been eliminated. You might not understand what they’re capable of, but I sure as hell do.”

Not this again. “Mateo, please. She’s my responsibility. She went there because of me.”

He paced to the other side of the entryway, boots pounding angrily on the tile floor.

“We don’t even need to get out of the car,” she continued. “I just want to drive past her apartment and make sure she made it home. I’ll never forgive myself, or you for that matter, if I sit around and do nothing.”

He paused, then turned to face her, a look of resignation in his dark eyes.

* * *

The early morning light was thin and gray by the time they turned into Paula’s apartment complex on the south end of Agate’s Cove. Mateo recognized the beat-up maroon sedan parked in front of the second building from when he’d helped Paula load up her car with the catering samples.

“Is that it?” he asked, pointing.

Selena sat forward in her seat and peered through the windshield. “I think so.” He drove slowly past the car to give her a better look at it. “Yes, that’s hers. Thank goodness, she made it home.” Tears welled up in her eyes and she choked back a sob. “Thank you. I can’t tell you what a relief that is.”

He stopped alongside the tennis courts, intending to give her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, but instead, he held her face in his hands and brushed away her tears with his thumbs. Her lashes, damp with tears, framed her beautiful eyes. Even though she could be as tough as nails, Selena could also be vulnerable. Fragile. She felt things deeply. Cared about people deeply. Whereas he was a hard, selfish bastard, she treated everyone as if they were a friend or her own flesh and blood. He’d always loved that about her.

He hadn’t intended to kiss her, but there he was, leaning over the center console, drawing her close to him. Her lips were every bit as soft as he remembered as he pushed his tongue inside, tasting the saltiness of her tears. He groaned at how good it felt to kiss her after all this time.

Selena echoed his thoughts. “I’ve missed you,” she mumbled against him, sliding her hands over his chest. God, he loved the feel of her touching him like this. “So damn much, it’s not even funny.”

He ran his lips along the delicate skin under her jaw, the fragrant hollow behind her ear, her neck. When her hand slid lower to brush against the growing bulge in his jeans, he cursed softly. “I’ve missed you, too.”

“Yeah, I can tell,” she chuckled, her voice low and husky.

Rocking his hips forward, he spread his legs to give her better access to all of him as he shoved his hand under her shirt. He wasn’t about to let the center console between them hamper his efforts to put his mouth on those beautiful breasts of hers.

Just as she fumbled for the button on his jeans, there was a tap at the window. They jerked apart as if they were teenagers caught in the act.

“What’s going on in here?” a male voice said.

Selena gave a little snort of laughter as they both straightened their clothes. Mateo rolled down the steamed-up window and was surprised to see a uniformed cop standing there. Oh, for fuck’s sake. Seriously? Thankfully it was still early and the sky was very overcast, otherwise he’d be feeling more of an energy drain from the thin sunlight. Preparing to use a simple mind suggestion on the guy to let them move along without incident, he said, “Sorry, officer, we were just leaving.”

“Mateo? Selena?” The policeman leaned down and grinned, his white teeth a brilliant contrast to his golden-brown complexion. “I didn’t know you were in town, man. Or that you two were back together. How the hell are you?”

“Quinn?” The last time Mateo had seen his old friend was the last time he’d seen Selena. Quinn and his girlfriend had jumped out of the back seat of his car and ran, horrified at what they had witnessed and what Mateo had become. His father’s memory wipe had clearly been effective, he thought, as the two men shook hands.

“Sorry,” Quinn said sheepishly. “We’ve had a lot of car prowls in the area, so I just assumed… How long are you in town for? We should get the squad together. Grab a pint or two.”

He felt Selena’s light touch as she threaded her fingers through his, just like she used to. He resisted the urge to absorb any of her energy. Without thinking, he brought the back of her hand to his lips and kissed it. He hadn’t planned to stay in the area for long, but he had to admit, the thought of prolonging his time with Selena was really appealing. “You still seeing Holly?” he asked Quinn.

“Nah. We broke up a long time ago. Last I heard, she was a grad student at UBC, but I’m sure she’s done by now.”

“And you stuck around Agate’s Cove,” Mateo said.

Quinn ran a hand over his close-cropped hair. “I did move away for a while. Thought I wanted to be a big-city cop, but I came back. What can I say? I love it here.”

Mateo nodded as a gust of fragrant, fresh air blew in through the open window. “I know what you mean.” This place did get under your skin.

“How’s your dad doing?” Quinn asked Selena. “Haven’t seen him at the park lately.”

She rolled her eyes. “He’s got this new girlfriend who’s taking up all his time. A woman down the street. Ever since she moved in, he’s been over there all the time, helping her with odd jobs.”

Mateo raised a brow. “You don’t like her?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. She’s nice enough, I guess, but I can’t shake the feeling that she’s using him for his handyman skills. He can fix anything, build anything. She’s probably twenty years younger than him and very flashy. I mean, I love my dad, but she’s totally not his type.”

Quinn nodded knowingly. “Loneliness can be a real issue for older people. It can cause them to make decisions they wouldn’t have made when they were younger.”

Selena sighed. “I want him to be happy, but I worry about him getting hurt.”

As they chatted, Mateo kept a wary eye on the ever-lightening sky. If he didn’t get out of the sunlight soon, he was going to be in bad shape and would need huge amounts of both human energy and blood. Neither of which he could get from Selena.

Selena must’ve picked up on his growing discomfort, because she leaned over the console. “I’m going to be late. Can I text you, Quinn, to set something up?”

“Sounds great.” Quinn grinned.

“Catch you later,” Mateo said. “Good seeing you.”

“Likewise.” His friend gave a goodbye tap on the roof of the car, and Mateo drove away.