Chapter Eleven
The night had been both good and disappointing, Leah thought as she lay in bed the next morning. Despite the amazing kiss, Nikon now seemed even more distant then normal. And when they got back to her apartment, instead of coming to bed with her, he decided to sleep on the couch once again.
Talk about hot and cold. She could have handled just forgetting what had happened in bed, but after he’d kissed her, it was hard to think about putting any of that behind her. Their chemistry obviously went both ways.
Leah sighed. She wasn’t mad, but given that he wanted her, she hoped they had made a little progress, and he’d be willing to at least sleep beside her again.
Apparently not.
It was just starting to get light outside when she shifted to her side to see the time.
A little past seven. There was still plenty of time to get all her errands done before the party tonight. Even more so now she was dreading the event. Not only for what it meant, but for the basic fact that she wasn’t really a fan of parties these days.
Something changed in her after Alair died. There were things that just didn’t seem as important as they once did. Getting drunk at a party was a big one.
Leah sat up in bed and pushed the covers off. She’d gone back to flannel pajamas again. There was no man in her bed to impress, so she might as well sleep in comfort.
She shivered a little as she placed her feet on the cold floor. If last night had showed her anything, it was that the winter weather was still lingering more than anyone wanted to admit.
Leah shuffled out of the bedroom and pushed the thermostat up a little. Despite the chill, she doubted Nikon would even notice. The hybrids tended to run a little warm most of the time from what she’d noticed. It was another perk of having him in her bed.
She made her way around the corner and was surprised to find the couch empty. She walked into the kitchen. Empty as well.
Leah furrowed her brow, a little concern filling her. Then she noticed a pink box on the table with a small note on top.
She peered at the note.
Had to work this morning. Got your favorite.
-Nikon
Leah smiled at the poorly written scrawl and then looked down at the pink box. Only the best things came in pink boxes. She was certain of it.
She flipped the lid and could already feel her stomach rumbling in anticipation.
Chocolate hazelnut cream-filled donuts sat inside, just begging to be eaten.
Each bite would be like a little bit of heaven.
She nearly knocked the box off the table when someone pounded loudly at the door.
Her breath caught. Nikon had warned her someone might be targeting her. Her mind drifted back to the car she thought might have been following her. What if it wasn’t paranoia?
Leah grabbed a knife from the kitchen and made her way over to the door. She was still thinking on what he had said the day before. It could be anyone on the other side, and she wasn’t going down without a fight.
“Let me in damn it!” yelled a familiar voice. “I need milk! I can’t eat dry donuts like a savage.”
Leah relaxed. Unless Jamie was some sort of strange deep-cover agent, this wasn’t an attack. She flipped the lock.
“It’s about fuck—woah!” Jamie said, staring at the large knife in Leah’s hand. “I know you aren’t a morning person, but no need to get violent.” She stepped inside with her own pink box and closed the door.
Leah rolled her eyes and went to put the knife back on the counter. “Nikon said some bad guys could be trying to grab me,” she said. “I’m just trying to be ready. We both know the kind of people that we might be dealing with are ruthless.”
Jamie frowned. “So you’re going to be ready by bringing a knife to a gun fight?”
Leah ignored her friend and grabbed two glasses from the cupboard then proceeded to fill them with milk.
“Yessssss!” Jamie said when Leah placed a glass in front of her.
She watched as her friend flipped open her box and pulled out a chocolate cake donut.
“Don’t you start coveting my lovelies,” Jamie said between bites. “I’ll bite you if you try and take one.”
Leah laughed and sat down with her friend. She pulled out one of her filled donuts and took a bite. Yup, a little piece of heaven.
“Lucan gone as well?” Leah asked after finishing off her first donut.
Jamie nodded, her mouth full of chocolate cake goodness. Leah watched as she took several gulps of milk before talking.
“Something about clearing out all the old files,” she said. “I threatened them both about making sure they had better be back in time for the party.”
A groan escaped Leah’s lips before she even had time to regret it.
Jamie glared at her. Leah winced.
“I’ll have none of that shit from you,” Jamie said. “I’ve been listening to it all week from everyone else. I want my last night here to be surrounded with friends.”
A large lump formed in Leah’s throat as the full implication of the party bore down on her yet again. Two large tears rolled down her face.
“I didn’t mean… shit,” Jamie said. “I’m sorry, Leah.” She wrapped her in a hug. “I know this isn’t easy. I’m just tired and stressed out. I need this, but I get how this is hard on you.”
“I know,” Leah said between sniffles. “I’m just going to miss you and Wendy so much.”
Jamie smoothed her friend’s hair down and kissed the top of her head. “I wish you’d just come with us. There’s still time. You could make a life with us and the hybrids. With Nikon.”
Leah pulled back to look at her friend. “I want to… but how can I? He doesn’t want me there.”
Jamie frowned. “Did that asshole say that?”
Leah shook her head and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. She reached out and shoved another piece of donut in her mouth. “I tried to do what you said.”
Jamie nodded slowly but didn’t say anything.
“I took a risk, and he wasn’t interested.”
Jamie’s eyebrows shot up. “All right, details woman.”
Leah twisted in her seat. Despite everything, she really wasn’t someone that liked to kiss and tell.
“I sort of got in bed naked and came on to him.”
A sort of half-laugh came out of her friend. “I’ll be damned. And he turned you down?”
Leah frowned. “Well, no. Actually, we fooled around, and then he didn’t want to go any further and left before we went all the way.”
Jamie frowned slightly as she examined her donut. Leah was starting to wonder if she was even paying attention anymore when her friend finally dunked the donut in her milk.
“He wants you,” her friend said.
Leah laughed. “And how do you know this?”
Jamie popped the soggy donut in her mouth.
“Simple, he wanted to stay. These men don’t do anything they don’t want to do. For some reason, he’s just worked it out in his head that you all can’t be together. My armchair diagnosis says that it’s something to do with his brother.”
“It’s not you, it’s me,” she murmured.
“What?” Leah shook her head.
“It’s what he said. He was trying to explain, and that’s what he said. I had to explain why that was a poor choice of words.”
Jamie snorted. “They are so stupid cute sometimes,” she said. “So all we have to do is show him that you are his.”
This time it was Leah’s turn to snort. “And how should we do that?”
A sly smile slipped on to her friend’s face. “Why I’m so glad you asked,” she said. “It’s going to involve raiding your closet, and likely mine as well. Then you need to bone up on the subtle art of flirting.”
Leah shook her head. “Flirting won’t work on him.” As bad as it might seem, she hadn’t been so low as not to at least try.
Jamie grinned at her friend. “Oh, you won’t be flirting with him. You’ll be flirting with one of the other highly eligible men there.” She nodded. “Yes, this will work.”
Leah’s eyes went wide. “I don’t know. I’m really not very good with that sort of thing.”
Jamie winked at her as she finished off her last donut. “Good thing I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.”