Page 14 of Bonded By Blood
“Will there be anything else I can get for you, ma’am?” Garvin asked as Brianna returned to her seat.
“No, this is enough,” Brianna said. “I’ll be going out shortly, so feel free to take a break.”
Garvin turned his attention to Kendall. “Miss?”
Brianna watched him as Kendall declined his offer, but there was no sign of any resentment or annoyance on his lean, blemish-free face. Then again, Kendall had been referring to the vampires. Garvin was as human as her, so perhaps he didn’t share the same feelings. It was still also possible Kendall was wrong altogether.
Garvin made his exit and Kendall turned a grin on Brianna. “So, sneaking off to see Joe again, huh? That last visit must’ve gone pretty well.”
Brianna felt the faintest twinge of … was that embarrassment? She pushed it down and took a sip of her lunch. “It’s hardly sneaking if I’m announcing it, Kendall.” Also, it had gone well. Better than she’d hoped. When her mother had tasked her with essentially spying on him, she’d felt fairly horrible about it, but ultimately all she was doing was having conversations with the man. Getting to know him.
He was surprisingly easy to be around.
“That might be true,” Kendall said, “but in your case I think it’s equally scandalous.”
Brianna arched a brow. “How on Earth is it scandalous?”
“You’re leaving the house,” Kendall began, “voluntarily. To meet a man. Who happens to be human. Officially more than once.” She’d ticked off every finger on her hand by the time she was done.
“You’re making it more than it is,” Brianna said, bringing the glass to her lips again and doing her best to ignore the strange way she felt about Kendall’s words. Kendall was making too much of it. She was.
“Uh-huh,” Kendall replied slowly. She obviously didn’t agree for a minute. But instead of saying so, she picked up her phone again. “You know, I’ve always wondered what your type is. I mean, I’ve never seen you with a guy. I was what, eleven, when you took me in? So that’s a long-ass dry spell.”
Brianna nearly choked on the last of her blood. “Kendall!”
“Oh, come on,” Kendall continued, undaunted and grinning now. “There’s no way you’re a virgin.”
Uncharacteristically flustered, Brianna lowered her drinking glass. “Of course I’m not. But that’s hardly appropriate conversation.” She schooled her expression into the best neutral she could manage. “Besides, that’s not what we’re doing.” Kendall wasn’t exactly wrong, though. It had been a very long time. Longer still if she factored in the last time she’d been intimate with a human.
“Not yet, huh? That’s respectable,” Kendall said. “What’s his name again? Joe something?”
“Pearce,” Brianna replied automatically. “And no, not ‘yet’, that’s not the intent at all.” She refused to think about whether or not she might be amenable to a physical relationship with him. “What are you doing, Kendall?”
“Is that ‘e-a,’ or—never mind, found him!” Her focus was glued to the screen of her phone once more.
“Kendall.”
“What? I’m checking out his social media,” Kendall said, glancing only briefly up, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “If you’re going to be spending time with the guy, it’s important to know something about him. For instance, he uses a real picture for his profile pic. That’s a good sign.”
Brianna fought the unusual urge to drop her face to her hands. “Kendall, that’s ridiculous. Please don’t stalk him.”
“This is a casual search,” Kendall replied. “Totally normal.” There was a momentary pause. “Holy crap. Bri, did you know he owns a freaking hotel chain?” Her thumbs began moving over the touch screen again.
“I did know that.” It was something they’d talked about the night she’d visited him. The question “what do you do for a living?” tended to come up in conversation when first getting to know a person. “They’re casino-hotels,” Brianna supplied, since she was certain Kendall was attempting to Google the franchise name, or whatever it was she’d found. “It’s not a massive chain. He says they just opened the fifth one, in Palm Springs, about a year ago.”
Kendall looked up from her phone. “First, that’s still cool. Second, I’m both impressed with this actual-conversation thing you two have going on and mildly uncomfortable with the details you can already rattle off about your new boyfriend.”
And we’re back to that. Brianna stood, giving Kendall a pointed look. “He’s not my boyfriend, Kendall. He is, however, expecting me. So I’ll see you later, all right? Be careful if you go back into the city tonight.”
Kendall sighed. “Okay, okay. I will.”
Brianna made her exit, heading to her room to change into something better suited for going outside and being seen in. While she walked, her mind spun. Around Joe and around Kendall’s teasing, suggestive words. With his thick, dark brown hair, light brown eyes, good height, and toned build, he actually was her type. She liked the smoothness of his voice and the way he seemed entirely comfortable around her even though he knew exactly what she was capable of.
So long ago she’d decided she was done with romance and everything connected to it. What was the point in taking a lover when they were so … fragile? She’d once, centuries before, thought she’d been in love. True, unbreakable, timeless love. He’d been human, too. Everything between them had been perfect, up until she’d offered to Turn him, to make him a vampire. It was the only way they could Bond and she’d made up her mind she wanted that with him. That eternal, unshakeable union. But at the first suggestion of becoming like her, of becoming immortal and having to sustain himself on the blood of others, her lover betrayed her. He’d called her a monster.
He’d threatened to kill her if she came near him again.
It was a long while before she took a lover after that, and longer still before she’d dared try for anything serious. That, too, had ended poorly. Though instead of him turning against her, he’d died. He’d been murdered by a Slayer that had seen them together, stalked them, until he’d found an opening.