Blake blew out an impressed breath. “Yeah!”
“But you decide now.” Quinn looked toward the door. “If my colleague comes in here before I have a decision from you, the deal is off.”
“I’ll take it!” Blake blurted out.
“Excellent! Wait here.” He rushed to the door, closing it behind him.
Only sixty seconds later he came back in, giving a thumbs up signal. Next to him, a dark-haired vampire entered.
Excitedly, Blake jumped up and down. “Yeah! I got it!” He pulled her into an embrace, squeezed her against his broad chest. “I got it.”
Over his shoulder, Rose peered at Quinn, whose mouth had formed into a thin line.
She had to hand it to him. Apparently, his strategy had paid off. Blake would do whatever they wanted him to. It would make protecting him much easier.
“Okay,” Quinn said tightly. Then he pointed to the man next to him. “Cain here and Oliver will accompany you to your new quarters. Training will start immediately.”
“Right now?” Blake asked, surprised.
“Yes, didn’t I say that?”
“Oh, yeah, sure, of course,” he said quickly.
“Well, we’ll see you later, then,” Quinn confirmed and looked at her. “Rose, shall we?” He motioned her to the door.
A few seconds later they were in the corridor, walking toward the exit.
“Where are we going? I thought we were staying with Blake.”
“Oliver and Cain can handle him right now. We have to go to a party.”
“A party? I have no time to amuse myself at some party right now.”
“We’re not going to amuse ourselves. I need to rustle up some humans who can join us at the house, just in case Blake decides to go walking about during daylight hours.”
He had a point. If Blake managed to leave the house and their protection during daytime, they would have a hard time keeping up with him. Sure, they could use blackout vans to follow him, but that wouldn’t provide sufficient protection, and the vans were only useful on the street. Once Blake dashed into a building or an area inaccessible to vans, they would lose him.
“And you’re going to find those humans at some party?”
“Not just some party; it’s strictly a family affair.”
Then he put his hand on her forearm, the contact scorching her skin and reminding her of his touch less than twenty-four hours earlier.
“Let’s go. It’s not far from here.”
15
Haven’s and Yvette’s house wasn’t huge. In fact, it was a rather cozy cottage on Telegraph Hill. Parking anywhere in the area was impossible. Quinn knew that much from his first and only prior visit to the house. He had therefore left the SUV for Oliver to drive back to the B&B and opted for a taxi.
On the ride, he remained quiet, still wondering what to do now that Thomas had rejected his request to check up on Rose. Sure, he could try and do some digging himself, but it wasn’t his expertise, and all he would do was waste precious time he didn’t have. There was only one other way to find out what was really going on inside of Rose: he had to seduce it out of her.
It was a proposition that both thrilled and frightened him. Because by seducing her, he was in danger of exposing his heart to her once more. Could he really afford that kind of casualty? Or would this finally mark his ultimate self-destruction?
When the taxi came to a halt, he paid the cabdriver and jumped out of it, automatically holding his hand out to her as he’d done so many times to help her out of a carriage. When her dainty hand slipped into his palm, he closed his fingers around it and pulled gently. She emerged from the taxi. Her heel caught at the uneven pavement, and she hurtled into his arms. He caught her with ease, slinging his other arm around her waist instinctively. Then a memory came back, hitting him broadside.
She lifted her lids and their gazes collided.
“Do you remember our first kiss?” he murmured.
Rose didn’t answer, but her eyes confirmed that her memory was just as good as his.
“You tripped over your hem when you stepped from the carriage. I caught you. It was dark. Your chaperone had fallen asleep on the ride and there was nobody else around except the coachman. And he was purposefully looking the other way.”
“Because you bribed him,” she added, but there was no hint of reprimand in her voice.
“I’m glad I did. I still remember what your lips tasted like. How soft they were. How sweet.”
He leaned in. She didn’t back away.
“You smelled so manly, and your arms held me to tightly.” Her breath caught.