Author: Kalayna Price

I rolled my eyes, but in truth, I’d rather not be alone.

“I’m taking PC for a walk. We’ll discuss it when I get back.”

When PC and I walked back inside, I discovered Falin digging through my cabinets.

“How can you survive on this garbage?”

I unhooked PC’s leash. “Hey, you’re crashing my apartment. The food is what it is.”

Falin slammed the fridge door closed. “Don’t take your shoes off. We’re going grocery shopping.”

Two hours later, my house was filled with the mouthwatering scent of garlic and lemon. The delicious smell dragged me away from my computer screen. I shuffled into the kitchen, my hands in my back pockets as I tried to peer around Falin’s shoulders.

“I thought you needed a grill to cook steak?” Which was the same comment I’d made in the grocery store when he’d picked out the thick cuts of meat. He’d only shaken his head and put them in the cart anyway. Not that I was complaining. Occasionally I ate with Holly and Caleb, but otherwise, the only meat I ate these days I poured out of a can.

Falin flipped the sizzling steaks. “I’m searing it, not grilling it. Unless you want to cut the vegetables for the salad, get out of the kitchen.”

I didn’t pout. Not exactly, at least. By the time the salad was ready, Falin had the steaks off the stove and set on plates beside steaming baked potatoes.

“Where are we eating?” he asked, glancing around.

“Uh …” Crap, I hadn’t thought about that. I usually ate in front of my computer or leaning against a counter.

I didn’t even have a second chair in the apartment. I shrugged. “Floor picnic?”

He shook his head, and his eyes swept over the small apartment again, as though if he looked hard enough he’d find a hidden table. After a moment, he huffed out his breath. “We’ll have a bed picnic,” he said, and set off with the plates.

PC danced around Falin’s legs, jumping and begging.

I hooked my foot around the small dog and dragged him backward. He whined, flashing big eyes at me.“No steak for you.”

PC whined again, recognizing the word “no.” Then he turned his attention back to Falin. As soon as Falin sat on the bed, PC jumped into his lap. The little traitor.

I grabbed silverware as Falin defended our dinner from one very hungry Chinese crested. “What do you want to drink?” I asked, opening the fridge.

“Beer.”

I grabbed two bottles—another purchase Falin had made at the grocery store—and headed to the bed. I traded a bottle of beer for my plate. I was almost leery of trying the steak. After all, it smelled too good to believe—what if the taste didn’t live up to the smell?

I gingerly cut a small piece. The knife slid through easily. And the meat—the meat all but melted in my mouth. I barely held back a moan. “I changed my mind. You can move in as long as you cook.”

Falin’s fork paused halfway to his mouth.

“Uh …” I looked away and grabbed my beer. “I’m kidding, of course. I just mean … dinner is great.”

His lips curled into a small smile. “That is almost a thank-you.”

“Don’t let it go to your head.” I focused on my plate, but a smile had claimed my mouth when I wasn’t paying attention.

When I glanced up, he was watching me with a small crooked smile clinging to the sides of his lips. Okay, this was awkward, but the food was awesome. Where had the man learned to cook?

“So, uh, FIB, huh?” I said, feeling the need to say something in the uncomfortable silence building as he watched me eat—which was kind of weird. “What do they know about Coleman, or whatever creature was masquerading as Coleman?”

His smile slipped. “He’s old. Very old. The fae were fading for centuries, but now that mortals believe again, the older legends, some forgotten in the sands of time, are reemerging. ‘Coleman’ was the body thief’s most recent of who knows how many identities. I’m not sure what his original nature was.”

I nodded. “So, do you—” I stopped myself. Falin was fae. That fact hadn’t really had time to fully sink in yet, but it needed to. There were rules when talking to fae, taboos not to be broken, slippery wording. Caleb was my friend and would warn me if I blundered into a dangerous conversation with him, but even in our friendship, there were dangerous conversations. I had no such guarantee from Falin. “Can I ask you about the glyphs?”

He set down his fork. “I’d rather you didn’t, but I doubt that would stop you. Whatever it is you can see on the corpse in the morgue, I cannot see, and I’m not familiar with the glyphs cut into the bodies of the ritual victims. Now, this is not exactly a dinner conversation.”

“Right.” I focused on my food and let the silence spread.

I’d meant to leave a piece of steak for PC, but before I realized it, my plate was empty. Leaning back against the pillows, I rubbed my belly. “That was amazing.”

The thing about living alone is that you talk to yourself. A lot. For a very brief moment, I’d forgotten Falin was there. Of course, when he turned and flashed that lopsided smile at me, forgetting he was there was impossible.

Heat rose to my cheeks, and I sat up straight again.

“Can I take your plate?” I asked, reaching toward the empty plate.

He held it out for me, but as I stood he also rose. “I’ll help you clean up.”

I’d intended to put the plates in the sink and leave them for later, but Falin insisted on helping me clean everything, so we ended up side by side. Me washing dishes and him drying them. He’d abandoned his jacket over the back of my one chair, and the sleeves of his oxford were rolled to his elbows. As we worked our shoulders brushed against each other. When I handed him a fork, his long fingers slid along mine, and my stomach somersaulted.

This was crazy. He was secretive, bossy, and regularly insufferable. He had also saved my life a couple of times.

And he looked really good in my kitchen.

I cut off the water and dried my hands on the front of my jeans. “I’m going to …” Run away? Hide? I cleared my throat and pointed to the back of the apartment.

“I’m going to take a shower before bed.” Without another word, I retreated to the only other room in my loft.

Of course, that meant I’d forgotten to grab something to change into. Wrapped in an oversized towel, I reached for my toothbrush and suffered a moment of confusion as my fingers landed on one that wasn’t mine.

Falin had picked up some essentials when we went to the store, and now his fresh new toothbrush was leaning against mine. I frowned at it, a chill sliding down my spine. I did not cohabitate. I hadn’t even had a second date since leaving school. I quite preferred saying goodbye the morning after without ever learning the guy’s name. Now I had a guy’s toothbrush beside mine, and I hadn’t even slept with him. Well, I’d technically slept with him, but we hadn’t …

I brushed my teeth until my gums bled.Then I brushed my hair, braided it, and unbraided it. This is silly. I have to leave the bathroom sometime. It was only going to get more awkward if I kept putting it off. I wrapped the towel tighter around myself and abandoned my hiding spot.

Falin was using my computer. He didn’t look up as I stormed by, so I didn’t pay him any attention. Ransacking my PJ drawer, I pulled out a plain camisole and a cute pair of silk shorts. They had been gifts from Holly last year, and the fact that I cared they were cute pissed me off. However, that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to wear them.

As I raided my top drawer in search of a clean pair of panties, Falin shut down the computer.

“I’ll take a shower before bed, too,” he said, standing.

I nodded absently and turned my back on him so I could pull my clothes on. As I tugged the camisole over my head the bathroom door shut. I dropped the towel and stepped into the panties. Someone coughed behind me.

The world slowed to highlight every millisecond it took for my head to turn, my underwear still around my thighs. My cheeks burned as my eyes found Falin. He was leaning out of the bathroom, his eyes respectfully averted to the far wall but his lips curled in a grin.

“A clean towel?” he asked.

I yanked on my panties, glancing at the soggy towel by my feet. It had been the only towel left in the bathroom.

Lifting a finger, I pointed. “Closet.”

He pulled open the doors without further prompting, and I pulled on my shorts.

My cheeks were still burning as I climbed into bed and whistled for PC. He jumped on his normal pillow.

“I think Falin will probably want to sleep there,” I told him and moved him to the end of the bed.

He gave me an indignant look, then turned three circles before settling down. He licked his casted leg, as if to point out he was injured and needed the pillow. Then his eyes closed, and he was asleep.

“Wish I could fall asleep that easy,” I told the dog.

He didn’t even look up.

I snuggled deep under my blankets and squeezed my eyes shut, but I was still awake when the bathroom door opened. The bed moved as Falin crawled into it, and the spicy scent of the soap he’d bought washed over me.

Then his arm slipped around my waist. My heart made a simultaneous attempt to escape through the front of my chest and to cozy back against him. It left me breathless and trying not to gasp in the dark.

“Good night, Alexis,” he whispered, his breath heating the skin on the back of my neck.

I didn’t dare answer, or even move as his fingers splayed over my stomach. I lay in the darkness, listening.

It was a long time after his breathing evened out with sleep that dreams finally found me.

Chapter 18

“But what is the connection between the victims? Who were the first two women?” I asked, tapping my plate with the fork.

“Alex, you aren’t working this case.” Falin scooped another bite of eggs into his mouth, ignoring my frown.

“Why? Because my father said so?”