“Wow. That’s surprising,” Ethan murmured before he could catch himself.
“What’s so surprising about that?” Marcus asked. He cocked his head to the side as he looked at Ethan.
Ethan swallowed hard and he could feel the blood rushing to his face. Holy shit! He’d said that out loud. It was on the tip of his tongue to comment that Marcus wasn’t supposed to eat food or drink anything at all. He was a vampire! Vampires drank only blood!
“Oh…um…just that you cook for yourself. With this big, fancy house, I thought you’d have a personal chef to handle all that,” Ethan said, feeling awkward as hell.
“I don’t like having people in my personal space.” Marcus stared at the marble counter that was between them. “I don’t cook much. I tried to learn once but discovered that I didn’t have much patience for it.”
“Me neither,” Ethan said quickly. “Kind of a grilled cheese and tomato soup guy.”
Marcus gave a little nod. Silence settled over the kitchen, and then Marcus seemed to pull himself together. His shoulders straightened and his spine stiffened. Cold blue eyes settled on Ethan and he tried not to shrink under that gaze.
“Do you have any questions?”
Ethan pressed his lips together hard to hold back the barrage of vampire-related questions that were bouncing on the tip of his tongue.
“Umm…is there anyone else in the house with us?”
Marcus’s brow furrowed again, but his surprise made his ever-present frown disappear. “Excuse me?”
“Well, we went through most of the house, but there are a lot of rooms I didn’t see. I guess I was just wondering if I should expect to run across anyone else. I don’t want to accidentally stumble over your old great-aunt Gertrude as she shuffles to the bathroom and we both freak out, giving me a heart attack while she beats me with her house slipper.”
Marcus’s lips pressed together, but Ethan could still see them moving as if he were trying his hardest not to smile or maybe even laugh. Ethan grinned broadly at Marcus, and he was stunned to find that he really wanted to hear Marcus laugh. The man had a deep, rumbly voice that sort of stroked along his spine in the most amazing way, leaving him feeling like a cat receiving affection. He couldn’t imagine how his laugh would sound.
“No, I don’t have a great-aunt Gertrude hidden in the house, and there will be no one else besides us. The only person who stops in occasionally is Janice, and that’s just long enough to drop off contracts for me to sign.”
“Got it.”
“Well, there’s also Ozzie, but you won’t be meeting him today.”
“Ozzie?”
“A large black raven. He belongs to my brother, but he likes to spend time at my home as well. I believe he elected to spend today at my brother’s.”
Ethan nodded. “No great-aunt named Gertrude, but there is Ozzie the raven. Got it. Makes sense.”
Marcus stared at him for a moment longer, and Ethan wished he could decipher what was crossing his mind. He didn’t think he was sizing him up for a meal. If anything, he seemed confused by Ethan and pretty much everything that came out of his mouth. Not that Ethan could claim to be talking much sense. But he wasn’t alone. Marcus apparently shared a raven with his brother and its name was Ozzie. Naturally.
Taking the hand Marcus extended to him across the counter, Ethan shook it, proud that his fingers didn’t noticeably tremble.
“Thank you for your help, Mr. Cline,” Marcus said formally.
“Thank you for this opportunity, Mr. Varik.”
Marcus released his hand quickly and hurried from the room. He moved silently for such a large man.
Ethan counted to ten before he released a heavy sigh and leaned against the counter. Tension and adrenaline buzzed through his body. He felt lightheaded as he gulped in big gasps of air.
He was alone in a house with a vampire.
Maybe.
The Humans Protecting Humans League was so positive that Marcus Varik was a vampire. They were positive that he and his family were the culprits behind the murder of his family and all the other people living in his apartment building sixteen years ago.
When he’d taken the assignment to gather intel on Marcus and his family, he’d been sure he’d find proof of his vampireness, but other than the sunlight issue, there was nothing to prove that Marcus was an immortal bloodsucker.
So far, he appeared to be a slightly eccentric rich guy who didn’t like people.
No, that didn’t feel right. Ethan was sure it wasn’t that Marcus didn’t like people. It seemed more likely that he felt awkward and out of place around people. Before he’d slipped into his “boss” tone of voice, he’d been adorably awkward and nervous. As if he didn’t know what to say to Ethan.
And of course, gruff on the exterior and squishy on the interior pushed all his fucking buttons. Hell, he was in trouble even if Marcus didn’t turn out to be a vampire.