Piper sat on the edge of her bed just across from me, her hands in her lap and her eyes looking anywhere but me. "Uh, I was wondering if you knew who was coming today?" She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and shifted on the bed. "I mean, did anyone say -"
"No."
"Oh, okay." Piper nodded, seemingly working herself up to say something else but not following through. She stood and turned away, moving to the dresser. She opened a drawer and began to pull out clothing.
I twisted back around to the computer.
"I'm going to change. What do you want for dinner?" Piper continued talking as if we hadn't just had an embarrassing experience. "I don't know about you, but I could do with something leafy today. I'm getting a bit tired of fried food." She groaned and touched her stomach. "I need to find a gym or something, or I'm going to end up as big as a house. I never thought I'd say I missed cleaning that huge place." Piper turned her head to me, grinning so brightly her eyes squinted tight.
I nodded. "I know what you mean."
Piper crossed the room behind me and entered the bathroom. The door closed, and I sagged slightly happy not to face her for a moment.
"Should we wait and see if someone shows up?" Piper asked through the bathroom door. "I don't know if my stomach can wait until full dark."
I snorted. No, I doubted she could. When it came between Piper and food, always just give it to her. You'll save yourself a lot of pain, physically and emotionally.
"Who do you think is coming this time?" Piper opened the door appearing in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. "I hope it's not the twins. I love them, but they are too much to handle all at once in such a short time, you know?"
I inclined my head and stood from the desk.
I did, indeed know. I'd been with the family for far longer than I had been a regular human. I knew all the ups and downs of every member of the House of Durand. The twins were quite a lot to handle on any given day, let alone when they were trying to provide her with all their love and affection in one twenty-four-hour time frame.
"Anyway," Piper continued heading for the door where she shoved on her flip flops. "I'd take the twins over Antoine any day." Piper chuckled and wrinkled her nose. "His domineering ways are okay in the bedroom, but I just can't deal with him today."
A part of me didn't want Antoine to be the one this time either. While I longed to see the master vampire, I feared what he would do to the budding feelings that were spreading inside of me.
I opened the door for Piper, my gaze locked on her face as if seeing her for the first time. What was it about her that had changed for me? We haven't had another moment in a few weeks, and I thought I was over it. That she was over it. I was only kidding myself. That strange attraction to her had only been waiting beneath the surface, waiting to rear its ugly head. Now it had, and I didn't know what to do.
Waiting for Piper to exit first, she moved to the door but didn't exit. Her happy expression morphed into one of horror as she froze in place. Piper gave a sheepish smile as she wiggled her fingers in greeting. "Oh, hi, Antione."