Piper hesitated, chewing on her lower lip. "Uh, no. Nothing like that. I have too many guys in my life as it is already." She gave another nervous giggle.
"Well, then I guess I'm already out of the running before I even had a chance to ask you out." The man teased with a wink.
"Sorry, Billy," she shrugged and backed away a bit. "I'm so taken it’s not even funny."
The man, Billy, nodded in understanding, not trying to come on to her further. "Understandable. I'll see you next Thursday, then. Be sure to wear something comfortable. You'll be sweating your ass off."
"I will. Bye!" She waved and turned toward me, freezing in place. "Darren? What are you doing here?"
My eyes narrowed. I stalked the last few yards over to Piper. "If you would leave a note or message about where you are going, I wouldn't have to keep hunting you down like a dog."
Piper flinched at my tone. "I didn't mean to make you worry, I just didn't..." she paused and grabbed her elbow with her opposite hand as she scuffed her shoe on the ground. "I didn't know how to act."
"Act?" I arched a brow.
"Around you," she answered pointedly.
"Oh," I answered, not sure how to continue. "You still should have left a message. I don't want to have to call the masters to let them know you've been taken or worse..." I trailed off, letting her fill in the blanks. The vampire hunters have been known to do more than kill the human servants in the pursuit of their prey. Vampires, they'd just kill...us, they'd torture for information or hope that our masters would come save us.
Piper placed a hand on my arm. "I will next time. Promise." She offered me a shy smile. "Have you eaten yet?"
I shook my head.
"Great. Cause I could eat a whole pie right about now." Piper grinned and rubbed her stomach.
I found myself smiling back at her. "Then let's do something about that."