“Sneaky.” He frowned. “I don’t know if we have flour. I ordered a bachelor kit, but I’m not sure what’s in it.”
“You—” I shook my head to clear it. “You ordered a ‘bachelorkit’?” The images that moved through my head were decidedly not safe for work.
“Of food,” he said. “Local mom-and-pop store sells themed grocery bundles.”
“And bachelor includes...?”
“A beginner’s kit of cooking supplies,” he said and flicked a finger down my chin at the relief on my face. “You have an admirably dirty mind.”
“It’s called a bachelor kit. If I’d ordered a bachelorette kit, what would you have imagined?”
His grin was wide and smug. “Many things, Lis. Many things.”
I skimmed my fingertips across his bare abdomen, watched the muscles flex in response.
“Be careful,” he said, lips near my ear. “If you start something, I will see it finished.”
I cast a glance to the stairs; I assumed his bedroom was up there somewhere.
And then Lulu walked in and made directly for the refrigerator.
Connor’s sigh was haggard. “Bell.”
She grunted.
Alexei followed, took an apple from a basket on the counter. He tossed it in the air, caught it with his teeth, crunched.
“Nice trick, tabby,” Lulu said, having plucked a bottle of juice from the fridge.
“Panther,” Alexei said. “You wanna see?”
“No,” she said, but her cheeks were pink when she looked at me and Connor. “Everybody good in here?”
“Fine,” I said. “You?”
“Heading to work.”
“Alexei,” Connor said, without taking his eyes from Lulu. “Go with her.”
“With me?” Lulu said, moving toward them. “Oh, no. Absolutely not.”
“You need protecting.”
Lulu spun, turned to Alexei. “I don’t need anything from you. I need to work, and having someone hanging over me isn’t exactly helpful. Plus, the clients aren’t going to want some random guy hanging around.”
“Someone is stalking Elisa,” Connor said. “And the AAM thinks she killed Blake. They’d probably be happy to take you instead, and use you for leverage. Let’s not take the chance. He won’t get in your way.”
Lulu snorted. “He is in my way by his very existence.”
“That hurts me right here,” Alexei said dryly, mimicking pulling a knife from his chest. “Magic would be handy. And without it, weapons.”
Lulu’s eyes flashed with temper. “I’m not using magic. You’re insufferable.”
“You’re stubborn.”
“I have work. And I’m not going back on a contract because goddamned vampires are fighting again.” Her hands were clenched into fists, her teeth bared.
“Take him or stay here,” I said. “Your life is worth more to me than your anger.”