Love at Stake (Entangled Covet)(10)

Runaway strands of hair escaped the black clip she’d used to pin it back. His fingers itched to pull the clip from her head and see that cloud of curls bounce around her shoulders. Or better yet, spread out across his pillow.

He hadn’t felt such lust for a woman in decades. Not since Melissa’s mother.

Old, familiar pain stabbed through his heart as he thought of Claudette. Mortal though she may have been, she’d been stronger than anyone he’d ever met.

Seeing the tension in Abbey’s ramrod-straight back, the determination in her eyes, Lucian wondered if he’d stumbled onto another human of Claudette’s ilk. He rather liked the thought.

“Are you ready for your appointment?” she asked, stepping to his side.

“A pleasure to see you again, Abbey,” he said, ignoring her question. Humans. Always in such a rush.

Taking her hand in his, he brushed his mouth over her knuckles as he had when they’d last parted ways.

As he did, he noted the slight part of her lips, the quickening of her breath. No, she was not as immune to him as she liked to pretend.

Abbey cleared her throat and pulled her hand from his grasp. She puffed at her flyaway bangs and he bit back a smile at the nervous tell.

“We’ve got you all set up on the second floor,” she said, twisting her hand behind her back. “If you’ll follow me?”

She led him up glass steps to a small loft studio. A man and woman waited for them, gesturing for him to sit.

With a glance at Abbey, he slid into the salon chair. Immediately his head was assaulted and it was all he could do to bite back a growl.

“Such a travesty!” the man exclaimed, pulling his hair free from its careful queue. “My friend, this all needs to go. Short is what you need. Tasteful.”

Again he met Abbey’s gaze.

“Do it,” she said. “You want to update your look.”

He nodded, satisfied. “As you wish.”

As the hairdresser and his assistant flew into action, he wondered if he might regret his decision to modernize after all.

…

Abbey paced downstairs. She tried to read a magazine, but there was no relaxing when she was this close to Lucian.

Closing her eyes, she pictured the way he’d looked when he’d seen her. As though she was a treat he couldn’t wait to devour. She shivered at the thought. No one looked at her like that. Certainly not anyone she’d ever dated. Maybe Lucian was right and she should start dating the supernaturals at the agency. Lucian didn’t seem to mind her extra pounds. Perhaps if she targeted men from a different era, they’d be satisfied with her curvaceous figure.

She chewed a fingernail. It was worth a shot. Just yesterday she’d received an e-mail from a friendly werewolf. Maybe it was time to come out of her shell.

As she was musing over her lack of a love life, she almost missed Lucian’s arrival.

“What do you think, Abbey?”

She looked up and froze. Surely her mouth was hanging open but she couldn’t find the will to care.

Lucian had been tasty before, but the new cut took him to another level. Gone was the severe queue and in its place was a short cut that took advantage of the natural wave of his hair. A few stray pieces of hair fell over his forehead, giving him an appearance that was both boyish and wicked. She ached to brush the strands away from his mesmerizing eyes.

“Do I pass muster?”

She had to swallow twice before replying. “It’ll do.”

His grin was knowing. “You’ll turn my head with such compliments.”

“Ha. You know exactly the effect you have on others. I’m not feeding your ego.”

Lucian reached out to brush a thumb across her bottom lip. “Not even if I asked oh so politely?”

Her lips parted in a soundless gasp. His gaze dropped to her mouth and they stood frozen for what felt like an eternity.

Kiss me, her foolish mind whispered.

Lucian leaned closer, as if hearing the silent plea. But right when she thought she’d get her wish, he straightened.

“Let me settle my accounts and we can continue on.”

He turned away and she was grateful he didn’t see her disappointment. It was for the best. She couldn’t get involved with him.

Or so she tried to tell herself a dozen times as they walked to the Armani store. When they reached their destination, half a dozen sales reps were on hand to whisk Lucian away. As soon as the store had learned how much Lucian intended to drop, their displeasure at staying open late vanished. Abbey smiled to herself. Lucian would probably take care of their sales quota for the week in a single evening.

She wandered through the designer store as the salespeople pushed Lucian into a changing room.

What would it be like to live in this world? she wondered. It certainly wasn’t one she had access to. Abbey thought of her cozy apartment in the West Village. It was small but suited her needs. A smile came to her face as she imagined Lucian in the quaint little home. He’d be horrified. None of her furniture matched and that was exactly how she liked it. Every wall was a different color and few inches of the apartment were free of assorted knickknacks. She craved the chaos and the brightness. A vampire like Lucian, however, would want order and taste.