Love at Stake (Entangled Covet)(12)

“The reason you want me to stay had better have something to do with Fated Match and improving your dating chances. Does it?”

“No.” The word was whispered against her lips. “But I promise I won’t leave you with any regrets.”

Tempting. Surprisingly tempting. “Just one problem,” she whispered.

“What?” His lips were a breath away from hers.

“I don’t do the dead.”

He jerked back as if she’d pushed him and Abbey bit back her grin. She stepped out of his arms and smoothed a hand down her dress.

“Please be in my office an hour before your date tomorrow so we can run through the protocol. I’ll have dinner arranged and a car waiting.”

Lucian watched her with hooded eyes.

“If you have any questions or concerns during the day, you have my number.”

“All right,” he purred. “I can play by your rules.”

Heat spiraled through her as his gaze dropped over her body, scrutinizing her with blatant intention. He didn’t touch her, yet she felt as if he’d stripped away her clothing and left her exposed.

“Just be warned, Abbey. Vampires like games, but when we play, we play for keeps.” His sensual perusal finally came back to her face, his eyes flickering to hers. “And I always win.”

Of that she had no doubt. Lucian, for all his fangs, would be one hard man to resist.

But resist she would. And if Lucian thought the outcome of their relationship would be anything but professional, then he was in for disappointment. She was more than a match for any bloodsucker.





Chapter Four

“We might need to hire extra help,” Chloe said, marching into the office with her arms full of files.

Abbey glanced up at her entrance. Her office wasn’t very large—after all, she didn’t normally see clients alone. This space was devoted to admin work and paper pushing, but at least it boasted a tiny window, along with a filing cabinet and a desk with two chairs. Chloe dropped down into the seat opposite Abbey and let the white files spill across the surface of the desk.

“Can’t you use some of your magical hocus-pocus to sort through all these?” Abbey asked.

The witch grinned. “Nope. We need to do this the old-fashioned way.”

“Vivian should be doing this,” Abbey grumbled, reaching for a dossier.

“Oh, she is,” Chloe said cheerfully. “Jessie’s in there helping. I ducked and ran as soon as I could.”

“She’s still in a mood, huh?”

“Stress.” Chloe shrugged. “I’m safer in here.”

“True enough.”

Vivian had been less than pleased to have Abbey supervising Lucian’s makeover the night before. The woman had come to work ready to slay anything that got in her way. It was one of the reasons Abbey was doing her best to keep out of sight. No need to draw more attention to herself than she already had.

Together they looked down at the thirty or so files littering Abbey’s desk and sighed. This was only today’s batch of interested parties hoping to meet Lucian. While the computer was trained to set up certain matches through an algorithm, Vivian had insisted they do this job by hand. Nothing could go wrong when it came to Lucian.

“Glory demon?” Chloe asked, leafing through a file. “Good match rating and she’s a looker.”

“And vain as a peacock. You know how glory demons are. And what happens if she passes a mirror at dinner? It’d be a thirty-minute fight to drag her away from her own reflection. Lucian would go batty if we set up that pairing.”

“All right, I’ll put her in the ‘no’ pile.” She tossed the file on the floor and reached for another.

Abbey cycled through the dossiers far more quickly. Within minutes, half of her share of folders was on the floor and she’d only perched one file by her computer.

Chloe frowned at the pile. “Being rather picky, aren’t you?”

“We only have a month. Every match has to be perfect.”

“And you know what’s perfect for him?”

Abbey’s fingers stilled on her most recent files. “I’ll run them by Vivian.”

“To hell with that, dish now. How do you know the most powerful vamp in the city this well so quickly?”

“I don’t,” she tried to protest. “I just know how to match people. He’s old-fashioned, which eliminates most of the brainless nymphs who have a hard time staying clothed in public. He likes order, which knocks out the chaos demons. Plus he’s a blood drinker, which means those without living veins need not apply. Thus no phantoms, ghouls, or zombies.” She shrugged. “It’s not hard.”