If Lisette didn’t come up with something fast, they would probe her mind to find the answer themselves. And these two were aware of her concern for Ami. They knew more bodies and more thoughts filling the house wouldn’t drive her away.
“I—”
“It’s my fault,” Tracy blurted.
All eyes went to Lisette’s Second.
As did Lisette’s. What the hell was Tracy going to say that Seth and David wouldn’t know was a lie?
“I . . .” Tracy licked her lips and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “I’ve been having a lot of . . . dreams lately and have been inadvertently pulling Lisette into them.”
Everyone stared at her with Yeah, so? expressions.
“Erotic dreams,” she continued.
Étienne suddenly swore, his eyes widening. “You’ve been having sex dreams about Sheldon?”
Tracy flushed a vivid red as gasps sounded and laughter erupted.
Seth eyed the immortals with disapproval. David shook his head at the others and offered Tracy a look full of sympathy.
Sheldon had made quite an impression as the proverbial kid brother here. Young. Full of enthusiasm. Not the brightest bulb in the box. And that first impression had lingered. No one here could imagine a woman seriously taking an interest in him.
“No wonder Lisette stayed away,” Yuri chortled. “I wouldn’t want to be pulled into those dreams either.”
The comment sparked another round of laughter.
Every ounce of attention had been yanked away from Lisette, who wondered how the hell she was going to make this up to her friend. Tracy would never live this down.
Sheldon entered the living room with Jenna’s son, John.
“What’d we miss?” Sheldon asked with a smile.
While Seth and David abandoned the group, all eyes went from Sheldon to Tracy to Sheldon to Tracy and back to Sheldon again.
It was like watching a tennis match.
And poor Tracy . . .
Lisette had never seen her look so stricken.
“Well?” Sheldon prodded, when no answer came.
Sean cleared his throat. “Tracy’s been having sex dreams about you.”
Krysta swatted her brother on the back of the head.
“Ow! What? Like no one was going to tell him?”
For a moment, Sheldon went utterly still. His eyes went to Tracy.
To her credit, Tracy didn’t hide her face. She met his gaze straight on, face flaming.
Lisette stiffened, ready to kick Sheldon’s ass if he made one of his usual smart-ass remarks and made Tracy even more miserable.
Tearing his eyes away, Sheldon directed a derisive snort at the others. “What, and you’ve never had one?”
Ethan grimaced. “Not about you.”
More laughter.
Sheldon raked them all with a look of scorn. “Standing around, snickering like a group of ten-year-old boys looking at a dirty magazine for the first time. Grow the fuck up and leave her alone.”
Several mouths fell open, including Tracy’s.
Chris chose that moment to enter through the front door.
From the adjoining dining room, Seth said, “Shall we begin the meeting?”
No one moved. All were stunned that Sheldon hadn’t pounced on the opportunity to . . . well . . . be himself.
Chris stopped short and raised his eyebrows. “What’s going on?”
“Children,” David prompted.
That got them moving. One did not ignore that tone.
Lisette wrapped an arm around Tracy’s shoulders as they followed the others to the long dining table. I can’t believe you did that.
Tracy sighed and leaned into her. How red is my face?
Remember that big baboon butt we saw on the news a few weeks ago?
Don’t tell me . . .
It’s redder than that.
Great.
Marcus and Ami entered as Lisette seated herself between Sarah and Tracy.
Ami looked the same as she used to—slender arms and legs encased in stretchy materials—except for her huge stomach. She looked, to Lisette, as though she had swallowed a beach ball. A tiny body with a big, protruding belly that offset her center of balance enough that she had to lean back a little and tended to waddle more than she walked.
Marcus walked with his arm around her shoulders and one of hers looped around his waist. Lisette didn’t need to look into his thoughts to know he was stressed as hell, worrying about his wife, the baby, and what the hell would happen when Melanie and Dr. Kimiko gave the go-ahead and Seth and David finally let Ami go into labor.
Everyone greeted Ami with smiles and spoke kind words to her as Marcus seated her across from Lisette and sat beside Ami.
Once everyone settled, Seth turned to Reordon. “Chris?”
Chris nodded and addressed them all. “I called this meeting because a new problem has arisen. A couple of weeks ago, Lisette and Richart encountered a vampire with fighting skills that nearly matched their own.”