The Wicked Kiss (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #2)(39)

“Hey ladies, how are you?” Kale greeted us with a grin, and I could see that he was forcing casual as hard as I was.

“I don’t know about you, honey, but I am ready to take out a vampire.” Jez deposited her shopping bag on the counter before digging through the fridge.

“Just one?” Kale raised an eyebrow skeptically. “What about you, Alexa? Are you up for another hunt?”

I had to force myself to meet his eyes directly. I didn’t want him to know how nervous he had made me. “No, I’m waiting for a client. You two will have to have all the fun for me.”

“I can handle that.” Jez produced a container of leftover Chinese food. “Who’s is this?”

Kale wrinkled his nose in distaste and fanned a hand before his face. “Does it matter? It smells hideous.”

“Not a fan of Asian cuisine, Kale?” She pulled a fork from the drawer and dug into the container. “I hear those Asian chicks taste divine.”

“I guess you would know,” he shot back at her, winking as he spoke. She frowned upon realizing that his lame joke had been better than hers.

“Do we really have to talk about tasting people?” I dug through the cupboards until I found clean coffee filters. Couldn’t anyone put them back in the same place? I was carefully trying to avoid looking at either of them, knowing that Jez would have a grin a mile wide.

Her peal of laughter had me rolling my eyes knowingly. Thankfully, she didn’t say anything facetious like I’d been expecting. Kale made a dramatic show of clearing his throat before rising to his full height.

“How much longer will it be until you’re done stuffing your face and we can head out? I’d like to avoid cutting this one as close to dawn as last time.” He smirked at Jez as he spoke, and her cat eyes narrowed into a glare.

“We did not cut it that close. Besides, it’s still early.” Jez paused, her fork poised in midair. She hissed softly. “I thought vampires had loads of patience. No need to get your panties in a twist.”

Kale merely sighed, regarding her with a cool, unaffected stare. I turned to the sink, running fresh water into the coffee pot. It was more than obvious that Kale wanted to escape my presence as surely as I wanted to be relieved of his. It was just so awkward with that crazy kiss replaying in my head.

I turned to pour the fresh water into the coffee maker, giving Jez a pointed look as I did so. All at once, understanding crashed over her features and a blush colored her cheeks.

“You know, I can get something while we’re out. Just let me grab something from my office.” Dropping the Chinese food container, she dashed out the kitchen door and down the hall, leaving Kale and I alone.

“How awkward is this?” The words just tumbled out of me, and I cringed inwardly in embarrassment. I flashed Kale a tight smile, feeling my cheeks flush.

Despite the span of the kitchen separating us, Kale’s presence felt enormous. His energy seemed to overwhelm my senses once it caught my attention. His power was running strong and steady tonight, not unlike the brewing coffee that I couldn’t wait to drink up. I had to shake myself out of that mind frame.

“Come on, Alexa. It’s us; it shouldn’t have to be awkward, regardless of what happened last night. Again, I’m sorry.”

I shook my head and dared to cross the distance, laying a hand lightly on his leather-clad arm, just for a moment. “No apologizing. This is the world we’re part of, and we should know what to expect from it.”

He seemed to consider this before nodding in agreement. “You’re right. And I, even more so than you, after this many years of existence. No worries then?”

“No worries.” I busied myself with fetching cream and sugar, taking care to double check the expiration date before pouring the cream in my cup. “Your friendship means more to me than any of the power stuff that’s bound to come up. That’s what will keep us sane. I have enough insanity in my life with men. I count on you for normalcy.”

His low chuckle was soothing and comforting because it immediately banished the strange atmosphere that had settled. Jez reappeared in the doorway with a file folder tucked under one arm.

“Ready?” Her bright eyes flicked back and forth between us.

After the two of them had left, I beat a hasty retreat to my office for some quiet time alone. I didn’t get that very often and even brief moments were worth savoring. I wasn’t sure when my potential client was due to show. It could be any time. I didn’t even have the client’s full name. In fact, I wasn’t even sure what gender I was expecting or if this were a human or a supernatural. Had I really agreed to this? I had to start paying more attention.

I passed some time checking email and catching up with various online avenues while waiting for this mystery person to show up. It was likely a run of the mill vampire hunt. One vampire gets ticked at another and outs them for some treacherous deed, gaining them a death sentence. Meanwhile, the original vamp never gets exposed as the one behind it all. Not all vampires were bold and brash. Of course, a cowardly vampire rarely existed for long.

After an hour passed and nobody had shown up, I began to get restless. I wasn’t one for sitting around idly. I clicked around in my documents until I found an ebook that I’d purchased last time I’d been stuck waiting for someone. I’d wait one more hour, but then I was out of there. It wasn’t that I had anything better to do right then, but I would have rather been slaying vampires with Kale and Jez than sitting on my ass in boredom.