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Pouring coffee into three cups, I passed cups to both of them. I took my time spooning sugar into my mug, stirring my coffee with my spoon and placing it on the napkin I'd pulled from the basket. I focused on my coffee, shrugging nonchalantly.
"I have to admit you look gorgeous," Anna said, her eyes taking in my hair and skin. "You look like you've been properly fucked. It looks good on you. "
"Anna," I warned, my eyes narrowing. I took a deep drink of coffee and fought off an exasperated sigh.
"Ok, ok. Don't tell me!" Anna waved her hands in surrender, rolling her eyes in exasperation. I thought she'd given up when she leaned in over her coffee cup. "Just tell me one thing, Josie. Please tell me he's packing. Someone that is that huge has to be packing. And I can tell by the way he moves that he knows how to use it. "
"Anna!" I groaned, dropping my face into my hands. "I'm going to say this once. Once! And I will never admit I told you anything. " I set my gaze on Anna. "Yes, he's 'packing. ' And yes, he knows how to use it. Multiple times. "
Georgia and Anna looked at each other and squealed in delight. Georgia clapped her hands together like she just found out she had the winning lottery ticket.
"I knew it!" Anna said smugly, smoothing her curls with her hand. She finished her coffee and stood up. "Let's go. We have places to go. "
Draining my coffee cup, I pushed away from the table. Where was Stefan when you needed him?
We piled into Georgia's sedan and made the short trip into town. There was a small market that sold fresh produce and farther in was a small row of shops. We split up, each doing our respective shopping. I made sure my shields were in place and enjoyed the first alone moments that I'd had for the last few days. I was deep in thought and contemplating buying a dark purple silk dress with a halter style neckline when Anna rejoined me.
"That would look fabulous on you. You should get it," Anna said, turning her head to the side and admiring the dress. "Look, I don't know what's going on with you and Stefan and I'm not going to bug you about it. I think it's long overdue that you met someone. Does he know?"
Nodding to Anna, I took the dress down from the hook it was hanging on, double checking the size. I carried the dress to the clerk, waited for her to ring it up, paid and grabbed the bag. Anna was hot on my heels as we left the store.
"He knows. He's very observant. " I shrugged as Anna linked arms with me. We walked slowly to Georgia's car, content in idle conversation and people watching.
"He's something. Sex on two legs for sure. Wanna know what I noticed last night? For the first time, you looked really happy. " Anna smiled at me. I gave her another shrug and we leaned against the car, waiting for Georgia to join us.
"I like him, Anna. A lot," I said quietly and paused, watching Anna's reaction briefly. I could feel Anna's happiness for me. "So we'll see what happens. "
Anna laughed, waving her hand. "Lukas is under the impression that Stefan is ready to ride off into the sunset with you. I can only imagine the size of the horse that would take to hold him. One more thing. Please tell me that Stefan has a twin, or an equally gorgeous friend that's not gay. Lie to me if you have to. "
I didn't have a chance to answer as Georgia decided to make her appearance, her arms loaded down with bags.
"Y'all ready to go?" Georgia didn't wait for an answer. She unlocked the doors and we piled inside again, this time heading towards home.
***
It was early evening when Georgia pulled into my driveway, much later than I'd intended to stay out. Stefan was pacing the front porch, almost a little too quickly to appear human. I was going to have to remind him that I had human friends. Very perceptive human friends.
"It looks like someone is nervous," Georgia observed, glancing over at me. I pursed my lips and shrugged. I had no experience when it came to nervous boyfriends. Did you call a 975 year old vampire a boyfriend?
I couldn't help but smile when I saw the look of relief flash across Stefan's face when he saw me in the car with Georgia. He stepped off the porch and had my car door open before the she'd completely stopped.
"Hey, stranger," I whispered as Stefan grabbed me to him impatiently. Pulling back to look at him, I realized that now that he knew that he knew I was safe, he was angry. This sort of behavior was not going to work with me. The last thing I needed was a vampire bodyguard.
"I was worried. I came back and you were gone. Perhaps if you had left a note, I would have known where you were, Josephine. "
Georgia was out around the car quickly, her arms crossed. "Perhaps if you weren't up her ass 24 hours a day and had something productive to do you wouldn't need to worry about her. She does have a life outside of you, Mr. Hunky McHunkerson. " Georgia was just getting warmed up, taking her index finger and poking him in his chest. "You showed up on the scene two, count them, TWO days ago and now you think you need to know where she is at all times? Not happening. You obviously think you're much more important than you really are. I think someone needs an attitude adjustment. "
"Georgia!" I looked at Georgia sharply. I'd unfortunately seen this side of Georgia before. She was full of anger and was ready to come out with guns blasting. I was usually able to diffuse the situation since I could normally see it happening and could easily divert the situation. I was wondering why I didn't see Georgia doing this. She's normally easy to read although I'd been blindsided again.
Stefan raised up to his full six-foot-four height and leaned in close to her, his upper lip curled up into a snarl. To give Georgia credit, she stood her ground but she was looking at me for help out of the corner of her eye. I could feel the panic rolling off of her in waves as she tensed beside of me. Snorting, I grabbed Stefan's hand to try to get his attention.
Leave it to Georgia to start something she couldn't finish.
"Stefan," I soothed, concentrating on staying as calm as possible. His gaze was still focused on Georgia. I waited a moment and squeezed his hand again. "Stefan, please. "
Stefan snapped his head around to look at me, his lip still curled up in a snarl. Managing a shaky smile, I squeezed his hand again. Only his lip relaxed, anger still darkened his handsome face. The swooning romance novel heroine inside of me was already thinking of the angry sex we would be having soon and was mentally clapping. I needed to get a grip on my hormones, since it was obvious Stefan was close to snapping.
"Please, Stefan. Help me carry my bags in?"
