“Thank you.” The warmth in Kayla’s smile made him feel like he’d just won the World Cup. “That was very thoughtful.”
Becca nodded. “It was. Thank you. I really appreciate it.”
He smiled and dipped his chin in a nod.
Becca turned back to her mother and flashed her a big grin. “If I hadn’t been so stressed out, I would’ve felt like a movie star or something. It was freaking awesome! Like flying from Raleigh to Houston in a rich man’s living room.”
Kayla laughed. So did Nick and Eliana.
Reordon, Henderson, and the other network division heads tended to spare no expense when it came to shuttling Immortal Guardians around. They all seemed intent on not only taking care of business but keeping the immortals as happy and comfortable as possible, perhaps in an attempt to offset the loneliness they knew plagued the immortals’ often dark existence.
“The stewardess was really nice and sat with me the whole time,” Becca continued. “And the pilot was totally hot.”
Kayla laughed. “How hot?”
“Like Thor, Captain America, and Loki all rolled into one hot.”
Despite Kayla’s silent assurances, Nick decided the two should probably be alone. “Why don’t I order you some pizza while the two of you catch up?”
Kayla smiled. “Sounds good. Thank you. You and Eliana will join us, won’t you?”
Eliana shook her head. “Actually, I—”
Nick shot her a scowl.
She clamped her lips together and looked for a moment as if she might burst into laughter. “—would love to join you,” she finished politely.
Kayla’s smile widened. “Great.”
Nick ducked out into the hallway and headed for the stairs. Eliana kept pace with him, her gaze practically boring holes in him. Though no words crossed her lips as they tromped down the steps and strode through the living room, amusement poured off her in waves.
“What?” he demanded in a whisper as they reached the kitchen.
“Coward,” she accused with a grin. “I mean, really—running from a teenaged girl?”
The accusation stung, though it oozed with truth. Nick hadn’t been with a woman since the sixties. And he’d never been with one who had children—grown or otherwise—who might walk in on them in a compromising position. Even though that position had been totally innocent. Sure, Kayla had been half-sprawled on top of him. But neither one of them had been naked, and his hands had been in completely appropriate places instead of where he’d wanted to put them.
“I’m not running. I’m… staging a strategic retreat,” he countered.
She laughed.
“What?” He picked up the cell phone he’d tossed on the island when they’d gotten home. “She’s Kayla’s daughter.” And that daughter had once been infatuated with him. He thought it might be weird enough for Becca to suddenly discover her mom might be physically involved with a man. Throw her former crush in on top of that and he wasn’t sure what to expect.
Eliana leaned against the island. “What exactly were you doing when Becca walked in?”
“Nothing. We were just sleeping.”
She arched a brow. “And before Becca walked in?”
A corner of his lips twitched. “Not sleeping.” When she looked so gleeful he thought she might try to high-five him, he added, “With clothes on. We were not sleeping with clothes on.”
She shrugged, giving him a good-natured smile. “Hey, I’ll take it. It’s progress, right? I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks.” Allowing himself a smile, he dialed the number of an Italian restaurant the network owned. There was at least one in every major city or town that hosted multiple immortals. Each restaurant boasted the best chefs, the best dishes, the best service. And while they served human families, too, each restaurant had a private back room labeled VIP for immortals and their Seconds so they could enjoy a delicious meal and not worry about inadvertently revealing their gifts or slipping and discussing work in front of humans.
The restaurants also delivered upon request, but only for Immortal Guardians and their Seconds.
Nick ordered four pizzas, knowing he and Eliana could easily devour two themselves. (Fighting vampires at preternatural speeds tended to burn a lot of calories.) And he wanted Kayla and Becca to have more than enough in case they returned to Kayla’s home and could use some leftovers to snack on.
Discontentment crept in. Now that Kayla was in his home and in his bed, he didn’t want her to leave.
Eliana watched him curiously. “Did you tell her what you are?” She kept her voice preternaturally soft.
“Some of it.” Opening one of the upper cabinets, he took down four glasses. “She knows Seth healed her and can teleport. She knows I’m stronger and faster than human men. And she knows my eyes glow.”
“Does she know you’re immortal?”
“Yes.”
“Does she know why you’re immortal?”
He sighed. “No. She’s had enough to deal with for one day. I didn’t think flashing fangs and tossing vampires and the virus into the mix would be a great idea.”
Eliana’s face sobered as she perched on one of the barstools. “I don’t blame you.”
Opening the refrigerator, he drew out a large pitcher of tea.
“Oh my gosh!” Becca suddenly blurted upstairs. Though she kept her voice low, Nick’s and Eliana’s hypersensitive hearing might as well have placed them in the same room with the two women. “How long are you going to let me drone on and on about the fancy bathroom in the jet before you tell me what’s going on with you and Nick?”
Eliana locked eyes with him.
Nick lowered the pitcher to the counter and awaited Kate’s response.
“Um…”
He winced. Apparently she was as uncertain how to answer that as he was.
“Nick was worried about me,” Kayla said slowly. “With the concussion and everything, he didn’t want me to be alone and—”
“Seriously?” Becca interrupted dryly. “You’re going to play the friend card?”
“We are friends,” Kayla insisted.
Before Nick could feel a stab of disappointment over the implication that that’s all they were, Becca snorted. “Mom, I know you like to think I’m still a naive little girl. But I’m old enough to know what a man looks like when’s he’s turned on, and one glance at his pants made it very clear that Nick was turned on when you rolled off him. That man wants you.”
Nick clapped a hand to his forehead and dragged it down his face. Damn his body’s response.
Eliana stared at him with a wide-eyed Really? In front of her kid? look while Kayla sputtered something unintelligible upstairs. Usually Immortal Guardians had far greater control over their bodies than humans did.
“I can’t help it,” he hissed in his own defense. “She’s fucking hot.” And that really didn’t excuse the fact that he had sported wood in front of her daughter. But damn it, he had just woken up with Kayla’s beautiful body pressed against him, her arm resting on his lower abdomen not that far from his erection, and her knee damn near brushing his balls.