“What the hell are you doing outside my apartment at five am?” I insisted, and patted Blue’s head so he’d stop growling. He finally obeyed and sat silently at my feet, wearing a happy dog smile.
“Technically I’m not outside your apartment,” Knight said and flashed me a beautiful smile. Holy Hades, the man was sexy.
“So, we’re going to play word games?” Rather than waiting for an answer, I started jogging again. Not that I disliked Knight but he was a cocky SOB and there wasn’t any room in my life for cockiness or SOBs or, for that matter, Knight. “So, what, you just hang around my house waiting for me to come out?”
“I needed to get in touch with you,” he said in his alto voice, as rich as a piece of dark chocolate cake.
The moon was still in full effect, and the milky rays glowed against Knight’s white tee shirt. His shorts ended just below his knees, and I couldn’t help but notice how muscular his calves were, muscular and evenly covered with black hair. Realizing I was checking his legs out and very obviously, I brought my attention to the road and tried to increase my pace. Knight easily kept up with me which wasn’t hard considering I was five-one and he was at least six-two, maybe six-three. To me, he looked like a giant.
“Have you heard of this pretty cool invention called the phone?” I asked, keeping my attention straight ahead. “Through a series of wires and electrodes, my voice travels to you and you never have to leave your house! Imagine that!”
“Haha, Dulce, I’ve called you countless times over the last two months, and I’ve lost track of how many messages I’ve left.” He didn’t sound angry, merely conversational.
Okay, so I was guilty about not calling him back, so what? “I’ve been…busy,” I said, though it was farthest from the truth. Having recently given Knight my letter of resignation (he’d been my boss), I now had lots of free time but not a whole lot to fill it with. Course, Knight didn’t need to know that.
“Busy?” he repeated, his tone just as dubious as his smile. “I see you’ve got a dog but other than that, what’s been occupying your time?”
The sound of our footfalls against the pavement echoed my shallow breathing. I hadn’t been on a jog in at least a week and it was making itself known in every section of my body.
“Writing,” I answered succinctly. And it was the truth. I’d been spending all my time working on a book, the second in a series. I had aspirations to be a full time writer, and it seemed those aspirations might actually be headed somewhere—recently a literary agent had requested the full manuscript of my book, “A Vampire and a Gentleman.”
Knight just nodded, and I felt my breath becoming more and more shallow. It wasn’t easy to run and talk at the same time. I glanced at my companion, the Loki, and found he didn’t seem to be huffing or puffing. Instead, he just wore an amused smile and looked me up and down appreciatively. I frowned and glanced back at the road, feeling the need to slow my pace. But, I wouldn’t give in—not yet.
“Where’d you get the dog?” he asked, eyeing the subject all the while.
“He was a gift,” I answered and felt like I was going to pass out with the effort.
“Who from?”
Hmm, this was a question that wouldn’t get an honest answer, or at least not a full honest answer. Blue had been given to me by my ex boss (the one before Knight), Quillan, who was now a wanted potions smuggler. Quillan…just his name left a bad taste in my mouth—he’d been my boss, yes, but also my friend, and I’d sort of lusted after him…just a little. But, when it came down to apprehending him, when I was still a cop, aka Regulator working for the Netherworld, I’d failed. And so far, I hadn’t been able to forgive myself for failing, for allowing my emotions to get in the way of my position as Regulator. It had been a sign that I wasn’t the Regulator I’d thought I was or needed to be. So, I’d resigned.
I didn’t like to think about Quillan, and I really didn’t like to talk about him.
“Just a friend.” I made the mistake of glancing up at Knight. The cock-eyed expression he wore made me look away quickly. He seemed to always know when