Meant to Be Immortal (Argeneau #32) - Lynsay Sands Page 0,52

Watch, but from a distance so he can woo her.”

“Aunt Marguerite seems eager to help you claim your life mate,” Decker commented with mild amusement once they were out of the RV and crossing the backyard.

“Hmm,” Bricker grunted in agreement when Mac didn’t comment. “She’s certainly more helpful than you bastards were with me and Holly.”

Mac glanced at Bricker and raised an eyebrow in question when the comment made Decker laugh.

The younger immortal scowled at Decker for his amusement, but then told Mac, “Decker and Anders did their best to screw with me when I met my life mate, Holly, telling me she liked things she hated and a bunch of junk like that. It was a shit show.”

“We were just paying you back for the stuff you said and did when we met our life mates,” Decker said, still chuckling. “You deserved it, man.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Bricker muttered. “Maybe I did, but I already had it hard with Holly and you guys just made it worse.” Turning to Mac, he explained, “Holly was married when I met her.”

Mac winced at the words, knowing that would have been a serious problem. Immortals were not supposed to interfere with a mortal’s marriage. Ever. “How did you claim her if she was married?”

“Well, see,” Bricker began, and then paused when the porch door clanged shut and CJ jogged down the steps to approach them.

“If we’re going shopping, let’s go,” she said a touch shortly as she walked past them, heading for her car.

Mac and the other two men stared after her briefly, then hurried to catch up.

“Right now?” Mac asked, once they’d closed the distance between her and them.

“Yes. I have a job to do, and the sooner we get started, the sooner we’ll be done and I can do what I’m here for,” she said firmly, and then stopped abruptly to ask, “Or would you rather wait until later? Mrs. Vesper says there is a taxi service in town. She has the phone number. She’ll give it to you if you want—”

“No, no. Now’s fine,” he assured her.

“Great,” CJ growled, not sounding like she thought it was great at all. Turning abruptly on her heel, she continued around the RV to her car. Hitting the button on her fob to unlock the doors, she said, “Get in.”

Mac claimed the front passenger seat as she slid behind the wheel. Bricker followed him around to the passenger side and took the seat behind him while Decker got in behind CJ.

The first part of the drive was extremely quiet. Exceedingly so. CJ obviously wasn’t happy with this chore. Mac tried to think of something to say to break the silence and hopefully ease the mood, but couldn’t seem to come up with anything. In the end, it was Bricker who broke it by saying, “Hey, Mac, you should probably introduce us, don’t you think?”

Relieved to have been handed an opening gambit, Mac said at once, “Yes, of course. CJ Cummings, this is Justin Bricker and Decker Argeneau Pimms.”

“Most people call me Bricker,” Bricker put in even as Decker said, “Nice to meet you, CJ.”

“Pleasure,” CJ said politely, and then commented, “So, Mac’s boss, Bastien, sent you, right? You guys are security working for Argentis Inc.?”

A moment of silence followed as Mac turned in his seat to cast an alarmed gaze on the two men in the back. For a moment he was afraid they’d say no, but he needn’t have worried; immortals quickly got used to having to lie to people. They could hardly go around telling the truth. If mortals knew they shared the world with what they would consider vampires, who fed off of them, they’d most likely hunt them down and try to kill them.

“Bastien thought we should come check out things and keep an eye on Mac, yes,” Decker answered, and Mac was actually impressed that he’d managed to answer without lying. Because while Bastien had thought someone should look into the matter, he wouldn’t have been the one to send Decker and Bricker. Mortimer was in charge of them.

“Are you both American, then?” CJ asked next.

“No,” Decker answered even as Bricker said, “Yes.”

“Uh-huh. Which is it?” CJ asked dryly.

“Bricker was born in California and his family still lives there, but he lives in Canada now,” Decker explained, and then added, “And I mostly live in Canada, but my wife and I have been known to travel for work.”

“So, you weren’t sent here from New York?” CJ asked, and Mac tensed