Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

My phone buzzed on the counter beside me. I set aside my rolling pin and wiped my hands to check it.

Cross: Do you have time to meet at the property today before your shift?

“Which of your boy toys is it this time?” Vena called from the living room.

“It’s Cross. He wants to know if we can come over.”

I heard her pop up from the couch.

“Does that mean he closed the deal on the club?” she asked.

“Probably,” I said.

In the weeks since Anchor’s rescue, Vena had been using Cross' business as a distraction from her non-existent sex life. After Cross got his identification papers, Vena had been right there to help him start a bank account and set his password–as if he had no clue what she was up to. When it had come time to tour the club formerly known as Juicy as a potential property to purchase, she’d volunteered us to go with him. If her involvement kept her happy and distracted from Anchor’s absence, I was fine with it.

She appeared in the kitchen and leaned her athletic body against the counter. Her long brown hair swayed to the side as she moved. I always envied her trim body but loved baking and desserts more than running. Thelma and Louise, as Vena likes to call my girls, weren’t made for cardio.

“What do you mean, probably?” She gazed at me with her dark blue eyes. “Don’t you talk to him every night?”

“We do talk. I just don’t pump him for information like you do.”

She snorted. “How else will we know if he’s spending our money wisely unless we pump him?” She wriggled her eyebrows at the innuendo.

“You’re lucky he puts up with you.”

Her expression fell a little. “Like Anchor, right?” she mumbled.

“Hey, you know he’s crazy about you. Didn’t he just take you out for a treasure hunt last week?”

“Last week. How many times has he come over this week?”

“They’re still cleaning up the vampire issue,” I said. “You know he’s out searching with everyone else now.”

“Exactly. He’s constantly gone. Why is Doc on our couch at night instead of Anchor?”

“Probably because you kept trying to molest Anchor in his sleep.”

“I was cuddling!”

“He was fighting to keep your hands out of his pants.”

“That was for research. I needed to check what his unimpressively loose jeans were hiding.” Her gaze grew wistful. “His merry mama maker is impressive as hell, Everly. I grazed it. It was hot and hard and–”

“This is why he’s keeping his distance, Vena. You’ve only got one thing on your mind lately.”

“Can you blame me? I thought we’d have sex once we found him, Ev. Happy reunion sex. Instead, I’ve been denied his fun funnel. So, yeah, I’m a little upset about it. But if I can just get my mouth on his peace pipe, I know we’ll both feel a lot better.”

My phone buzzed again.

Tank: Can you please remind her that I can hear everything?

Me: That’s why she’s saying it.

Vena smirked at me. “Tank whining again?”

I nodded, and she turned to shout to our guard sitting outside, “Tell Anchor to stop running then!”

“Let’s go visit Cross,” I said, taking pity on Tank. “Text him that we’re on our way.”

After putting away the sheet of pastry I’d been laminating, we piled into my aging compact car and drove to the old vampire lair.

“It’s a little ironic that the werewolves wrecked Juicy to chase out the vampires, but now a vampire is moving back in, don’t you think?” Vena commented. “Has Cross told you what he wants to do with the building?”

“No. Hopefully, not a seedy club, though. I never want to step into one of those again.” I shivered at the memory of being trapped in a storage closet filled with syringes and tubes. If Cross hadn’t shown up when he had, Vena and I might have died.

Vena saw my shiver. “Hey, with Cross' fat bank account and his love of posh things, there’s no way his business would be seedy. He’ll gut the place, and it’ll be like Juicy never existed.”

As I pulled into the parking lot of the three-story brick building, I saw Vena’s guess hadn’t been wrong. The For Sale sign was now marked as Sold, and remnants of the old club filled the two dumpsters near the door.

Cross walked out of the building with a red leather chair. His pec-hugging t-shirt stretched over his broad shoulders. The ripped jeans he wore molded to his backside as he leaned forward and chucked the chair into the dumpster as if it weighed nothing.

His typically styled-to-perfection auburn brown hair was mussed–but in a really sexy way that stripped away some of his flawlessness and made him more…touchable.

Vena let out a low whistle. “He dirties up nicely.”

I shushed her as I parked.

Cross looked over at us and waited as we got out of the car and walked the short distance to him.

He leaned in to kiss my forehead. “I’d hug you, but apparently, I’m nicely dirty.”

“It was a compliment,” Vena said. “Looks like you’ve done a lot of work already. When did you sign the papers?”

“Yesterday. I’m tearing out everything. In another day or two, the only thing that will look the same is the brick, but even that will get cleaned.”

We followed him inside, and I had trouble remembering what the club had been like before. The stage, lounge, and stripper poles were already gone, leaving an open, dust-filled space with holes in the ceiling and drywall—a space that had potential—but no one else was in it.

“Cross, who is helping you?” I asked.

“No one. I’m doing it myself.”

“I bet taking a crowbar to things makes for excellent therapy,” Vena said.

“Who said I used a crowbar?” Cross shrugged lightly. “Werewolves aren’t the only ones with enhanced strength.”

He caught me looking at his chest, and the way he smiled made my heart skip a beat.

“Let me show you around.” He led the way around the first floor, pointing out the windows that were still blocked and the storage walls that still needed to be removed before guiding us over to a staircase in the back.

“What’s up there?” Vena asked. “We only saw the first floor last time we were here.”

I wondered the same. The place had more space than I’d imagined.

“Right now, there’s nothing up there,” he said. “I’ve removed everything, but it looked like it had served as a sex den.”

“Sex den? I thought vampires were more into blood than sex,” I said.

Cross' gaze met and held mine for several beats. A blush crept up my neck, which brought back his slow smile, making my heart skip another beat. Was he purposely teasing me?

“Do I need a hazmat suit to go up?” Vena asked even as she started up the stairs. “I don’t want an STI. I need to be ready to go when Anchor decides to un-cock block me.”

Distracted by her ridiculousness, he looked away from me.

“I wouldn’t bring Everly to a place that could harm her health.”

“But you would with me? Wait, is that why I’m going up before Ev?”

“No, it’s because your curiosity overrides your common sense,” I said.

“You’re not wrong,” she said as I followed her up.

At the top of the stairs, I had a clear view of Cross' efforts on the second floor. Ducts and wires were fully visible in the exposed ceiling and walls. Yet, despite the demolition he’d done, the space was free of debris and flooded with natural light from the large, arched windows.

The vampires who’d previously used the space must have blocked off the sunlight when they were here, or they would have died. Only Cross had a ruby ring that allowed him to walk in the sun.

He led us to a folding table in the middle of the room. Blueprints lay open on the surface.

Vena leaned over the top one, studying it. Shaking my head at her, I glanced at Cross.

“If you leave stuff out, she’ll look at it. She’s nosey like that.”

“The blueprints are why I invited you. I would like your feedback on the design plans.”

I joined Vena and stared at the first floor’s proposed layout.

A beautiful glass arctic entry would keep the interior toasty during the colder winter months and cool during the summer. Once inside, guests would see a long display counter for coffee and bakery orders. Behind that, in the center of the large, open space, double doors would give access to a large industrial kitchen. Bookshelves lined the perimeter of the building’s first floor, and over two dozen tables took up the horseshoe-shaped space between shelves and the kitchen. The plans even had bathrooms at the back of the building.

The well-thought-out layout made a cute and functional bakery and bookstore.

“This is amazing, Cross,” I said.

When I looked up, I caught him studying my face.

“Amazing enough to return to, day after day?” he asked.

“I’m not sure I follow.”

“Please. Sit. Allow me to explain.”

He pulled out one of the three chairs for me. Vena quickly took a seat, and while her expression bordered on giddy, I felt a bit more wary as I sat.

“I would like to establish a partnership,” Cross said.

Vena snorted softly under her breath.

“With both of you,” he clarified.

“Whoa. You’re hot and rich, Cross, which is tempting, but I’m holding out for Anchor. He’s close to breaking. Maybe after I’ve sailed on his banana boat for a while, I’ll check out your schooner.”

I slowly turned my head to stare at her. No words were needed. She immediately did the zipping her mouth motion and folded her hands in her lap.

“Please excuse Vena,” I said, focusing on Cross. “I think Miles tested malfunctioning charms on her as a baby.”

Cross' lips twitched like he wanted to smile.

“I’ve grown used to Vena’s erratic behavior and know when to ignore her. Don’t distress yourself on her behalf.

“The partnership I’m suggesting is strictly business. You wish to run your own bakery but lack the capital. I have the capital and the space but lack the skill.”

“You want to run a bakery?” I asked, doubt lacing my words.

“Yes and no. I’m thinking of something more than a simple bakery. The key to making this place stand out will be to keep everything—the books and the food—centered around all the races.

“The fae adore their exotic food restaurants, which are in high demand but too overpriced for most people. The werewolves like whatever humans like. And while we both know what vampires like, they’re not welcome anywhere. The rest of the creatures prefer to stay in the Shadow Trade markets where they put themselves on exhibit so humans see them as beneficial and less threatening.”

I studied Cross' face. He didn’t look angry. He didn’t look anything other than his usual self. Yet his words conveyed a resentment his tone didn’t.

“Are you all right?” I asked. “Have the vampires tried anything lately? Or are Shepard’s people being?—”

Without seeing Cross move, he was suddenly leaning close enough to cup my cheek. “That you worry about me endears you more to me.”

“Hey, I’m worried too,” Vena said. “Like, how much is all this renovation going to cost you? And who exactly are your target clientele when just about everyone in the city doesn’t like you? I don’t want you throwing your hard-earned cash at a sinking ship.”

I loved my friend, but sometimes, she was a little too money-focused. I quietly kicked her under the table.

Cross leaned back in his chair and regarded Vena.

“The investment will quickly repay itself if we create something that can’t be found elsewhere—a place where an everyday human will be welcome yet not solely catered to. A place for otherworlders to come and relax and enjoy tasty sweets.”

“We?” I echoed, having not missed that little inclusion.

“Yes. We. I want the three of us to own the business equally and split the profits. I would run everything behind the scenes—all the administrative bookwork, accounts, and connections.

“Everly, you would have full control over the kitchen to create food options for all races. Vena, you can curate the book selection to your heart's content as long as it’s not only about treasure hunting. We want everyone to feel welcome.”

I hurt for Cross, understanding that he wanted to give what he hadn’t received. None of the other races wanted anything to do with him, not even his own race. He was truly alone, except for Vena and me, which was why I wanted to agree to his proposal. I wanted to show him and the world that I believed in him as much as he believed in me.

However, Vena and I still had a year left of college and our jobs at Blur. While I’d always known I’d leave Blur at some point after college, I wasn’t yet ready—not when there were so many financial uncertainties.

Cross noticed my hesitation.

“Don’t feel burdened to accept.”

“I don’t feel burdened,” I said. “I love the concept and would be excited to be a part of it, but I need to be honest with you as well. Vena and I have a year left of college, and I’m not ready to quit Blur. It’s paid for my school so far.”

“I would never ask you to give up anything,” he said, taking my hand and running his thumb over my skin soothingly. “I want this to enhance your life, not take away from it.

“What if, for now, you’re the creative mastermind in the bakery and I hire someone to assist you? We’ll need employees anyway. You can use them in whatever capacity you need, which will free up your time to focus on school and Blur.”

I considered the idea, not hating it. I didn't see a downside if I could still work at Blur. Having a fully equipped kitchen to test recipes in was a dream come true.

“Then, I accept,” I said.

“Do I get that sweet deal too?” Vena asked.

“Of course,” Cross said. “I want this place to be a haven for both of you. Which is why...” He released my hand and pulled away the top blueprint of the first floor to reveal the second floor’s generous, private living space.

Vena gasped, pulling the paper toward her. “This will be gorgeous.”

The master suite took up almost a third of the floor space with another third dedicated to the open-concept kitchen and living area.

“Three bedrooms?” Vena looked up at Cross.

“So you have a place to stay whenever you need it, especially if you find yourself in danger again. You will both have access to the second floor. It will be yours to use however you want.”

“But only for safety?” Vena questioned.

“However you want,” Cross reiterated. “If that means spending the night when you’ve worked a long shift, it can be used for that. Or if you want to live with me rent-free to help save for school, you can move in as soon as it’s finished. No strings attached.”

His generosity was sweet, but we couldn’t?—

“Sold!” Vena shouted.

“No, it’s not,” I said. “I appreciate you thinking about us, Cross. I really do. But moving on top of all the other changes we’re making is more risk than Vena and I are willing to take on right now.”

Vena gave me a “what are you talking about” look while Cross nodded.

“I understand. For now, accepting a partnership is enough. I only need you to think about what you’d like in your kitchen. I'd like you to come up with a few recipes to start, too. The rest can wait until you're ready.”

Vena sighed. “Fine. But since this place is inclusive, we could use it to gather information, especially if we incorporate some blood-infused treats to tempt a few vampires to talk.”

I was about to shoot down that idea, but Cross agreed. “It wasn’t the goal when I came up with this business plan, but I had thought of the same thing.”

“Wait. Are we actually on the same page?” Vena asked him.

“I think, for once, we are.”

“I’m not,” I said. “Do you know what happens to me when Vena gathers information?” I started counting past events on my fingers. “I fall into a cave. I get locked in a supply closet. I get–”

Vena covered my mouth and shot me a guilty look.

“It will be a simple gathering of information to aid Shepard in flushing out unsavory vampires in D.C.,” Cross said. “Won’t it, Vena?”

“Of course. I promise I will only bribe people with tasty treats.”

“No bribing,” I said, ducking away from her hand. “You will leave all information gathering to Cross, or those spare bedrooms can go to a troll.”

“They’d never smell the same after.”

“Exactly.”

She sighed. “Fine. Cross can have all the fun.”

“You’ll get to have fun too,” I said. “Just think about all the books you get to buy.”

As she began listing the collections she wanted to bring in, I considered what foods we would need to offer and had an uh-oh thought.

“Cross, if I make blood-infused treats, won’t that create a donor link between the vampire and the human?”