Page 7 of A Hunter Turned
They were all still laughing when a knock was heard and Morgan called out for whoever was on the other side to come in.
Archer Langley strode through the door, something bright pink clutched in his big hand that immediately drew Jamie’s attention. Squinting in an attempt to bring the mystery object into focus, she failed miserably.Stupid eyes. Hurry up and heal.
Settling on the assumption that it was one of his daughter’s toys he’d recovered from outside, she turned her attention back to her computer leaving Morgan or Kane to deal with whatever the alpha had come to tell them.
“These are for you. They might help.”
He’d moved closer, his hand extended and the blurry pink object laying on his palm became clear enough to recognize. A glasses’ case. He’d brought her glasses.
“Thank you,” she cautiously uttered, reaching out for the unexpectedly thoughtful gift. Thoughtful, that was unless she pulled them free to find this was a gag, maybe joke glasses with big googly eyes hanging from springs. She certainly wouldn’t put it past the man.
To her surprise, it wasn’t. They weren’t. And Jamie absolutely loved them, probably would have chosen a similar style of frames had she not been a vampire that technically shouldn’t need glasses.
Placing them on her face, she let out a sigh of relief as things came into focus. Not quite perfect, perhaps just a hair off from the prescription she would currently need, but so close as to barely make a difference.
“Where did you find these?” Jamie asked in amazement, taking in the fine details of her surroundings.
“They’re my wife’s.”
The slightly snarly response had her focusing on Archer Langley’s face with surprise. His wife must have suggested the loan and convinced him to deliver the glasses. Obviously, he’d done so grudgingly. Jamie needed to meet this woman who, despite having had the bad taste to marry a brute like Langley, was still so generous of heart as to loan a stranger her glasses.
“Won’t she need them?”
“She died almost four years ago.”
Well, crap. Now she felt like shit and was probably making that eek face of discomfort she sometimes got when she stuck her foot it in her mouth. Luckily, Archer most likely hadn’t noticed since he was currently looking at Kane who was offering his condolences.
Smoothing her features into something more appropriate under the circumstances, Jamie added her own words of sympathy.
The alpha shifted his weight, seemingly uncomfortable with the current topic – and who wouldn’t be? – before he cleared his throat and motioned toward the glasses. “She’d be happy to know they were getting some use.”
“Well, ah. Thank you.” Yeah. Still awkward. Things were so much better when they were sniping at each other and Jamie was almost desperate for someone to change the subject so that they might get back to the status quo.
Kane came to the rescue, or rather, the endless pit that was his stomach came to the rescue as the man inquired about the status of the pizza. And while his attention was elsewhere, Jamie took a moment, thanks to the new-to-her glasses, to have her first clear look at the alpha without the haze of anger coloring her perception.Definitely, nothing like she'd imagined. In fact, she'd somehow managed to conjure the exact opposite of everything that was Archer Langley. Well, except the arrogance, of course, she hadn't been mistaken there since her ears worked perfectly fine, but that body...To say he was put together nicely was an understatement. Those long legs, that well-muscled torso, that long hair that made her want to sink her fingers into those thick locks and never let go. Had Jamie spotted Archer Langley across a crowded room, she would have immediately been attracted, maybe would have even gone out of her way to approach him and strike up a conversation. Of course, then he would have inevitably opened his mouth and ruined everything. If Archer Langley knew the meaning of the word charm, she’d eat her shoe.
Having finished his conversation with Kane – a conversation she’d completely missed in her preoccupation with Langley’s fine form – the alpha’s attention suddenly swung back to her. “After you eat, perhaps you’d like a tour of the area? Take a walk through the bayou with me?”
Crap. Eek face had slipped out again without her knowing it and the alpha grimaced, his “Or maybe not,” decidedly growly.
Great. Now she’d offended him after he’d gone to the trouble of bringing her glasses. Hisdead wife’sglasses. That couldn’t have been easy for him and here she was stomping on his olive branch like a deranged elephant. He must think her an ungrateful shithead and she didn’t blame him in the least.
Leaping up from the couch, hand extended, her momentarily forgotten laptop would have crashed to the floor if Kane didn’t have such fast reflexes. “No, no. A walk would be great,” she quickly blurted, partly to make amends and partly because shereallywanted to get outside now that she wasn’t in danger of falling into the swamp thanks to her lack of sight, even if that meant walking with Archer Langley. “I’d love a walk. A walk sounds perfect.”
Kane snickered, earning him a quick, murderous glare. Jamie knew full well that she sounded like a laughable idiot, she didn’t need him to point it out to the room, however. That done, she threw a wide, overly bright smile to Langley. Her face felt stiff, too many teeth showing she was sure and was probably why he raised a brow.
Oh, how she couldn’t wait for her eyebrows to grow out once more so that she could deliver that very expression…
“If you’re sure?”
Shaking herself from her eyebrow envy, Jamie’s smile this time was much more natural. “I’m sure.”
“After dinner then.”
“It’s a date!” Jamie yelled, her voice far too loud and chipper. God, she was cringeworthy and this wassonot a date. Clapping her mouth shut before she managed to say something even more embarrassing, Jamie waited for the alpha to make a snide return remark but he surprised her by giving each of them a quick nod before he made his exit.
Collapsing back onto the couch with a self-deprecating huff, she mumbled, “I’m an idiot.”
Wrapping an arm around her, Kane couldn’t contain his mirth as he pulled her head to his shoulder, and through his chuckles, murmured, “There, there,” followed by, “Do you need me to help you to get ready for your date?”
