Page 63 of Wonder
“Oh, shit.” I grimaced. “I should probably call him.”
Reno turned around and pointed his spatula at me. “Please. He’s been texting me every couple of hours.”
I ended up calling him then and there. I had a feeling I’d be sleeping for a while after we ate, and I didn’t want to forget. Levi alternated between yelling at me for risking my life and telling me how glad he was that I was okay. “You bring your mate up for a visit, you hear? Because if you don’t, I’m gonna show up on your doorstep.”
After breakfast, or it might’ve been lunch, Reno helped me back upstairs. My eyes were heavy and I was half asleep by the time he got me in bed. As he was trying to pull the covers up over me, I gripped his t-shirt “When I wake up, I’ll seduce you, I promise.”
He cocked his head and smiled at me like I was adorable. “I’ll look forward to it.”
However, I didnotget to seduce Reno until much later.
When I woke up, he was sitting in bed beside me with his reading glasses on, glancing between his phone and my laptop. I rolled over and threw my arm over his legs. “So sexy.” He ran his fingers through my hair, and I made a purring noise.
“You think you’re up to going out to dinner tonight?”
I lifted my head to stare at him. Wouldn't he rather stay in bed and celebrate our bond becoming whole? “Like in a restaurant? Um, when?” I blinked and looked around for a clock.
“At 7:30. It’s a little after 3:00 p.m. now.”
I pushed myself up to a sitting position and shoved my hair out of my face. “I guess so.” I took inventory of my body. My energy was up, and my head wound itched more than ached. “I’m feeling pretty good, so we can go out if you want. But you don’t have to wine and dine me.”
He smiled and leaned over to kiss me. But before I could take it where I wanted it to go, he pulled back. “Unfortunately, it’s not that kind of dinner. We’re meeting some people.”
I raised an eyebrow. This was getting more and more disappointing. “Okay?”
He pointed at the laptop. “Remember how you responded to Alyssa Laurent, who wanted to tell her boyfriend about the campaign?”
“Yeah? I told her we’d get back to her after we’d dealt with theluchd-òl fola. But she didn’t make it sound like it was urgent.” Couldn’t we just stay home and make sweet, sweet love?
Reno leaned forward, his eyes alight with excitement. “Alyssa Laurent and her parents are gargoyles.”
We met the Laurents at a slightly upscale Mexican restaurant near the bayfront. I’d had a bag of blood before we left to make sure I didn’t get too tired. I would’ve felt even better with some of Reno’s blood, but that would’ve led to things we didn’t have time for.
It was cute how revved up he was for tonight. Alyssa Laurent had told us her boyfriend’s name was Milo—“he pronounces it mee-low”—Duran. We were about to confront the guy with the gargoyle costume.
On the way over we debated how to bring up the topic of the costume, but in the end we’d had to agree to wing it.
Aimee and Bernard Laurent appeared to be in their early forties but were probably closer to a millennium than not. Alyssa passed for being in her mid-twenties, but she also could’ve been any age. Emiliano, or Milo, was twenty-six according to his DMV records. Like in his photos, he was tall, dark-haired, and slender but with a nice set of shoulders. He appeared relaxed and friendly, and all three Laurents seemed happy with him.
Reno and I shook hands with everyone.
“Thank you so much for joining us.” Bernard gestured to the empty seats at the table, and Reno and I sat down. My wound was itching again, but I figured scratching my head at the table would be uncouth, and I didn’t want to embarrass Reno.
When was the last time I’d sat down to dinner in a restaurant with multiple people? Hell, I couldn’t remember dining out with anyone since Davi. Every time I thought about not having tochase down theluchd-òl folaanymore, I felt almost lightheaded. The future was unknown, but I had Reno to share it with. Reno, who’d chosen me, exactly like I’d hoped he would.
He returned my sappy smile, then he addressed Alyssa. “I’m sorry we’ve never met in person before.”
Her face lit up. “Me too. But now you get to meet Milo at the same time.” She hugged his arm, and he seemed content to just be next to her.
“How long have y’all been dating?”
She and Milo exchanged glances, and he was the one to respond. “Almost eighteen months now.”
Her parents were at ease and smiling. No worries about him from their end.
We placed our orders, and Milo looked between me and Reno, probably trying to figure out our relationship. “What do y’all do for work?”
Trying to flex my jaw to see if it helped with my wound itching, I picked up Reno’s hand and kissed it. Then I grinned. “We’re private investigators.”
