Page 61 of Seduced By the Mermen
“She will not?—”
I hold my hand up, cutting Nico off. “Unfortunately, I can’t, as I’ve been invited elsewhere. I also wouldn’t feel comfortable going to your home when I don’t know you. The other day when I met you briefly at the teahouse... Outside of the teahouse were some interesting shops.” I’m fascinated by the large furniture I saw in the window. Annabelle’s furniture is large, but the pieces in the showroom were more the size of something in a fancy hotel. Though the closest I’ve ever been to a fancy hotel is the inn I worked at along the Maine coast for cash under the table.
There’s a small part of me that’s sabotaging this. My ex hated shopping. My brother hates shopping enough that he hasn’t stepped into a store other than our local market in a decade. Though, now that he’s living alone, that’s got to have changed. Maybe not. He’s stubborn—it’s a family trait.
“I would love to take you shopping. It would bring me great joy to buy you everything in the market,” he declares to everyone around us.
“Oh, truck no. I didn’t mean you should buy me anything.” I clutch my arm around my waist.
“But it would be my honor. Driftwoods are good providers, and we would continue to be once we become the Portsmouth pod,” Kade says. He tips his chin to me. His green eyes have flakes of gold in them. They’re quite attractive but not warm, not sultry, not comforting.
Nico growls.
“Oh, oh, I...” I’m not sure why, but it shocks me that if I mate, they’ll take my last name. Thank goodness I’ve already switched back to my maiden name.
“There are some fine shops. Jewelry, clothing, art, housewares... What sort of shops would you like to go to the most? We will make it happen.”
“Really, I don’t want you to buy me anything.” I glance at Annabelle. But she shrugs. “Going to the market is something humans do to spend time together.”
“And not buy things?”
“Yes, it’s called window shopping,” I say.
“You would like to buy a window?” Kade says.
Nico and Holter are both growling. “You’re not going with the Driftwood pod anywhere alone.”
“The market’s not alone.” Above Eros’s head, at a discreet distance, a pair of gray eyes stare at me. Sterling. “I won’t be alone. I can guarantee that.” Sterling and a few others seemed to be my second set of guards––after Annabelle’s guys. Holter told me the king has assigned them to me.
Annabelle follows where I’m looking. “Yes. But you know, I think we need some new furniture.”
“Sunshine, you said—” Eros starts.
“We have lots to go shopping for, whenever you want, my Little Krill,” Nico interrupts Eros. “But we need to go home now. We will contact you, if Blair wants.”
“Poseidon has spoken,” Kade says. “Until we see you again, Blair.” He kisses the back of my hand this time.
Nico growls while we say our goodbyes.
And while I smile, the warmth on my cheeks, the schoolgirl blush I’ve had so many other times in recent weeks, doesn’t appear. I’m not attracted to Kade. I give a wave as I’m ushered back to the omada.
The whole way home, I’m chewing over what happened at the school. So much so that I hardly notice when we pull into the Glyden docking dome.
“Marlee, we’re back,” I say, loud enough to give her a warning that we’re all coming back in, just in case... I suppose there’s not that many just in cases...
“There’s no smoke in the kitchen,” Holter states. “So she hasn’t been cooking.”
Annabelle playfully bats at his arm. “That’s not nice, Holter. Marlee could be a skilled cook if she wanted to be. She just focuses on other things.”
Holter raises his eyebrows.
There’s still no answer from Marlee. And my heart taps on my ribs. There’s nowhere she could go. The door to her bedroom is open, but she’s not in there. I open the door to my room, and she’s not in there either.
“Marlee?” I step back into the hall just as Annabelle comes up behind me.
“She’s not in her room?”
“No.”
