Page 97 of Seduced By the Mermen
“He’s more qualified.” Hunter nods.
“Yes, well then. You don’t have to stay.”
“I have my orders.” He holds out his hand and helps me out of thesolo.
“Thank you.”
I ring the bell in the elevator. Annabelle’s mates are extremely protective of her––of all of us. A minute later, Nico’s blue eyes glare back at us through the grill.
“Aunt Blair.” He unlocks the grate.
“Sorry to have awakened you.”
“I was awake.”
He’s shirtless, with low-slung sweatpants and no shoes. I don’t want to dwell on why he was awake. “Well, thank you. Can you please order Hunter to go home?”
“Go home.”
Hunter’s blue eyes laugh. “An order’s an order. I don’t work for Nico Portsmouth.”
Eros steps into the foyer. “My aunt says to go home, you go home,” he growls.
“Yes, sir.”
“Eros, he didn’t do anything wrong.”
Nico closes the gate and pushes the button for the doors to close. Hunter’s eyes flick to mine, and for a second there’s a flash of a smile before he pivots and heads for the elevator.
I take Eros’s arm. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome? Why did you want him to go home?”
“I think he had a date planned, but Sterling put him on babysitting duty.”
“You were at the Mason apartment. Why wasn’t Sterling with you?” Nico closes the door behind us.
“That would be a good question for Sterling. I guess I’ll ask him when I see him.”
“Yes. Well, I’ll make sure I see him first thing in the morning.” Nico glares.
Part of me would like to let him take care of it. But that’s not the new Blair. “Nico, I appreciate you looking out for me?—”
“There’s a but coming,” Eros says, putting his hand on Nico’s shoulder.
“Yes, there is... Can you let me take care of it?”
“If that’s what you wish, yes. But I don’t like it.”
“I know. Thank you, though. Is Marlee up?” I set my gifted new apron on the counter.
“Purple,” Nico says, like I’ve put a cow patty on the pristine marble.
“I like purple.” Annabelle appears from the hallway. “Hi.” She gives me a quick hug. “I didn’t expect you to be back. Everything okay?”
“Yes, everything’s okay. I just want to... I want to talk with Marlee and you in the morning.”
Annabelle’s eyes light up, and it hits me a few seconds too late that she thinks I’ve made the decision to mate with the Mason pod. “No, no. I’m not... I haven’t.” I shake my head. “I’m not rushing into anything. But there’s something I want to talk to you about. Tomorrow.”
