Northern Bites (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 2) (31 page)

“We’d love to.”

Mom and I fell into step behind Dante and
Grandma. Mom raised a brow at me and I shook my head. She answered with a smile.

Our small group tromped through the
lobby up to the elevator. Inside the elevator Dante pressed the button for the restaurant on the top floor, then took a place beside me.

When we reached the top floor he held the elevator door open.
My grandmother stepped out first. Before following Mom out, I leaned back and whispered to Dante, “Thank you for doing this.”

“Anytime.
Shall we?” Dante reached for my hand. When our fingers laced together, it felt like the most natural thing in the world. We walked down the corridor toward the restaurant’s lobby. Mom glanced back at us and smiled.

I should have known
Grandma wouldn’t let Dante off the hook completely. “What’s this I hear about you keeping my granddaughter behind to attend an in-state college?” she asked after we’d been seated.

Dante didn’t miss a beat. He smiled slyly. “Couldn’t let her run off
east and fall in love with another man.”

Gran looked Dante over closely. “
Aurora must think highly of you to stick around Anchorage.”

He
chuckled. “You know what they say. Who needs a dream college when you’ve got your dream man?”

I smacked Dante playfully on the shoulder. “And so humble.”

Gran looked between the two of us and smiled. “I can’t say I was too happy when Aurora told me she no longer planned on attending Notre Dame, but at least now I can begin to understand why.”

Dante may have gotten the Abigail Williams stamp of approval, but that didn’t
absolve him from the background check. Gran asked about his family, education, and upbringing in Fairbanks.

Dante and I didn’t get much chance to talk
, and maybe that was a good thing. I did try to ask him about Noel at the end of dinner as my mom and Grandma gathered their hats, gloves, and jackets.

“Did something happen in Fairbanks
that upset Noel?” I asked.

“Harper? No, why?”

“She’s been acting withdrawn at school.”

Dante looked up in thought. “Nope, can’t think of anything. She seemed fine to me. Way peppier than I’ve ever seen her.”

“Hmm.”

“Why don’t you just ask her what’s up?”

“Because that’s not how women do it,” I said, exasperated.

Dante squinted at me. “Why not? Seems a heck of a lot easier.”

“Come on,” I said, grabbing his arm. My mom and grandmother are waiting.”

Dante put a hand on top of mine. “Why don’t I drive you home?”

Alone with Dante. I’d done it plenty of times before and felt perfectly safe but that was before the sexting and his starring role in my erotic fantasy, and the pretend but oh-so-real-feeling relationship and date out with my family.

I felt the tremble even in my fingertips. I hoped Dante didn’t.

I cleared my throat. “My grandmother just got into town and is expecting Mom and me to come over for a while. Not to mention she’s going to want to have me around so she can gush over you.”

Dante straightened up and smiled. “Well, in that case
.” He chuckled. “You know, Aurora,” he said slowly, “if your grandma’s going to believe the whole us being an item story, it would be much easier if it were true.”

I gave him a hard stare.

“Am I not good boyfriend material?” he asked when I didn’t answer.

“You’re great boyfriend material,” I said quickly. “But we work together.”

Dante grinned. “That’s what I
call a bonus. Come on, Sky. Let me take you out on a date. A real date.”

“A date,” I repeated slowly. The guy I’d been fantasizing about was asking me on a date.

“Sky,” Dante said, low and seductive.

“What?”

“You’re blushing. That means you want to say yes.”

I looked him in the eye. “Fine. One date.
It can’t be more dangerous than a vamp mission, right?”

“
In my case, biting is optional.”

I groaned. “I’m so going to regret this, aren’t I?”

Dante lowered his voice. “I guarantee you’ll love every minute.”

A shudder ran
through my body. I pulled my hand away from his and hurried to catch up to my mom and grandma in front of the elevators.

Dante was all smiles when he joined us.
“Mrs. Sky, Abby, dinner was delicious. Thank you for inviting me.”

“Of course, Dante,” Gran said. “I hope to see a lot more of you in the coming months.”

“Well you won’t see much of me,” I responded. “I still need to survive the last couple months of high school.”

“
That’s right,” Dante said. “We want Aurora to graduate and join me at U of A. I look forward to many late-night cram sessions.”

Gran tittered
. I didn’t doubt she caught Dante’s double meaning. I felt that familiar wave of heat rush over my body.

Dante w
alked with us to the car, opening the door for Gran. “It was so lovely to meet you, Abby.”

“Where are you parked, Dante?” Mom asked.

He grinned at her over the hood. “I’m on the other side.”

“We can take you around.”

“That’s okay, Mrs. Sky. I don’t mind walking.”

“Well, it was
so good to see you again,” she said.

Mom got inside the car
, leaving me beside the passenger door next to Dante. He raised a brow. “Kiss goodbye?”

I looked sideways at the car then back at Dante, my heart doing a flip
-flop. “Only because my grandmother is watching.”

“Right,” Dante said,
a big smile on his face as he stepped up to me.

His expression turned serious as he stared at my lips. I thought he would have rushed in for the kiss before I changed my mind. Instead
, he set my nerves buzzing as he stared down at me, inches from my face. I took in shallow breaths. He leaned in slowly with the sort of dark expression that made me shiver all over.

Our lips met.

He’d taken me off guard with the first kiss. This time it was like he wanted me to anticipate what was coming, and dangle it in front of my face like a carrot in front of a horse.

Two could play that game.

I moved my lips over Dante’s, tilting my head as needed to change the angle, adding pressure. I was much more confident about my kissing skills thanks to Fane. My heart accelerated when I heard his intake of breath. I pulled back and shot Dante a grin. “Good night, lover.”

“Oh, you’re bad.” Dante
said. “You know this isn’t over.”

I chose to smile rather than answer. I got inside the car, shutting the door gently. As my mom pulled away
, I glanced over my shoulder and saw Dante still on the curb watching us go.

“Well, my dear,” Gran said from the front seat. “I can see why you’ve elected to stay in town. You’ll need to keep an eye on that one.”

I glanced over my shoulder, but Mom had already put downtown behind us.

23

I should have known Gran would be back at it when she came over for dinner Saturday night. At least we were eating Thursday night’s leftovers and only had to reheat stuff. Gran had arrived early and watched Mom and I as she sipped an iced tea.

“You really need to get behind the wheel again, my dear,” she said. Yep, she was back on me about that. “Look at me. I’m driving around at seventy-two.”

When my back was to Gran, I rolled my eyes.

“Aurora will drive when she’s ready
,” Mom said.

“That fellow of yours might get tired of picking you up and dropping you off all the time,” Gran said, switching tactics. “A man likes a woman who’s independent.”

“There’s always the bus,” I said cheerfully.

“The bus?” Gran sounded horrified. Her expression made me chuckle. “Oh
, dear. Oh my. Have you seen the depot downtown? I would be scared for my life.”

“I don’t ever go downtown, Gran.”

“Well that’s a relief.”

Mom surprised me by saying, “After graduation we
’ll look at student housing on campus.”

I stopped tossing salad. “We will
?”

She
nodded.

“Oh, Mom.” I felt tears in my eyes. I dropped the salad spoons in the bowl and threw my arms around her.

She chuckled and rubbed my back. “It’s what makes the most sense.”

I wiped the moisture under my eyes with my finger
s after I pulled back. I could feel the grin all the way up to my nose.

Grandma clapped once. “Now that that’s settled we can decide what to do about the house.”

I saw Mom’s smile drop from the corner of my eye.

“I told you, I’m not selling the house.”

“You should move in with me. We can take long walks on the coastal trail. It’s just what you need.”

Mom’s back was to us as she stirred the gravy at the stove, but if I could see her face
, I’m sure it would mirror the horror she felt at Gran’s suggestion.

I only half-listened to Gran through dinner as she planned out the next six months of Mom’s life
—something about cooking classes, water aerobics, and French lessons.

After helping clear
the dishes, I tried calling Noel. She didn’t pick up. Dante’s advice of asking her what the hell was up sounded pretty good the more I thought about it. We hadn’t had a chance to fully discuss either of our missions. I felt like if I didn’t get it off my chest soon it was going to drive me half mad. Shouldn’t Noel be a bit more curious about Valerie skipping town? Not to mention happy about it?

I returned to the kitchen from the living room. “I need to head out.”

“At this hour?” Gran asked incredulously.

Mom merely nodded. “I’ll drive you.”

“You know, if Aurora drove…”

“Mom!”

Gran turned back to her tea and pie. “Better bundle up, dear. It’s like one big walk-in freezer out there.”

My pleather jacket was better suited to spring and fall, but it’s what I grabbed. At the last second, I ran upstairs for my red scarf.

“I’m surprised Gran didn’t want to come with us,” I said as soon as we’d pulled out of the garage.

Mom snorted. “And miss the chance to snoop around the house?” I glanced at my mom and we laughed in unison. It didn’t last long. “How long will you be out?”

“I don’t know.”

“Are you on assignment?”

“No.”

“Are you going somewhere dangerous?”

I thought a moment before answering with the truth. “Yes and no.”

Mom nodded slightly. She kept her eyes on the road. “Do you have protection?”

“Got my knife, but I don’t plan on using it.”

“Where am I taking you?”

“Bootleggers Cove.”