Christian chuckled and sat across from me. “If you have to ask, then you don’t know him very well. He prefers to dazzle the ladies with his tall tales over in the main room.”
“I’ll bet they’re just lining up to hear all about his new venture in the vending machine business.”
Shepherd flipped a chair backward and sat down to my left, his arms draped over the back, eyes locked on Niko. “Double or nothing you miss.”
Niko gave him a tight-lipped smile. “I haven’t finished my beer.”
When Shepherd slid the bottle across the table, Niko caught it in his hand.
I liked hanging out with just the team. Viktor was a cool cat, but sometimes going out with the boss kept me from truly cutting loose. Lately he’d been preoccupied researching a number of items he’d confiscated from a pawnshop, though I wasn’t sure what those objects were or where he’d put them. I’d caught him scouring the books in our main library and gathering room, searching for clues to whether or not they were important pieces of Breed history that required preservation.
Christian wolf-whistled at Gem when she leaned over the bar for her juice.
I tossed the swan napkin at his head. “Don’t be such a fanghole. I thought you wanted her to have a good time.”
He shrugged nonchalantly. “That was until I got a gander at her date. I’d forgotten what a prick he is.”
“You’re only saying that because he thinks you’re a peckerhead.”
Christian flashed his eyes up at me. “You have an intriguing vocabulary.”
“I remember the look of death he gave you when we were at Club Nine.”
“All men give me that look. It’s jealousy. I’m a sexual god who can bed any woman in this room.”
Shepherd scratched his bristly jaw. “Bet you can’t get Raven.”
I snorted at the idea of Christian taking that bet. “I’ll double that.”
Christian turned in his seat to face the bar, left arm on the table. “What do you think she sees in a man like that?”
Chairs creaked as we indiscreetly turned to stare at Gem and Hooper.
Shepherd lifted my glass of tequila and gulped it down. “Women can see what we can’t.”
Christian tilted his gaze toward Shepherd. “And what’s that?”
No reply came. Shepherd had gone off to la-la land.
Shepherd was an aloof guy, but his melancholy mood swings now came and went with more frequency. It was eerie how quickly he could switch his emotions on and off. Maybe it was a quality unique to Sensors, but it creeped me the hell out. He hadn’t been the same since killing Cristo, the man who’d murdered his woman years ago. It made me wonder if getting his revenge had been worth it.
“Feck me. Here they come.” Christian scooted his chair closer to Niko and pulled a spare from a nearby table.
Gem glided up next to him. “Everyone, this is Hooper. Hooper, everyone.”
He gave an obligatory nod while Gem took a seat. Christian draped his arm behind her while Hooper dragged a chair from another table to squeeze between Shepherd and Gem.
“Did you guys already eat?” I asked. “We can order burgers.”
Hooper took a seat at the corner of the table, hands in his lap. “I only eat sushi.”
Niko’s jaw set. “To honor your culture?”
Hooper was unfazed by the sarcasm. As a bartender, I’m sure he’d heard it all. “It’s my thing. What’s your thing?”
“Swords.”
Hooper gestured toward Shepherd. “And he likes cigarettes. See? Everyone has their thing.”
Christian leaned forward, fangs extended, to get a better look at Hooper. “Aren’t you going to ask what my thing is?”
Hooper leaned forward and tossed a wadded-up napkin onto the floor beside Christian. “I already know.”
Either Hooper had a sharp memory of a trip Christian and I had taken to his club, or Gem had told him about Christian’s habits.
“Hooper’s a wine aficionado,” Gem gushed. “He wants to have his own vineyard someday.”
Hooper shifted in his seat and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You don’t have to tell them that. It’s just a pipe dream.”
Christian tried to stay engaged, but his gaze wandered down to the napkin littering the floor. “What a coincidence, because Gem loves—”
I kicked him under the table.
“Grapes,” Hooper finished. “That’s her third glass of grape juice.”
Gem laughed brightly, and I knew what she must have found attractive in him. It certainly wasn’t his lip rings, but Hooper had a sense of humor, and sometimes that trumped everything else.
“Hooper knows I don’t drink alcohol,” she confessed. “That’s how we met. I was looking for something alcohol-free at that party, and Hooper fixed me up with the most delicious virgin drink. What was it called again?”
Hooper swept her hair behind her shoulder and cupped the back of her neck. “Love spell.”
With a sudden lurch, Christian bent out of sight and then rose to his feet. “I need to take a walk before I get a clot in my leg.”
When my antisocial Irishman sauntered off, I noticed the wadded-up napkin in his hand. Seeing his odd quirks made me smile.
As I got up to follow him, Gem suddenly hooked her arm in mine and tagged along. “What do you think of Hooper? He’s so charming and funny, don’t you think?”
We stopped just outside the doorway to the main room. “He seems like a nice guy, but I have shitty taste in men. Remember the good detective I went out with who turned out to be certifiably insane? You’re better off not asking my opinion.”
I’d graduated from dating a serial killer to a Vampire, so in comparison, Hooper was Captain America.
She pinched her chin, a serious look on her face. “I’m pretty sure Hooper’s not diabolical.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy, and that’s saying a lot. Especially after witnessing how excited you get building a snowman.”
She twisted her mouth to the side. “Until the boys decided to pour gasoline on him to see if they could set snow on fire.”
I decided not to tell Gem how that had been my idea. I liked Gem, but I also had a penchant for mischief and dares.
I searched the busy room for Christian but didn’t see him. “I’m going to wander around. I’ll join you guys in a little while.”
When I strode past a mirror, I stopped to check myself out. Wow. Did I really think I was going to tempt Christian in my baggy sweatshirt? Disastrous. I’d left my jacket at home so I wouldn’t have to lug it around, and I’d decided against sexy clothing since I didn’t want to appear desperate, like I was throwing myself at Christian’s feet. Our relationship was currently drifting into uncharted waters, and I wasn’t sure whether to put my sail up or down.