“What do you want, Brandt? You know I don’t like to talk in the mornings and yet here you are.”
“It’s ten-forty-five in the morning. It’s almost midday.”
“Your point?”
“Tell him I’m here. We got shit to do today.”
“He’s resting. We were up late and up early again. And he’s not fully healed yet.”
“I don’t demand much. Just a ride along. I have no doubt you’ll take more out of him if he stays here than if he comes with me.”
“Stop bothering my woman,” Lucien said, opening the door at the end of the hallway and moving toward them as he pulled his shirt on.
“Oh, great. Now there’s two of y’all,” Brandt said.
“Hey, I’m rarely here. What happens when I’m not here ain’t none of my business,” Hellen said, wandering toward the kitchen to put her bowl in the sink.
“You don’t get to disappear like that without some kind of word about it. We got some things to work out,” Lucien said.
“Sure thing, Luc,” Hellen said, drawing out the shortened version of his name comically.
“Who the fuck is Luc?” Lucien asked.
“That’s what Brandt wants to call you. I might start calling you that, too.”
“No, you will not. My name is Lucien,” Lucien said to Hellen before he pinned Brandt with a glare, “neither will you.”
Brandt chuckled.
“Whatever. You need to go back to bed,” Hellen said.
“No, you need to come with me. I need a ride along,” Brandt said.
“He’s not healed yet!” Hellen insisted.
“He’s healed enough to ride in the freaking passenger seat!” Brandt said.
“He’s right here and knows exactly how freaking healed he is,” Lucien snapped.
Both Hellen and Brandt stopped arguing and looked expectantly at Lucien.
“You need me to take a ride?” Lucien asked Brandt.
“Yep.”
“Alright, then,” he said, walking over to Hellen and curving a hand around the back of her neck to hold her steady for his kiss. She kissed him, deeply, but as soon as she sensed the kissending, she nipped his lip. “Ouch!” he said, pulling away and holding his fingertips to his lip.
“She’s mean. You should have thought about that before you finalized things,” Brandt said, heading for the front door.
Lucien grinned at Brandt’s retreating back before leaning over and quickly kissing her again. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“You might want to find some shoes before going off with him. He might have you walking through some sticker bushes or broken glass or hot tar or something.”
“Tar? Really, Hell?” Brandt called from the front door.
Hellen shrugged. “You never know. My people are kind of weird.”
“Let me grab some shoes and I’ll meet you in the truck,” Lucien said.
