A Mate for Lance (The Program Book 5)

by Charlene Hartnady

  Her face flamed bright hot. She made a little squeaking noise and shrugged. Please ground, open up and swallow me whole. Please.

  “I’m sure he’s told you that he doesn’t date and that he isn’t looking for a mate.” His eyes narrowed on hers. “You seem like a really nice female. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

  She snorted. “Don’t worry about me. I’m not interested in the least. I mean sure, I might have…” Had sex with him. Let him go down on me. Oh lord! “Um…hooked up with him but it didn’t mean a thing to me.”

  Titan nodded. “It’s none of my business. I’ve said too much already. Have a good evening.”

  She glanced at her watch. It was quarter to five already. Dinner was at seven. Amber said her goodbyes and let herself in.

  She had just started running a bath when the phone at her bedside table began to ring.

  “Hello.” She frowned as she answered.

  “Hello, Amber. How are you?” It was Kai. She suddenly remembered the agreement that each of them were to call her. They’d both asked her out.

  What shitty timing!

  What the hell should she do? If she went up alone, Lance would think that she was into him. Yet, she couldn’t possibly accept a date with either guy after what had just gone down with Lance.

  She didn’t even like Lance though. They had…done the deed and it was over. She liked both Kai and Brynn. They were both really sweet and seemed to really like her but it was far too soon to tell if there was something there though.

  “I’m fine.” She quickly blurted when she realized that she had waited too long to answer.

  “Glad to hear it.” Kai had a really great voice. He was tall, dark, handsome….arghhh….she wasn’t feeling it.

  “About tonight.” He sounded uncertain and nervous and she felt for him. “Would you please agree to going with me? I would be honored to have you at my side.” He continued, definitely nervous. “I really want to get to know you better.”

  “Um… I don’t know.” How did she let him down easy? She couldn’t. She needed to just get it over with. “No, I’m sorry…”

  “Are you going with that bastard?” he asked, then sighed. “I’m sorry. Brynn is a good male. He would take excellent care of you. I’m just jealous.” Sweetheart alert. She still wasn’t feeling it though. Maybe she could go out with him tomorrow. Not today. It would be…disrespectful to do so straight after having sex with Lance. Even if he didn’t understand. She needed to clear her head. She seriously needed some space.

  “I’m going to turn Brynn down as well.”

  “I’m even more jealous now. I understand that you want to meet other males. I happen to know that there are several that would give a limb or two to meet you.”

  Several.

  Pinch me now.

  “No.” Her voice was a little shrill. She took in a deep breath. “You misunderstand. It’s not so that I can meet more guys. I think two—” Three, “—is more than enough It’s far too many already,” she practically yelled.

  “You’re right.” He sounded a bit more chipper. “You want a break from us. I understand. Can I talk to you a little at some point in the evening?”

  “I would love that.” Relief poured through her.

  “Me too,” he said, gruffly but sounded appeased. “I’ll see you later then?”

  “Later.” She put the phone down, feeling marginally better. It rang again almost immediately.

  “Hello.”

  “It’s Brynn.” He sounded tense. “I’m hoping to hear some good news.” There was a nervous edge to his voice.

  She couldn’t help but to smile. It was all true then, she totally had died and gone to a parallel universe where she was suddenly the most beautiful girl in the room for a change. It was surreal.

  The conversation was similar to the one she had with Kai. Afterwards, she had a nice, hot relaxing bath and got herself ready.

  Chapter 8

  Bethany shook her head. “You really need my help getting ready. I thought that the dress you wore last night was prudish. Boy was I wrong.”

  “Well, hello and it’s good to see you, too.” Amber grabbed a glass of champagne off of the tray of a passing waiter. “There’s nothing wrong with what I’m wearing.”

  “Not at all.” Bethany shook her head. “If you were going to a job interview or something.”

  Amber looked down at herself. She wore red heels. A black pencil skirt, a cream camisole and a black button up jacket, which was buttoned up. Understated yet sexy. “I like what I’m wearing,” she mumbled.

  Bethany wore six inch stilettos and a red dress that barely covered anything. There was no way Amber was taking dressing tips from her. Forget it. It looked like every woman in the room had all read the same memo as Bethany because most of them were wearing tight and barely there.

  “Did you have a good afternoon?” Bethany raised her brows.

  “Yes I did—you?” She wasn’t going to go there. Wasn’t going to…arghh…she thought of Lance, his intense stare, his lip between his teeth and how his cock had jackknifed into her with each hard thrust of his hips. His thick biceps and corded forearms, his white knuckles as he held the edge of the vanity. She shivered at the memory.

  Bethany nodded, she sucked in a breath, about to say something when Kai arrived. His grin quickly turned into a frown and whatever he was about to say died on his lips.

  Instead of talking, he sniffed while moving closer to her. He seemed to be sniffing at her like a dog. His nostrils flared and flared again. His frown deepened.

  “Excuse me.” Amber couldn’t believe what she was seeing, she took a step away from him.

  “This is my cue to leave.” Bethany made a little twirling gesture at her temple, indicating that Kai wasn’t all there, then she walked away.

  He made a growling noise. “Did you rut Brynn?” he asked, looking really angry.

  “No…what are you talking about?” Shit, he could obviously smell that she’d had sex recently. They had been told in the training that vampires had excellent sense of smell. Was it really that good?

  “I can tell that you were eased…and recently.” He cursed, eliciting a couple of turned heads and interested stares.

  “Please keep it down. Quite frankly it’s none of your business,” she whispered. Vampires could be seriously damned rude.

  He pulled a deep breath into his lungs and clutched the back of his neck before slowly letting it out. His gaze was on her shoes then slowly lifted. “I’m sorry. You’re right; it’s none of my business. I want you to know that I’m still interested, even if you did rut Brynn.” He said the last between clenched teeth. “I have no right over you and I understand that you have needs… I only hope that you will give me a chance to test compatibility as well.”

  Say, what?

  He offered her a wicked grin. “I am very good with my—”

  “Stop right there.” She held up a hand like a speed cop trying to flag down a car. “I didn’t have sex with Brynn.” She whispered. “I’m nowhere near ready to test compatibility with anyone.” Did she just say that?

  He frowned. “But…there is a scent of rubber…” His expression changed. He looked relieved. His shoulders dropped as the tension eased out of them. He shook his head, his smile a mile wide. “Okay… I get it. You should have just said so.”

  What?

  She started to panic. Could he smell that it was Lance? She really didn’t want everyone knowing. Titan had said that he wouldn’t say anything and she believed him. He looked like the really solid type and she wasn’t talking about just his stature.

  “Rubber…” He snorted. “I thought it was rubber from a condom but you used one of those human vibrators. We were shown them in training. It’s how we practiced putting on a condom. Our trainer explained that many human women use them to ease themselves. Some of them are made from rubber. You eased yourself with a vibrator.” He talked so loud that a group of women standing next to them actuall
y turned. They burst into fits of laugher.

  “Did you just hear that?” one of the women said, laughing into her hand.

  Amber wanted to die right there on the spot. She also wanted to kill Kai. Kill him. Dead. “Could you have said that any louder?” She huffed out a breath. “I’m the laughing stock.” She shook her head.

  “Stop!” Kai turned to face the women.

  Amber covered her face with her hand. This was about to go from bad to worse.

  “I happen to love the fact that Amber has a vibrator and that she uses it. Just thinking of her with it,” he growled. All out growled.

  “Please stop,” she pleaded, keeping her hand over her face. More people turned to stare. It felt like all eyes were on her.

  “I agree.” Another male voice chimed in. One she didn’t recognize. “I, personally…” She risked a look. It was a vampire with thick, black hair. He winked at her when he caught her looking at him. “I personally love a female who is comfortable enough with her own body that she would ease herself regularly. That type of female normally knows exactly what she wants and how she wants it. Quite frankly, it doesn’t get much sexier.”

  There were more sounds of agreement from the vampires in the room, all around them.

  “Mmmm…are you sure you won’t change your mind about our date?” Kai leaned towards her.

  “Yeah… I would love to sit with you.” Brynn was standing on the other side of her. She hadn’t even heard his approach.

  Kai shot Brynn a dirty glare.

  “Leave the female alone,” the dark haired guy said. “She clearly wants to meet the rest of us as well. Starting with me.” He winked at her again. “I’m Elliot.”

  She nodded, overwhelmed by all the attention. “Nice to meet you.”

  A bell was rung. “Dinner is about to be served,” someone announced.

  Saved by the bell. She huffed out a breath as the attention shifted to the beautifully decorated tables.

  “Come sit with me.” Bethany grabbed her arm. Her eyes were wide. “Wow…just wow. It seems like the guys like the interview look. I’m going to have to rethink my wardrobe. About the whole vibrator thing…” She giggled. “I also use mine all the time.”

  Too much information.

  They made their way to the table. They both took their seats. There was no sign of Lance. Not that she was looking.

  Halfway through her appetizer, Bethany elbowed her. “That guy at the end of the second table is staring at you. I know that quite a few of the guys are interested, but hell, this one is particularly. Wait a minute…”

  Amber knew what she was going to say. She knew who the guy was even before Bethany said his name.

  “That’s Lance. Oh my god… Lance is totally staring at you.”

  Her body acted on reflex as her eyes lifted to take him in. Dressed in all black, he was a sight to behold. That shock of blond hair. Those sinful blue eyes. His sleeves were rolled up above the elbows and his tattoo was just visible, peaking out on the left.

  Hot damn.

  Then he smirked. Asshole. She quickly averted her stare.

  “He is so hot.” Bethany pretty much summed up what had been swirling around in her brain a moment before. The other woman waved a hand at her cheeks as if cooling herself.

  Instead of agreeing, Amber shrugged a shoulder. “He’s okay.”

  “What? Are you blind?”

  “I can see just fine. He’s okay. Pretty boy isn’t my thing. There are much sexier guys in here.”

  Bethany snorted. “Like who? Show me one that beats Lance.”

  “Um…him, at the door.”

  She pointed with her fork. “The huge guy with the scowl?”

  “Yup. His name is Titan. He’s not a part of The Program so, unfortunately, he’s off limits, or I would totally be all over him.” Amber inwardly winced, she would normally never say something like that. She didn’t throw herself at guys.

  Bethany shook her head. “If you say so.”

  Damn, she’d panicked and pointed at the first guy in her line of vision. She could see that Bethany wasn’t buying it. “That guy Elliot is also pretty hot.”

  “Now you’re talking.” Bethany giggled. “I still think you’re crazy not to be interested in Lance but Elliot is pretty dreamy.”

  She took another bite of her crostini and made a sound of affirmation around her food. Bethany continued to talk. She talked enough for the both of them, telling Amber all sorts of stories about her job in the local pet store. Amber tried not to look in Lance’s direction. She didn’t care what he was doing. She really didn’t.

  Dinner was a pasta dish. So far, no shell fish or anything with tree nuts had been served. Her allergies were listed in her medical report and she’d mentioned them again when filling out her forms. There had been an extra section at the back. She’d also been sure to have a chat with the lady who had talked to them when they had first arrived. The dark haired one with the green eyes, her name started with an ‘A’ but she couldn’t remember exactly what it was.

  Just to be sure, she double checked everything with the waiter, who in turn checked with the chef. A girl couldn’t be too careful. She had her EpiPen and antihistamines carefully tucked in her purse but she would prefer a relaxing evening to a night in the emergency room. Plus, if she ended up in the hospital, her parents might find out and that would be a huge problem.

  Bethany took a big sip from her fourth or fifth glass of champagne. Amber had lost count. Her eyes sparkled and she spoke more and more quickly as the evening progressed.

  “Maybe you should go easy on that stuff.” Amber gestured to the glass. She picked up her own sparkling water and took a sip.

  “It’s the real stuff. Real champers.” She shook her head. “I’m going to drink as much as I possibly can between now and Friday. I was telling you about the time we had a guy come in to the store. He wanted one of our dwarf rabbits. He said that he had a hutch and that one of his rabbits had died and he wanted a companion for his little princess who was left all alone.” She took another sip of champagne. “But, because he didn’t want any babies, it was important that the dwarf rabbit be a girl. We had five rabbits in the store at the time and would you guess, all of them were males.” She rolled her eyes.

  She licked a bit of pasta sauce off of her fork. “Anyway, we ordered him a female and three days later he collected her. About,” she said, pausing and her eyeballs moved up in thought, “eight or nine months later, the guy came back with two boxes of bunnies. It turned out that his princess was actually a prince.” She cracked up laughing. “We had five perfectly good companions and ended up ordering the wrong sex. The stuff that goes on in that store.”

  “I can well imagine.” Amber smiled.

  “I’m sure you can.” Bethany pulled a face. “You work in a store as well. I can’t remember what type of store you said it was though.”

  “A hardware store and I stay away from the customers as much as possible. I’m not really a people person.”

  “Yeah…they can be serious pains in the ass.” She rolled her eyes. “That guy with the rabbits. You won’t believe it but he blamed us for his rabbit situation. The customer was the one that wrongly sexed his princess. He was insistent that he needed a female rabbit.” She huffed out a breath. “The customer is always right though…baloney. I have to try and score me a vamp… I don’t want to wear a butt ugly maroon uniform and work at Barking Mad for the rest of my life. At least your family owns the hardware store. I work for minimum wage.”

  “Yeah.” She smiled and without thinking, glanced across at the other table. The chair was empty. She scanned the room but there was no sign of Lance. She felt oddly deflated, even when Kai winked at her and waved. She waved back. She reminded herself that Lance was arrogant and had no interest in actually getting to know her, not like Brynn and Kai. It was good that he was gone.

  There was a whole mingle with drinks thing after dinner. She didn’t feel like attending. She felt
tired and even though her heels were low, they were killing her. She needed an excuse to leave and then she was out of there. Maybe half a drink and twenty minutes of mingling and then she’d excuse herself to go to the lady’s room and then she’d quietly slip away.

  The dinner dishes were cleared away and Bethany continued to chatter all through dessert. A trio of chocolate. Damn, her diet had gone right out the window tonight. After this afternoon’s little workout, she owed herself. The dark chocolate ganache pastry was to die for. The cream in the center was cold and the pastry on the outside was crispy. It was one of the most delicious things she had ever eaten. She may or may not have made a couple of moaning noises while eating the decadent creation.

  Bethany had waved away the waiter when pudding was served taking another glass of bubbly instead.

  Her words were a tiny bit slurred and her giggles a little over the top.

  “You should really slow down.”

  “I’m good,” Bethany insisted.

  Amber tried again, getting concerned. “You’re going to have a headache from hell in the morning.”

  “No, I’m great.” Bethany giggled and then hiccupped.

  Um…she might think that she was okay but she so wasn’t. She was seriously drunk and if Amber didn’t do something, she was going to embarrass herself in front of everyone.

  “I’ll be back in a minute.”

  Bethany nodded, her eyes took a while to focus on Amber. Then she threw her a lopsided, goofy smile. A drunk smile if she ever saw one.

  “Don’t move,” she ordered. Amber scanned the room, seeing the person she was looking for. Titan stood next to the main entrance, his arms folded behind him. She quickly made her way over to him. “Hi.”

  He offered her a curt nod.

  “I need to have a quick word with you…in private.” she said, under her breath.

  Another nod. He led her to a quieter part of the hall.

  “I need your help. Bethany has had one or two glasses of champagne too many. She’s a little…” Amber let the sentence die.

  “Inebriated?” He raised his brows. He looked in Bethany’s direction for a few beats before turning back to her. “I think that you are right.”