Free Steal the Moon by Lexi Blake Page A

to reschedule that. I’ll call Kelly and move it to next week. We have a couple of errands I need to run, and I could really use that sniffer of yours.”
    It would come in handy. I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the aswang and her living co-workers from a distance, but the wolves could. If I had to find her by my lonesome, I was going to spend the day looking like a complete idiot.
    Zack shook his head firmly. “No way, Zoey. You’re following that schedule. I heard all about last night and until the new bodyguards are vetted, I’m on twenty-four-freaking-hour call. I had to cancel a date. I’m not in a good mood. If you have a problem with it, take it up with Mr. Quinn.”
    “Fine. Where is he?” I didn’t need another bodyguard. I couldn’t handle the ones I already had. This was getting completely out of hand. I would be on house arrest if it kept up. It was time to deal with the problem.
    Zack’s smile held no humor whatsoever. “He left early this morning. I think he wanted to avoid you. He’s out at the farm. My master has a new vampire, and Mr. Quinn is making arrangements to move him into the third bedroom of your old house. I’m sure he’ll be back sometime tonight. You can yell at him all you like then. Until that time, you’re going to follow the schedule. So are you ready to go?”
    “I’m not going, Zack.” I meant it right up until he tossed me over his shoulder and started walking to the elevator. “Put me down.”
    “I’ll put you down when we get to the restaurant,” he promised. “And, Zoey, if you try to run, I will catch you.”
    Thirty minutes later, I was sullenly shown to a nicely decorated table. I managed to convince Zack to allow me the dignity of walking into the restaurant, but his eyes hadn’t left me once. Lee tried to hide a grin as I cursed his brother with every vulgar name I knew. The early afternoon sun lit the small café with soft light, and I ordered a drink while I waited on the stylist.
    Dev and I were going to have it out tonight, and he was either going to see things my way or…I didn’t know what I was going to do. The thought of walking out made me sick to my stomach. I just couldn’t imagine my life without Devinshea in it, but he had to see that I was suffocating. I was just going to yell until he gave in and that was that.
    I glanced up, expecting to see the waiter with my iced tea, but I was met with seriously green eyes. Dev stood over me, smiling down.
    “I thought you were at the farm.” I hated the breathy sound that came out of my mouth. His six-foot-five-inch sinfully gorgeous body always made my heart skip a beat even when I wanted to throttle him. The fact that I wanted to molest him right there on the table didn’t help me fight with him. Dev and I had very few fights. I usually started to fight and somehow ended up on my back, agreeing to do whatever he wanted.
    “I finished early, lover,” he said, gracefully taking the seat next to me. He pulled my hand to his lips and kissed each finger. The tender gesture softened my heart. It was something he did often, and it never failed to make me smile. “I thought I could have lunch with you. It would be nice to have you all to myself for a change.”
    “What about Kelly? I thought you wanted me to plan a whole freaking wardrobe.” I didn’t attempt to hide my lack of enthusiasm.
    “I’ve rearranged things with Kelly. You can meet with her later.” He inspected the menu. His eyes caught mine over the daily specials and he winked. “I prefer you without any clothes at all, lover. If you like, we can skip lunch altogether and I’ll just eat you.”
    I laughed because if he was being filthy, he couldn’t be too angry with me. Dev became rigidly polite when he was pissed at me. In this case, his horniness might work to my advantage. If I could convince him to spend the afternoon with me tracking down the aswang, it might go a long way to healing the rift that was