Read Online Bizarre Life of Sydney Sedrick by Mandi Casey - Free Book Online Page A

angles of his jaw and cheekbones. He took on the presence of a predator and a sensuously sexy man at the same time. There had to be a way to distract myself from the sexual pull he had on me. There was no way anything could happen between us. That would be a very bad idea. He was too arrogant, too pushy, and had his own pack-derived agendas that involved me as the Selected, not me as a woman. My heart began to beat faster, not to mention all the other things my body did involuntarily every time he touched my elbow, or his breath caressed my neck. Geez, all it took was for him to be in the same room.
    “Hello, Sydney.”
    “What do you want?”
    “I came by to ask if you would like to join my family for dinner at the packs’ den.”
    “Ha! Now seriously, why would you think for even a minute you’d get me to say yes to going anywhere with you? What’s in it for me?”
    There was a sparkle of mischief in his expression. He traced my entire body with his gaze. The heated interest in his eyes would scorch me the second my guard was let down. There was an undeniably strong physical attraction between us. For me, it was instant the second he walked into my store yesterday, and again last night at the club. Starting a relationship, especially with a werewolf, was the last thing on my agenda, for say, the next century. There was a lot to learn about these people, about the vampires, and I needed to figure out what my part was in all of this before I started dating one of them.
    He laughed. “It’s dinner, and an opportunity for you to meet Morris. There’s nothing in it for anyone. He just wants to talk to you.”
    “Is your invitation optional?”
    “Of course you have a choice. But if you don’t come to dinner, you’ll have to meet him eventually, and it means a lot that he’s willing to open up his home to you, where his family lives. He is willing to give you a show of faith, to prevent repeating the past. The leader of the pack would like to develop a working, even positive, relationship with you. My suggestion would be that you don’t take the invitation lightly. It’s just as important for you to be civil as it is for him.”
    “And what happens if my answer is no?”
    Blake shrugged his shoulders and said, “He’ll come and find you.”
    “So I’ll take that as a no, it’s not optional.”
    I leaned my back against the side of the register counter while we talked. My body wanted to be near him. The heat he’d given off since arriving at the store crept along my skin in a warm, soothing motion, replacing the achiness of my muscles with lust and need. Pushing my body off the wood of the counter, I walked toward him, questioning whether his interest in me was as a person, or as an entity that could help his pack. It made me weary of his intentions. Did he feel the pull between us as well? His smile faded the second he saw the necklace around my neck.
    His body clenched with anger, and his fingers that were resting peacefully on the armrest of the sofa now dug deep into the plush cushion. Blake was barely able to conceal his feelings of hatred toward the vampires.
    “So, you won’t come and have dinner with me, but you’ll wear a necklace from the leader of those parasites?” His face stretched tight and a crease developed on his forehead.
    “For your information, none of the vampires have come and talked to me yet. This necklace was a gift from my grandmother, and you have nothing to be so mad about. You have no right to judge me.”
    When he heard the vampires hadn’t directly given me the necklace, some of the tension left his body, but not all of it. His face was still red, but he released his death-grip on the couch. “I’ll pick you up from your house at ten tonight then.”
    “How do you know where my house is?”
    He rose from the sofa and strode over to me. He moved so close, my heart started beating faster, and my breath became shallow with anticipation and the need for him to kiss me.