a snort. âWhy does that answer not surprise me? Although I suppose it would be ridiculous to try to explain to someone of that ilk that you really arenât a vampire, that there truly is no such thing, so you couldnât possibly âchangeâ her.â She laughed and moved on to the next pile. Looking at the first few letters there, she added, âIt would be kinder just to tell her to go to her local psychologist to see if he couldnât help her with her reality problem.â
Lucern felt his lips twitch, but he didnât say anything, merely waited as Kate settled on the next letter.
ââDear Mr. Argeneau,ââ she began. ââI havenât read Love Bites, One, but I will, I guarantee it. I just finished Love Bites, Two, and thought it was wonderful. Etienne was so sweet and funny and sexy that I fell in love with him even as Rachel did. Heâs my dream man.ââ Kate paused and glanced up expectantly. âWhat would you say to those letters?â
That was easy enough. âEtienne is taken.â
His editor threw her hands up in the air. âThis isnât a joke, Lucern! You canât justââ She paused as the doorbell chimed, then turned away with a sigh as Lucern reluctantly stood to answer it. He already knew who it would be. Thomas had delivered the blood, which leftthe only other company he ever got: his family. And since Etienne and Rachel were busy with wedding preparations, and Bastien, Lissianna and Gregory would all be at work at this hour, the only person it could be was hisâ¦
âMother.â His greeting was less than enthusiastic as he opened the door to find Marguerite Argeneau standing there. He really had no desire to have his mother and Kate Leever in the same room; it would definitely give the older woman ideas. And since he already suspected she tended in those ideasâ direction, he didnât think it was good to encourage her. But what could he do? She was his mother.
âLuc, darling.â Marguerite kissed him on both cheeks, then pushed past him into the house. âAre you alone, dear? I thought Iâd drop in for a spot of tea.â She didnât wait for his answer, but followed her maternal instincts to the door of the living room and smiled brightly when she spotted Kate. âWell, it looks like Iâm just in time. No doubt you two could use a break, too.â
Lucern closed his front door with a resigned sigh, and his mother sailed fearlessly into his cluttered living room. The woman never simply stopped by for tea. She always had a purpose. And Luc very much feared he wasnât going to like her purpose in stopping by today. He just hoped to God she knew better than to try any of her matchmaking nonsense on him and Kate.
Chapter Four
âWhy, you could be Lucâs date!â
âErâ¦â Kate cast a frantic glance Lucernâs way at his motherâs suggestion, only to find him sitting with eyes closed, a pained expression on his face. She suspected he was begging for the floor to open up and swallow him whole, or even to swallow him in pieces, so long as it swallowed him. It almost made Kate feel better. It was nice to know that she wasnât the only one with parents who managed to humiliate her at every opportunity.
Still, Marguerite was really something else. Kate had spent the better part of the half hour since the womanâs arrival merely gaping at her. This exotic and beautiful creature was Lucernâs mother? Oh, certainly, the resemblance was there. And he was equal to her in looks, but Marguerite Argeneau didnât look a day over thirty herself. How could she possibly be Lucernâsâor Luc, as everyone seemed to call himâmom?
âGood genes, dear,â had been the womanâs answer when Kate had commented.
Kate had sighed miserably, wondering why such genes couldnât run in her family, too. After that, sheâd merely
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