Forbidden Blood (14 page)

After Emerson’s look of surprise, his shoulders relaxed
. He let out a long breath and grinned. “Pizza sounds wonderful. I think we can get to know each other better in a casual setting.”

This time, Emerson
shocked Naya by removing his jacket and tie and setting them aside. He then rolled up the sleeves of his white dress shirt before sitting on the couch. Stunned, Naya took a step back while Arianna gasped. Not only had Emerson removed some of his clothing, he’d sat down before either of the females in the room.

Game, set, match
.
Tonight might be more fun than she had originally thought.

Arianna felt like her head was about to
explode. She did not know what to make of the night. For dinner with a very important guest, Naya had come down, dressed in blue jeans. Then, she had said they were eating pizza in the living room. They never ate in the living room. They never even ate in the kitchen. All their meals were taken in the dining room.

At first, Arianna
had felt embarrassed over Naya’s actions. She had thought the situation would horrify Emerson, and he would walk out. Instead, he had welcomed the dinner Naya offered. He had even taken off some of his outer garments to get more comfortable, and then he had sat before either she or Naya were seated. A gentleman always stood when a lady did. She would have kept her position at the entryway if Naya had not suggested she sit with them. To say Arianna was without words would be an understatement.

However,
that had only been the beginning. When the pizza arrived, Naya handed them paper plates and plastic forks. Arianna had not realized they owned any, and she suspected Naya had bought them for this occasion alone. Again, Arianna thought Emerson would leave, but instead, he picked up his pizza and ate it with his bare hands. He did not bother using the plasticware. Naya and Emerson each ate a whole slice before Naya encouraged Arianna to eat. At that point, she hardly had an appetite, but she could not deny her curiosity about the taste of pizza.

During the meal, Naya and Emerson made small talk.
Emerson and Naya had both gone to college at the University of Minnesota. Naya had majored in political science, and Emerson had studied business and marketing. They were both only children from wealthy families who demanded a lot from them. They already had much in common.

Meanwhile,
Arianna sat in silence and listened. It was almost as if she was not there.

She did not contribute to the conversation for she knew she was not here to spend time with them. She was merely their chaperone. She supposed it was just as well. Arianna never attended college, and both her parents were deceased, so she felt slightly excluded from the conversation.

At least it appeared they were done
making inappropriate decisions. But as their meal headed to a close, Naya asked Emerson if he would like a glass of wine, knowing full well her parents and the Council would not approve of them drinking while courting. Emerson told her it sounded good, but a beer would be better. Without blinking, Naya sent Hans out to get beer. Then, while they waited, Naya announced that she would be the one to clean up because she had given most of the staff the night off. Emerson got up and told her he would help. Carrying dirty plates, he headed to the kitchen after Naya. A princess and future king were not supposed perform menial chores. While Arianna stood there, dumbfounded, they both laughed as they headed down the hall.

It finally occurred to Arianna
that they were playing some game by choosing to do something unexpected. When she understood it was an activity between the two, she felt some of the tension leave her body. It would certainly not be like this every time she supervised them in the future.

When
they had first started their contest, Arianna had thought they disliked each other. Now, she knew it was a competition they obviously both enjoyed. She tried to push away her sad feelings, but it was hard to ignore that they clearly had things in common and were growing fond of each other.

Until that moment, a part of her had hoped Naya would dislike Emerson and reject their possible betrothal. Then, maybe her aunt and uncle would suggest a second choice, and Emerson would turn his eyes to her. However, it was
apparent Naya would most likely not do such a thing since it would disappoint her parents. At any rate, the two of them were getting along fine. Plus, it was undeniable that Emerson would never be interested in Arianna, with or without Naya in the picture.

After the food was put away and the dishes
were in the garbage, they retired to the family room where Naya and Emerson sat, shoeless, on the floor, playing video games. They were also drinking the beer Hans had brought back. Neither appeared to be drunk, but Arianna lacked a lot of experience with drunken vampires.

Staying out of the way
while pretending to read, Arianna was grateful that her aunt and uncle were on their way to a foreign country. She was not sure how they would feel about the princess and possible future king behaving in this manner.

Arianna
would have gone up to her room long ago, so she could be by herself, but she had promised to watch over them, to witness that nothing unsuitable would happen. Although, at this point, she was not sure if having their own private party was any better than them touching each other inappropriately.

Naya and Emerson appeared to be having lots of fun. They were high-fiving and
making lots of noises over the video game. Arianna felt left out. Naya had asked if she wanted to play, but she did not know how. The last thing she needed was to embarrass herself by playing for the first time in front of Emerson. He already seemed to dislike her. She did not want him laughing at her, too.

Arianna did not understand. She had neve
r done anything to him. She hardly even knew him, and he had been pleasant at vampire functions in the past. Yet, he’d barely acknowledged her existence the two times he came to her home. Even if she were brave and decided to try to play the game, the scowl on Emerson’s face was enough to turn her away. He certainly did not wish for her to interact with them.

“Arianna, are you sure you don’t want to join us? You don’t have to read over there by yourself.”

Emerson would not even look at her, but she saw his shoulders stiffened. She knew he wanted her to say no. If she had more confidence, she would go over there and play, forcing him to interact with her. However, she was not that type of girl, so she stayed where she was. Plus, he was here to court Naya, and Arianna knew she should leave them alone.

“No, thank you, Naya. This time is supposed to be for you two to get acquainted. You can just pretend I am not here.”

Arianna thought she heard Emerson snort quietly. He had to know her hearing was just as good as the next vampire’s, but Naya had not seemed to notice. Perhaps, Arianna had imagined it or alcohol had clouded Naya’s brain. Arianna did not know what she had done to earn his disdain, but she was hurt all the same. When she felt tears suddenly burning the back of her eyelids, she knew she needed to get out of there.

She
did not want Emerson to see her cry, and Naya must never know she had feelings for him.

Humiliated
, Arianna sprang out of her chair. “Naya, I am sorry, but I must excuse myself. If you two continue to spend time together, I promise that I will not say anything to Uncle and Aunt. I really must head upstairs now.”

Naya stood, her eyes
filled with concern. “Arianna, are you okay?”

Arianna put her hand up. “Naya.” She attempted a smile, but she knew it did not reach her eyes. “I am fine. I
swear.” She continued to the door. “But I need to go. Please, enjoy the rest of your night.”

W
ith that, Arianna sprinted to her lonely, empty bedroom.

“I wonder what’s wro
ng with her,” Naya said.

“I have a feeling she left because of me,” Emerson said with a sigh
, still sitting on the floor.

She looked down at him.
“Hmm…” She still hadn’t figured out what happened between those two.

Emerson was surprisingly fun to hang out with. Every time she
’d tried to one-up him, he would come up with something to top her. Unfortunately, she already knew she wasn’t attracted to him, and she sensed Emerson felt the same toward her. She could picture him being a good friend though, and she supposed that was something.

Stretching, Emerson stood. “I think it’s time for me to go.” He glanced at his wristwatch. “I can’t believe I have been here for over five hours. I had fun,” he said, picking up his shoes.

“Come on, I’ll see you out.”

They strolled toward the front of the house
, and he picked up his jacket and tie on the way.

When they reached
the door, she said, “I had a lot of fun, too, you know. I look forward to the next time we get together.”

Emerson squatted to tie his shoes. “Me, too. I’ll bring the Chinese.” He winked up at her.

“Okay.” Naya laughed. “Are you sure you’re able to drive?”

“Yes, I only drank four
beers.”

It took vampires more alcohol to get drunk, and it didn’t last as long due to their accelerated metabolism. She’d only had two bottles over the course of the night
, and she felt nothing, not even a buzz.

“
Alright,” Naya said

Emerson leaned forward and pressed a light kiss
on her cheek. Being close to him didn’t spark anything in her, and she certainly didn’t hope he’d go further.

“I hope you have a good rest of the night,”
she said.

“Yes, you, too. Bye, Naya.”

Naya closed the door behind him. Then she went to shut off her Wii, picked up her shoes, and walked upstairs. When she approached Arianna’s room, she could hear Arianna crying through the door. Naya knocked, wanting to find out what was wrong and offer support. After a minute of waiting, Arianna still hadn’t answered, and Naya continued to her room.

Naya got ready for bed
despite the sun not rising for a couple of more hours. As she lay down and turned on the TV, she wondered what her future held. She was not attracted to Emerson, but he was nice, and they had fun together. Still, would friendship and her parents’ approval be enough to spend the rest of her life with someone she didn’t love?