“No, ma’am!” yelled Jules from the makeshift buffet table she’d set up. “He cannot join the party, Violet.” 
Violet had her rooster Fred tucked under her arm. He was wearing a red bowtie with tiny green Christmas trees on them. 
“But look at how cute he looks,” she whined. 
“Everyone,” said Jules cheerfully to the room. “Look at how adorable Fred is.” Then she turned back to Violet. “Now go put him outside.”

 

Evie.
Angling toward the back hallway, I watched her walk toward me with the devil in her eyes, wearing a denim mini-skirt with a black sweater, accentuating her pretty figure, her hair down in auburn waves around her shoulders.
I shook my head, and she grinned wider, knowing exactly what she was doing to me.
We leave this party in one hour.
Two tops.
One. 
I wasn’t going to argue with him. One sounded fucking fantastic to me.

 

“I’d better go,” he said, his voice deep and husky.
“Oh! Not yet.” She grasped his forearm. “Let me show you around our shop.”
His gaze dropped to her hand, and I was positive that Henry Blackwater had zero interest in our metaphysical shop.
Yet, he nodded all the same.

 

“And what are you going to do about it?” 
Heart hammering in my throat, I said, “I’m taking him out on a date.” 
“That’s a start.” 
“But he doesn’t know it’s a date.” 
“How is that possible?” 
“Well, he thinks we’re just hanging out as friends. But I—” I gulped, trying to figure out where all the saliva in my mouth went— “I intend this to be our first date.”

 

“This name reminds me of endless stars in a midnight sky. Too far away to reach. Their light nothing more than an nth of the power they truly hold, casting the watcher into an abyss of wonder and maddening desire. Making him imagine what bliss he’d experience if he could only touch the untouchable.” 
He paused, and I couldn’t breathe as his gaze dropped to my mouth. 
“But the watcher knows that if he ever made his fantasy a reality, if he touched those stars, he’d be scorched to nothing but ash."

 

Speaking of Alpha, his wolf kept slipping in and out of his voice. “I’m not sure I trust you.” He eyed me skeptically. “I’ll need to do another sweep.” 
“Mateo! Please.” 
Evie stood there in a sparkly blue cocktail dress, looking like a million bucks, but her husband was maniacal when it came to the triplets. “We won’t even make it to the party before midnight at this rate.”

 

“Let’s see what your daddy packed, shall we?” 
“How do you know Evie didn’t pack it?” Violet asked, carrying Joaquin over to one of the three booster chairs with built-in tables I’d bought for the triplets. 
“Because Mateo specifically informed me that he’d cooked their favorite meals so they wouldn’t feel neglected for this one single night when their parents were abandoning them in my semi-capable hands.”

 

“Hello?” 
“Just checking in,” whispered Mateo, trying to sound calm, very unsuccessfully, and also obviously hiding the fact from Evie that he was calling me again.