Christian (Vampires in America: The Vampire Wars Book 10) by D.B. Reynolds

flirtatiously as he walked past, and she glanced back to see him turn at the door to Anthony’s office. Tall, dark, and delicious. Christian was right.
    She smiled privately, and continued down the hall, considering the unusual circumstance of Christian having a lieutenant. She wouldn’t have thought regular vampires had lieutenants. But then, he was obviously European—his accent said he was French—so maybe he was a lord over there somewhere. And that was an unhappy thought, because the North American vampires were all banding together against the Europeans. She wasn’t exactly in on the strategic planning sessions, but she wasn’t deaf, dumb, and blind, either. She sat right outside Anthony’s office, and conversations didn’t always begin or end behind closed doors.
    Fortunately, none of that was her concern. She was a lone human female. The doings of powerful vampires had nothing to do with her. She was only here because of Anthony, who’d blackmailed her into coming to Houston the same way he’d been blackmailing her family for generations. He claimed to be related on her mother’s side, some distant ancestor who’d kept track of, and protected, his wide and branching descendants over the years.
    The truth was that no one in her family knew if he was a relative or not. That he’d been around forever was definitely true, as was the fact that anyone who disappointed him tended to vanish without warning or trace.
    Unfortunately, Anthony had somehow discovered Natalie’s profession, and “offered” her a job. She hadn’t wanted to move so far away from her family outside New Orleans, but she wasn’t willing to risk their safety on Anthony’s mood either. So, she accepted his offer. As it turned out, the work was fascinating, and, while she missed her family, moving away from them hadn’t been all bad. For the first time in her life, she was truly on her own, without the interference of her father and two older brothers, all of whom considered it their sacred duty to scrutinize every aspect of her life. Especially if that life involved contact with a male, no matter how innocent.
    It was a pain in the ass and, Natalie was certain, the main reason she was still single and unattached at the ripe old age of twenty-five. Of course, the fact that she was an egghead with a genius IQ hadn’t helped. Nor had living in the small Bayou town where she’d grown up, or the fact that she’d been skipped ahead a couple of years and so was younger than anyone in her high school class. College had been a little better, but her football star brother had been at Tulane at the same time, and he’d seemingly taken it as his personal mission to keep her a virgin forever. She loved both her brothers dearly, but they drove her to distraction sometimes. They were both big and dangerous men, just like her father, which meant she’d never had so much as a serious boyfriend. It wasn’t until grad school that she’d even managed to lose her virginity, and that had been more a matter of determination than attraction.
    Of course, she’d been in Houston on her own for nearly two years now, and she still hadn’t met the man of her dreams. But what she did have was a level of freedom she’d never known before. And she had met plenty of dreamy men. Like Christian Duvall, with his beautiful eyes and wicked smile, and those broad shoulders that filled out a suit so very nicely.
    Whoa. Full stop. She couldn’t be attracted to a vampire. That wasn’t anywhere in her life plan. Besides, vampires didn’t date. Especially not the ones like Christian, who probably crooked his finger and women came running. And now he’d crooked his finger at her . And why not? She was pretty enough, and she looked especially good today in her dove gray skirt and black silk blouse, and especially her gray patent Louboutin pumps. French designer shoes. French vampire. He should appreciate those, right?
    Damn it. She was turning into MariAnn. She had to