Steelhands - Jaida Jones [147]
“Ah, this is it, I believe,” I said, to get her attention.
She tore her eyes away from a man innocently shoveling a pile of old snow, turning instead to gawp at the store windows with her mouth wide-open.
“How many birds you think went into that display?” she asked, tsking in awe. “Do they slaughter ’em, or do you think Luvander’s got a whole bunch of naked Ke-Han peacocks in the back?”
“I give them little scarves and hats in the winter, actually,” said a blond man standing in the doorway of the shop. He appeared more amused than offended by Laure’s question, which was fortunate, and I appraised him from the corner of my eye so as not to be rude. He was wearing a handsome vest with a green scarf wrapped around his neck. However, he was not wearing a coat, so I assumed he must have come from inside the shop, perhaps to grab a breath of fresh air.
There was no question in my mind: This man was obviously the Luvander. My brain helpfully provided that very obvious slice of information before it shut down completely.
“What about boots?” Laure said stubbornly.
“You try finding boots to fit those little claws,” Luvander said, shaking his head. “And oh, how they scratch!”
“Maybe they’re mad about being naked,” Laure replied.
“I personally would be delighted to end up as a hat,” Luvander said. “You’d make a very fine one, with that coloring. I take it you’re Laurence? Please don’t let me scare you off; I’m frightened of what Adamo will do to me.”
“Laure works fine,” Laure said. “And I’m not scared.”
“You certainly don’t look scared,” Luvander agreed.
“As long as you don’t keep me in the back with the naked peacocks,” Laure warned.
“My word, this conversation has turned very fresh very quickly,” Luvander said, blue eyes lighting up with wicked delight. “If Adamo overhears us, he’ll keep me in the back with the naked peacocks.”
I couldn’t allow the conversation to continue any longer as it was going. While Laure might have enjoyed the banter, this was no way to go about making a first impression—despite how odd this airman was.
There was another one who hadn’t quite lived up to my expectations. At least he dressed impeccably, though I wished suddenly I could have had some of Laure’s brazen disregard for common courtesy, so that I might have asked him why he’d chosen to open a hat shop after piloting a dragon. The two things seemed quite incongruous.
In any case, I cleared my throat, and Laure turned to look at me, almost like she’d forgotten I was there. She was actually craning her neck for some reason—I suspected privately she might have been trying to discern if Professor Adamo had already arrived—and to my shock she actually blushed.
“Oh yeah,” she said. “This is Toverre.”
“Your bodyguard, I hope,” Luvander said, with a wry tone I wasn’t entirely sure I appreciated. It wasn’t an insult outright, but it certainly had the implications of being one.
“Her fiancé, actually,” I replied.
“No,” Luvander said. “Really?”
It was what I assumed most people must have thought when they learned that little detail—wondering how someone like me had managed to find myself so lucky, no doubt—yet none of them had ever actually vocalized their surprise quite so blatantly.
I felt myself begin to color. “Really,” I told him, mumbling a bit.
“You lucky little man,” Luvander said. “You’ll have to tell me your secret sometime. I am extremely interested in learning your techniques. Well, no more standing around freezing our feet off; I don’t have a coat, and I’m more than ready to go inside.