Evangeline was the kind of woman who made the world her playground and turned those around her into staff.

Tessa felt like a pretender. Well, more of a pretender than she already was. Getting ready for dinner had been as simple as changing her clothes and accessories, adding a little more makeup and running a brush through her hair. Something told her Evangeline had exerted quite a bit more effort than that.

She took a breath and reminded herself that this was not a competition. This was just a game in which the goal was to make Evangeline believe Sebastian was capable of attracting another woman and to therefore remind Evangeline that he was not to be taken for granted.

With that in mind, Tessa stopped staring at her potato gratin and lifted her head to smile lovingly at her bogus betrothed.

It wasn’t hard to do. She was, sadly, a little smitten with him. It was a rare man who valued books and learning the way he did and had the means to indulge those passions. That alone would have been enough to sway her. But then there were his dark good looks. He was the vampire version of Mr. Darcy and if she was supposed to resist that, then someone needed to tell her how.

But if she thought about the kissing, her bones went to jelly and her brain to mush and the heat of desire warmed her to the point of combustion.

She hadn’t realized the extent of her loneliness until just this moment. Freya help her, she was a sad thing. And, to make matters worse, she missed Duncan. Snuggling that little fur ball was a tremendous stress reliever.

Jenna would roll her eyes and proclaim Tessa had finally become the stereotypical cat lady librarian, but the truth could not be ignored.

Nor could the man seated at the head of the table.

Sebastian listened as Delaney described the dessert she’d brought, some red velvet cake with raspberry filling that was a test for the cake she was going to enter in the Valentine’s Day Bake Off.

Tessa smiled. She liked Delaney and not just for her skills with sweet things. She was a kind, happy woman who Tessa imagined was also a fiercely loyal friend. And Delaney and Sebastian’s brother Hugh were very clearly in love. It was charming how he watched her, a proud gleam in his eyes.

Tessa wondered if a man would ever look at her that way.

Maybe Duncan would.

She snorted at the thought, then quickly covered her mouth with her hand.

Evangeline, seated mercifully at the other end of the table, raised her brows and directed her gaze at Tessa. “What was that?”

Tessa swallowed. “Nothing, sorry.” She lifted her goblet of water and drank, hoping that would end the questioning.

It didn’t.

Evangeline tipped her head while her eyes remained on Tessa. “Will you be entering the bake off?”

Tessa put her water down and shook her head. “I’m not a baker by any means.”

“Where do your talents lie?”

Sebastian reached over and took her hand. “Tessa is a librarian. In fact, she’s about to become the Dean of Library Studies at Harmswood Academy.”

Evangeline smiled and looked dutifully impressed. “Well, how about that. Congratulations. I’ve never had much time for reading. All those dull, musty pages. Not for me. Not when there are so many other more interesting things to do. But now I see why Sebby is so attracted to you. He loves dull things.” Before anyone could say a thing, Evangeline laughed. “Books, I mean.”

Tessa’s valkyrie temper nudged at the base of her spine. She forced herself to smile. “Of course.”

Sebastian’s hand tightened over hers. She looked at him in time to see a muscle in his jaw twitch. “Watch your tongue, Evangeline.”

She rounded her eyes and blinked at him as though she didn’t have a clue why he might be angry. “I said I meant books.”

He grunted at her, the sound a mix of disbelief and irritation.

She grinned and lifted her wine. “Quite the leap to defend your paramour. A very nice touch. Definitely the way a man should act.”

The muscle in his jaw twitched again. “What is that supposed to mean?”

She grinned over the rim of her glass. “Nothing at all. I do find it rather convenient that you’ve rallied the troops. You’re the one who invited me to dinner, after all.”

Despite Julian’s lazy slouch in his chair, there was something dark simmering in his gaze. His dislike of Evangeline, Tessa guessed. He leaned a little farther away from the vampiress before he spoke. “We’re here because your reputation precedes you, Eva.”

She drained her wine, then set the glass down. “What reputation is that?”

Someone else snorted and Tessa realized it had come from Hugh. “Evangeline, don’t play coy. My brothers and I have known you for nearly four hundred years. You were willful and spoiled as a child, given to tantrums and diatribes that lasted until your demands were met. None of that changed as you grew up and when you became a vampire, the turning did what it always does. It took the strongest of your characteristics and magnified them. Unfortunately, in your case, those characteristics weren’t all good ones.”

Hugh shook his head as he continued. “For once in your self-centered, indulgent life, do the right thing and let Sebastian be. He’s found happiness. You ought to try to do the same.”

Evangeline stared at him. An icy glaze narrowed her eyes for a moment and then she seemed to catch herself. She smiled and straightened in her chair. “I will ignore your insults but only because I’m concerned for Sebby. I just want what’s best for him.”