Must Love Fangs

Chapter Six

You look like hell,” Sara told me bluntly as I entered the office Saturday night.

The office was only closed on Sundays, and Ryder and I alternated on the overnight shift on Saturdays. It wasn’t so bad, since it was only a half shift until midnight.

“Thanks,” I murmured, not even having the energy for a sarcastic comment. In the last three days, I’d gotten probably a half hour of sleep. My repeated catnaps and sleeping pills had only made things worse. I existed in a half-awake stupor, and my entire body felt as if it had been run over by a truck. This was just the early stages of the disease, though. It would get much worse from here on out.

“You sure you’re okay?” she asked, moving over to my desk, looking worried. “Is something going on?”

“Just not sleeping well,” I told her. Understatement of the century.

“Is something bothering you? Is it money?” She bit her lip, clearly concerned about me. “Family problems? I’m not trying to pry, honest I’m not. I just want to help. You look like you’re going through a rough patch.”

I gave her a wan smile. “I’m fine. Seriously. I just need some caffeine and I’ll be good.”

She reached out and squeezed my hand. “I’m here if you want to talk.”

“Thanks, Sara, I appreciate it.” But I can’t tell you anything, because you’d tell your sister.

The bell clanged and a shadow loomed in the doorway of the agency, blocking out the setting sun—the massive form of Ramsey Bjorn, resident were-bear, scowling monster of a man, and tiny Sara’s mate.

She gave my hand another comforting squeeze, then bounded over to him, flinging herself into his arms. “Hey Huggy Bear,” she said. “Did you miss me?”

“Yes,” he said gruffly.

She gave him an enthusiastic kiss in response and whispered something into his ear that made the man flush red. When he caught me staring, he scowled in my direction.

I hastily booted up my computer.

“We’re out of here,” Sara told me, sliding down from Ramsey’s arms. “It’s Xbox night at our place, so if you need me, just let it keep ringing. We’ll hear it over the noise eventually.”

“Will do,” I said. “So, are all the Russells there when you guys play?”

Because a certain Joshua Russell hadn’t shown up in two days after promising to help me with my vampire situation, and it was ticking me off.

“All of them,” she said cheerfully. “I’d invite you, but . . . ”

“Work, I know.” I wasn’t all that interested in video games anyhow.

She brightened. “Maybe next weekend, when it’s Ryder’s turn to do the night shift?”

“Maybe,” I agreed. If Josh kept avoiding me, I’d hunt him down.

They left, Ramsey’s big hand resting on the back of Sara’s neck and her arm looped around his waist. I watched them go, wondering how that worked for them—Ramsey was so enormous and strong, and Sara was small and fragile.

I blushed at the mental image. Not my business.

I buried myself in work, pulling out the stack of folders of inactive clients. I’d give Josh two more days, and then it was back to hunting down vampires in the hopes that they’d want to date me.

Right now, I see three things that are the problem.

That had bothered me more than anything. I wanted to know what those three things were so I could fix them and move on to the next stage of my plan.

I called clients for hours, leaving voice mails when the clients were unavailable. Voice mail was tricky. I had to make sure not to give away discreet information; no mentions of paranormals or shifting, and certainly not vampires. Nothing that could be used against someone. My message was bland. Hi, it’s Marie from Midnight Liaisons. If you’re not currently seeing anyone, we’d love to set you up with just the right person. Give me a call back and let’s talk about updating your profile.

I then gave the date and time. It was a late hour for most humans, but shifters and vampires and even fae ran all hours of the night, and a late call wasn’t so odd. That was why the agency had a night shift, after all.

When I was a third of the way through the stack, the doorbell clanged. I glanced at the clock. Eleven thirty. I peered over my monitor, looking for a face.

A large drive-thru coffee cup appeared from around the side of my monitor, held in a big hand. Josh took a step forward. “I’d have brought you flowers, but you said you had an allergy.”

I looked at it, then looked at him, then turned back to my computer. “I’m busy.”

“You get off work in a half hour, don’t you?”

“Yes, and then I’m going home.”

He ignored my stiff tone and sat down across from me. “Coffee’s not a great apology gift, I know. Next time I’ll bring chocolates.”

He had my attention now. “Apology gift?”

He set the coffee cup down on my desk. “Remember that I said all my clients were totally paranoid? Well, one was paranoid with good reason. Someone tried to take him out. I stopped ’em, and I haven’t left his side in two days. He’s hired a second shift, which has finally given me some time off.”

I noticed the jagged scratch that went up his tanned arm, then noticed a similar one running down one cheek and under his ear. He had circles under his eyes, too. I pushed the coffee toward him. “You take it. You look tired.”

He gave me the slow, sensual smile that made me think we were sharing a moment. The one that sent shivers up my spine. He bowed his head over the cup as if I’d given him a gift, then he lifted it to his lips and drank.

I suddenly thought of that moment in the diner when he’d deliberately turned my cup and placed his mouth on the exact spot that I’d drank from. Heat crept through my belly, and I glanced away before he could notice my blush. My face felt hot with . . . embarrassment? Awareness? “There are things such as phones and voice mail,” I reminded him. “And texts.”

“Now you sound like my last girlfriend,” he teased.

I raised an eyebrow.

“It was just a joke. Sorry. Next time I’ll call when all hell breaks loose. If you want to kick in our vampire plan, we can start tonight.”

I perked up at that, more than ready to get things moving. “I’m ready whenever. Say the word.”

“Good. We’ll go to your place after you get off work.”

“Uh-uh.”

He put down the coffee and raised his hands in the air. “Just a wardrobe check. Very innocent.”

“I don’t believe you have an innocent bone in your body,” I told him.

He grinned. “You might be right.”

• • •

“No Xbox for you tonight?” I asked him as I stepped out of my car in the parking lot of my apartment complex. Josh had followed me here and was exiting his vehicle at the same time I’d left mine. “I thought it was tradition.”

“It is,” he said, taking the stairs behind me. “But I had other plans tonight.”

And those other plans obviously included me. I wasn’t sure if I was flattered or concerned. Probably both. I unlocked my front door and placed my keys on the small table next to the door, then flipped on the light. “Come on in.”

I moved to the side as he entered, watching his reaction. If he was expecting stuffed animals and some knitting, he was in for a disappointment. I had a large flat-screen TV on the back wall, sleek floor lamps, and track lighting. A small white couch and a low table in the living room. My kitchen was always neat, my floors spotless. The only concession to a mess were the puzzle pieces laid out on my dining room table, but even those were neatly piled. I knew my bathroom was clean, the marble gleaming, and my bedroom was tidy, the bed made.

When one didn’t sleep, one had plenty of time for housekeeping.

“Nice place,” he said, glancing over at me as I shut the door. “It’s not what I expected. I thought you’d be a slob. You know, so guarded on the outside and a wild woman on the inside. That’s usually how it goes.”

Was that why he was so interested in me? He was in for a huge disappointment, then. “So, you wanted to check out my wardrobe?” I moved toward the bedroom and went inside.

He followed close behind me and stepped to the side, surveying my room with a knowing smile. Josh’s gaze flicked over my bookshelf (dusted), my neat queen bed (made) with perfectly arranged throw pillows, and the organized stack of magazines on the bedside. “Bed made, too? Man. You are something else.”

He sat down on the bed and lay back, lacing his fingers behind his head and lounging amid my throw pillows. That casual, confident smile was on his face, and it unnerved me to see him relaxing. On my bed.

Like he belonged there.

“Make yourself at home,” I said.

He winked at me and adjusted one of the pillows behind his head. “This is a prime spot for viewing.”

“Viewing? You expect me to model for you?”

He shrugged. “How else am I supposed to tell you if you look soft or not? We’re going for soft, and sexy and come-hither. With vampires you need to look fragile and helpless, not strong and independent.”

“Fragile . . . and . . . helpless . . . ” I repeated slowly, a bit dumbfounded.

Strong and independent? Was that how he saw me?

“They’re predators. Women are their prey. If you were out hunting for a woman, would you want a scowly, aloof one or a nice, soft, sweet one?”

And I guessed I was a scowly one. I sighed and headed into my walk-in closet, clicking on the light and glancing at my neatly arranged things. “I’m not much of a clotheshorse.”

“That’s fine. Show me your sexiest date outfit,” he said from the bed.

I didn’t have a sexy date outfit. I eyed my clothing and chewed on my lip, thinking. Then I pulled a sweater off a hanger, paired it with a dark skirt, and stepped out of the closet, holding it up to me.

“Try it on,” he said.

I narrowed my eyes. “Not while you’re lying on the bed.”

“I’ll be a perfect gentleman,” he told me with a roguish grin that was anything but gentlemanly. He adjusted his baseball cap, tilting the brim back a little before cocking his head to the side. “If you don’t trust me not to look, you can shut the closet door. I won’t get up. Not when I’m so comfy right here.”

I hesitated a moment longer. Did I really want to change in front of Joshua Russell, of all people?

But . . . I needed a vampire. And a small, irritating part of me wanted to impress him, to show him I could be attractive, too. So I entered the closet, shut the door, and took off my clothes. Then I pulled on the sweater and skirt and stepped out. “How’s this?”

He sat up in the bed.

For a moment, my heart raced. Was he . . . pleased with my appearance?

“That is just terrible,” he said.

I scowled.

Josh slid off the bed and moved to my side, examining me. “Where are your heels?”

“I don’t have any high heels.”

He looked surprised. “How can you expect to catch a man if you don’t have fuck-me pumps? You wear those, and he’s automatically imagining them digging into his back. Trust me on this.”

“You’re something else, you know that?”

“I may be something else, but I’m something that gets a lot of dates,” he pointed out. “Tomorrow, buy some shoes. Tall heels. Think sexy.” He turned me for a full view of my outfit. “This is all wrong, Marie.”

“What’s wrong with my clothes?” I asked curiously.

“Nothing, if you’re looking to get a job as a church secretary. We need sensual, remember? Think sexy and loose and wild.” He studied me for a moment, then reached up and tugged a lock of my curling dark hair, dragging it down to brush against the nape of my neck. “Like you normally wear it.”

I pulled away, feeling a little self-conscious and flustered. He thought my hair was sexy and wild? “When do I ever wear my hair up?”

“When you’re working.”

I thought for a moment. I sometimes twisted my hair and shoved a pencil through it while I was working. He thought that was sexy? Even stranger, he remembered that I did that?

Josh moved past me and began to rake through the hangers.

I remained behind him, fingering my hair thoughtfully.

He eventually pulled out a sweater I hated; the tags still dangled from the sleeve. It was a long, navy blue tunic with a wide belt. It was meant to be worn with leggings and a big necklace. The problem was I had no leggings. He pulled the belt off the sweater and held it out to me. “Here. Put this on.”

“I’m going to return that—”

He yanked the tags off and dropped it in my hands. “Put it on.”

“I can’t wear this,” I told him. “I didn’t realize when I’d bought it that it’s off the shoulder, and I don’t have a strapless bra.”

Josh’s eyes gleamed intensely, and for a moment he looked just like the cat he was. “So go braless.”

“I don’t have any leggings to go with it.”

“You don’t need leggings. Wear it as a dress.”

I sighed and took it from him, heading back to the closet to change. I pulled off the other outfit, then hesitated. Braless in front of a big, delicious man suddenly seemed like a big deal, and I remembered how his eyes had gleamed at the thought. My skin prickled in awareness, and I knew that he was standing outside the closet, waiting for me to emerge, my breasts loose and my legs bare.

Sexy and wild, like you normally wear it. And he’d touched my hair.

A flush rose over my body and I had to fight it down, force my breathing to calm. I was just worked up because I had a man in my bedroom, nothing more. Josh simply wanted to help me find a vampire to date.

I stripped out of my bra and tugged the dark sweater over my head, noticing that it seemed to cling to my curves as it slithered over me. The open neckline was asymmetrical and hung over one shoulder, exposing it and an expanse of my neck. Smart. I knew before I even stepped out of the closet that this was a good idea.

When I stepped out of the closet, his eyes had that catlike gleam again that made me want to shiver. He gave me another long, sweeping look that made my skin prickle. “Much better,” he said, his voice husky.

My skin prickled in response and I felt my nipples grow hard. I crossed my arms over my chest, hoping he wouldn’t notice.

He didn’t. He was too busy pacing around me, and I got the weird sensation that he was embracing his predator side. Had I . . . brought that out in him?

Behind me, Josh leaned close, and I stiffened. I thought he was going to sniff me, oddly enough. But he only grabbed a handful of my thick, curly hair. “Up,” he said softly. “It’s gorgeous up. Do you have a clip?”

“On the nightstand,” I told him, flustered at the compliment to my hair.

Two seconds later, he had the clip in hand and was pushing it into the knot of hair at the back of my head. I could practically feel his breath on my neck, and I shivered.

“You have a great neck for vampires,” he said softly and ran a finger down the back of my neck. “Nice and long and white.”

“Gee, thanks,” I told him, willing my body not to tremble. He was incredibly aware of my appearance, and I was growing all too aware of his presence, which I liked too much. His attention made my stomach flutter. “Do I pass muster?”

“I’m not sure,” he said after a long moment, and I glanced over my bare shoulder at him. He rubbed his jaw thoughtfully, then looked at my behind. “Are you wearing granny panties?”

I gasped. “You do not ask a girl about her panties!”

“Granny panties,” he said, “are toxic to sexiness. Both for you and for him. If you have a thong, wear one. It’ll make you move sensually and make you more aware of what you’re wearing underneath and how it feels. Go for something sexy in the fabric,” he said, and my nipples went tight again at his husky, sensual tone.

“Sexy fabric?” I repeated, almost hypnotized by the sound of his voice. It was like something one would say to a lover.

“Mmm,” he said in agreement. “Something that will tease and tickle at your skin. Lace . . . satin . . . something like that. You know why?”

“No,” I said softly, my breasts aching and tight. “Why?”

He swatted my ass. “Badonkadonk.”

Tabarnak. I was going to kill him with my own two hands. I pushed him away. “You are a jackass. Get out of my bedroom.”

He grinned, all boyish charm again. “Not until you promise to wear that on your next date. Braless. You’ve got mighty pretty breasts.”

I clutched the sweater neck tight. “Get. Out.”

“Promise.”

“Fine,” I said. “I promise. Now get out so I can change back.”

He did, grinning at me the whole time.

When I emerged a few minutes later, my hair was down again and I was wearing my ugliest, most worn-out pajamas. And a bra. Sending a very clear message seemed like a good idea.

Josh said nothing, but his eyebrow went up and that smile curved his mouth again. “Nice pajamas.”

“Thank you,” I said frostily.

He said nothing else about it, then leaned over my dining room table and casually turned a puzzle piece, trying to fit it into the half-finished locked-together pieces on the table. “I see you’re into puzzles. This one’s a hard one.”

“I like them hard.”

He glanced back at me and gave me a knowing grin.

I sighed. “Do you make everything innuendo?”

“Yes,” he said firmly. “It’s more fun that way. So why puzzles?”

“I do them when I can’t sleep.” I’d started that five-thousand-piece puzzle last night, and it was nearly done.

“Do you do a lot of them?”

I thought of my closet full of boxes of completed puzzles. “Now and then. So was there anything else you wanted, or are you done tormenting me?”

Josh shook his head. “It’s not torment, my beautiful Marie. It’s assistance. You’re looking at this all wrong. Don’t think of it as suffering. Think of me as your sherpa of sexy.”

Did that make me Mount Everest? Some unattainable peak he felt the need to climb?

Now I was making everything innuendo. I forced myself to focus. “What now, then, oh sherpa?”

His face lit up with enthusiasm. “Now we go through the database and I give you the dirt on all the vampires.”

Oooh, now we were getting to the good stuff! I grabbed my laptop off my desk and went to the couch, setting the laptop on the low table.

Josh slid onto the couch next to me, his thigh rubbing against mine. On purpose? Either way, I was hyperaware of it, even if he wasn’t. Maybe he was totally casual with his personal space, too, and I wasn’t used to it.

Or he just thought I was scowly and aloof, and this was all in my head.

I pulled up the Midnight Liaisons website.

• • •

Two hours later, we were down to only a few options. We’d made notecards on each of the available vampires in the database and arranged them on the table to get a better look. Then, one by one, Josh had plucked the cards off the table, whittling down my options.

This one was cruel to his last girlfriend. This one was a bit of a playboy. This one was newly turned and wouldn’t be interested in humans. This one lost his blood partner a few years ago and probably wouldn’t be looking for a serious relationship.

As Josh ticked off the reasons why they would be bad choices and handed me the cards, I kept a few of them. The playboy. The widow. Both of those sounded like likely prospects to me.

“This one is not a good idea,” Josh said, picking another card off the table and handing it to me. “He’s a kinky fuck. Men and women together, and he’ll just watch.”

I took the card with a frown. “How do you know this?”

“I got an invitation once.”

I raised my eyebrows at him.

“I didn’t go. I’m not into that sort of thing. I am a one-woman-at-a-time sort of guy.” He leaned in, as if confessing a secret. “I like to devote all my attention to one woman. Make her feel sexy. Needed. Touch her body and bring every nerve ending to attention. Make her feel like she’s the only thing in the universe in that moment.”

My breath caught in my throat.

His gaze slid to my mouth before he looked away again. “Can’t do that in a group.”

“Guess not,” I said weakly. The room sure felt awfully warm. Distracted, I placed the card at the bottom of the stack I was holding.

He watched, then reached over and snatched the two cards I’d earmarked. “What’s this?”

“Nothing,” I said defensively, reaching for them. “Give those back.”

He looked at the first card, then at me. “You want to date the fanged Don Juan? Are you serious?”

“If he’s not discerning about his dates, I have greater odds of getting him to go out with me.”

“Marie, I thought you were looking for a guy with fangs. This makes it sound like you’re looking for any guy.” He gave me an odd look. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“No,” I said and reached for the card again.

He held it over his head, out of my reach.

As if that’d stop me. I climbed onto his lap and ripped the card from his hand, then shot him a triumphant look.

Suddenly his arm went around my waist, pinning me against him. My face was just an inch away from his, and his gaze was focused on me, his eyes intense. I became very aware that my breasts were pressed to his chest, and my legs were now straddling his. It was very . . . intimate.

“If I’d known that was all it took to get you to climb all over me, Marie,” he said in a husky voice, “I’d have done that hours ago.”

The words were playful, but I remained frozen by that soft, sultry tone in his voice. His gaze held mine pinned, and I noticed how beautiful his eyes were, how long his lashes. I thought of earlier, with him behind me, his hand knotted in my hair, his eyes flashing to cat.

And I suddenly didn’t want to move.

“How good are you at kissing?” Josh asked me, his gaze dropping to my mouth.

“Kissing?” I repeated.

“Vampires have an oral fixation,” he said, his hand stroking down my back in a move that made my entire body shiver in response. “Do you need to brush up on your kissing?”

I hadn’t kissed anyone in over ten years. “I . . . I don’t know,” I admitted. “Are you . . . offering?”

“We can kiss and I’ll tell you how you’re doing, if you like.” That hand continued to stroke my back, drugging me in an almost hypnotic way. His voice was low and soft, as if he was afraid I was going to bolt, and his gaze gleamed golden-green, reflecting like a cat’s. “I can show you a few techniques. You can get comfortable with the thought of kissing someone with fangs in their mouth. See what it’s like to taste them.”

My gaze dropped to his mouth, imagining his lips on mine. My pulse beat slowly, awareness tingling through me. He wanted to kiss me and was just using this as a pretense. Yet . . . it didn’t seem like a bad idea.

Perhaps I was crazy.

Or perhaps I really just wanted to kiss him. Perhaps that hand on my back was driving me insane, that low, soothing voice, smoothing away all my inhibitions.

And if he was right that vampires liked to kiss, I did need to brush up.

“All right,” I said, suddenly feeling shy. I closed my eyes and waited.

Josh rumbled a laugh, and I felt it all through my chest. His other hand stole to my nape. “You don’t want to watch my technique?”

Oh. Oops. I opened my eyes just as his mouth brushed lightly against mine.

All rational thought vanished. I stared at him, dumbfounded, as he closed his eyes and his lips played over mine. Oh, that was . . . erotic. I gasped against his mouth, feeling desire surge through my body. I watched, fascinated, as he tilted his mouth ever so slightly against mine and his tongue stroked between my lips, demanding entrance.

And then my eyes closed and I fell into the kiss, wrapped up in the sensation of his soft lips against mine, the harsh rasp of stubble against my cheek, the warm, solid thrust of his tongue that moved in a slow, delicious rhythm that made my pulse pound. His tongue slid against mine, coaxing and rubbing, before stroking deep again. Possessive and sweet and playful all at once. As if he had all the time in the world to kiss me.

His hand slid to my ass and he pulled me tighter against him.

I yelped and pushed at his chest, not sure where to look. Anywhere but at him. I pried his hand off my ass and slid away down the couch.

“Thanks, I think,” I said softly. My mouth felt swollen and slick.

“You were right,” he said. “Your technique needs some work.”

I gaped at him. “I can’t believe you just said that!”

A hint of a teasing smile played at his mouth and my gaze locked there, fascinated by his lips. I felt the absurd urge to lean down and lick them.

“We should probably practice more, until you’re comfortable with it,” those gorgeous lips said.

Then the reality of what he was saying sank in, and I grabbed a throw pillow and smacked him with it. “You just did that to kiss me!”

“Hey,” he said, raising his hands to ward off my blow, a grin on his face. “You were the one crawling into my lap.”

“Good night,” I said pointedly.

“Suit yourself,” he said, rising from the couch. At the door, he turned back to face me. “Just call me if you need me. I’m off for the next four days, then I’m on for the next eight. We can work on prepping you for your first date with a vampire, if you like. And we can practice more.”

I shut the door in his face.

And then I leaned against it, ignoring his chuckle from the other side, and touched my mouth with wondering fingers. That kiss . . .

If I could have fallen asleep, I’d have dreamed about a kiss like that. To think that it had come from him, the man who was supposed to have been helping me prepare for snagging a vampire. The man who had repeatedly offered a one-night stand. No strings attached, because strings weren’t allowed between human and Alliance. I had scoffed at the offer every time. Sleep with Josh, just for the sheer pleasure of it?

Before that kiss, I’d have never entertained such a thought.

Yet now it was all I could think about. One night. In Josh’s arms. Kissing. Making love.

Part of me wondered if I should seize the opportunity while I could.

• • •

I was still thinking about that kiss when I went in to work on Monday night. Maybe I could get Josh to turn me?

Beau would be furious, but he couldn’t stay mad at his brother, and Josh seemed to like spending time with me. He wouldn’t have to marry me, after all; just change me. Enough to give me a second lease on life.

“Bad news,” Sara said as I entered the office. Her face looked drawn and unhappy.

My heart clenched. “What kind of bad news?”

“Remember that were-tiger who changed the human girl? It just got worse.”

“What happened?”

“Johnny decided he wasn’t in love after all. Dumped her. So much for true love, huh?”

My jaw dropped. “They broke up?”

“Oh, it gets even worse,” Sara said bitterly. “She wanted to leave and go home. Naturally, the clan wouldn’t let her. One of the males challenged another for her. It started a fight, and then the next thing we know, both males are hospitalized and the entire tiger clan is furious. The other clans are freaking out, the girl is freaking out, and Johnny just wants to run away. Vic’s about to lose his shit. The other clans are flat-out refusing to have anything to do with the Alliance until those two are exiled and made an example of. Beau’s putting them on a plane to Greenland this morning.”

“Greenland?” I sat down heavily.

“Yeah,” she said unhappily. “Some town just south of the Arctic Circle line, until things get ironed out. I don’t know that things will, though. People are really furious.” She swiped a finger under her eye, and I realized she was crying. “Poor girl.”

I said nothing. I knew Sara had been turned against her will, and it had worked out for her . . . eventually. She’d apparently had a very stressful time of it for years and years. And the wolf pack was to blame for a lot of it.

My thoughts automatically went to Sara’s wolf side. Maybe I could find a wolf to turn me . . .

And then I thought about Sara’s predicament and scratched that idea. A wolf pack wasn’t about to turn me and then let me waltz away. They’d lay claims, and from the stories Ryder had told me, several of them liked to lay claim at once. No, thank you.

“Everyone’s going nuts about all the changes,” she said sadly. “First my coming out as a human-turned-werewolf, which got the packs all riled up, and now this girl being turned into a cat. I feel sorry for the next guy that tries to turn a girl, because he’s going to have a lynch mob after him.”

I swallowed, thinking of Josh’s kiss. “What do you mean?”

“If a human so much as breathes in a supernatural’s direction now, every single alpha in the state of Texas is going to flip his lid and come gunning for them. No one wants to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.” Sara shook her head. “Some supes give me dirty looks at meetings. I can only imagine what that poor tiger girl is going through. I wouldn’t be surprised if the next person who turns a human ends up a smear on the pavement.”

Smear on the pavement? I thought of Josh’s laughing eyes. Those long lashes. That warm smile.

Guess I was back to vampires.

Sigh.

• • •

We were sitting on my couch, going over some of the vampire notes before my next date, when Josh looked over at me. “We should practice your kissing again.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Your kissing,” Josh enunciated, as if I’d been deaf and not just surprised by his words. “I said it needed work and that I’d help you, remember?”

I gave him a wary look. If it had been anyone else, I’d have thought he was doing it to mess with me. That he was feeding me the world’s corniest line because he wanted to kiss me and thought this would be an easy way to get what he wanted.

Except that this was Josh Russell who was offering. The playboy of the Paranormal Alliance. A man who could get any woman he wanted—and did, quite frequently. He had no need to play flirty little games with someone like me.

So it had to be legit.

I dug my nails into my palms to fight the blush that threatened to reveal how unsettled I was by his offer. When we’d kissed before, it had shaken me to my core and had made me want things that I wasn’t supposed to want. Things that weren’t part of my ironclad plans.

But now my entire body clenched with how much I wanted that. Flustered, I slid a bit closer to him on the couch. “You really think practice is necessary?”

“Absolutely.” His gaze was totally confident and relaxed. “For one, I think you should work on your expressions.”

“What’s wrong with them?”

“Vampires are predators, right? So you need to think like prey. The last time I kissed you, your reaction wasn’t very pleasing to the male ego.”

“It could be because I was kissing you,” I said, my light tone taking the bite out of my words.

“Ouch. I’m wounded, Marie.” He clutched a hand to his chest in mock injury, then moved a fraction closer to me. “I’m serious. After a guy kisses you, you need to go all soft and sweet in his arms. He’ll think he’s turned you into a pile of mush, and that’ll please his ego. Especially a vampire’s, since they seem to have bigger ones than most. Stroke it a little and you’ll be sitting pretty.”

My mouth quirked in amusement at the thought of faking softness after someone kissed me. Exactly how did one pretend to be soft? Picture marshmallows and let my posture slump? Poke my lips out in some sexy version of the duck face? What?

While I contemplated this, Josh moved his hands to my hips and tugged me forward. Suddenly I was pulled against his larger form. My hands automatically went up defensively, and I ended up resting my palms on his chest. His nice, firm chest.

I resisted the urge to flex my fingers against it.

Josh’s face leaned in close to mine, and I could smell his breath, minty and sweet. He tilted his head slightly, as if moving in to kiss me.

My entire body tensed, waiting for the brush of his lips on mine, and I closed my eyes.

Nothing happened.

I opened them again.

He was giving me that same expectant look. “Kiss me, Marie.”

“Why should I kiss you? I’m the one that has to be all melted at the thought of your lips touching mine.”

“Soft. Not melted.” He grinned at my grumpiness. “And if you kiss me, I’ll show you what I mean, and then you can try it yourself.”

“This feels like a scam,” I muttered in protest, but I leaned in obediently and lightly brushed my lips over his closed mouth. Then I pulled back and watched him expectantly.

He laughed in my face.

I scowled. “What’s so funny?”

“You think that was a real kiss?”

“We’re pretending here, remember?”

He shook his head. “I’m almost offended at how bad that kiss was. Clearly we need to practice more than just your reaction.” Josh turned to face me fully. “Here, let me show you how to do it.” When I didn’t move, he added, “Relax.”

I gave a deliberate full-body wiggle and rolled my neck to show him that I was relaxed. “Hit me with it.”

I shouldn’t have been startled when his hand moved forward to lightly cup my neck. I mean, I was staring right at him, watching him lean in, his eyes so heavily lidded that they looked closed, his mouth angling for mine. But the brush of his fingers against my nape sent shivers down my spine and pleasure cascading through my body.

One thing was for sure—I loved Josh’s touch.

And then in the next moment, his lips were on mine. Soft, gentle, ever so slightly gliding over my own. Prickles of awareness rushed through me, setting all my nerve endings alight with sensation. He tilted his head just a little and the delicate brush of his lips over mine changed, adding just a hint of pressure. It felt almost as if he’d been touching me all over my body, and my nipples grew hard.

This felt . . . dangerous. I had this crazy attraction to Josh that I couldn’t afford to nurture, and kissing—this soft, caressing tease of a lesson—was exactly what I didn’t need in my life right now.

I parted my lips to protest—and his tongue slid into my mouth.

I moaned, unable to help myself. His lips had parted, changed the intensity of the kiss, and the hand on the back of my neck was more urgent. He’d pulled me against him at some point and I’d gone willingly, my nipples brushing against his hard chest as his tongue dove into my mouth over and over with a sweet, hypnotic pattern of strokes that made heat curl deep inside me. I was lost in that kiss, in the power of his mouth slanting over mine.

His tongue stroked against mine, encouraging my responses, and I whimpered against his mouth, my fingers curling in his shirt to anchor him to me. Again, his tongue licked against my own, and my body wanted to follow that delicious movement. It made my mind go to deep, dark, dangerous places—like the thought of that wonderful tongue flicking my nipples into stiff little peaks. Or between my legs—

Josh pulled away, breaking the kiss and my erotic daydreams.

My eyes opened—when had I closed them?—and I stared at him in fuzzy confusion. Why had he stopped? I wanted to ask, but the only syllable that fell out of my mouth was a soft “Whuh?”

His thumb stroked over the wet lower curve of my lip. “Like that,” he said in a soft, husky voice. “Just like that, sweet Marie.”

“Just like what?”

“You.” He leaned in and pressed another feather-light, openmouthed kiss on my parted lips. “Soft. Gorgeous. Full of need. When someone kisses you, that’s how you need to look back at him. Like he could pull you into his lap and make you his in the next moment.”

I pulled away from Josh slowly—and a bit reluctantly. His words were destroying the delicious, erotic fog over my thoughts. I didn’t want to kiss someone else. I wanted more of Josh, his expert tongue and amazing lips. His hard body pressing me onto the couch and covering me.

I certainly didn’t want to think about kissing vampires at the moment. “So . . . that was good?”

“Pretty good,” he said, and there was a husky note in his voice. His gaze seemed to go back to my mouth once more. “Did you want to practice again?”

“Can we?” Oh man, my voice sounded so breathy.

“Of course.” He tugged at the curls on my nape and tilted my head back just a little.

I barely managed to swallow the gasp building in my throat before his mouth descended on mine again. He kissed the hell out of me—thoroughly, thoroughly kissed—and his tongue swept into my mouth again, driving all rational thought out of my head. There was only Josh and that powerful, endless kiss.

By the time he pulled away again, my thoughts were mush. My lips felt full and a little tender from his kiss, and my nipples—and my sex—ached with need. He could have definitely tossed me down on the couch and had his way with me.

As if sensing what I was thinking, he leaned in once more. I parted my lips in anticipation of his kiss—

And wasn’t prepared for the sensual slicking of his tongue over my parted lips in a blatant move that left me breathless.

“That’s how you kiss someone, Marie,” he said in a husky voice as he broke the kiss and retreated back to his end of the couch. “Did you take notes?”

“Buh?” I asked, still all foggy with need and incredibly eloquent.

“You’re getting better with your reactions,” he said casually, as if we’d just been describing the weather. “Just let me know if you need more practice.”

“More practice?” I echoed, and then reality crashed over me.

That’s all this was, of course. Just practice. I pulled away from Josh and scooted back on the couch, giving myself space. “I’m good for now.”

“Suit yourself,” he said casually.

But he licked his lips, as if savoring my taste, and it sent another pulse of heat through my body.

• • •

“You ready for this?” Josh said, fixing the neck of my sweaterdress so it hung over one shoulder, exposing my neck, collarbones, and my upper arm.

I batted his hand away. “I will be just as soon as you leave, Henry Higgins.”

“Who?” he asked.

“Never mind. Just go. Please,” I said urgently, eyeing the empty table that I was supposed to be sitting at. Josh had been hovering behind a shield of plants at a two-seater table in another section and had come over to let me know that he was there. It seemed that my “coach” wanted to supervise my date. He said it was to give me pointers. I was starting to think it was because he wanted to keep an eye on me.

From what I could tell, Josh didn’t trust vampires. And the more I found out about them, the less I liked. They were secretive and apparently untrustworthy. No one in the Alliance liked them much, and they didn’t even seem to like other vampires much. Vampires were loners. Suspicious loners. It seemed to be a rather cutthroat community compared to the supernatural clans, which were more like a big family.

But I wasn’t a girl with a lot of choices. I had vampires, or I had nothing. So I picked vampires.

Josh nodded in approval. “You look stunning tonight, Marie.”

I was surprised by that compliment. “Really?”

“I want to lick you all over. But I’ll leave that for your date.”

I felt my cheeks heat. “Gee, thanks. I’m going to go sit down now.”

He winked at me and grinned.

When I turned to leave, he swatted me on the ass.

The man was impossible, I thought as I went back to my table. It was going to be hard to concentrate on my date with a massive were-cougar male hovering nearby.

Lonnie Smith showed up a short time later. He didn’t look several hundred years old, which his bio had listed. I’d never met him in person; whereas most supes liked to come in to the agency themselves, vampires were a reclusive lot and didn’t venture out unless they had to. Getting one to show up for a date was a trick in itself.

He wore a black turtleneck with several gold chains looped around his neck and a black leather coat over it. His black hair was slicked back, and he looked like something from a bad ’70s movie. Maybe vampires had a hard time keeping up with fashion.

I extended my hand for him to shake and gave him a quick smile of greeting. “Lonnie? Hi, I’m Minnie.”

“Minnie, my angel,” he said in a low, rumbling voice. He clasped my hand in his and held it tight. “You look more beautiful than in your picture. I am very pleased.”

Though he held my hand a bit longer than was comfortable, I resisted the urge to pull it away. “Thank you. I’m glad you’re pleased.”

“Oh, very,” he said, still holding on to my hand and sitting down in the chair next to mine.

I had no choice but to sit down as well. So he was a little touchy-feely. I could deal with that, I guessed. After all, being turned had to involve a certain level of intimacy, didn’t it?

He began to rub my hand. “So tell me about you, Minnie. What do you like?”

I adjusted my glasses with my other hand, noticing that his gaze kept straying to my bare neck. True to Josh’s orders, I’d worn my hair twisted up in a loose knot, and it seemed to be getting Lonnie’s attention. This date was already turning out much better than my last one.

“Me? Well . . . ” I paused, thinking. I couldn’t really give away too much, but I didn’t want to sound boring. Unfortunately, all the things I liked were pretty boring. “I’m kind of a homebody.”

“Me, too,” he said with a close-lipped smile. “What kinds of things do you like to do at home?”

“Well, I like to curl up and watch a good movie. And puzzles. I like puzzles.”

“Puzzles?” Lonnie looked as if I’d just said the most unappealing thing in the world. Oh, no. I was losing his attention.

“What do you like to do?” I asked quickly.

He gave me a half smile. “Not puzzles.”

I cast around for something else to say. I never realized small talk was so hard, especially when your date wasn’t exactly helping things along. “Do you like sports? Running? Tennis?”

“I’m a vampire. Unless it happens at night or indoors, I can’t do it.”

“Oh, of course,” I said quickly, feeling flustered. “Maybe table . . . tennis? I like table tennis.”

He glanced at the door. Shit, I was losing him.

“And sex,” I added desperately. “I love sex.”

His eyes flared with interest, his attention moving back to me. The grin returned to his face. “You don’t say?”

God help me, but I was desperate and didn’t want him to end this date. “Oh yes, all the time. I totally need it.”

He leaned down and examined my hand, then pulled it to his mouth, kissing the back of it delicately. “You smell incredible. What’s your blood type again?”

“O positive.”

“My favorite flavor,” he said with another close-lipped smile before leaning in to kiss my hand again.

I let him, pleased that the date had turned around. “So what about you?” I asked. “What do you like to do at home?”

“I like,” he began slowly, then nipped at one of my fingers. “Reading.”

“Oh?” I asked. “What sorts of things?”

“My favorite is The Perfumed Garden.” And he nipped at another one of my fingers. “Though I am also fond of The Story of O and Lolita.”

I knew of Lolita, but not the other two. Classics? Or maybe he was a poet at heart? Not really my thing, but kind of sweet. “Those sound nice. I haven’t read them.”

“I’d love to go through a few passages with you,” he said and rubbed a hand down my arm.

“Sure,” I said. “Maybe next time we get together, you can bring me one to borrow.”

His eyes narrowed, and I could practically hear his breath hiss. “That sounds incredible.”

Wow, this guy was really into those books. I began to feel a little uneasy about that and decided to turn the subject. “So what else are you into?”

“Frottage.”

I frowned. “I . . . see.” What was that? I was pretty sure that it was dirty, but I wasn’t sure how dirty. I decided to play stupid, smiling widely. “I’m a big fan of fromage myself.”

He studied me a moment, then laughed as if I’d said something hilarious. “You have quite a clever tongue.”

“Thank you.” Why did everything this man was saying sound dirtier than it was? Was I just taking things the wrong way? I continued to smile at him as if we’d connected at some deeper level.

At least he wasn’t looking at the door anymore.

“I do have a particular favorite,” he said, leaning in and running a finger down my bare shoulder.

“Do tell.”

“Have you heard of ‘the shocker’?”

“Is that a TV show?” I asked politely.

“All right,” Josh said, appearing from behind the wall. “That fucking does it.” He grabbed my date by the collar and hauled him into the air.

“Josh!” I got to my feet. “What are you doing?”

Lonnie clawed at his throat, glancing over at me with alarm.

“I’m ending this date,” Josh said. “This asshole is done with you.”

“Butt out,” I snapped at him. “It’s my date.”

“You’re done,” he repeated, setting Lonnie on his feet and leaning into his face. “Get out of here.”

“Now see here,” Lonnie began.

Josh’s eyes began to gleam like a cat’s and he leaned in, so close that only I could hear it. “Beat it, buddy. She’s human.”

The vampire’s eyes widened and he looked over at me, then back at Josh. And then he took off, weaving between tables as he exited the restaurant.

Outrage slammed through me and I turned to Josh, fists clenched. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Saving you from a bad situation,” he told me, grabbing my hand and beginning to pull me toward the front door. “We need to talk. Somewhere private.”

I bit my lip—it was either that or start screaming at him. I was so angry that I couldn’t see straight as Josh dragged me out of the restaurant. So the vampire had been a little fresh. Who cared? I needed to be turned. And about two minutes ago, I’d had a vampire practically eating out of the palm of my hand until my do-gooder “coach” had decided to change the rules on me.

As soon as we got to the parking lot, I jerked my arm from his grasp. “I thought you said you were helping me date vampires!”

“I am,” he told me between gritted teeth and steered me away from the crowd. “Just not that one.”

“What was wrong with that one? He liked me!”

“Yeah, because you told him you like puzzles and knitting and oh yeah, sex. Way to break the ice.”

“I didn’t tell him I liked knitting,” I said. “And he looked like he was bored! He was staring at the door! I had to keep his interest somehow.”

Josh glared back at me, walking quickly to the far edge of the parking lot and dragging me along behind him. He halted so abruptly when we were at his car that I almost ran into his back. Then he turned and pulled me against his car, his arms grasping mine. He looked furious and oddly possessive. His jaw was clenched, his mouth turned down into a frown. And he was staring at my mouth. He looked like he was inches away from kissing me. A lot.

And that made my breath quicken.

“Do you even know what ‘the shocker’ is, Marie?”

“I’m guessing it’s not a game show,” I snapped back at him.

He held his hand up and tucked his fourth finger back against his thumb. Then he tilted his hand and showed me the gesture. “This is the shocker.”

I stared at the pairing of his first two fingers and the pinky, not recognizing the gesture. If it weren’t for the fact that his ring finger was tucked in, it’d almost look like a Vulcan hand gesture. “Is that supposed to mean something?”

“You’re really sheltered, aren’t you?” Josh stared at me, then shook his head. He did the gesture again and explained, “The saying is ‘Two in the pink, one in the stink.’ ”

I stared at his hand. Two in the pink . . . ? And then I blushed, hard, slapping his hand away. “Oh. Ew.”

“Yeah. Not exactly first-date material. Which, I might add, you set yourself up for.”

“I’m guessing frottage is pretty dirty, too, then.”

“You’d be guessing right,” he said, a hard edge in his voice. “Jesus, Marie. How is it that a smart, pretty girl like you can be so clueless when it comes to men?”

I stared at him, wounded. “I just wanted him to like me.”

“And would you have slept with him just to get him to like you?”

I hesitated. If he wanted the honest-to-God truth, I didn’t have that answer. I’d thought about it, and I wasn’t averse to using my body to get a vampire’s interest. If sleeping with someone bought me fifty extra years of life? I’d do it in a heartbeat.

“I don’t believe you, Marie.” Josh stared at me as if he didn’t know me. “What is going on in that brain of yours?”

I shook my head and got my keys out of my purse. “I’m going home.”

I expected him to protest, but he only stared at me.

I got in my car and left.

• • •

I dated another vampire the next night, and I didn’t tell Josh. I didn’t want him sabotaging my personal business.

As soon as I got there, though, I realized I’d made a mistake. This one? Flat-out scared me. He arrived with a bodyguard walking two feet behind him. The bodyguard stood behind the table at all times, and he jumped at the slightest noise.

We dined at an Italian restaurant, though my date ate and drank nothing. It made me uncomfortable, and I had a hard time eating my meal as well. We made small talk, and I didn’t throw down the sex-bomb. I’d learned my lesson.

The entire time we talked, the vampire watched me.

At first, I didn’t think too much of it. He had a direct stare, but I attributed it to his watchfulness and the presence of the bodyguard. But as the night went on, I began to grow more and more uneasy at his tightly controlled motions and the dead, emotionless expression on his face. Even when he smiled, it didn’t reach his cold, cold eyes.

I felt like prey.

For the first time since working at the dating agency, I was uncomfortable in the presence of a supernatural. And I began to see what Josh had been warning me about.

This man didn’t want a date. He wanted a diversion. At best, he wanted an easy meal. At worst, he wanted someone he could easily bury in the backyard.

I suffered through two hours of the date before calling it done. Even then, I felt his gaze watching me as I left. We were only two blocks from the dating agency, but I didn’t trust him enough to make the walk alone. I called a taxi and hid in the restroom until it arrived.

Another lesson learned.

When I got back to the agency, Josh was there, waiting in my seat.

He was chatting with Ryder but got to his feet when I entered the door. A sexy smile curved his mouth at the sight of me, and he pulled out an enormous box of chocolates with a big ribbon on the top. He held the chocolates out toward me and pulled out my seat, inviting me to sit down. “Peace offering?”

I glanced at the chocolates, then back at his too-innocent face. “Are you going to interrupt one of my dates again?”

“It depends,” he said easily. “Is another man going to offer to give you the shocker?”

“Do what?” Ryder’s wide blue eyes turned to me. “Did he just say what I think he said? Did someone try to give you a shocker?”

“No,” I hissed, yanking the chocolates out of Josh’s hand and dropping them on the desk. “Can we please change the subject? I’m still mad at you, Josh. What you did is unforgivable.”

Josh looked nonplussed. “So I should have left you there and let that guy manhandle you? Say disgusting things to you? Perhaps let him demonstrate his moves on you?”

“Yes,” I snapped. “You should have. Are we dating? No, we’re not. Therefore, not your business.”

Josh’s face grew hard. “Well, then, I’m sorry if I took up your time, Marie. It won’t happen again.”

My chest began to have this funny ache, but I said nothing when he stormed out the front door, making the bell clang loudly against the glass.

Ryder stared at it. “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen Josh mad.”

It was the first time for me, too. I’d pushed him too far. Instead of being indignant about the whole thing, I just felt . . . awful. Like I’d screwed up. He’d only been trying to help me. He’d been protecting me, been a friend. And I’d been nasty to him. He’d come to apologize and I’d chased him away again.

I chased everyone away.

Suddenly weary to the core, I laid my head on my desk and felt like crying.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Ryder asked softly.

“No.”

“Do you have someone else you want to talk about it with?”

I had only one other friend besides my coworkers. And he’d just stormed out the door because I’d been awful to him. I sat up and pressed my face in my hands. “Why am I so bad with people, Ryder?”

“It’s a gift,” she said lightly.

“Thanks.”

“I don’t know Josh as well as you,” she said thoughtfully, toying with the glittery ruler on her desk. “But unless I miss my guess, it’s hard to get him angry, and it’s probably harder to keep him angry. Maybe you should . . . gee, I don’t know, try apologizing?”

I stared at the box of chocolates on my desk. I’d turned down his flowers and his coffee, and yet he’d kept trying. He was determined to break through my icy shell and get to the real me inside, the one I hid away from everyone. Why? Was it the challenge of trying to score with me? Was he fascinated because I turned him down? Or was Josh simply being the nice white knight to me like he was to Carol?

Either way, after tonight, I doubted he was going to flirt with me ever again.

Maybe it was the exhaustion, or my disease, but I was tired of pushing everyone away. “Ryder—”

“Red Bull run? Sounds great,” she said. “Pick one up for me, will ya?”

“You’re the best.”

She grinned. “I know.”

I hurried out to the parking lot, thinking for a moment. I could text him . . . or I could swing by the diner and see if this was one of Carol’s nights.

Sure enough, I caught Josh as he was tucking Carol into the passenger side of his car. I threw mine into park and jumped out, racing over to his side. “Josh, can we talk?”

He gave me a cool look as he calmly closed Carol’s door, then turned away from me. “I’m pretty sure we’ve both said enough tonight.”

“I think there’s more to be said,” I added quickly.

“I don’t.” He began to walk around the other side of the car.

“Josh,” I began.

He didn’t turn around.

“Josh,” I said again, louder, trying to get his attention.

He opened his car door, as if he was about to drive away.

“Will you please pay attention to me?” I snapped. “I’m trying to apologize to you.”

He paused, then leaned against the side of the car. His eyes flashed like a cougar’s, and I knew he was still angry about my words earlier.

Merde.

“Doesn’t sound much like an apology so far,” he told me.

“That’s because you’re not making this easy,” I said, stalking toward him. I moved directly in front of him, and when his gaze grew even more direct, I dropped my eyes. “And I’m not good at apologizing.”

I felt his hand go to my waist, and a shiver ripped through me.

“Nor am I good at letting people in,” I admitted. “I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad at me. I can’t stand the thought of you being mad at me.”

His hand reached up and brushed my cheek. “Marie,” he said, so softly I could barely hear it. “I don’t know what’s going on in that gorgeous head of yours. I don’t know why you’re determined to visit every vampire in this territory and see if he wants to sleep with you. I can’t begin to imagine what this is.” His beautiful eyes studied me. “Some sort of personal challenge?”

“Something like that,” I told him. Seemed safest.

His thumb stroked across my lower lip. “What do you have to prove? I know that you are beautiful. And sexy. And you drive me crazy. You know that, too.”

My eyes widened.

“And if you want a one-night stand with a supernatural,” he said, leaning in so close that his breath brushed against my cheek, “I’ll break out my fangs, lick you for hours, and then ride you so hard that you’ll be bowlegged the next day.”

And he kissed me. Hot. Wet. Possessive. His mouth swooped over mine and his tongue thrust against mine in a move that was a decided claim. And then he pulled away, leaving me dazed and wanting.

“So you think about that,” he whispered.

He got in the car, buckled his seat belt, and drove away with Carol.

I thought about his hard, possessive kiss. Josh was so laid-back and easygoing, yet he’d grown fierce on vampire Lonnie when he’d felt I’d been threatened. He’d grown even more possessive when he’d kissed me. He constantly touched me and complimented me. I felt branded. Claimed by him.

This . . . was going to be a problem.

And yet I toyed with the idea of taking what Josh was promising. Not as a solution to my problem—if he turned me, it’d be a death sentence, like Sara said. It would destroy the Russell clan if one of the cougars turned a human when they’d banned the act for others. No one would trust them, and the Alliance would crumble.

So I still needed a vampire.

But I could have just a quick fling, like he’d offered. Get this wild attraction out of our blood, since he didn’t do long term and I couldn’t do long term. We could make wild, passionate love with no strings attached.

And then he could go back to just being Josh, and I could go back to finding a vampire to turn me.

Did I want a one-night stand? I wasn’t a virgin. I’d given that up back in high school, despite being gawky and insecure. My boyfriend then had been equally gawky and insecure, and a few rounds of sex had done nothing for his confidence or mine. After my mother’s death, I’d deliberately had very few friends. I didn’t date. I didn’t do casual sex.

I didn’t do casual anything, I realized. Maybe it was time to change that.

I thought of the vampire I’d had dinner with tonight and I shuddered, getting back into my car. Josh was sexy and alive and inviting. That man had been a cold killer. A night of hot were-cougar sex might be the only opportunity I had for pleasurable sex ever again.

• • •

The rest of that evening at work crawled by. Ryder and I answered phones, updated files, and went through a backlog of email. The usual stuff, except that I was working at half speed. I was finding it hard to focus, and I kept rubbing my eyes and seeing the letters on the screen blur anyhow.

“Girl, you need to go home and get a good night’s sleep,” Ryder told me, sounding cheerful and buzzed despite the early hour. She sipped another cup of coffee and straightened her stack of folders. “You look wiped.”

I shook my head and squinted, trying to focus my gaze. “I’m good.” It wasn’t as if I’d be able to sleep anyhow.

My phone rang and I picked it up, fighting the wave of anxiety crashing through me. My screen was still blurry, my vision skewed. “Hello?”

“Ma petite puce, it’s me. Got a minute?”

Oh, Lord. Little flea—my nickname from when I was a child. “Of course, Dad. What’s up?”

“Well, I was realizing it’s been a few weeks since we’ve gotten together,” he said, all smiles in his voice.

My vision finally cleared, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “It has been a few,” I agreed. “I thought you were busy with work?”

“I am, but I have this next week off,” he said. “Posey and I are going to Vegas again!”

I forced a smile so he’d hear it in my voice. “That sounds great, Dad. You’ll have to have a drink on me.”

“We want you to come with us! It’ll be fun, just the three of us. We can hit all the casinos. You haven’t seen someone play blackjack until you’ve seen Posey play.”

I grimaced at the thought. “I don’t think I can get off work, Dad.”

“Oh, call in sick. How often do you get to spend time with your dear old dad?”

Not often enough. But I looked at the box of chocolates on my desk. Thought about the fierce kiss Josh had given me in the parking lot. Thought about the next vampire date, booked two days from now. “I wish I could. Maybe you guys can swing by after the trip and tell me about it?”

We chatted for a bit longer, my father extolling the virtues of Posey and me listening patiently as I nibbled on a chocolate. They were delicious—the expensive kind, and Ryder had swooped up a handful, unable to resist as well. I nodded and made the appropriate responses as my father talked about the adventures on his latest flight. The weather had been bad on his last trip; he’d been stranded for two days in Manila. And did I know that he’d tried balut for the first time last week?

When Bathsheba entered the office, I decided to end the call. “I’m sorry, Dad, but my shift’s about to end. Call me when you’re back from Vegas and we’ll meet up, okay?”

“Sounds good. I’ll put a few chips down in your honor.”

I smiled. “You do that. Love you, Dad; have fun.”

Bath paused by my desk, eyeing the half-eaten box of chocolates and scattered cans of Red Bull on my desk. “Long night? You look wiped.”

I was getting really damn tired of everyone telling me that I looked awful. But I knew she didn’t mean anything by it, so I simply gave her a faint smile and held the box up. “Chocolate?”

As she plucked one from the box, my vision wavered and went blurry again. Anxiety clenched my stomach as strange lights flashed before my eyes.

Was my disease getting worse? The next step was hallucinations—which meant it was progressing, and fast. I rubbed my eyes and silently willed the sliding colors to go away.

When I opened them again, the colors were gone. Relieved, I reached for my computer mouse . . . and halted.

It looked like a giant cockroach.

I held in a screech and abruptly got up from my chair. Ryder glanced up at me, and I gave her a shaky smile. “I think I need a soda.” I hurried away from my desk, hoping that by the time I returned, my mind would stop playing tricks on me.

It was going to be a long night.