"Let's take mine, that way there's no argument over who's driving," Tony grinned, leading me toward his rental.
"Do you often have arguments over who's driving?" I asked as I slipped my seatbelt on.
"You have no idea. My dog wants to drive all the time. I tell him when he gets a car, he can drive."
"Does he have a license?"
"He's studying the manual."
"Sounds like an insurance nightmare." I settled back in my seat while Tony drove us out of the parking lot.
I ordered the least amount of food I could—a small salad and a bowl of gumbo, picking at it for the most part. What I enjoyed most was talking to Tony. He laughed. Actually laughed—a lot. It was heavenly to sit across from somebody who not only wanted to talk to me but wanted to see me smile and make me laugh, too. He tried to get me to order dessert but I refused. I was already going to have to bring up what I'd ingested, so I excused myself to go to the ladies' room and do just that. I had a small purse with me and there was a tiny bottle of mouthwash inside it just for situations such as this. Waiting until I was the only one inside the bathroom, I quickly brought up everything I'd eaten and flushed it away, rinsing my mouth with the mouthwash afterward. I felt better when I went back to the table. Tony had already paid the check, so we left.
We drove to one of the public beaches on Mustang Island. Tony had gotten a parking permit so we walked down the beach for a ways. I'd left my shoes in the car so I could feel the sand beneath my feet. Tony had jeans and athletic shoes on and went walking like that. After a while, his arm came around me and I didn't try to move away.
"How's your condo holding up?" I asked as we walked along. "Do you have cheese puffs between the sofa cushions yet?"
"How did you know about that?" he teased, squeezing my shoulder.
"It was either that or popcorn," I said. "Cheese puffs stain better. I've heard hotels and condos are asking for a deposit if you come in with a bag of cheese puffs."
"They should just buy furniture to match cheese puffs," he said in mock indignation.
"That's my general rule if you're going to eat spaghetti," I said. You have to wear something that matches the sauce you're about to eat. Red for marinara, cream for Alfredo."
"Why didn't I think of that?" he grinned.
"I'm thinking about writing a book. Don't steal my ideas."
"I'd rather steal this," he said, leaning down to kiss me. Okay, that was a little hot. As in, he's nibbling on my lower lip hot. And then giving me a little tongue and he tasted way too good for his own good. I had to push him away; my fangs were threatening to pop out.
"Sorry, I'm just not used to holding my breath that long," I apologized. I hadn't had that problem before, my fangs always behaved themselves. Always. Now, they wanted to nibble and nip on him. That couldn't be. Could never be.
"For the length of time it lasted, that was something," he breathed and kissed my neck. His arms were around me too, which was really nice. I let my forehead sink against his chest, relaxing for the first time in a very long time.
He tried to convince me to come to his condo, but I wasn't ready for that. I didn't know if I would ever be ready for that. Thanks, FVM.
We kissed a little more in the parking lot when he dropped me off near the Cadillac, and then I drove home. Tony wanted a commitment for another date, but I told him I didn't know when my next day off was, and I didn't.
Gavin didn't say a word when I walked into our apartment. Maybe he couldn't tell I'd been near another man, but Winkler certainly could and it was a good bet that if I'd had sex, (heaven forbid) he sure as hell would have known about that. I took a shower and hung up my clothes, promising myself I'd have them cleaned as soon as possible.
My job commenced the following evening and instead of having to work with Leon, Gavin passed me on his rounds. Maybe I was dreaming, but I imagined that he wanted to growl and pounce every time he walked by. Glen let me know that Winkler wanted to see me when he and Phil took over around five the next morning. Winkler was having breakfast and a cup of coffee with Davis when I walked inside the beach house.
"Lissa," Winkler pointed me toward a seat at the end of the breakfast table. I sat. "Lissa," he repeated, "it doesn't take a genius to figure out that you came up behind those fuckers and took out most of them before they ever made it to the wall. While I appreciate that, things like the bent rocket launcher don't go unnoticed. We had to explain that away, Lissa."
"I know." I hung my head a little. It was stupid. I just hadn't known what else to do at the moment.
"And Gavin tells me you're dating someone. That you've seen him twice, now." Winkler buttered a roll and bit into it.
Great. Now Gavin was spying on me and reporting it. "Do you pay him extra, just to keep tabs on me? Is that what you do?" I was standing and furious in the space of a heartbeat. "I keep your fucking house from getting blown to bits, and try to keep as many of those bumbling things you call security guards from getting killed and what do I get? I get reprimanded. And then, on top of everything else, Carnac out there is spying on me when I decide to go out and talk to somebody who doesn't mind smiling once in a while. Somebody who isn't blackmailing me, or threatening me, or who thinks I'm a bloodsucking leech. Is there something wrong with that? I don't bite him, for fuck's sake! I pretend to eat dinner, or sip a drink and we talk. Suddenly, I'm a whore? Well, Mr. I pick my women up in bars, you can take this out of my salary." I lifted the chair I'd been sitting in, twisting the metal frame into a pretzel. Tossing it in the floor, I stalked out the French door, slamming it so hard I broke two of the small glass panes.
Gavin was standing inside the guesthouse door when I came inside. Angrily I shoved him aside and nearly ran for my bedroom. I slammed that door, too. Fortunately it didn't break. My blood serum tears were falling when I slumped in the floor between the two twin beds. I always slept in the one closest to the door, giving me a clear path in case I needed to leave in a hurry. Don used to have a saying: No good deed goes unpunished. I was learning all about that—in spades. I heard shuffling outside my door but it went away after a few seconds. Just as well, dawn arrived and I didn't even have time to crawl into bed. I dropped over, right there in the floor.
"Shirley Walker is coming for dinner tomorrow, so Winkler wants you to cook," Davis was the one sent to inform me the following evening.
"What does he want?" I didn't slow my angry trek around the property and Davis had to trot just to keep up.
"He doesn't care, just something good."
"Shirley Walker," I turned to look at Davis as I walked, "never lifted a finger when the Grand Master was attacked. Neither did the rest of them, except Martin Walters and Thomas Williams. I don't think much of Shirley right now. She and Winkler might get a bowl of oatmeal." I jerked my gaze away and focused on the path again.
Davis coughed a little. "That's uh, just the way things are," he said. "When a challenge is made, if it's not the Second that's challenging, well, that's the only one who's allowed to interfere. Granted, the challenger and his second are supposed to be the only ones fighting."
"You guys have some fucked up rules," I snapped. "What would happen if Weldon had lost and Lester Briggs had won? You'd be at war right now with the vampires. Is that what you want? For things to go back to that? Sometimes, you have to stand up and defend what you believe in. Fucking wolves," I muttered.
"Hey, now," Davis said. "I've never heard you talk like that."
"That's because I've never held your race in such contempt before. Do you know how many times I heard the phrase leech, bloodsucker or fucking vampire while Weldon walked through those werewolves? Do you? It's sort of hard to keep a smile plastered on your face while that's going on."
"I've never thought of you in those terms."
"I know." I slowed down and patted Davis on the arm. "I'm sorry. That remark wasn't aimed at you."
"Can you make lasagna? That's one of my favorites." We were back to the meal.
"I know how to mak
e lasagna," I said. "I just need to buy the ingredients ahead of time. It takes a while to make it properly."
"Then go now. The store is still open in Port A and I'll watch things until you get back."
"All right," I sighed. "Thanks, Davis."
The Cadillac was almost out of gas so I filled it up while I was in town and then bought what I needed to make lasagna, garlic bread and a nice salad. Everything was in the fridge before I went back to guard the perimeter. Winkler silently watched as I put things away, his expression betraying a desire say something. Wisely, he didn't and I certainly wasn't about to start a conversation.
"You'll get your lasagna," I told Davis when I took over guard duty again.
"Winkler's just a little jealous," Davis said before he walked away. "He can't stand it that somebody else is interested." Davis waved as he strode toward the house.
The lasagna was perfect. I baked a huge pan and every bit of it disappeared. Shirley Walker didn't say a word to me as I set dinner on the table for her and Winkler. Phil, Glen and Davis ate with them. Leon was out working my shift while I cooked and cleaned up.
I never said a word to any of them and went out right after I finished with the kitchen. Gavin still looked like a thundercloud whenever we passed on our rounds and almost growled at me a time or two. Well, he could go to hell. He'd had his chance. He still smelled like heaven on earth to me but that couldn't be everything. There were other things one might want in a love interest and speaking once in a while constituted a big part of that.
Winkler didn't let me have a day off for two solid weeks and I figured Tony was probably getting ready to go home soon, if he hadn't already. Tony left me voicemail right at the two-week mark.
"Hi, this is Tony," he said. "I, uh, was waiting on you to call, this time. C'mon. Throw me a lifesaver or something. I'm drowning, here. I have to go home soon and I really wanted to see you before I left."
I'd just gotten up and showered before going to work when Davis shoved his head inside my bedroom door. "Winkler says you guys have the day off tomorrow," he said.
"Thanks," I sighed. Davis waited to see if I had anything else to say and when I didn't, he left. Gavin was still in silent movie mode; I heard Davis telling him the same thing out in the hall. Gavin mumbled something and I ignored it, tapping Tony's number on my phone instead.
"Thank God," Tony said the minute he answered his phone.
"Tony, I've worked two weeks straight without a day off. There wasn't any way I could come out with you."
"I'm sorry. I've just been going crazy here. Please tell me you have tonight off."
"I don't, but I have tomorrow night."
"That'll have to do. Can I pick you up?"
"It's better if I meet you in the usual place," I sighed. "What time?"
"Seven?" He sounded hopeful.
"No. Eight," I said. "That's as quick as I can get there."
"All right, eight then," he grumbled. "I'll be there early, just in case."
"Honey, didn't anybody ever tell you to play hard to get?" I asked.
"No, but they did tell me that absence makes the heart grow fonder. I'm counting on that one."
"I'll bring you a life saver and hatched chickens," I said, hanging up.
"Going out, again?" Gavin growled at me as I walked to the fridge to get my blood.
"What's it to you? Or is Winkler paying you by the piece? I'm sure you'll go running right to him with this bit of information." I bit the top off the unit of blood and started drinking. "You know what?" I stopped sipping for a moment, "Just send him to me and I'll tell him myself." I went back to my bedroom, drinking my dinner.
* * *
"I have to leave in two days." Tony was depressed.
"And you're the guy who didn't want to take a vacation," I said, teasing him a little.
"Please tell me you'll see me before I go."
"Tony, I can't. I have work to do."
"What's so important that you can't call in sick?" he demanded. "Everybody gets sick leave."
"I don't," I said.
"Who the hell do you work for? I'll call them up and tell them I'm from the IRS or something."
"You will not, now stop that right now."
"Come on. Tell me who you work for." He took my hand across the table.
"Do you really work for the government? Is that card for real that you gave me?" I asked. Tony's thumb was making slow circles on my hand. It felt nice, actually.
"It's for real," he said. "Why? You working for drug smugglers or something?"
"No. I work for Winkler Security," I said. "I work as a bodyguard for William Winkler. I don't get days off unless he says so."
Tony drew in a breath when I said that. "Holy shit," he muttered. "Were you in Dallas when those terrorists hit? Jesus Christ, Lissa." His gray eyes were actually concerned. I appreciated that.
"Yeah, I was there," I said. "Tonight is all we have, Tony." I put my best compulsion on him. "You won't go searching into my background. You'll just remember that we had a good time and leave it at that." I got up and leaned down to kiss him. "You're a great kisser, Tony. Thanks for dinner." I walked out of the restaurant. It was an Italian place not far from the bookstore so I didn't have any trouble getting back to the car. My sniffles had almost cleared up by that time. We had no future, Tony and I. Either he'd go looking into my background and start asking questions or ask me to come visit or something, and neither of those things were good things. Winkler wouldn't let me go. We were joined at the hip, he and I, and Tony had no place in any of that. It was a real shame. I would have enjoyed spending a lot of my time with someone who could make me laugh. In a perfect world, maybe I could have been the person to convince Tony to take a vacation now and then. With me. My world had never been perfect, but now it was as far from perfect as it could possibly get.
"Well?" Gavin was growling again.
"He leaves in two days, so I broke it off. He doesn't need to remember me or anything about me. I can't have a relationship, Gavin. You already figured that out, didn't you? Once was enough, wasn't it? Not worth it, was it, Gavin?" I walked down the hall to my bedroom and slipped inside. I intended to read, if I could see through my tears.
Things settled into a routine after that. May rolled around and Whitney and Sam got out of school for the summer. Sam was going to help his dad with the farming, so Whitney spent a lot of time at his dad's place. They'd come up for the day now and then, mostly on Sundays, and I'd cook for them. Winkler showed me an e-mail I'd gotten from Martin Walters, saying I was welcome in Fresno any time. That was nice, I thought. A written note came from Thomas Williams, Jr.
"Thank you for your kind words," it read. "I don't believe I have ever heard of any werewolf receiving condolences from a vampire before and that has made them all the more special to my family and me. The Grand Master has explained that my father wasn't the only one who went down that night. I am grateful for your life and for my father's as well. He lived a good, happy life for the most part and died with honor. That is all that any of us can hope for.
Sincerely,
Thomas Williams, Jr."
Well, maybe I was the first vampire to get a note like that from a werewolf. It was nice either way and I stuffed it in my underwear drawer. Isn't that where things like that go? Special notes, maybe a photograph or two? I thought of Tony, and wondered if I should have taken a photograph of him. He had such nice eyes and a wonderful smile. It probably wasn't a good idea to torture myself with that sort of thing anyway.
Winkler knew, whether Gavin told him or not, that the man I'd dated a whole three times was a thing of the past—he'd only been there on vacation, after all. Winkler tried to hug me a time or two, but I'd just slip out of his embrace. There were three words I was waiting to hear from him and they weren't the three words most women wanted to hear from a man. Oh, no. I was waiting for you can go, and not I love you. The three I waited for wouldn't be coming. Who knows, I'd probably stay for a while if I kn
ew I was free to go if I wanted. Winkler wasn't going to take that chance. He had somebody willing to fight for him and he wasn't giving it up.
I also received a wedding invitation from Daryl Harper and Kathy Jo Greene. They were planning a wedding the end of May on Weldon Harper's property. What do you know about that? Maybe I'd be the first vampire ever invited to a werewolf wedding. Winkler and company received invitations, too. They were all planning to attend so it looked like I'd be going.
Whitney came to the beach house primed for shopping before we flew to North Dakota, so Winkler requested that I go with her. I took money with me since I needed something nice to wear and bought three outfits. We were only staying five days but Whitney in her usual manner bought everything she saw that she wanted. I sneaked into a jewelry store while she and Sam were looking at shoes and bought two pairs of earrings for myself. Nothing fancy, just one pair in platinum and one in gold—simple hoops that would go with just about anything.
The plane ride was a bit bumpy over Kansas. There was some weather but we got out of it quickly and landed in Grand Forks close to schedule. It was around two-thirty in the morning and there were two wolves waiting with vans to take all of us to Weldon's place. I was getting to stay inside the house along with Winkler and Whitney, and tents and RVs were set up for the others. I was also surprised to learn that Gavin had a sleeping bag in the corner of my bedroom. I suppose it was to keep the vamp from going on the rampage or something. The most I'd done was twist one of Winkler's chairs into a pretzel. Of course, there was the matter of roughly twenty werewolves that I'd killed, but who was counting? The Grand Master was still alive because of that.
Kathy Jo Greene was positively glowing and I knew, even if nobody else did, that she was pregnant already. Daryl was pretty darned happy, so I guess he knew it too.
Shirley Walker came in since she was Kathy Jo's Packmaster, and the night before the wedding she held a ceremony, turning Kathy Jo over to Daryl's pack. Winkler came up beside me, whispering that it was something they did when a female went to another pack. She received the Packmaster's blessings, as it were. Weldon, as the new official Packmaster so to speak, accepted Kathy Jo and then gave her over to Daryl. It was actually a nice ceremony. I had no idea what vampire protocol was, or if there was anything even close.
Blood Wager (Blood Destiny #1) Page 18
