Fangs But No Fangs (33 page)

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. "I'm just being… silly."

She frowned but accepted his explanation. He knew she realized there was more that needed to be said, but she didn't pressure him. Maybe she didn't want to hear the truth any more than he wanted to say it.

As Jolee worked around the bar that next afternoon, putting away the large shipment of liquor, she thought about the previous night. What had Christian wanted to tell her?

He wasn't exactly back to the hot/cold guy she'd first met, but he was acting… strange. Last night at the bar, he'd seemed almost edgy. Then they'd gotten back to her trailer and he'd made love to her with so much passion that she sighed just thinking about it. Then she sighed again, her body tingling at the memory. But underneath all the passion, she had the feeling he was holding something back.

In bed, he'd started to talk about his family, and she thought he was finally going to share what was bothering him. But he stopped. And he made love to her again, and while it was wonderful, she had the feeling it was just another diversion from what was troubling him.

He'd told her earlier that he wasn't a good person. That he was just as bad as any of her past boyfriends. She didn't believe that, refused to believe that. But… but what if it was true? What if…

No, she just didn't believe that about him. Or about his brothers and Jane. But he had mentioned the skeletons in his family's closet. From what she'd seen, his brothers and Jane made her family look even more like the Mansons.

Rhys reminded her of the quintessential oldest brother, a little serious, but very caring. Sebastian was the carefree, charming baby brother. Jane was simply the nicest woman she'd ever met. She really liked Jane, and felt a kinship to her right away. The new friendship with Jane was as novel as having Christian's love. She knew Jane could be a true friend.

She didn't want to lose that. And she couldn't lose Christian. She loved him. Madly. And she was petrified that he was going to end things with her. She didn't know why, exactly. After all, he'd proposed.

She paused from cutting open a box of beer. At least she thought he'd proposed. That was all that "giving her forever" could mean, right? But now, she just wasn't sure. He hadn't said anything to his brothers about proposing. He hadn't even said anything more to her.

She turned to start putting the beers into one of the coolers. She was so confused. Did Christian regret the suggestion? Was that what he wanted to tell her? She didn't think so, but she didn't know.

A noise pulled her from her fixating, and she looked up from her task to see a man in the doorway. He appeared to be in his sixties, wearing a brown tweed jacket despite the warmth of the day. He also wore a tweed golf cap and small wire-rimmed glasses. If he'd been smoking a pipe, he'd have made the perfect stereotypical professor.

"Hello," he said, his voice deep. "Are you open?"

She wasn't, but she didn't really feel like being alone with her swirling, unanswerable thoughts.

"Sure. What can I get you?"

"Could I have a scotch, neat?"

"Is Johnnie Walker all right?"

He nodded, sitting down on a stool across from her.

She searched through her boxes to find the newly delivered liquor. She cracked the seal and poured his drink in one of the new highball glasses that Christian had insisted on paying for. She placed it in front of the man.

"Thank you." He took a sip, then nodded as if to acknowledge the liquor was acceptable.

"Do you know where Shady Fork Mobile Estates is?" he asked after his second sip.

The question surprised her. He looked as likely to be going to her trailer park as… well, Christian living there. Shady Fork Mobile Estates was obviously a surprising place.

"Sure. You make a left on the road, and it's the first right. About a half mile."

He nodded.

"Are you visiting someone there?"

"More business, really," he said.

She nodded, wondering what kind of business he could have there, but she didn't think it was polite to ask. She returned to stocking the beer cooler.

"I'm a scientist," he said, and she stopped to look at him.

"Really? What do you study?" And what would he be studying at the trailer park?

He took another sip of his scotch, then said, very matter-of-factly, "I'm here to meet with a vampire."

She laughed, but quickly realized he wasn't sharing her amusement. "A vampire?"

"Yes, he lives in Shady Fork Mobile Estates."

"Oh." It was all she could think to say.

"I'm well aware of the fact that you probably think I'm mad. Many do. But vampires, werewolves, fairies, they all live amongst us."

She nodded slowly, but didn't speak. Maybe she should ask him to leave, but decided it wasn't wise to irritate the man. He could be dangerous.

"This particular vampire has a problem in that he cannot bite. Not humans, anyway."

"But that's a good thing, right?" She couldn't believe she was encouraging this conversation.

"Not in this case. He wants to mate with a mortal woman, which requires him to be able to bite. So I've come to see if I can find any cause for his inability. It's the first time I've encountered such a case. It's very exciting." His deep tone didn't change to show his enthusiasm.

Jolee watched nervously as he reached for the cuff of his sleeve, and she wondered if he had a knife or some other weapon hidden under the innocuous brown tweed. A stake maybe. What if he thought she was a vampire? She backed a little farther down the bar. But he simply checked his silver wristwatch.

"It will be about three more hours before he rises."

Jolee hoped that didn't mean he intended to stay here for that amount of time. He lifted his glass, draining the rest of the liquor.

"Well, perhaps I shall do a little sightseeing," he said, and set the glass down on the bar. "It's lovely country here."

She nodded, just wanting him to go.

He pulled out his wallet and held out a ten to her. She hesitated, then took the bill. She only half turned away from him as she rang up the drink. The cash drawer dinged, the small sound loud and unnerving in her ears. She quickly gave him his change.

"Thank you for the drink," he said, placing a tip on the bar. "And for the directions."

She nodded. After the door closed behind him, she rushed over to twist the lock. Then she crept to the window, watching until his car, a silver sedan, left the parking lot.

You just couldn't ever tell about people. She shook her head and went back to work.

Jolee greeted Christian as soon as he entered the bar. "I have to tell you about the guy who came in here today while I was putting away stock."

"Okay." Even though she didn't seem particularly upset, he worried that "the guy" was somehow connected to Vance or her hometown, and he hated that he couldn't be with her when she came into work early. Maybe he could convince her to hire someone to open the bar. If Dr. Fowler could help him, she'd soon have to anyway.

"Okay," she said as if she was preparing for a big story. "This man came into the bar—»

"If I wasn't concerned with the fact that you are telling me that the door was unlocked while you working here alone, I'd think you were setting up a joke."

"Well, it had to be some sort of joke. Even though he seemed awfully serious. He was a harmless enough guy, except he was in town to go to, of all places, Shady Fork Mobile Estates, to meet, get this…»

Christian's stomach sank before she even finished the sentence.

"A vampire." She waited as though she expected him to burst out laughing or at least frown in worried dismay. But he couldn't do either. Oh, he was dismayed, but mainly because this Fowler character had already arrived and announced that there was a vampire living in Shady Fork Mobile Estates. He had asked Rhys to contact the doctor again and tell him they didn't need his help yet. He hardly expected the man to show up so soon. And going around town telling people there were vampires in their midst? Christian was starting to side with Sebastian on the legitimacy of this supposed doctor.

"Christian?" she finally questioned when he didn't react. "Isn't that the craziest thing?"

He nodded vaguely.

She frowned. "What's wrong? You look pale."

"It… it just scares me that you could have been hurt."

She smiled. "No, he was harmless. I think."

Just then, Rhys, Jane, and Sebastian strode into the bar. Rhys and Jane both looked concerned, and Sebastian wore a general look of disgust. Christian groaned silently. He didn't think their expressions were a good sign.

"Christian, can I talk to you for a moment?" Rhys asked, forcing an easy smile at Jolee. Christian didn't think she bought the look, but she smiled back.

"Sure. I'll be right back," Christian told Jolee. He could tell she wanted to ask what was going on, but she just nodded.

Jane stayed at the bar, but Sebastian followed them.

"Dr. Fowler is here," Rhys said as soon as they were outside in the parking lot.

"And he's a loon," Sebastian added.

Rhys frowned at him.

"Well, he is," Sebastian said.

"I know he's here," Christian said. "Would you believe he showed up at the bar for a drink and told Jolee he was here to see a vampire?"

"What?" Rhys said.

"See." Sebastian shook his head. "Loon. Total loon."

"I'm starting to agree," Christian stated, "but at the moment I'm a little more concerned with Jolee. She thought the man was a nut, but now I don't know what to do. It was going to be hard enough to tell her about me— us— without Fowler breaking the news first."

"Are you going to tell her?" Rhys asked.

"I don't know." Christian knew he had to do something. But he didn't know how. If he'd been able to break the news slowly, maybe he could have eased her into the idea. Oh, who was he kidding? There was no easing anyone into the idea of vampirism. But Fowler really hadn't helped the situation.

"You should tell her," Sebastian said with a definitive nod. "She'll accept you. I can tell."

Both Christian and Rhys gave him a dubious look.

"What?" Sebastian said defensively. "If there is one thing I know, it's women, and she loves you, man. She'll understand. Just go slow. And be sincere."

"Like you know about sincere," Rhys said flatly.

Sebastian sneered.

Christian ignored his brothers, trying to decide what to do. Fowler had sort of thrown the information out on the table, but he was the one who had to tell her. And he did have to. If he wanted a future with her, he had to. She deserved the truth. And if she couldn't accept him, he'd let her go. It was the honorable thing to do. And he wanted to be honorable, for her.

"Okay, I'm going to do it."

"Good," Sebastian said.

Rhys nodded.

They entered the bar, and Christian strode directly to the bar and to Jolee.

"Jolee, I need to talk to you."

She hesitated as if she didn't want to talk. As if she was afraid of what he was going to tell her. Did she guess?

"Okay." She nodded. "Do you want to talk in my office?"

"Could we go somewhere a little more private?"

"Well, I can't leave the bar," she pointed out.

"Sure you can." Sebastian stepped forward. "Rhys and I run a nightclub. We can handle the bar for a while."

She looked at his brothers apprehensively.

"It's okay," Jane assured her. "We'll do a good job."

Jane's promise seemed to pacify Jolee, and she nodded. "Okay."

Christian waited while she walked down the length of the bar and joined him. He could feel her anxiety as she fell into step beside him; it was an oppressive feeling on his skin. He wanted to take the emotion away, but he knew it was going to get worse before it got better.

Jolee sat in Christian's car, unable to calm her racing heart or relax back against the seat. What was he going to tell her? She kept chanting to calm down, but her body wouldn't listen. She simply had too much bad news and negative experiences in her life to let herself believe this would be any different.

She managed to throw a quick glance over at Christian, but he was focused on the road, his jaw set, his expression grim.

Dread filled her. This wasn't good.

He parked the car in front of her trailer, and came around to open the door for her, but she couldn't wait for him. She was too nervous.

He stood back and waited for her to close the door, then he let her lead him into the trailer. Once inside, they both just stood there.

Finally the tension was simply too much.

"What is going on, Christian?" she demanded.

He didn't answer right away. Instead, he stared down at the floor as if the worn beige linoleum was suddenly fascinating.

"Please," she said, "tell me. You're scaring me."

He looked up then. "That's why I don't want to tell you. I never, never wanted to frighten you."

Her chest tightened and she found it hard to breathe. He was frightening her, very much. But now they couldn't not go forward. She knew he had something awful to tell her, and as much as she'd like to just go back and pretend there was no problem, there was.

"Is it about your family? Or you?"

"All of us."

She couldn't imagine what it could be. They were a great family. They hadn't even hesitated to forgive Christian for Lilah. They hadn't hesitated to take her in and make her feel a part of them.

"Are… are you in the mafia?" She knew it was a lame suggestion but one of the only ones she could think of.

He frowned. "No."

"A cult?" she added almost jokingly.