SeducedByTheAntiHero (7 page)

Trying to mask all of the completely inappropriate thoughts
that were firing off in her brain, she cleared her throat and flashed him a
smile. “You sure you’ve never written a novel before?”

Rolling his shoulders as though he were suddenly
uncomfortable, he frowned. “Hey, it’s your story. You can write about what you
want. Those are just my thoughts, for what they’re worth.”

“No, I like your idea.” And she really did. “It’s ten times
better than anything else I was coming up with on my own. It’s definitely something
I’ll have to think about and expound upon later.”

He nodded stiffly, then looked like he was about to say
something else when someone called his name. Emma turned to see that it was the
guitar player motioning for him to get back on stage.

“Guess break’s over.” He stood. “You sticking around for a
while?”

“Yeah, probably.” She nodded.

Giving her another nod, he ventured back toward the stage. Did
that mean he wanted her to stay or not? Or maybe he didn’t care either way. But
then why ask? Maybe the question should be why
she
cared so much.

Heaving out a self-disgusted sigh, she got up from the table
and went in search of Chloe and her promised martini that seemed to be taking
an extra-special long time to make. She found her friends congregated by the
bar chatting with Tyler and Adam when they were in between customers. Or when
Adam wasn’t flirting with one of said customers.

“So what happened? Did you guys run out of alcohol, or
what?” she asked Adam when he stopped chatting up a pretty redhead long enough
to notice she was standing there.

Adam’s ever-ready smile faded a little around the edges. “What
are you talking about, darlin’? If we ran out of alcohol on a Saturday night
Brandon would put my ass in a sling.”

That mental image had her laughing as she said, “I’m talking
about the martini Chloe was supposed to have ordered for me about ten minutes
ago.”

“I never ordered it,” Chloe interjected. “I was giving you
and your new lover some time alone to catch up.”

“You mean Ben?” Emma and Adam asked at the same time. Startled
by the incredulity in his tone, she turned to see a full-on worried frown
marring his handsome features.

“First of all, a one-night stand does not a lover make.” Her
comments were directed toward Chloe but she watched Adam out of the corner of
her eye. It wasn’t as though this information was a secret—nothing much was a
secret around Chloe—but she was curious about Adam’s reaction. As she spoke, he
clenched his jaw and she could see the muscle there ticking. He wasn’t jealous,
was he? No, no way. Sure he flirted with her but he flirted with every woman
within a mile’s radius, so her affections and attention were of little
consequence.

So what was with the frown?

“And second of all,” she said, trying her hardest to ignore
the unease his fraught expression caused her, “we weren’t talking about
anything exciting so you could have stayed at the table.”

“Mmhmm.” Chloe smiled at Adam. “Sweetie, could you please
make my dear friend, Emma here, a martini?”

Regaining some of his signature charm, he smiled and threw
Emma a wink. “Sure thing.”

Once she had her drink in hand, there was no more talk of
her and Ben as a couple. Instead, she, Chloe and Mina made their way onto the
dance floor leaving the men, and their odd behavior, behind them.

Eventually, as closing time approached, the band wrapped up
their set and left the stage. There were still a handful of people lingering
about for last call as she sat at the bar. She told herself that she was just
enjoying the time spent with friends and in no way was she waiting for Ben. But
when he came up behind her and braced his hands against the bar on either side
in front of her, all of her rationalizations went right out the window.

“I was thinking.” His deep voice in her ear sent goose bumps
breaking out along her skin. “How does Charlie break it to Natalie that he’s a
vampire?”

Emma laughed, then had a moment to wonder if that low,
seductive sound had actually come from her. How was it possible that he
affected her like this? He was just about the complete antithesis of the type
of man she’d always been attracted to. But against all odds, the fact still
remained that she wanted him so badly she ached with it.

“
That’s
what you were thinking about while you were
up on stage?” She tried to bring her voice back to a normal tone rather than
the husky quality it now somehow contained. But with his sheer proximity and
the way he chuckled against her skin, she didn’t think she succeeded all that
well.

“What can I say? Your book’s got me intrigued. So how does
he tell her?”

Emma twirled her half-full martini glass between her
fingers, forcing the rest of her body to remain still when she felt herself
begin to lean back against his warm hardness. “She invites him over for dinner
and he kind of slips up and has to tell her.”

“Do they fight about it?”

Frowning, she turned to look at him. “No, actually, they
don’t. At that point in the story she trusts him.”

Ben cocked an eyebrow. “Really? Does anyone else in their
small town know what he is?”

Where was he going with this? “Well, there’s another vampire
in town. One of the rogues that Charlie would have hunted before his
retirement. The rogue is killing random women because he’s trying to draw
Charlie out into the open. But he’s the only one who knows.”

He snorted. “So there’s a string of murders all of a sudden
since he moved to town and in the middle of that shitstorm he drops the vampire
bomb?
How
can she trust him at that point?”

Shaking her head she put a little space between them. “He
explains to her about the other vampire and why he’s hunting him.”

“No, they have to fight about it. No one is that gullible
and trusting. Besides,” he lowered his gaze to her mouth and licked his lips,
“make-up sex is hot as hell.”

Swallowing hard, she said, “I wouldn’t know.”

Dipping his head, he ran the tip of his nose along the side
of her neck before bringing his mouth to her ear. “I can help you with that,
Sugar.” He placed a soft kiss against the sensitive spot below her ear and she
shivered.

“How?” The question came out as a whisper so soft she was
surprised he heard her. “Are we going to get into a fight?”

This time when he looked at her there was no mistaking the
heat in his eyes or the flash of mischief that had the corners of his lips
twitching in not quite a smile. “You up for a little role-playing?”

The way his voice dropped an octave when he said that had moisture
dampening her panties. She tried to mask how hot the concept made her by
smiling playfully. “Let me guess. You’ll be the big bad vampire and I’ll be the
helpless, unsuspecting woman you’ve set your sights on?”

“Something like that,” he rumbled as he bent forward to
brush her lips with his. “You in?”

Seriously, she’d have to be a crazy person to tell him no. So,
proving her complete soundness of mind, she said, “I’m definitely in.”

Oh, the things she did for research. What a hardship.

“Good.” He straightened to his full height and shoved his
hand in his pocket to dig out his cell phone. “I’m gonna run home and grab a
shower. Give me your number and I’ll text you when I’m on my way to your motel
room.”

Something about all of that gave her pause. “Don’t you need
to know which motel I’m staying at?”

He shook his head. “Nah.” When she just looked at him he
cocked an eyebrow. “Small town, remember? I already know.”

Right. That wasn’t unsettling or anything. Taking a deep
breath, she rattled off her phone number.

“All right. See you in a bit.” He headed toward the back of
the bar.

She watched him walk away, eating up the roll of his hips
until his broad shoulders disappeared into a back hallway. When she turned back
to the bar, she realized that none of her friends had given her exchange with
Ben any attention. They all seemed completely oblivious to the fact that she
and Ben had been so close to each other, whispering intimately. Well, all but
Adam.

When their eyes met, she saw the same worried expression on
his face that he had worn earlier. If she didn’t find out what was up with him,
it was going to bug her all night. Moving to stand in front of him, she propped
her elbows up on the bar.

“Is there something on your mind you’d like to share?”

Eying her dubiously, he asked, “What do you mean?”

Emma suspected he knew exactly what she meant, but she
played along anyway. “Every time someone mentions Ben and me, or you see us
together, you get this little crinkle in your forehead and your whole body gets
tense. What’s up?”

Sighing, he flipped the towel he had been wiping some
glasses with over his shoulder. “I just want you to be careful with him, Emma. That’s
all.”

“Is this a warning for my benefit or his?” She narrowed her
eyes.

“Yours.” He leveled his gaze on her. “I love my brother more
than life itself and I’ll be the first person to tell you he’s a good guy. But
he has some problems and he tends to shut people out. Even his family.” The
muscle in his jaw ticked as he blew out a harsh breath through his nose. “I
just don’t want you to get too attached or get your hopes up. He won’t hurt you
on purpose, but sometimes he can’t see past all the shit in his head.”

It wasn’t like this was a news flash, but to hear her
suspicions confirmed by someone so close to him left her feeling deflated. In
spite of her yearning to know what it was that had him shutting out the rest of
the world, she wasn’t naïve enough to believe that she would be the one to
change him or get him to open up. He wouldn’t do that until he was good and
ready—if he ever was—not because of anything she said or did.

“Thanks, but don’t worry. He’s just helping me out with my
book and we’re having a little fun while he does. I can keep it in
perspective.” She hoped.

He nodded. “You seem like a nice girl so I figured you
deserved the heads up.”

“That’s sweet and I appreciate it,” she said with a sincere
smile.

Not long after Adam’s fair warning, the bar closed up and
they all said their goodbyes and dispersed in their separate vehicles. Adam,
she noted with amusement, went home with the pretty redhead she had seen him
flirting with earlier.

Once Emma was back at her motel room waiting for Ben, Adam’s
words rang through the silence.
Would
she be able to keep what they were
doing in perspective like she’d promised him? As much as she liked to think she
was the modern liberated woman when it came to relationships, her experiences
had been limited. She had never tried to sleep with a man without getting her
emotions involved. But that had been the point of this trip. Even if she hadn’t
met Ben it would have been
someone
. She just hadn’t thought that someone
would appeal to her on as many levels as Ben did, in spite of what she had
mentally written on her “Charming List”.

On the heels of that thought, she heard a soft knock on the
door.

Considering that this was apparently such a small town that
everyone knew where she was staying, she tiptoed over to the door to check the
peephole before answering. Just in case. For some inexplicable reason, when she
saw Ben standing on the other side of the door her pulse jumped. She had known
he was coming but the sight of him made their planned meeting real and she felt
just this side of giddy.

“Hi,” she said when she opened the door. His dark gaze met
hers briefly before travelling down the length of her body. When she had gotten
back from the bar, to keep herself from fidgeting while she waited, she had
changed into a lacey camisole and a pair of boy-shorts. Knowing what he was
coming over for, she decided to dress for the occasion.

Stepping closer to her, he ran his index finger under the
waistband of her shorts. “You look ready for whatever.”

Smiling, she shrugged. “I am.”

That amber gaze visibly darkened before he pulled away to
walk past her into the room. Quietly, she closed the door behind him then
leaned against its hard surface. His big, muscular body taking up space in her
little room seemed overwhelming but it thrilled her at the same time.

Turning to face her, he braced one lean hip against the
dresser as he folded his arms across his chest. “So what are our heroes doing
when Charlie is forced to break down and tell Natalie what he is?”

Straight down to business then, huh? Emma could live with
that. Probably made it easier in the long run anyway, she thought as she
remembered her conversation with Adam. Moving farther into the room, she sat on
the edge of the bed in front of him.

“Natalie invites him over for a late dinner and they get to
talking. Eventually, they end up lying on her bed making out. They’re so lost
in each other that they don’t notice the sun starting to rise. He realizes
before she does and puts a stop to their make-out session, saying that he needs
to get home, that he doesn’t want to take advantage of her, blah blah blah. All
the while he’s quietly freaking out, wondering how he can get to an empty room
in her house to dematerialize without her noticing. That’s when she sees it’s
daytime and goes to open her curtains. He tries to stop her but doesn’t make it
in time and the sun ends up burning him. That’s how she finds out.”

Ben let out a gruff laugh. “So she sets his ass on fire. I
like it.”

When he smiled at her like that she couldn’t help it. It was
so uncommon and wonderful that she had to smile back. “He doesn’t actually
burst into flames, but yeah, more or less.”

“Okay, we can work with this. Let’s start out where she goes
to open the curtain and he jumps up to try to stop her. Say the first line you
wrote after that and then we ad-lib. Follow my lead and do whatever comes
natural from that point.”