The Vampire’s Mail Order Bride (18 page)

Another thought niggled at him. Perhaps there was
one
other reason he’d wanted to adorn Delaney with those jewels. To test himself. To determine if seeing another woman in his beloved late wife’s jewels moved him in anyway.

It had. Just not the way he’d expected.

His first thought had been that the dragonfly had never looked as right on Juliette as it did on Delaney. A traitorous thought to be sure, but there it was. In Delaney’s bright and unreserved light, Juliette’s sainted memory had begun to fade.

He was utterly, hopelessly doomed.

Delaney suddenly appeared before him. Her lips were freshly slicked with gloss, and the scent of sugar teased at him. She grinned. “Miss me?”

“Desperately,” he replied, covering his wretched state with an answer she would think a joke. The joke was on him. The answer was the bald truth.

“Well, I’m back, so you can stop moping. Where are our drinks?”

She was the anti-Piper. A girl who colored outside the lines and made no apologies or pretense about who she was. A girl who didn’t care what was proper. A girl who didn’t wait to be kissed. He pointed lamely. “At the bar. I’m not actually sure they’ll still be there.”

“Didn’t you leave Pandora watching them?”

He frowned. That would have been a good idea. “No.”

Delaney made a face. “You don’t go out much, do you?”

He wanted her to have a good time. He
needed
her to. Needed her to fall in love with this town. That might be enough to make her stay. Another audacious thought. He waved down a passing server. “We need a table in the VIP section.”

The girl nodded. “Sure thing. That just requires the purchase of a bottle.”

He almost asked the girl if she knew who he was, but Insomnia wasn’t one of the Ellingham properties. “Fine. Bring us a bottle of that Mouton Rothschild I saw on the wine list.” If a fifteen-hundred-dollar bottle of wine didn’t buy them a place in the VIP room, nothing would.

“Excellent selection, sir. If you’ll just follow me.”

He took Delaney’s hand, happy to have her close again. “Will this make up for leaving the drinks behind?”

She laughed. “Uh,
yes
.”

The VIP section was a tier of private seating areas two steps up and roped off from the rest of the club on the left side of the building. The server got them settled and went off to get their wine.

He sat next to Delaney on the white leather sofa.

She smiled at him. “This is cozy.”

He reached over and pulled her in closer so that her backside was against his hip and they could both watch the crowd. “
This
is cozy.”

She snuggled against him. “Any cozier and we’d have to get a room.”

The thought filled him with as much wanton desire as her lush body pressed against his. He swept her hair off her shoulder and brushed a kiss on the curve of her neck, taking advantage of the closeness to inhale her perfume. That only made him want her more. How would she react if he scraped his fangs over her skin?

He kissed her again, but kept his fangs to himself.

She sucked in a breath only to let out a tiny mewl of pleasure on the exhale. She shifted and cut her eyes at him. “You’re…doing things to me.”

“Am I?” Not the things he wanted to be doing. He laughed softly, thrilled at the response he’d elicited from her. His hand stayed in her hair, running the silky strands through his fingers. “What do you think of the club?”

Her gaze turned to the crowd. The dance floor had started to fill up, and the music had taken on a more trance-like beat. “I like it. Reminds me a little of home. Not that I went out to clubs very much. And not that any of those places had this kind of crowd.”

“I’d lay good money some of them did.”

She smiled, her expression shifting into something coy. She stared at the small sliver of couch between them before looking up at him again through her lashes. “I believe you now. About who you really are.”

He nodded. “And you’re okay with that?”

She lifted her head to see him fully. “As strange as it is, yes.”

Relief flooded him. “Thank you.”

She canted her head. “For?”

“For not letting it frighten you away.”

“It never bothered any of your other girlfriends.”

She was so adorable. He snorted softly. “I never told any of them.”

“Oh.” Her smile faded. “I guess you wouldn’t have told me either then.”

“Except I thought you already knew. Well, Annabelle.”

She nodded, her eyes clear and guileless. A few long moments passed before she spoke again, this time staring into his eyes. “What’s happening between us?”

There it was. The question that had danced through his head all night. And as he thought the answer—we’re falling in love—the realization that he’d forgotten one very important fact slammed him in the chest. Chemistry or not, he could not risk another woman’s life in the turning. “We’re enjoying each other’s company. As friends do.”

A delicate frown bent her pretty mouth. “You mean, we’re just friends then?”

He nodded while the lie twisted his insides. “Just friends.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “So when you left our drinks at the bar and showed up about to take Nick’s head off, that was you just being friendly.”

Ah. She’d noticed that after all. “I—”

“Also,
friendly
kissing rarely involves tongue. Just saying.”

He hesitated. This was neither the time nor the place to tell her that his late wife’s death was his fault and the fear of that happening again meant he could never give his heart to another woman.

She spoke before he could. “Look, I don’t know what kind of woman you think I am, but I’m
not
the friends with benefits type. At all.”

That phrase was only vaguely familiar. He squinted at her. “Friends with benefits?”

Her mouth bunched to one side. “I don’t sleep with men I’m not committed to.”

He straightened. “I never thought…no, of course not.” He frowned. “Is that what happens these days? Relationships have turned into friends with benefits?”

She shrugged one shoulder and went back to watching the crowd. “For some, I guess.”

The server returned with their wine. It took her a couple of minutes to set everything up and pour them both a glass after Hugh approved it. Once he’d signed the check and they were alone again, he took Delaney’s hand.

“Listen to me.”

She set her wine glass down and turned to him. “Yes?”

“I’m not looking for benefits of any kind unless it’s a mutual decision. As far as commitment goes—”

“I know. You’re not looking for it.” She smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I wasn’t trying to pressure you into anything or make you feel like—”

He cut her off with a kiss, not caring that they were in public and the rumors it would start. He lingered over her mouth, allowing himself a long, languid taste of her. When he finally released her, she seemed a little breathless. “You drive me mad, Delaney. I haven’t felt like this in a very long time, and the truth is, it frightens me a little.”

It frightened him a lot. Her future with him could be a very short one.

She leaned her head to one side. “What are you afraid of? Getting hurt? That’s part of life.”

He just shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about it here.”

She studied him, the look in her eyes shifting to sympathy. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t even live here. And now that your grandmother knows the truth about me, I guess the thirty-day deal is off.” She eased her hand out of his. “I should probably think about what I’m going to do next.”

“Stay.” He’d said it without hesitation.

She blinked. “Why? You don’t want a serious relationship. And I’m not interested in being your live-in…whatever that would make me.”

“Maybe…maybe I don’t know exactly what I want except for you to stay.”

She bit her lip. “Do you really feel that way or are you doing this out of pity for me and my situation?”

He picked up his glass of wine. “Keeping you safe has a lot to do with it, but it’s because of the way I feel that I care about keeping you safe. Say you’ll stay. Let’s drink to it.”

Her wine stayed on the table. “I can’t just stay here indefinitely.”

“Why not?” Indefinitely sounded just fine to him. Permanently sounded better.

“I don’t live here.”

“You could.”

“I need a job.”

“I can help you find one.” Or he could just take care of her, but he had a feeling that suggestion wouldn’t go over well. “Also, Captain loves it here.”

She frowned, but there was a sparkle in her eyes. A second later she laughed and picked up her wine glass. “Bringing my cat into this is playing dirty.” She clinked her glass against his. “You’re a hard man to argue with.”

“And I like to get my way.”

“Gee, that doesn’t remind me of your grandmother at all.” She sipped her wine. “We need to set some rules if I’m going stay.”

“Such as?”

“Honesty always. We started off with lies. No more of that.”

“Agreed. What else?”

“We give this—us—a shot. A real shot.”

His eyes narrowed. “What are you asking me for exactly?”

She hesitated. Gathering her courage perhaps. “That we both put our baggage aside and give this relationship a fighting chance. Otherwise, what’s the point? We’re doomed to fail if we don’t.”

He nodded. “I can…try.”

“Good.” She leaned in, beaming at him with the kind of naughty grin that curled his toes. “Because if you’re willing to do that, then I think we can talk about adding some
benefits
.”

Delaney enjoyed Hugh’s stunned, open-mouthed response to her suggestion. She sipped her wine and took it all in, amazed that she could get that kind of response out of a centuries-old vampire.

Huh. Her boyfriend was a vampire.

He finally cleared his throat and found his voice. “What kind of benefits are you talking about?”

“Yeah, what kind of benefits?” Julian plopped down on the sofa next to them. He waved at one of the servers. “Hey, gorgeous, can you bring us another glass? Thanks.”

With a grin, he put his feet up on the table and sat back. He gave Hugh a very pointed look. “Look at you, out at Insomnia of all places. And with a
date
.”

Hugh’s expression went stony. “I thought you preferred the human clubs, Julian.”

Julian shrugged. “Even I need a break once in a while. Besides, I like to dip my toe into both sides of the river, if you know what I mean. Human, supernatural, I like ’em all.”

Hugh grimaced. “If only it was just your toe you were dipping.”

Delaney rolled her lips in to keep from laughing.

The server brought another glass and poured wine for Julian. He lifted the glass to them. “Here’s to the happy couple then.”

“We were just going home, actually,” Hugh said.

Julian ignored the hint. “Before you do, I thought you should know I ran into Piper.”

Hugh snorted. “There’s a lot of that going around.”

“She told me everything.” Julian flicked his gaze toward Delaney before continuing. He gestured to her with his glass. “She’s got it out for you.”

Delaney waved her hand. “Tell me something I don’t know about Psycho Barbie.”

“It’s handled,” Hugh said.

Julian nodded. “And very well if the two of you are still a thing. I guess it also explains why you’re here.”

“What do you mean?” Delaney asked.

“I mean you two must have had a real heart to heart and dished all your secrets. My brother doesn’t share his true nature with the women he dates.” Julian fluttered his lashes. “The fact that he did that with you can only mean it’s love.”

“Julian—”

“It’s too late to protest, brother dear.” He tipped his head at Delaney. “You can’t pretend otherwise when you’ve got this one wearing your dead wife’s jewelry, now can you?”

Delaney’s hand flew to the dragonfly. A chill ran through her, more because Hugh had lied to her—his mother’s, indeed—than because of who it actually belonged to. Although that was a little creepy too. “This was your wife’s?”