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"While we were walking to the car." J.L. took another bite. "You were unconscious at the time. Robby was carrying you."
She winced. She couldn't believe she'd fainted like that. She never fainted. But then she didn't usually spend her evenings surrounded by dead bodies while she discovered her boyfriend was a vampire and her boss was a dog.
She took another drink. "Where is Barker?"
"He's in his room. He didn't think you were up to seeing him just yet."
She sighed. "It's so strange. I had no idea. I mean his name is a major clue, but people can be named Wood without it meaning they can shift into a two by four."
"Yeah." J.L. stuffed more pizza in his mouth. "But it does explain a few things."
"Like what? His special fondness for fire hydrants?"
J.L. snickered. "No. I mean he never questioned your abilities. When the other guys in the office thought you were crazy or a sham, he believed in you. In fact, he requested you."
"Really? I never knew that."
J.L. nodded. "He already knew weird-assed crap was for real."
She plucked an olive off the pizza and popped it in her mouth. "You believed me from the beginning."
"Well, sure, but I'm a really smart guy."
She smiled. "Yes, you are."
Her cell phone rang and she flinched. Was it Robby? She stared at the phone. She'd left it on the bedside table between the two double beds.
J.L. rose to his feet. "You want me to get that?"
"Not really." The phone rang again.
"What if it's Robby?" J.L. walked over to her phone.
"I don't want to talk to him."
"Because he's a vampire?"
"Yes."
"Oh, come on, Liv. Nobody's perfect."
"I'm not expecting perfection. I just think a heartbeat would be nice." The phone rang again.
J.L. frowned at her. "It really could be worse, you know. He could be like a...zombie who eats your brains."
She grimaced. "That's not helping."
J.L. opened her phone. "Hello? Oh, hi, Robby." He gave Olivia a pointed look. "So what's up? Are you out biting people?"
There was a pause, then J.L. covered the phone. "He says he drinks synthetic blood from a bottle, the kind they make at Romatech."
Romatech. She snorted. That would be a favorite place for vampires to hang out.
"Okay," J.L. said into the phone, then looked at her. "He says he wants to talk to you."
She shook her head. "I don't want to talk to him. Not yet. Maybe after a few days. Or weeks."
J.L. sighed. "Sorry, dude. She's not ready to talk to you yet."
Robby suddenly appeared in the room. "She'll get over it."
Olivia jumped and spilled diet cola down her sweatshirt. "Damn!"
"Whoa!" J.L. snapped the phone shut. "Dude, what a way to make an entrance."
Olivia set her bottle on the table. "I'm not ready for this. I assume you can leave the same way you came in?"
Robby frowned at her. "We need to talk."
J.L. put her phone back on the bedside table. "I guess I should leave you two alone."
"No!" Olivia jumped to her feet. "Don't leave me."
Robby stiffened. "Do ye think I would harm you, lass? Have ye forgotten how much I love you?"
"I remember." She crossed her arms over her damp shirt. "I also remember talking to you for months, and you never told me the truth about yourself."
"I was going to tell you tomorrow night."
"That's a little late, don't you think? You should have told me before taking me to bed!"
He stepped toward her. "I hesitated, remember? Ye thought it was because I dinna want you, but it was because I knew ye deserved the truth first. But ye wouldna wait! Ye forced my hand."
She snorted. "I forced you to have sex with me?"
"I'm seriously outta here." J.L. grabbed the pizza box. "You don't mind if I take this, right? Barker wanted a few slices, and I'm guessing you're not into it."
"Ye can take it," Robby muttered.
J.L. glanced at Olivia. "If you need me, call."
"Fine." She plopped down in her chair and scowled at the worn carpet.
The door shut, and she was alone with Robby. Anger simmered deep inside her, along with hurt.
He sat on the bed across from her. "I realize ye're in shock."
"I think I'm over the shock and denial stage."
"That's good."
She glared at him. "And I'm rapidly moving into the royally pissed stage."
He winced. "How long does that one last?"
"As long as I want it to." She stood and paced across the room. "You should have told me. You know how much I value honesty. You should have been honest with me from the beginning."
He turned in his sitting position to face her. "Be honest with yerself, Olivia. If I had told you the truth up front, ye would have refused to see me again."
"We talked for months and you never told me. You purposely deceived me."
"I fell in love with you. That was no' a deception."
She didn't want to talk about love. It had happened so quickly on Patmos, as if it were magical. She'd thought she was falling for the perfect man, but now she realized she didn't even know him. "Who - what are you exactly? Are you dead or alive or something in between?"
"I'm alive right now. My heart is pumping blood. My mind is thinking how beautiful ye are. My eyes have noticed ye're no' wearing a bra."
She crossed her arms and winced at the feel of her damp, sticky sweatshirt. "And during the day, when you never call or e-mail, are you sleeping or unconscious?"
"I'm dead."
She gave him a dubious look. "Seriously...dead?"
"Aye." He nodded slowly. "'Tis a major drawback to my condition."
"I should say so."
"When I doona respond to yer messages during the day, 'tis no' because I'm being rude or neglecting you."
"Right. You're not emotionally unavailable. You're just dead." She rubbed her brow. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
He frowned. "'Tis no' all bad, being a vampire. We have some excellent perks. A prolonged life - "
"How old are you?" she interrupted.
"I was born in 1719."
Her knees buckled and she sat on the other bed. He was almost three hundred years old. He didn't age. And she did. This was terrible. "What other...perks?"
"I have superior strength and speed. Heightened senses. I can levitate, teleport, or use mind control."
She stiffened as her anger flared back to life. "Some of your friends used mind control to make Harrison and the sheriff leave."
"Aye."
"Harrison drove all the way home, and he has no memory of ever coming here."
Robby nodded. "We can erase memories if we need to."
Her anger escalated to a boil. "So you manipulate us mere mortals whenever you feel like it?"
His jaw shifted. "We doona do it unless we have a good reason."
Like making sure a woman fell in love really fast?
She jumped to her feet, glaring at him. "Did you ever use mind control on me?"
His mouth thinned. "Aye."
She cried out with rage. "You bastard!"
He stood. "Let me explain."
"No! I knew I fell for you too fast. You - you were making me - "
"Nay! I only controlled you once. Ye were in the sea and freezing to death. I told you to sleep so ye wouldna see me teleport you to the patio - "
"You teleported me?"
"Aye. So I could put you in the hot tub. I was trying to save you."
And she'd been so grateful, so impressed, so ready to fall completely in love. But what if he'd manipulated the whole thing? "Did you arrange it all? Did you know about the panther?"
"I dinna know Carlos was planning to frighten you."
"Carlos?"
Robby winced. "Carlos Panterra. He's a shifter."
She stumbled back a step. "Carlos was the...?"
"Panther, aye."
"He's a cat?" And her boss was a dog. She shook her head. Was her next door neighbor a goldfish? "He scared the hell out of me. Why?"
"He was playing matchmaker. He thought if I rescued you - "
