The waiter interrupted again by bringing the main course. Fuming on the inside, I busied myself with eating, though I couldn’t say I even tasted the food which was a shame, considering this was probably the best restaurant in a hundred-mile radius of Haven Hollow. But, for some reason, I couldn’t get my mind off the idea of Lorcan being with another woman. Furthermore, I hated the idea!

  Jeez, Wanda, get ahold of yourself! What is wrong with you?

  I wasn’t sure.

  Lorcan sat quietly watching every nuance in my face while I ate. He continued to watch me as I downed my glass of wine. He never once gave any indication that he was in any way inconvenienced that I was eating and drinking while he wasn’t. Instead, he just wore that damned expression of amusement that continued to rub me the wrong way.

  When dinner was over, Lorcan escorted me out of the restaurant without paying a thing. Come to think of it, I couldn’t remember the waiter ever bringing our check. Strangely enough, the waiter bowed us through the doors with the utmost decorum. Lorcan walked me back to the Porsche and after ensuring I was comfortably seated, he sat and started the engine.

  “Did we just dine and dash?”

  He looked at me and chuckled. “No, my dear. I took care of the check long before we ever sat down.”

  I didn’t know what to say to that, so I said nothing at all. Instead, we started the trip back to Haven Hollow in silence. The wind lulled me into a trance and I found I couldn’t take my thoughts away from Lorcan feeding on some bimbo and then having sex with her. Why I was so focused on the subject, I couldn’t say.

  “I have not made love to a woman since you moved to Haven Hollow,” he said, interrupting the silence between us.

  “Liar,” I answered, not bothering to look at him.

  “I might be many things, my dear, but a liar is not one of them.”

  I inhaled deeply and turned to look at him, realizing he was right. In all the time I’d known him, he’d never willingly told me a lie. Yes, he hadn’t come out and admitted certain things, but he hadn’t lied about them either.

  “I just… I have a hard time believing you’ve been celibate all this time.”

  “As unbelievable as it may sound, the truth is, I have been celibate. I’ve found since you came into my life, I couldn’t quite drum up any interest in other women. Perhaps such is owing to this blood bond between us? I don’t know.”

  “I don’t know either,” I answered and silently delighted in the fact that he hadn’t been with anyone else since. Once I caught myself silently delighting, I wasn’t a happy camper. Why? Because feeling this way… it had to mean I had feelings for Lorcan. And I didn’t want to have feelings for Lorcan.

  I also didn’t want to go home yet, because I didn’t want this pleasant evening to end. Going home meant facing all the problems waiting for me there.

  Lorcan kept casting me looks while he drove, but he didn’t break the silence. That left me to do it instead. “I’m sorry I’m not very good company tonight. I have a lot on my mind.”

  “It’s because you have so much on your mind that you’re such excellent company tonight,” he replied, reaching out and wrapping my hand with his. “It’s my privilege to take your mind off your problems for a while.”

  I stared out into the darkness, unable to meet his eyes. They were just so—raw. Lorcan seemed okay with wearing his emotions on his sleeves and I just… I wasn’t used to it and sometimes it was overwhelming. “Thank you for tonight. I really needed a vacation from reality.”

  “Anytime you want to get away, I’m simply a phone call away.”

  I looked at him then. “Thank you, Lorcan.”

  He slipped his hand from mine to my knee and squeezed it. “I hope, in time, we can be more than just friends.”

  I laughed. “I wouldn’t even call us friends.”

  He looked at me and his expression was hard to read. “I would.”

  I looked away, uncomfortable with all this emotional stuff.

  Lorcan continued, “Whatever we are or aren’t, Wanda, I hope you start to trust me, or at least to realize I only have your best interests at heart.”

  “You’re doing a pretty good job of convincing me so far.”

  Reaching for my hand again, he brought it to his lips. “That might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, well, don’t get used to it. Remember what I am.”

  “A beautiful woman with a kind heart,” he started.

  I shook my head. “No, I’m a witch and witches only look out for themselves.”

  It was his turn to shake his head. “We both know you are far more than that. But, keep telling yourself whatever you need to, my dear. I know the real you.”

  I stared out the window at the trees gliding past the car. If tonight taught me anything, it was that Astrid really did have a point. My situation could have been a whole lot worse. I could have ended up with a sire who didn’t care one whit about my feelings. I could have ended up with someone who didn’t care about building my trust or my confidence.

  Instead, I got Lorcan Rowe, the one vampire who cared more than I gave him credit for. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I’d been taking Lorcan for granted. Whenever he was given the opportunity, he only wanted to make me comfortable, to help me relax, to take my mind off my problems, and to give me exactly what I wanted and asked for. I thought of the Escalade’s keys that were now sitting in my purse. Then I thought about the duplex he’d rebuilt and never charged me, even though it was my fault he’d had to tear it down in the first place.

  The truth was, Lorcan gave me more than I asked for.

  And who could ask for more than that?

  Chapter Eight

  I sat at my store sewing table, working on a new handbag design when the bell above the door chimed, alerting me to a customer. I glanced over my shoulder to see Marty Zach strolling in. Astrid greeted him from behind the counter. I’d allowed her to start working with me on weekends, mainly because she wouldn’t stop asking and she’d finally beat me down.

  “Marty! What brings you here?” she asked, appearing perplexed. “Hopefully not an enchanted thong that makes you look five times bigger?”

  “Actually, I just got my enhancement thong last week,” Marty answered with his big, goofy smile as he approached the counter. “So I’m covered in that department.”

  “Astrid!” I chided, looking at her as my mouth dropped open. “You can’t talk to customers that way!”

  “I’m only playing around and…” She waved at him, frowning. “It’s only Marty, anyway.”

  “Sorry about Astrid,” I offered, giving my niece a look before I turned my expression to Marty again. “She just started working for me and she’s learning the art of professionalism… slowly.”

  She shrugged and went back to scanning items into our inventory database. “Sorry… sheesh. No one can take a joke around here.”

  Marty grinned down at both of us as he leaned against the counter, looking to all the world like he belonged there. “I can take a joke and as jokes go, that was a pretty good one.”

  “Don’t encourage her,” I said, all the while wondering why Marty was here. Sure, we were friendly but that was the extent of our acquaintance. When I’d first moved to Haven Hollow, I’d thought Marty was pretty good looking for a human and figured I might have my way with him. Those thoughts had dried up quickly—as soon as I’d seen the way he looked at Poppy and realized he was head over heels in love with her. As to her feelings for him? I wasn’t sure. I wasn’t even sure Poppy was sure what her feelings were for him.

  I headed for the counter. “What can we do for you, Marty?”

  “I came by to see if you have any design or marketing work you want done,” he answered on a shrug. “I’m between clients and Poppy thought you might be in need of my talents.”

  “Oh.”

  He nodded. “Right. I want to focus my efforts closer to Haven Hollow instead of selling my talents to strangers outside of town. Think of it as my humble way to give back to our supernatural community and strengthen Haven Hollow’s economic base, all the while providing a quality marketing experience.”

  “Wow!” Astrid exclaimed, looking at him with a big smile. “That was a mouthful and it definitely sounded sales-pitchy.”

  Marty gave her a wink but kept his attention trained on me. “What do you say? You could do an internet campaign to boost your online orders. That would help you cut down on overhead here, in the store.”

  I tapped my chin, thinking about it. “Good point. I didn’t think about the online world.”

  “I’m running a discount right now for Haven Hollow business owners.”

  “What a coincidence!” Astrid said.

  Marty ignored her and handed me a flyer. “I took a look at your website, Wanda. There’s definitely room for improvement. I could do some branding work for you, then roll out your new campaign in time for summer vacation.”

  I was just getting ready to read the flyer when the front door opened again. And my heart stopped as Dev strode in with his usual Goddess’s-gift-to-the-world air. He hardly looked at Astrid or Marty, even when he walked right up to the counter.

  “I’m here for my fitting.”

  I was breathless and my heart was pounding all over again. I took a look at Astrid and Marty to see if Dev’s appearance had any effect on them, but it didn’t appear to. Not that I thought Marty would be affected, per se, as I was mostly sure he was hetero. But at least I imagined Astrid would be? But, no, she seemed to be the same smart-ass teenager she always was.

  So that meant whatever overcame me every time Dev appeared, was all on me. Wonderful.

  I sprang over to the sewing table. “G… great!”

  “Who are you, Tony the Tiger?” Astrid called out. I opted to ignore her and, instead, focused on Dev, who was already staring at me.

  “Your outfit is… ready… for you to, uh, try on.” I steered him over to the changing area and handed him the pants and the jacket. “Just be… be careful of the pins.”

  Dev disappeared into the changing room and I whizzed around the sewing table, trying to clean up the mess I’d left from my handbag experiment. All of a sudden, I became acutely aware of how cluttered and chintzy the store looked. I really needed to make a habit of cleaning it more often.

  I heard Astrid chatting to Marty in the background, but instead of going back over to talk about doing an internet campaign to promote the store, I spent the interval fiddling and fussing with my sewing table, something which had never caused me any trouble before.

  Dev came out a few minutes later wearing the pinned-together pieces—and nothing else. The pants clutched his tight butt and long legs and there was nothing but skin and muscles beneath the jacket. Just looking at him, I started salivating and had to fight to keep my eyes on his.

  He strutted in front of the mirror like a model on the runway. He even ran his fingers through his hair and I was fairly sure he was tensing his muscles as he did various poses, all the while staring at himself. I hurried to his side and started revolving around him in a frenzy, checking the fit of the outfit, as I dropped to my knees and checked the hem against his heels.

  “Are the shoulders wide enough?” he asked.

  “Touch your… elbows together,” I answered as I stood up and removed some of the pins around the arm seam. “It could… could be a bit looser.”

  Dev admired himself in the mirror while I let out the shoulders by a quarter of an inch. Then he stretched his elbows together and rotated from side to side to look at the way the linen spread across his broad back.

  I bustled in front of him and noodled with the collar.

  “Will you check the fit of the pants, Wanda?” he asked, offering me that smile that should have been illegal.

  “Sure,” I gulped, then I trailed my hands down his waist, to his thighs and turning around, dropped down to my knees as I ran my hands down the denim of the pants, past his butt and down his long legs.

  I became aware of my hands fumbling in my desperation to say something, anything. I glanced up, to find him looking over my shoulder, toward the mirror. Before I finished checking the jacket’s fit, he stepped around me so he could go back to posing in front of his own reflection.

  With Dev out of the way, there was nothing to block my view of the counter. Astrid rattled on about her homework and her potions practice and the trip Roy Osbourne was planning to take her on to visit the sasquatch settlement in the mountains.

  Marty wasn’t listening to her, though. He leaned one elbow on the counter and glared in undisguised contempt toward the changing room. I wasn’t sure why he was suddenly angry with me—maybe because he wanted to still talk online marketing? That was before I realized he wasn’t looking at me at all.

  He was scowling at Dev.

  Dev swept the jacket out of the way and extended one long leg out in front of him, then examined the cuff of the jeans. He twisted his ankle from one side to the other, checking the cuff from every angle. Then he did the same with the other foot.

  I circled him, adjusting this and measuring that. “How’s the… the fit?”

  Astrid continued to jabber on about this and that, and the sound of her voice was like the whirling of a fan—background noise. When Marty cleared his throat, I looked over at him and found him still grimacing at Dev with a bitter scowl that made little sense.

  At last, Dev shrugged the jacket off.

  “I guess it’s all right.”

  He shoved the jacket at me and stalked off to the changing room. He slammed the door, and I wondered at his sudden change in mood. The store fell unnaturally quiet while I waited for him to come out again.

  When he did reemerge, he dumped the pants into my arms and adjusted his shirt sleeves before putting on his jacket.

  “Any idea when it will be finished?” he asked. He seemed like he was suddenly in a rush, like he wanted to get out of the store pronto.

  “Monday!” I blurted out. “Um, definitely Monday.”

  He eyed me narrowly. “You’re sure?”

  I nodded repeatedly and couldn’t seem to stop. What was it about this man that just reduced me to a pile of blundering nerves? “Yes, I’ll… I’ll work on it over the weekend… so it will definitely be ready… by Monday.”

  He stretched his arm inside his jacket and checked his massive, expensive watch. “I was hoping to wear it before then, but if that’s the best you can do, I guess that’s the best you can do.” He started for the door, never stopping to face me again. “I’ll see you on Monday.”

  He left the store, and I went back to the sewing table, needing to catch my breath, just like the last time he came in. I laid out the denim ensemble and suddenly burning with the need to finish it, I started removing all the pins.

  I could sew up both the jacket and the pants today. I could work late. Then I would have Dev’s outfit done long before Monday. And that would make Dev pleased, I was sure. Yes, it was good to please Dev.

  Astrid still kept up a steady train of dialogue in the background, but Dev’s visit left me flustered and distracted. I messed up the pinning twice and had to take it out and redo it. The sound of the doorbell startled me out of my skin.

  I spun around as Poppy and Finn clambered into the store, both of them facing Marty. I’d forgotten Marty was even here.

  Poppy grinned. “It looks like this is the place to go after school lets out.” She faced me and waved. “Hi, Wanda!”

  “Hi,” I managed weakly, but I couldn’t focus on her long. Instead, I pulled my attention back to the pins I was in the process of removing.

  From the corner of my eyes, I could see Finn walking up to Marty as the two enjoyed a special handshake that required fist-bumping and clapping.

  “Astrid, you ready?” Poppy asked.

  That’s right, I reminded myself. Today was Astrid’s potion lesson with Poppy. That’s good—now I can focus on Dev’s outfit and I won’t be interrupted.

  Astrid nodded to Poppy and then waved to me. “Bye, Wanda! See you at home.” Then she faced Marty and gave him a farewell smile before she, Poppy and Finn started for the front door.

  “See you, Wanda,” Poppy called out.

  “Bye,” I managed, but my thoughts weren’t on Poppy, Astrid or anything else for that matter. They were consumed with Dev and getting his outfit finished on time. Actually, earlier than on time.

  My head was so full of Dev and the image of him prancing in front of the mirror that I didn’t see Marty until he propped his elbows on the table in front of me. His eyes sparked with a strange, fiery expression.

  “You,” I started, still trying to pull out all the pins. “You’re still here?”

  He frowned at me. “Is something wrong, Wanda? You seem… more bizarre than usual.”

  “Wrong?” I stammered, shaking my head. “Everything would be great if I could just get these pins to behave.”

  “I’m not talking about the pins.”

  What was he talking about? Goddess, why had he come to the store in the first place? Oh, right. “About the internet campaign…”

  “I’m not talking about the internet campaign,” he interrupted. “I’m talking about that guy.”

  My head shot up. “Who—Dev?”

  Marty’s eyebrows raised. “Dev? Is that his name?”

  “Yes, that’s his name.”

  “What was the deal with that guy?” Marty asked.

  I wasn’t sure what he meant. And I wasn’t sure what to say. All I wanted him to do was leave so I could focus on Dev’s outfit and getting it finished. “His deal?” I repeated, before waving Marty away. “Oh, he’s all right. He’s just… self-possessed.”

  Marty frowned toward the front door and then at me. “Possessed is more like it.” Then he eyed me narrowly. “Or maybe it’s you who’s possessed?”

  “Possessed?” I repeated, bringing my attention to him. “What do you mean? Damn!” I stuck my finger with the pin and immediately felt the swell of pain echoing through the tip. I put my finger in my mouth and tasted blood. The taste brought back an instant memory of Dev running his thumb across my lip.