A Vampire for Christmas - By Michele Hauf Page 0,109
grinned. “I’m Daniel, and better you than me with the whole light thing. I figured I’d end up doing that for her.”
Okay, maybe he wasn’t such a pain in the ass. “Yeah, well, it was me or Harry.”
Daniel raised his eyebrows. “Seriously? I don’t believe Della was going to let him.”
“No, she wasn’t. That’s why she asked me.”
He shouldered the ladder again. “Nice meeting you. I’d better get back to work. She promised me pie if I did a good job.”
Daniel wiped down the counter and tossed the towel in a bin in the far corner. “Her blueberry is my favorite, but they’re all good.”
He headed out of the kitchen. “See you around.”
Eagan waited until he was out of sight to take several deep breaths to draw Daniel’s scent deep into his lungs. With luck, he’d be able to track the boy’s trail back to the place the vampires were using as a feedlot. Once he located it, he’d call the lieutenant and request some backup to keep an eye on the place.
For now, he’d haul the ladder back to the basement. After that, he’d claim his reward. Too bad it wouldn’t be another kiss. As good as Della’s pie was reputed to be, he seriously doubted it could possibly taste as sweet as Della herself did.
Just the thought of how well she’d fit in his arms, how right she’d felt there, had him rock hard and hungry. No human woman had ever had such a powerful effect on him. In fact, no woman ever. He didn’t like it, not one bit. She was human, and an innocent. His job was to protect people like Della, not to seduce her and risk drawing her into the darkness of his world.
Damn it, he wanted to heave the stupid ladder down the steps, grab his coat and get the hell out of the diner. He was there to investigate a case and find the rogue vampires who were threatening the secret existence of all supernaturals, not to hang Christmas lights and mistletoe.
If these guys weren’t stopped, and soon, more teenagers would disappear or die, and the merely human would learn that their worst nightmares lived right next door. He needed to get his head back in the game. His first solid lead had just walked out the front door, and instead of tracking Daniel, all Eagan could think about was kissing Della again. His senses were overloaded with the memory of how she looked, her scent and how she tasted.
His imagination shifted into hyperdrive. He suspected her blood would leave him both sated and jazzed for days. The only way to find out for sure would be to strip them both down and get skin-to-skin in a tangle of arms and legs in that brass bed right upstairs from where he now stood. Whoa, boy, that painted one hell of an image. One he couldn’t afford to hold on to right now. In fact, not ever. He needed to leave before he lost it altogether. He jumped the length of the steps, wincing only slightly when his leg reminded him that it still wasn’t happy with him. Ignoring the twinge, he hung the ladder up on the wall and headed back upstairs.
He really hated the thought of missing out on that pie. Besides, it would hurt Della’s feelings if he refused payment for services rendered. Rather than think about why that bothered him so much, he walked out into the diner, pretending to be on his phone. He hung up as soon as Della spotted him.
“Sorry, I got another call and have to leave. Any chance I could get that pie to go?”
She nodded. “Will you be able to come for dinner tomorrow night?”
Lies upon lies. “I’m not sure, but I’ll try.”
As he yanked his coat back on, he cursed himself for a fool. Why had he said that? Stupid question when he already knew the answer. It was because he’d kissed her. She wasn’t the kind of woman who gave herself up to a moment like that easily or often. He knew next to nothing about her, but he knew that much.
He’d kissed Della as if it meant something. If he simply disappeared now, it would hurt her. What had started off as a joke had turned into something far more serious and not just for her. Yet another reason to exit from Della’s life with as much grace as he could muster.