A Vampire for Christmas - By Michele Hauf Page 0,120
them worked side by side, falling into a familiar rhythm until the backlog of orders was under control.
During a brief lull, she called Daniel’s home number but got no answer. Maybe his mother had taken the kids to her sister’s house. She sometimes did that when school was out. A phone call would’ve been nice, but Daniel was getting more and more unpredictable.
She’d try again later but for now she had paperwork to do. Anything to pass the time to see if Eagan returned at nightfall. The pragmatic part of her was betting not. The man obviously had some serious trust issues. All things considered, perhaps he had good cause.
But this was the season of miracles, so she wouldn’t give up hope. Not yet.
When the last bill was paid, she looked around for something else to keep her mind occupied. Cookies. She’d never gotten back to making those chocolate-dipped ones she’d been working on last night. Tenn wouldn’t begrudge her a small corner of the kitchen, would he?
Yeah, he would. The man was nothing if not territorial. Too bad. She needed some way to pass the time until sunset, which was still too many hours away.
Tenn gave her a puzzled look when she started pulling out the ingredients for the cookies. He said nothing at all when she encroached on his normal area. Maybe he sensed something was bothering her, but it wasn’t like him to poke his nose into her business.
As she rolled out the dough, he cocked a hip against the counter and watched her. “I’m figuring it must be man trouble.”
She kept right on working, trying to decide if she’d heard him right. When she looked around to see where she left the cookie cutters, he calmly pointed six inches to the left of where she’d just set down the rolling pin. “Thanks.”
“So, you want to talk about it?”
“Talk about what?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “Maybe whatever had you up cleaning the kitchen at all hours or whoever put that smile on your face this morning.”
Okay, now she was blushing. “Tenn, in the six months I’ve known you, you’ve never asked me one personal question. Why start now?”
“Because I’ve never seen you screw up a recipe like you just did that batch of dough you’re working to death. That was cake flour you used, not all-purpose, and you added salt twice.”
Seriously? She tasted the dough. Rats, she had. No wonder it was acting strange.
“You could’ve said something sooner, you big jerk.” She scraped it up and tossed it in the trash.
Tenn laughed. “I figured it was therapeutic. Now, what’s up?”
She’d never expected a guy who looked more like a biker than a fry cook would double as a therapist. It was the real concern in his caramel-brown eyes that got her talking.
“I’m worried about Daniel. Something is up with him, and he won’t let me in.”
Tenn’s expression turned grim. “You can’t save everyone, Della, no matter how hard you try.”
“I know, especially if they don’t want to be saved.” She started measuring out the correct ingredients into the mixer. “And there’s Eagan. You haven’t met him because he only comes in during the evenings.”
Tenn was already nodding. “Must be the one Lupe was complaining about.”
“No doubt. She took an immediate dislike to him even though she’s never said more than five words to him.”
Tenn looked away. “She has her reasons, but it’s nothing he’s done.”
It was pretty clear that was all he was going to say on the subject. Did Lupe’s reaction to Eagan have something to do with his vampire nature? If so, how did Lupe recognize what he was? Did she even want to know? Rather than press for answers, Della concentrated on finishing the cookies before the lunchtime rush started.
SLEEP WAS SHORT-LIVED. By midafternoon Eagan was up and pacing the floor of his condo. He swore the clock had quit moving at all. Finally, he couldn’t stand being cooped up any longer. He’d be better off working than beating himself up over the events of the previous night.
He headed to the garage. His car had windows which blocked the sun’s most lethal wavelengths. If he drove straight to the precinct, he’d be all right since the day was gray and overcast.
At least at the office he’d be able to do something useful. Hell, maybe he’d dazzle his boss by getting caught up on his files. Anything at all to keep from thinking about Della. About how right she’d felt in