A Vampire for Christmas - By Michele Hauf Page 0,66
recall it was as you were crossing a busy intersection. You were not here. Yes?”
The man nodded, his gaze lost in Daniel’s vampiric thrall.
“You have no desire to take a picture of Olivia Adorata again. You’re going to get in your car and drive away, and forget you were ever in this neighborhood. And me? Just a friendly guy who pointed you in the right direction. Now go.”
The cameraman blinked, and looked about as if he’d surfaced from a coma. He asked Daniel, “Which way?”
“North.” Daniel pointed down the street.
“Thanks, man.” He got in his Volkswagen and drove away.
Watching until the car was out of sight, Daniel decided the thrall was a handy tool that he didn’t use often enough. But could he use it every time he and Olivia were caught out by the paparazzi? Those bastards swarmed in hoards. He could only work his thrall on one person at a time.
Not like it should matter. He’d proven how unworthy he was of a relationship with the gorgeous singer who depended on the public’s interest to survive.
He hung his head. He’d come here to see if they stood a chance. The answer was all too obvious.
“Daniel,” she whispered from the corner of the building.
He didn’t look at her. Couldn’t. Not when he’d shown her yet another dark side of the monster within him.
“Thank you,” she said. “I don’t know what you did, but I think it worked.”
“Vampire tricks,” he muttered. “I’m sorry.”
She plunged against his body and nuzzled her face alongside his neck.
“Daniel, I need you. I love you. Parker means nothing to me. It was a stupid publicity stunt.”
“I know that now. I made an assumption that was wrong. That’s why I had to come here today. Hadn’t expected to show you my inner asshole with the cameraman, though. Can you forgive me?”
She nodded and snuggled closer to him, and he opened his jacket and pulled her against his chest. God, that felt great. Like Christmas should feel. “There’s nothing to forgive,” she said. “We both have issues. Big ones.”
“I’d argue my issues are bigger than yours,” he said, “but we both know that’s not necessarily true.”
Nothing needed to be said. Everything needed to be spoken. He would always be this way, dark of soul and heart. He had to do things now to survive that mortals could never fathom, not the good ones, anyway.
“Can we work, Olivia? I don’t do the media and camera flashes and television interviews. I don’t even think I can follow you around on red carpets or stand in dressing rooms waiting for you to find me.”
“I don’t want you to do that. I want you to be my normal.”
He smirked, and revealed a fang. “Normal?”
“You know what I mean. Music is my life. It is where my heart belongs. I won’t ever stop doing what I’m doing. But you, Daniel, only you make my heart sing. I want to sway with you. I love you.”
“I love you, too, God help us both.”
“And remember I said I wanted a slow relationship? Well, we’ve plunged in and know what we’re dealing with—a pop star and a vampire. Now let’s learn about each other, inside. Take things slow.”
“Like seeing each other only when you’re on vacation?”
“Can you do that? I can’t. I do have a private life away from the stage. But I can’t promise we’ll never run into another photographer together.”
“He got me so angry the way he acted as if it was his right to invade your privacy.”
“That was a strange situation. Normally they find me when I’ve got my monster on and expect the flashing bulbs. This was private. I don’t know how he found this place, but they go to extreme measures sometimes.”
“I can’t promise the need to protect you won’t make me smash in another photographer’s face, Olivia. It’s too strong. You mean too much to me.”
“We’ll figure things out.” She tapped his lip and kissed the corner of his mouth right over the fang. “Monsters get to love—you can’t tell me otherwise.”
“I won’t try to.”
“Let’s go inside.
“You go up. I’m going to peek around the corner and make sure ole snap-happy didn’t return.”
The coast was clear. Daniel felt vindicated having used his thrall to protect his woman. His woman.
Yes, he could get behind that one hundred percent. It wouldn’t be easy, but like she’d said, they’d figure things out.
Turning the corner, his heart jumped to his throat. At the sight of the nasty werewolf holding his woman, he charged.