All I Want for Christmas Is a Vampire - By Kerrelyn Sparks Page 0,48

one another. She could be a part of it all. Never rejected again. Never made to feel like she wasn't good enough.

It was so...tempting. But alarming, too, for she already had her life planned out with Sabrina. Sabrina was her family, not these people in the Vamp world. As soon as the mess with Sabrina was resolved, Toni could leave the Vamp world forever. Two days ago she'd been eager to leave. Now she was starting to feel...wanted. And valued. For the first time, she realized she was getting pulled in two different directions.

"Are you all right, dear?" Radinka asked.

"I--I'd better go." She glanced at the clock over the kitchen sink. "My final starts in an hour."

Constantine placed his small hand on her arm. "You'll be okay, Toni."

Her arm tingled as a surge of warm energy rushed from the little boy's hand. She stiffened, then immediately relaxed as the energy washed over her with a soothing gentleness. Her tension melted away, leaving a sense of well-being and a feeling that she could accomplish anything.

She looked at the little boy, and he smiled back. There was an intelligence in his bright blue eyes that should have been frightening in a child so young, but she felt too relaxed to be concerned. Constantine radiated goodness, so she knew there was no need to be afraid.

He withdrew his hand and focused his attention back on his picture book. Toni gathered her things and said her good-byes. As she walked to the subway station, the little boy's question kept repeating in her mind. Is Toni with us? How deep was she getting sucked into this new world? Would it be hard to give it up when she left? Not so hard, if they completely wiped her memory. But how could she give up the memory of Constantine and the others?

How could she give up ever seeing Ian again?

That evening, Toni was celebrating the end of her college education with a big bowl of triple chocolate ice cream on top of a double chocolate brownie, when Ian walked in.

"Good evening."

He'd caught her with her mouth full. She gulped. "Hi."

He opened his mouth to speak, then apparently changed his mind. He wandered to the refrigerator and took out a bottle of blood. He hesitated, then placed it back in.

"Not hungry?" She scooped more ice cream into her mouth.

"I already ate." He paced across the room, his kilt swishing about his knees.

"Did you see the Christmas tree in the parlor? It's very pretty. Shanna and Constantine decorated it."

"Aye, it's nice." He continued to pace.

He seemed nervous to her. "Are you doing that interview tonight?"

"I think so." He flexed his hands as he paced. "But I have a bad feeling about it."

"Shanna thought you should skip it. Did you see the note she left you?"

"Aye, but Vanda's worked verra hard to set this up. I doona want to disappoint her." He sighed.

"She's lined up some more dates for me, too."

Toni stabbed at the brownie. "More Vamp women?"

"Aye." He leaned back against the kitchen counter and crossed his arms across his chest. And what about the kiss they'd shared in the car? Toni thought about bringing it up, but she'd been the one who'd insisted they never speak of it. She'd called it a mistake. She glanced at Ian. Had he thought it was a mistake?

But what about those moments when their eyes met, and the whole world melted away? Toni could have sworn something was happening between them. Something like a huge magnet drawing them together. Or was she fooling herself? She took her bowl to the sink. She'd lost her appetite.

"Toni, I doona know how to say this, but..."

Would he tell her he was attracted to her? "Yes?"

"I canna see myself when I shave. I was wondering if I looked all right. For the interview, ye ken."

"Oh. Okay, let me see." She moved close and examined his cheeks, the line of his jaw, his strong neck, and his dimpled chin. She felt her own face growing warm. "You look fine to me."

Her eyes met his, and her heart did a little flip. Damn, knowing him, he'd heard that. She stepped back.

"I doona have a hairbrush upstairs. I just pulled my hair back."

"I've got one." She rummaged through her handbag on the kitchen table and pulled out a brush. She was about to offer it to him when she realized this was a chance to actually touch his hair. With her heart racing, she motioned to a chair