Hungry For You - Argeneau Series - Book 14 Page 0,36

any on your suit yet, but I wouldn’t want you to tempt fate.” She glanced around and then said, “I need to go to the washroom. You could change out here while I—” She paused suddenly and frowned. “Or did you want to shower or something?”

“Why? Do I stink?” Cale asked with amusement, and she flushed.

“No, of course not. I just thought, well I always feel like showering after a flight, and you did spend all those hours over a hot grill and—”

“I’m good. A shower would just delay eating. I’ll shower after we finish painting. You go ahead and go to the washroom, and I’ll change.”

Alex nodded and moved to the bathroom door. “I’ll take my time.”

Cale wheeled his suitcase to the bed, opened it, and rifled through the contents in search of a casual shirt and jeans. He then quickly stripped off his clothes and began to dress. He’d pulled on his jeans, done them up, and picked up the long-sleeved maroon shirt he’d taken out when a knock sounded at the door. Taking the shirt, he crossed the room to answer it and released a relieved breath when he saw the man on the other side holding a large cooler in hand.

“Come in,” he said, and glanced toward the closed bathroom door as he made way for the man to enter.

“Where do you want this?” the deliveryman asked, moving into the room.

“Here.” Cale opened the closet door.

“Nice setup,” the man said as he paused beside Cale and peered into the unusually deep closet with the plug socket against the back wall. He set down the cooler and plugged it in, explaining, “This is the newest model. Portable. You can hook it into your car lighter if you need to take it on the road.”

“Great, thanks.” Cale tipped the man and saw him out. He then immediately moved back to the waiting cooler. Squatting in the closet door, he flipped the lid open. One glimpse of the bags of dark red blood inside was enough to make his teeth start to drop, and Cale immediately grabbed a bag and popped it to the sharp tips. He then simply squatted there as the liquid was sucked up into his teeth and body.

Cale hesitated after the first bag, wondering if he had enough time for another, but the fact that his stomach cramps had barely lessened made him decide to take the chance. The bag was only half-empty, however, when the bathroom door began to open.

“Knock knock. I’m coming out. Are you decent?” Alex’s voice sang out teasingly, and Cale reacted with all the aplomb you’d expect from a man of his considerable age: He half stumbled and half fell into the closet, pulling the door closed behind him with panic.

“Cale?” he heard Alex say uncertainly from the room. “Where are you?”

Cursing silently, Cale stood up in the closet, and then cursed aloud as his head slammed into the clothing rod.

“Cale?” there was a nervous quality to Alex’s voicenow, but it was also drawing closer. She’d heard him banging around and was coming to investigate, he realized with alarm, and immediately tore the half-full bag from his teeth. Big mistake, he realized at once as cold blood splashed across his face and down his chest. Cursing again, he dropped the now-hemorrhaging bag in the cooler, slammed the lid down, and then quickly mopped at his face with his maroon shirt.

He’d barely started on his chest when the closet door began to slide open. Cale instinctively jerked his shirt up in front of his torso to hide any remaining blood as light splashed over him.

“What on earth are you doing in the closet?”

“I wasn’t quite dressed yet,” Cale blurted.

“Oh,” Alex said nonplussed, her gaze sliding over the shirt he held defensively before him, and then to his jeans-clad legs beneath. She was obviously a bit perplexed as to why he was acting like a Victorian virgin when he was only lacking a shirt, but she backed away. “Well, I’ll give you another minute then.”

Cale sighed as she moved out of sight. He quickly wiped away the remaining blood on his chest, not stepping out of the closet until he heard the bathroom door close again.

Cale took a moment to inspect himself in the mirrorfronted sliding closet door, relieved to see he’d gotten all the blood. He then threw the shirt into the closet on top of the cooler and rushed to his suitcase to retrieve a fresh one, this time a