for me. But were those necessarily qualities I needed in a mate for life?
Rafe grinned and ripped my gold sweater off and over my head in a smooth move that made me shiver. His admiring look and clever touches when he saw my cream silk bra made me do more than shiver. Okay, so maybe Rafe was more than a friend with good taste and an excellent memory. We definitely had chemistry and he had a libido to match mine.
As I playfully snatched that blue sweater and tugged it on, he pulled me to him again and told me about his club and what had been going on there. I was interested. We were both business owners and struggling to get things going in a new town. We had a lot in common and I was as comfortable with Rafe as I was with Jerry. More comfortable, actually. Because I didn't ever have to worry that Rafe would try to order me around or control me. Hmm.
Well, maybe that wasn't entirely accurate. Rafe could be pretty bossy when he was in protective mode. As usual, I was letting chemistry cloud my judgment. I put some space between us and pulled on those shades again.
"Got to go, Rafe."
"Me too. If I didn't have to be back at the club, I'd go with you. Have to admit, I'm curious about Caine and this breakdown. I thought he'd gotten a handle on the vampire experience." Rafe walked with me to the back door.
"So did I. But then I spilled the beans about the synthetic blood with alcohol and his old dependencies came into play. I felt guilty about telling him at first, but that stuff was served to him at Flo's wedding anyway, so it was only a matter of time before he found out about it."
"Right. You aren't that guy's keeper, Glo. This mentor thing has to have an expiration date." Rafe had always made it clear he didn't like my relationship with Ray.
"He's my friend too, Rafe. I care what happens to him." I sighed. "Anyway, alcohol can bring on depression. It definitely made Ray think about what he's lost." I stopped next to my car. I wasn't about to shape-shift out to the park. It was a beautiful spring night and I wanted to drive out there with the top down.
"The sun. I remember. Your friend Caine was all about the sun. Even owned an island in the Caribbean, didn't he?" Rafe opened my car door for me and watched me fasten my seat belt.
"Guess he still does." I smiled and touched Rafe's hand. "You and I will have to get together tomorrow night and talk over this deal with Simon. You know he wanted to recruit me into the Energy Vampires. I guess we could use that to make contact. Some would consider the invitation to join a real honor."
"But I bet you already told him where to stick that invite, didn't you?" Rafe frowned. "Think he'd believe in your sudden interest?"
"Maybe. But the father-son angle is our best bet. I want to talk to Freddy and see how he feels about his father. If there's a chance for them to have a relationship away from the Energy Vampires, then that would be a powerful motivator for Simon to switch sides." I sighed. "If Simon has a natural father's instincts. Who knows?"
"Can't say I'm crazy about the idea of you and Simon within a hundred miles of each other." Rafe leaned in and kissed me lightly on the lips. "But I was desperate to get your tail out of a sling tonight."
"Great image, Rafael." I started the car. "Just promise me that none of this slips around Penny. My fledgling is mixed up enough as it is. I'll just tell her the demons went back to hell after I refused to work with them."
"She's pretty smart. Won't be easy fooling her." Rafe watched me lower my convertible top with the flip of a switch.
"She's got lots of school work coming up. I hope she'll be too busy to notice what we're up to." I grabbed Rafe's hand. "Ray's trying to get Ian MacDonald to come to town. When Penny saw my computer mirror, she was intrigued by the guy who invented it. Can you imagine if she and Ian got together?"
"I'm afraid to. Didn't you tell me she's into chemistry too?"
"Yes, they'd be quite a pair." I heard the click that meant the top was secured and I was