TALL DARK AND HUNGRY Page 0,114

happiness by anticipating the bad that would follow. There were no guarantees in life. Even if Bastien were dying, she might--as Dave suggested--beat him to the grave. Standing abruptly, Terri walked back into the cottage and rinsed her cup. Then she wrote a quick note to her friends and picked up the phone to call a cab.

"If you can wait ten minutes while I dress, I'll drive you."

Terri glanced to the doorway where Dave stood in a pair of fleece pants and a top. She'd forgotten he was an early riser. "I could catch a cab. Then you won't have to bother."

"I want to run over to Sainbury's for a couple at things, anyway. And I know you need to stop there before going home. I'll just be a minute." He didn't give her the chance to refuse, simply turned and jogged back upstairs. Two minutes later, Sandi came down in her housecoat, yawning.

"Oh." She shook her head as the yawn ended, as if trying to shake herself awake, then glanced at Terri. "I'm sorry about what I said."

"Don't be. You were right."

Sandi shrugged. "I could have said it more diplomatically."

Terri grinned, and hugged her. "I love you."

"You're going to him," Sandi said. There was a sadness in her eyes as they parted. "You should be able to find a teaching position over there in one of the universities. I know you'll be happy. But we'll miss you."

Terri felt a thickness at the back of her throat. She'd depended on this couple as her only nearby family for a long time. She forced a smile. "Well, don't jump the gun. He might not want me."

Sandi snorted. "Yeah, right."

"And if he did, he might not now because I ran out on him."

"He'll forgive you," Sandi predicted. "You'll just have to grovel and admit you've been an idiot."

Terri chuckled, then glanced to the doorway as Dave came jogging back down the stairs. "Right! I'm ready. I'll be back shortly, flower," He gave Sandi a quick kiss, grabbed Terri's suitcase handle, then paused and turned back for another kiss before lead¬ing the way out of the cottage.

"Drive carefully," Sandi called from the doorstep.

"I will, flower. Now go back to bed--you were up late working."

"Nag," she muttered affectionately.

"I heard that."

"Of course you did," she said with a grin, then waved at Terri and went back inside.

Terri shook her head with amusement as she got into the passenger seat of the Jaguar. "You two were made for each other."

"Yes, we were," Dave agreed. He grinned as he started the car, then sent it racing down the street.

Bastien was dozing in the front seat of his rental car when the car roared up behind him. Blinking his eyes open, he saw a black Jaguar pull to a stop with two passengers inside. It took a moment for his sleep-fogged mind to recognize Terri in the passenger seat, then he spotted the man with her and he woke right up. It was seven o'clock in the morning. She hadn't been in last night when he'd arrived, and he'd sat in the car outside her little cottage waiting, until he'd dozed off. He'd slept fitfully in the car, worried sick, wondering if she'd missed a connection, or run into trouble or what. But here she was returning now... and with another man? Bastien thought he might pop the bastard.

Opening the door, he slid out of his car. Propping his hands on his hips, he watched the couple get out of the car behind his.

"Bastien!" Terri sounded more shocked than happy to see him, he decided; and that was irritating to his sleep-deprived mind too. And blood-deprived, he reminded himself. He wasn't sure how long it had been since he fed, but he knew it was too long. Maybe he'd bite the guy with Terri rather than pop him.

"Dave, this is Bastien," she said to the tall, silverhaired man who tugged Terri's suitcase out of the trunk of the black car. Prematurely silver-haired, Bastien realized as the fellow closed the trunk and moved toward him, dragging the suitcase on its wheels. He took a step forward.

"Bastien, this is David Simpson, my brother-in-law," she introduced. "Dave and his wife, Sandi, picked me up from the airport yesterday. I fell asleep on their couch last night."

Bastien felt all the hot air flow out of him. Brother-in-law. With a wife. "Oh," he said, then held out his hand in greeting. "Pleased to meet you."

"Pleased to meet you too," Dave said with a