by Beth Alvarez
Penny laughed, training her eyes on her snack. “Oh, I like it here. I didn’t expect to live here, but it has its virtues. Holly Hill is peaceful, you know?”
After her winter adventures, Felicity wasn’t sure she agreed. She smiled anyway. “It’s a homey place, that’s for sure. I know we’re old-fashioned, but I kind of like it that way.”
“There’s nothing wrong with old-fashioned. These fritters are old-fashioned, and they’re the best I’ve ever had!” Regina licked her fingers, making sounds of satisfaction in her throat.
Felicity laughed. “They may disappear for a few weeks, if I don’t get help at the bakery. We’re not traveling for a honeymoon, but I still don’t know how I’ll manage Love Bites, the wedding, and getting ready for peak season at the bed-and-breakfast all at once.”
Penny perked up. “Are you looking for help?”
“I think so. I mean, I haven’t started looking officially, but I may put a sign in the window.” Felicity shrugged as if it were unimportant.
Penny exchanged a glance with Regina. “I could help,” she suggested. “I mean, if all you need is someone to tend the front counter and learn to bake, I could do it. I haven’t been working since Nick and I came to Holly Hill.”
“Well, there you go,” Regina said with a smile. “Two problems taken care of at the same time.”
“You’d really want to work there?” Felicity asked, lacing her fingers together and only belatedly realizing it looked like pleading.
“Of course. Just imagine all the free sweets.” Penny grinned, then all three of them laughed.
“Perfect. In that case, I’ll see you as soon as you’re able to start. Tomorrow, if you can swing it. Regina, would tomorrow night work for you? I can have everything set up at the Hilltop House for us to get started. It’ll probably be easier if we can set up and keep it up until it’s done.”
“That should be fine. I’ll leave Sam to clean up after his chili experiments by himself.” Regina cast the sink a scornful look, which set them to laughing again.
Felicity wiped her eyes as she stood. “I’d better go, then. I’ve still got to go help Dad in the bakery. I’ll plan to see both of you tomorrow.”
“Do you need any help setting up your sewing project?” Penny asked.
Shaking her head, Felicity pushed in her chair and lined it up between the table’s legs. “No, thank you. That part should be a piece of cake.”
* * *
Two hours after Felicity sat down to prepare things for sewing her dress, she regretted her refusal of help.
Though her mother’s sewing machine had been stored safely in a hard case in the attic, that hadn’t spared it the attention of dust bunnies and various creepy-crawlies through the years. Grumbling beneath her breath, she inspected the instructions for a sixth time before attempting to put the rest of it back together. It had taken longer than anticipated, but the machine was cleaned and oiled—even if it was in a half-dozen pieces.
“Oh, good, you ain’t even started.”
Felicity squeaked, spinning in her chair to glower at her husband-to-be. “Kade! I thought I told you-”
“That you were gonna be makin’ your dress. I know.” He closed the back door behind him, turning down his collar. “I forgot a few things. I borrowed a phone, but you weren’t at the bakery. Your dad said you were runnin’ errands, so I thought I’d have time to swing by before you got goin’.”
“I guess we do need some kind of way to communicate,” she admitted, pushing herself up from the table. She wiped her hands on a discarded paper towel, then met him in the kitchen for a kiss.
“I could try sendin’ up smoke signals from the ranch.” Kade smirked, resting his hands on her hips.
She snorted and slapped his chest. “I couldn’t see them at night, and you don’t need to be chancing the sun any more than necessary.” As it was, she didn’t know how he managed. He wore a long-sleeved undershirt beneath his flannel, adding a barrier that kept the sun from singeing him through the fabric. He never complained, but she was sure it had to be misery. They hadn’t even reached the hottest part of the summer.
“I’ll be all right. I do need to call Thaddeus, though. I told him to leave a message with you if he needed, but I’d rather talk to him myself.” A stormy look flitted through his hazel eyes.
She leaned back. “Why do you need to talk to him?” The less they heard from Kade’s Keeper, the better. They hadn’t dealt with the old man for months.
He hesitated to reply.
“Kade,” She prompted, frowning.
“I just need to go over some things, all right? For one, there’s gonna be some paperwork to go with the weddin’, so I need to be ready for that. For another, he’s lookin’ at my... feeding habits.” The words seemed to make him uncomfortable. He avoided her eye. “He has to make sure I have enough of a food supply.”
Felicity’s brows knit. “Is that it?”
He sighed. “I don’t want you to think I’m complainin’, that’s all. Anyway, I’m sorry for droppin’ by unannounced. I didn’t think you’d be here. I got the night off, so I figured I could sneak in and out with my things, and nobody would be the wiser.”
Cupping his chin, she made him look at her. “Kade Colton, you complain less than any man I’ve ever heard.” She planted a kiss on his lips, then returned to the scattered pieces of the sewing machine on the table. “But actually, now that you’re here, I should ask you a question. Daddy brought up the venue again. He’s right, I need to be sending invitations. If we’re not getting married in the chapel, where are we going to do it?”
“There’s always the house.”
She shot him a skeptical look. “The Hilltop House is big, but it’s not that big.”
“Well...” He paced closer, turning his eyes toward the ceiling as he thought. “What about the ranch? There’s that big old barn McCullough only uses for hay and the ATVs. We could do it there.”
“A barn wedding?” It was the most delightful idea she’d come across. “Oh, that would be perfect for the feel of Holly Hill! Do you think he’d let us?”
Kade shrugged. “We could ask him.”
“I think we should. That should be perfect. We could decorate it all up with white Christmas lights. Wouldn’t it be beautiful?” She beamed at him. “We can plan it for the evening, keep it indoors. We’ll just have to see if-” She stopped short, her face falling.
“If what?”
“I suppose we’ll have to talk to someone at the courthouse. I always thought we’d just hire the preacher, but...” She swallowed, mentally kicking herself for not thinking it through sooner. “We can’t get married by a preacher, can we? If you can’t enter a church, what’s a religious ceremony going to do to you?”
He blinked twice, then laughed. “Don’t worry so much. I’ll take care of that part. You just worry about...” He motioned toward the table and all the scattered parts. “Well, all that stuff. The officiant, I can handle.”
“Are you sure? I know daytime hours aren’t the best for you, and-”
“I’m sure,” he put in before she could finish. “You got more than enough on your plate. Let me take somethin’ for mine. I just got one request.”
Felicity sighed, forcing herself to sit down and relax. “What’s that?”
Kade paused beside her on his way to his room. “Can we please get some cell phones?”
* * *
“An officiant?”
Kade had never heard Thaddeus so disgruntled. He held the phone away from his ear and stifled a grin, rubbing his mouth to make sure it was gone before replying. “Yes, sir.”
The old man made a sound of disgust on the other end of the line. “I think I preferred your earlier questions, Mr. Colton.”
“I thought they might be too easy for you. Speakin’ of, did you happen to work on either of them today?”
“One of them is none of your concern, for reasons we already discussed.” The Keeper’s voice took an irri
table edge. “But the other, yes. I was able to procure a candidate. Discussing the fine details of the feeding arrangement will be up to you, as will payment. As they are outside our network, the Keepers guarantee nothing. If all goes well, of course, you may invite them to become an affiliate.”
“Don’t make it sound so cold, Birch.” Kade paced as far as the phone cord would let him, which was only as far as the foot of his bed. “Let’s not forget they’re people.”
“Not every vampire shares your compassion,” Thaddeus said. “They are our food supply, nothing more. Have you a pen? I’ll give you directions. It was not easy, but they did agree to meet you tonight.”
“Tonight?” Kade repeated, surprised. “That’s the best thing you coulda told me. Here I was thinkin’ I’d have to suffer through the end of the week. Hang on.” He dug a notepad and pen from the top drawer of the nightstand. “All right. Whatcha got?”
“Just remember this favor when I ask you to keep your nose out of the hunting department’s business,” Thaddeus said dryly.
Kade rolled his eyes, then leaned over the notepad to jot down his instructions.
FIVE
* * *
FEEDING WAS THE worst part of being a vampire. Kade had never enjoyed it. He didn’t like fighting for control, struggling to keep from hurting someone, minding every moment to ensure he didn’t drink too much. It was one of many things Felicity had changed in his life.
With her, everything felt natural. She was giving, willing, always happy to satisfy his needs. More often than not, he drank from her when they made love, when the hormones made her blood the sweetest. She trusted him implicitly, and because of it, he never second-guessed himself.
With her, he never had to hold back.
Pacing the small motel room, Kade mentally ran through the dialogue he knew was coming. He hated meetings like this, always had, but it was better to meet somewhere that offered both privacy and a place to clean up afterward. Though he could feed without making an enormous mess, there was always something to clean up, as well as the occasional collar to wash.
He should have asked how much Thaddeus explained. It was one thing for the Keeper to arrange for a feeding, quite another for Thaddeus to actually inform the victim what that entailed. Sometimes, Kade found the Keeper’s explanations lacking.
A quiet, halting knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.
Breathing deep and letting it out as a long sigh, he made his way to the door. He unlocked it and pulled it open.
When he saw the wide-eyed redhead on the other side, he spat a curse and slammed the door.
Her fist hammered against it, demanding entry. “Kade Colton, you open the door right this instant!” Penny shrieked.
Swearing again, he grimaced and opened the door. No escaping it now. His secret was out.
She shoved her way into the motel room, looking up at him with an expression that he could only describe as an apprehensive glower.
Kade hadn’t anticipated this. It wasn’t supposed to be someone he knew. He’d never stayed in one place long enough for that to happen before. He licked his lips, pushing the door closed and bracing himself for the awkward conversation. He exhaled, long and slow. “All right. Let’s do this.” Turning, he spread his arms, inviting the inevitable questions.
Penny tucked her chin into her chest, wariness lingering in her eyes. “Are you two-timing Felicity?”
A flush of anger filled him, outrage swelling in his chest. “I would never!”
“Then what are you doing here?” she challenged, her eyes flicking toward the bed.
For a split second, Kade didn’t know what she was talking about. Then her meaning hit, and all the heat of his anger was washed away by an icy chill. “You think I’m-” He almost sputtered. “That’s not—I mean, I ain’t-”
“Oh, you meet women in motel rooms for other reasons?” She crossed her arms, shifting her weight so one hip cocked to the side.
He gritted his teeth. “Well, what about you? Does Nick know you’re out here, tryin’ to sell yourself into some stranger’s bed?”
Her eyes widened, then a look of shame flitted over her features.
Kade’s irritation cooled, replaced by uneasiness, and for a moment he didn’t know what to do.
“Is that what you thought you were doin’?” he asked softly. Whatever Thaddeus told her, it clearly wasn’t the message he’d wanted her to receive.
She swallowed. “Nick...” she started, pacing around the foot of the bed. “Nick knows I’m here. He... sent me.”
He stared, disbelief growing until it made him light-headed. Nick Foster, the sheriff’s son, was selling his fiancée? “How many times have you done this?”
Penny’s cheeks grew rosy. “This is the first time. I’ve never... I mean, not like this, but... He heard from someone else. I don’t know who.”
So she hadn’t even been the one to speak to Thaddeus. His agitation with the old Keeper disappeared, though he felt a tightening knot of resentment toward her sweetheart forming fast. “And you just go do it? Just like that?”
She swallowed hard, turning and giving him a pleading look. “It’s all I can do, okay? I’m trying to do things the honest way. I’m gonna be working at Felicity’s bakery, but who knows what that’ll do. Nick’s in trouble, Kade. I can’t tell you any more. He won’t even tell me everything. But we need the money, and I don’t know what else to do.”
“The bakery,” Kade murmured. He sat on the foot of the bed, removing his cowboy hat and raking his fingers through his black hair. “How much did they tell you this was gonna pay?”
“A hundred dollars.”
A sick feeling twisted itself up in his stomach. “You were gonna come here... and do that... for a hundred dollars?”
Crimson crept into her face.
Grumbling oaths under his breath, Kade rubbed his forehead. “Sit down, Penny. I ain’t gonna take advantage of you.”
She stared at him for a while, then crept to the edge of the bed and sat on the very corner.
Where did he start? He could fume all night over what Nick had done, but that wasn’t going to help her, and he already knew he wasn’t going to be able to escape without offering some sort of explanation.
There was his stomach to think of, too. Like it or not, he was hungry, and he’d spent the whole evening looking forward to a meal.
Silently swearing he’d string Nick up by the gills later on, Kade took a deep breath. “Do you know why the bakery’s called Love Bites?”
Penny’s brow furrowed. “It’s a joke, I think?”
“It’s because of me.” Again he rubbed his forehead, staring at the floor. “You weren’t supposed to come here to sell yourself. Not like that, anyway. Now, you gotta swear you won’t tell anyone what I’m about to tell you. If you don’t walk away right now, you’re takin’ this to your grave. Understand?”
She shrank back, but didn’t move.
“Swear,” Kade said.
Her mouth worked for a while before she choked out, “I swear.”
He closed his eyes, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. There was no easy way to approach it. There never was. “You ever wonder why no one ever sees me durin’ the day?”
“You work midnights.”
Kade raised a brow. “Days off? Holidays?”
She didn’t reply.
“Whatever ad Nick had you answerin’, I think somethin’ got skewed along the line,” he said. “You ain’t here to... for that. You’re here because I need to eat. I need to... drink... blood.”
Penny stared at him in silence.
“I have a contact who was supposed to be settin’ up an arrangement for someone to come feed me. It’s quick. Simple. A bite, a drink, done. I know it looks bad, meetin’ in a place like this, but the sink’s nice to have. Trust me on that.” His eyes flicked toward the mirror above the sink.
She followed his gaze, jumping hard when she realized what she was looking at.
When he’d first changed, the lack of a reflection had been novel. It had grown to bother him over the years. He closed his eyes again, so he wouldn’t have to see her surprise.
A long moment later, Penny spoke, her voice quavering. “Does... Does Felicity...”
“’Course she does. You think I’d marry a woman who doesn’t know all my secrets?” He snorted. “Like I said, she named that bakery because of me. Because of what I am. It was a joke at my expense. Only the two of us knew it, until now.”
She sat silent for so long that he almost wasn’t sure she was still there. He cracked an eye open to look at her, mindful to keep his movements slow.
He was a predator. She was the prey. The last thing he wanted to do was startle her.
Penny watched him. She sat stiff, white as a ghost, tensing like she was ready for him to spring.
“I ain’t gonna hurt you,” Kade said slowly. “I got rules. Standards. I don’t bite anybody without permission.”
Except Drake du Coudray, he thought with a grim smile. Having killed that vampire would haunt him until the end of his days.
She laced her fingers and squeezed her hands together, her knuckles turning white. To her credit, she didn’t scream or try to run. She didn’t do anything. Just sat, staring at her hands without saying a word. It didn’t make anything easier.
“Did you ever believe in the supernatural?” he asked, unsure how to carry on. In the past, it was always one of the Keepers or one of his fellow hunters who had this conversation. Felicity was the first person he’d told on his own, and he hadn’t initiated it.
“I never did,” Penny said. “I guess it would be easier if I had.”
“Maybe so,” Kade agreed.
They sat on the foot of the bed in passing silence.
Then, sighing, Kade pushed himself up to pace the floor. “So what now?”
“We do what you need to.”
He knew it didn’t sound pleasant. Then again, his one and only experience being bitten had brought about his death; he wouldn’t exactly call it enjoyable. But she stayed, determined to see the job through. It bothered him in a nagging way.