“I honestly forgot about it with all this moving crap.” Strangely, I had. Am I due for a psych consult? “I really didn’t see the dismembered part. I saw a face and a hand but didn’t realize they weren’t connected.” I shuddered. “It was dark back there.”
Dee’s eyebrows formed a V. “A dead body just slipped your mind?”
My answering shrug raised them to a pyramid, but nothing more.
“I’ve got to go before my disks warp.” I wanted to get my stuff stowed before Raf rose. I was up for a Buffy Fest and wondered if Raf was acquainted with the phenomenon.
I let Willy roll to the car, gave him a squeeze, and discovered his bladder remained empty. After unbuckling him from the cart, I placed him on a towel in the floorboard. Dee kissed my check and passed me the sack of dog food, which I managed to wedge into the backseat.
“I’ll invite you over when I get settled. It’s a great place.”
“You better.”
Of course we got lost on the return trip, too. I’d need to wait for Raf to rise before going to the grocery store otherwise everything would spoil before I found my way back home. We stopped for directions at a mom and pop diner this time. The problem with one-way streets is they don’t always run the direction you need to go. As I drove all over creation in Raf’s jammies trying to find my way home, I wondered why I hadn’t changed at Dee’s. That mental eval loomed closer.
We pulled into the garage, and after the boxes were stacked in the tiny elevator, there was barely enough room for Willy and me. A miss-punch sent us to the third floor instead of the second. Imagine my surprise when the door at the end of the hall turned out to be an elevator not a closet. And here I had wiggled down those stairs with Willy.
I carried the boxes into my bedroom where most would remain. Dee’s rental had been furnished, so all I owned were clothes, personal items, a small TV, and some kitchen stuff. From the brief look I got of the kitchen, I’d probably need those. Cindy, hadn’t bothered to remove hangers, but rather accordioned my clothes into the boxes. She really was in a hurry to get moved out of her Mom’s. We’d have to discuss our matriarchs sometime. I bet hers won’t seem so awful when she hears about mine.
My meager belongings took little time to put away. A few pair of jeans, several sets of scrubs, soon to be returned to the clinic, some knit tops, and a few pair of shoes. One pair beaded thongs, two pair athletic shoes, one white, one black, and one pair of old beat up cowboy boots. From another box I extracted the contents of my former dresser and frowned.
Despite being a girl on a limited income, I love fancy lingerie! Whenever there was a lingerie sale you’d find me at the front of the line waiting for the doors to open. I bought quality at the lowest price and took good care of it, unlike Cindy who appeared to have upended the drawer into the box, leaving everything helter-skelter.
Cussing under my breath, I carefully rearranged my delicates and placed them gently in the dresser. My closet looked half empty and the bureau, completely so. I certainly had room to expand my wardrobe although I had neither time nor money to shop, nor the inclination, for that matter. Where did I go that fancier clothes were needed?
I told Willy to stay as I put his bag of food and the box containing the kitchen items back in the elevator. Returning, I placed him in his cart and let him roll along to the elevator with me.
It was almost suppertime. I located Willy’s food dishes, his little doggie placemat and set them in what I hoped, was an out of the way corner. Once the dishes were filled, Willy rolled into place and began to chow down. A good cow-chasing session always stimulated his appetite. As he ate, I explored the kitchen cabinets.
Surprised to find a nice set of new pots and pans, I added my cast iron skillets, a necessity in the south. There were plenty of glasses, including the lovely stemware I drank wine from last night. Good, because most of my stuff was of the plastic variety. I pulled open a drawer to find only a corkscrew and a bottle opener. Okay, we needed silverware to replace my odds and ends. I tore the flap off the cardboard box and began to make a list.
“Need help?”
I squealed, hand to heart. “Honestly Raf! Do you have to sneak up on me like that?”
“Sorry Honey.” His grin told me otherwise.
“What are you doing up? It can’t be dark yet.” I would be hard pressed to prove it with no windows in the entire building. In July, dusk arrived late.
“Honey, I’m an early riser. As long as I am out of the sunlight what difference does the time make?”
“Oh. Gotcha. No windows, no direct doorways outside and no skylights.” I nodded. “Good to know.” He must have been up for a little while because he was dressed in jeans and a tank top.
“You going to wear that … ” He waved his hand indicating my borrowed P.Js. “Forever?”
“I didn’t have anything else. Thanks, by the way. I’ll change after I take Willy out. Then you can take me grocery shopping.”
“Really, why would I want to do that?”
“Cause you’re my roomy and I’ve already been lost twice today. Damn one way streets!”
“Well, we’ll have to get you all straightened out then won’t we?”
I picked Willy up, cart and all, grabbed a plastic bag and stepped into the elevator. “Be right back.”
With Willy’s cart supporting his weight, I removed his diaper. I stared in utter disbelief as he relieved himself unaided.
Had some shift in his spine resulted in these rapid improvements? Was this the miracle I’d hoped for?
We retraced our steps back into the blackness. Only the tiny light on the elevator guided my way. A fumbled effort unlocked the portal, Willy rolled right in and we were back in the kitchen in no time.
“Raf, you need to show me the light switch in the parking deck because I can’t see my hand in front of my face down there. Can I leave Willy with you while I shower?
Raf shut the refrigerator and turned with a bottle of Razorback Red in his hand. He stuck it in the microwave and pressed the button. “Sure, doll.”
“Why don’t you have a heater?”
Heater was slang for the vending machines that dispensed the blood substitute. With certain preservatives added and the ‘blood’ maintained at the correct temperature, it would keep for up to three months, any longer, and it had to be frozen. Since porcine hemoglobin was used, the temperature had to be one-hundred-one to one-hundred-one-point-five degrees to maintain its integrity and, according to vampires, flavor.
The microwave dinged and a voice from behind me answered sleepily, “We ordered two. Only one came in, so we put it at the salon. Ours is on backorder.”
The ‘Red’ flew through the air. I turned as it passed my head to see it caught by the boss. He stood pale and bare-chested with bed-head, in a pair of silk pajama bottoms similar to the ones I wore.
He lifted the bottle to me and with a lopsided grin that would have done Elvis proud said, “Good ee-ven-ing.”
It was the worst imitation of a vampire, imitating a man imitating a vampire, I ever heard. I grinned back, until I remembered I wore nothing at all under my pajamas and I suspected, neither did Tom. I turned on my heel.
“Which bathroom should I use?”
Raf took his own bottle out of the microwave. “Same as last night, second door on the right. Need help?”
“I got it, thanks.”
I ran up those twisty stairs with the sound of masculine laughter following in my wake. I had a real good idea how a mouse must feel when cornered by a cat. Handsome cat.
The Buffy marathon was now on hold until I had answers to the jumble of questions rattling in my brain. Raf better be ready to spill!
CHAPTER 7
“You’re living with your boss!” My brain screamed as I shut the door to the bedroom. I grabbed a pair of denim shorts, a white tee with one red rose embroidered from neck to hem — the rose matched my toenails — and the first white bra and panties I came across then the beaded thongs Dee g
ave me for my birthday and laid them on top of the box marked personal items. The possibilities of life with two vampires reverberated through my mind as I hugged the wall all the way to the bathroom door, trying to stay as inconspicuous as possible.
Raf’s laughter filled my head as I closed the bathroom door and shot the lock. There had been enough surprises for one day. Locating an empty drawer in the vanity, I shifted some stuff around in the linen closet and had my feminine products stashed away in no time. I shucked the pajamas and climbed into the tub, whirling the lacy shower curtain to engulf me.
Five minutes to shower and shave my legs and underarms, another five to dry my body and hair, perhaps five more to dress and apply a little mascara and lip gloss. I’m pretty low maintenance. My reflection in the long mirror showed the white of the tee set off my tan — which was holding up well so far — and my eyes. White always made my eyes their bluest. The lace detail of my bra barely showed through the thin material of the tee. What am I thinking? Sexy but demure, Dee would say. Uh-huh.
As I carefully maneuvered the stairs, Raf and Tom continued shootin’ the breeze. Tom hadn’t changed, bed-head still in place, his broad back toward me and a half empty bottle on the bar in front of him. Raf noticed me and his red lips drew back in a rather toothsome smile. He gave an eyebrow waggle and nod. Tom turned around.
Tom’s dimpled smile came slower. I thought the red-lipped fangy smile a tad unnerving on Raf, but the one I got from the “Boss” caused heat to flare through me. I sizzled from the top of my head to the tips of my red toenails, with the strongest sensation somewhere slightly below center. I smiled back.
Since we had time to kill before we could safely go to the store, I could dive right in to my Q and A with Raf, but with Tom in attendance — my courage waivered.
“Anything I can drink?” I pointed to the fridge as I walked toward them.
Raf pulled a glass from the cabinet and then stuck his head in the refrigerator. “Hum, we have red or … Red,” as he pulled a wine bottle from the shelf and filled the glass.
I took a sip and was pretty sure it was the same wine as last night. Slightly sweet, it tasted of something other than grapes. As I rolled it around in my mouth, a hint of cherry settled on my tongue … or maybe I was just hungry. Reminded I hadn’t eaten since our stop at McDonald’s before noon, I sipped the wine slowly. Parts of last night were fuzzy if not missing all together. I didn’t want a repeat.
“This is good.”
“If you say so,” Tom said as he sipped his own beverage.
“Mind if I ask some questions?” I directed to both of them equally. They continued to stare at me, so I continued. “I seem to be the only one in the dark about our living arrangement. I was under the impression I would share the loft with Raf? Is there anyone else I should know about?”
Raf glanced at Tom. When Tom didn’t volunteer, Raf shrugged. “Honey, this is the boss’s place. When I told him you lived on the dark side of the moon and didn’t have a car … well, we figured this would work out fine. It’s close and we aren’t much trouble.” He took another sip from his bottle.
“Is that all you guys a — consume?” I waved my hand to indicate their bottles. “I mean, I love Dr. Pepper but if that’s all I drank, I think I would get sick of it after a while.”
“A valid analogy,” Tom commented as he stretched.
Whoa baby! I took a gulp of my wine. All those rippling muscles made it hard to focus on the dialog.
“I for one will admit I miss a good steak, even the aroma of one cooking.” Tom closed his eyes as if savoring the memory. “Unfortunately, our digestive systems don’t function as they did in our other lives.” He thought for a moment before continuing. “We absorb what we need from, this,” he held up his now empty bottle, “like a human on a liquid diet. With you, after a diet of liquids, solid food must be reintroduced slowly to give the digestive system time to retrain itself. The foods must be broken down and the solids disposed of. Our internal organs no longer function. Solid food would have nowhere to go, no way to be eliminated.”
“Well that sucks!” I said without thinking. Raf giggled.
That was the most the boss had said since my post interview salon tour. He seemed okay with shoptalk but not so much with the personal stuff. Maybe he was shy. The western drawl was still in place, but not the ‘aw shucks, howdy ma’am’ stuff. Did he think a good old red neck cowboy would be accepted more easily?
“Can’t you a least flavor that stuff? There are all kinds of artificial flavors out there if the real stuff won’t do.”
“We add flavoring. This is AB negative.” Tom told me.
“So you make the pig blood taste like human blood? O-kay! I was thinking more along the lines of fruit flavors. You could even add some liquid smoke and get that steak flavor you’ve been missing. Or would that be pork chop?” I pondered that for a moment, and then shrugged. “It could work, right?”
“I’ll speak to my research and development people,” Tom said thoughtfully. “We haven’t had any difficulties with our ‘blood types’ so I don’t foresee any problems. You may have hit on something, little lady!
“Oh puh-lease! Let’s not start that again. You own an R&D lab?”
If a vampire can look embarrassed, he did. “Several.”
“I think our roomy figured you out, Boss,” Raf choked back a laugh.
“We’re not stupid. I can tell when he’s faking it.” That didn’t come out right.
“Boss, you need to get going if you plan to get painted before work,” Raf reminded.
They exchanged a look I couldn’t read, possibly because they were vamps or perhaps because of the glass of wine on my empty stomach. Tom handed Raf his bottle and went quickly up those twisty stairs.
I tore my gaze away from the way the silk clung to Tom’s ass to say, “Raf, we need to get to the store. I’m starving.”
“We can’t have that. I’ll get my shoes and we’ll go.” Raf came around the bar and headed for the stairs. His toenails were the same red as mine.
I made Willy promise to be good while we were gone and took him out of his cart. Leaving him in it unattended frightened me. What if he turned over and no one was there to help him?
Raf showed me the light switches in the garage. One was beside the elevator the other by the big garage door. Why didn’t they have a motion sensor? Did they work on vampires? As we started backing out, the elevator door opened and a deeply tanned Tom exited. He climbed into a big, black Hummer.
“So, y’all have a spray booth here?” I asked.
“And a bed,” Raf stuck in the keycard and we were out the door in a flash. “I’ll give you the guided tour when we get back, okay Hon? You seemed too frazzled last night.”
I was not. I handled finding the corpse extremely well. “I appreciate the — extra attention. I’m not really used to that sort of thing.”
“Really!”
“I’m not a prude. We don’t know each other very well yet and that was … pretty intimate.”
“I forget myself sometimes. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I’m a touchy, feely kind of guy. I felt a connection. When you’ve been around as long as I have you learn not to take your feelings for granted. Just think of me as your brother.”
“I’d rather not.”
“You have a brother?”
“Not exactly.” I changed the subject. “So how long have you been around?”
“Oh Honey! I’m older than mud,” Raf quipped as we finally pulled into the Kroger parking lot.
My stomach growled so loud I’m sure people in the next county heard. I sprang from the car and ran for a cart. Raf followed and seemed a little dazzled by all the produce. He started adding every fruit imaginable.
“Whoa! It’ll spoil. Pick me out a couple of whatever looks good. Just a couple,” I warned. I left him to it. “I’ll be right back.” I headed for frozen foods.
Skillet dinners in every combination flew into the basket. Ga
rlic chicken is my favorite. I swung back around for Raf before continuing to the staples aisle. Flour, sugar, corn meal came next followed by doggie treats and coffee. Raf inhaled the rich aroma of the coffee aisle.
“Okay, that’s all I can think of.”
Raf’s eyes swiveled from me, to the cart and back. He wisely kept his mouth shut. Maybe being a vampire increases your I.Q.
The total almost gave me a coronary. I should never shop hungry. Gas prices were driving up the cost of everything. I told myself, with the exception of perishables, the food should last for a month or more. Raf offered to pay but I refused. Why pay when he couldn’t eat anything?
We still hadn’t discussed rent.
I assumed my last active brain cell had suffered an untimely death. It wasn’t like me to jump into anything without a great deal of thought — yet I had done just that. My bond with Raf notwithstanding, new vampire roomies should have been fodder for considerable rumination. Perhaps I needed change in my life and jumped at the first opportunity?
“Hand me a banana, Raf.”
He pulled one from the stalk, passed it to me and closed the trunk.
“I honestly don’t know how you find your way around town, especially at night,” I said as we sped through the dark.
“I have ESP. What are your plans for tonight?”
“To eat. I thought you might help me put away this stuff while I cook. Ah … it won’t bother you if I eat will it?”
“Not at all. Don’t worry about me.”
“Okay, if you’re sure? We can watch Buffy. Do you know about Buffy?”
“Who’s Buffy?”
“You’ll see.”
The drive back was short and uneventful with Raf at the wheel. We made quick work of stowing the groceries. It would have gone faster if Willy had stayed out of the way. I gave him a chewy stick to divert his attention.
Raf zapped a bottle of Red and went upstairs to set up my DVD player and TV since they had a huge flat screen hidden by the ‘library’. One whole section of books just slid to the side and presto! Electronics must be a universal guy thing.
Midnight Sun, Inc. (Crimson Romance) Page 5