“I’ll think about it. I don’t want to start something that’s going to spiral out of control.”
“Max threatened your life,” Theo argued. “You have two choices: ignore him and brace for an indirect attack, or take him out before he attacks you—.”
“Theo,” Danial warned.
Theo noticed that I was still in the car and hastened to cover his words. “I meant objectively, not literally, Sarelle. We have to neutralize him before he can strike.”
Right. Why didn’t I believe him? I was getting those danger signals from him that told me he meant business. I was both alarmed and relieved that I could still tell when someone was bullshitting me.
We arrived at the Haunt. I could hear loud rock music even inside the car. Danial got out, and I followed him, holding his hand. There was a line, but Danial said something to the bouncer, and we bypassed it. I was impressed.
Inside, the Haunt was decorated for Halloween. With a start, I realized Halloween would be next weekend. The DJ was playing Starship’s We Built this City. I saw that the couples around us were predominantly in their thirties and forties, though there was a few twenty-somethings here. The song ended and switched to the Pointer Sisters Jump (For My Love).
“Do you like this?” Danial asked, his arm around me.
“Yes,” I shouted over the din. “But do you? If you didn’t grow up listening to these songs, they might seem a little...dated.”
“Let’s enjoy ourselves. Someday soon, I’ll show you the kind of dancing I like.”
I took that as a double entendre, but maybe it was just sincere sentiment. Or sincere lust.
“Do you want to dance or get a booth?”
I gave him a wide smile. “I don’t need to work up to it. Let’s go.” I led him onto the dance floor and put my arms around his neck. “Show me what you’ve got.”
Jump ended, and appropriately, Kenny Loggins’s Meet me Halfway came on. Danial showed me he did have skill. He hadn’t spent those forty years just learning how to kiss; some of it had been spent learning how to dance. Even to this music, which was hard to move badly to, he showed me that he knew exactly how to move. All too soon the song was over. The next song that came on was Robert Palmer’s Addicted to Love.
Here was the moment of truth. Could he dance to faster music? I’d never met a man who felt comfortable dancing to fast music, and the ones who did...well, they did it badly. Even men in movies seemed to do it half-assed, except Travolta. But Danial could have been Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing.
After a half hour, I was hot and wanted to take my sweater off. “Let’s sit down for a bit,” I said, breathing hard. “I need a drink.”
We found a booth in the corner that said, “Reserved.” Danial pushed the sign to the side. I looked at him questioningly. “It was reserved for us,” he said.
Wow, this was nice.
A waitress materialized and took my order for a glass of wine. She came back fast for it being such a busy night, bringing both my glass of Shiraz, and a scotch glass for Danial. He read the little note attached to it and laughed. He downed the contents and gave it back to the waitress, saying, “Tell her thanks, and I’ll be careful.” He turned and said to me, “A friend of mine, Tatiana. She owns this place. She held this table for us.” He laughed easily. “She’s having some fun with me.”
“That was blood, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, and a note said to be careful and don’t drink too much.”
“Does everyone know what you are?”
“If you mean Theo, Aran, and, Tatiana, yes, they know, along with a few others. It’s just as much a mistake not to trust anyone as it is to be too trusting. Life is about being satisfied, both with yourself, and the path you’re on. Otherwise, you may as well be dead.”
“I agree, life is for living.”
Danial nodded once. “I’m glad you agree. Let’s dance.”
He reached for my hand, and I remembered I hadn’t taken off my sweater. I stripped it off. Danial gave me the up and down look with his eyes, then a sexy smile as he led me out to the dance floor. We danced to several songs, took a break, and then danced some more. On the third break, I said, “I’m going to have to stop. I haven’t danced in a long time, and my stamina’s gone.”
I worried that I let him down, but he flashed me a relieved smile. “We have to get going anyway if we’re going to make the movie.”
I checked my watch and realized it was eleven thirty. I finished my wine and grabbed my sweater. Danial hadn’t acted tense in the club, but he visibly relaxed walking out with me. I hid my smile, thinking he’d been as nervous as I had been. Now I knew why he’d suggested going dancing first, instead of the movie Theo was in the parking lot with the SUV. He drove us to the theater and dropped us off, where we caught the latest revenge-action movie.
We enjoyed it, both of us glad to see true justice was done in the end. The theater was cold, and I was glad I’d brought my sweater. But I was happier that Danial and I had agreed so easily on a movie we both enjoyed. We’d passed the couples test I’d dreaded. Now, if I could just get past the violence that seemed such a big part of his life.
Theo picked us up after the movie ended. As we rode home, I fell asleep on Danial’s lap. Drifting off, I heard Theo say, “You know this is a mistake.”
I came alert at once. Danial answered more forcefully than I expected. “I’ll have this one thing and it won’t be sullied, not this time—”
“It’s too late for that.”
“You don’t know that,” Danial said angrily. “It might work.”
“You’re lying to yourself, Danial,” Theo said grimly.
“Shut up and drive,” Danial growled.
But Theo wasn’t done. “I warned you. That's my job. My conscience is clear. This will not end well.”
Chapter Six
Bright light hit me in the eyes. I blinked rapidly, looked over at the clock, and found out that it was two in the afternoon.
Oh shit …
I dashed from the bedroom to take care of the dogs, cursing myself for not remembering to set my alarm. They would need to go out, and the cats hadn’t been fed.
I stopped short in the doorway to the wood stove room. There, I said a quick prayer of thanks for having worn full pajamas to bed and not just a T-shirt; or worse, nothing at all. Theopolis, a.k.a. Theo, waited for me in the recliner next to the wood stove, reading a book. A nice fire was going strong. My dogs bolted to their feet, panting, and came over eagerly.
Theo looked up and flashed a grin. “Good morning, Sar.”
“Good morning, and what the hell are you doing here?” I asked as I walked past him toward the kitchen. The dogs followed beside me, their watchful eyes on him.
“I took care of the cats and let them outside. I tried feeding your dogs, but they didn’t want to eat.”
What he meant was that they wouldn’t take food from him. They wouldn’t go near him either, though they weren’t growling. There wasn’t a cat in sight, which was strange. Why would the animals behave this way? I remembered the sunglasses Theo had worn and wondered if there was something different about him, something animals found upsetting, maybe dangerous. Then I told myself I was being foolish. Danial must have told him to stay here for a reason, to guard the both of us. The animals were acting this way because he was a stranger.
With me standing next to them, Ghost and Darkness ate. Afterward, they did their business outside and came back in, taking up their positions between Theo and me. He was still sitting in the other room, reading his book or pretending to.
“Come and give them a treat,” I said as nicely as I could manage
Theo got up. He went through the procedure of giving each dog a treat, which seemed to do the trick with easing their tension. Ghost visibly relaxed and laid down, going through his normal morning yawn. I could tell by her eyes that Darkness was still thinking about biting Theo, but she also lay down. One problem solved; on to the next.
; “Why are you here?”
“Danial gave me instructions to help out this morning. If you didn’t wake up on your own, I was to let you sleep and take care of the animals. I’m also supposed to help you today until sundown, and then I’m off duty. Help you with what, he didn’t say.”
“Don’t you sleep?” Every human needed sleep, but maybe he wasn’t human?
“I’ve been sleeping when I wasn’t reading this book of yours. Aran is still outside on duty. Everything’s been quiet.” He handed me the book. “How can you read this stuff? It’s just sex, page after page. No one could have this much sex and still function.”
I saw what he was reading and flushed. I snatched it from him. “No one told you to pick this book.”
“It said Sleeping Beauty—”
“Never mind! Next time you decide to grab a book, stay away from the shelf where you found this. That shelf is off limits. Pick one from any other shelf—”
In the midst of my tirade, I noticed his eyes sparkling with mirth. I started to smile but bit my lip to stop myself. “You knew what this was when you picked it up, didn’t you?”
“I had to see what you’d say,” he chortled. “Your face is so red—”
“I don’t think joking about sex with me is appropriate, Theopolis.” My voice was low and had an edge to it.
His smile faded. “How do you know my full name? You heard what I said to Danial. You weren’t asleep—”
“No, I wasn’t. Why were you warning him away from me?”
He said nothing, his eyes holding mine solidly.
Try another tactic. “Look, I care about him. I had a great time last—”
“It’s not that, Sarelle. I don’t doubt your intentions for each other.”
“Then what? Spit it out.”
“As you said, this isn’t appropriate for me to talk about,” he said coolly, looking at me with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “You also shouldn’t be strolling around in your pajamas either.”
He was right. I had a lot to do, getting dressed being next on the list. I threw out my best argument. “Tell me, Theo, or I’ll ask Danial about it when he gets up. And whether he answers me or not, you’ll still get yelled at for saying what you said to him in front of me.”
I had him and he knew it. He grimaced at me. “Okay. You two are from different worlds, with different expectations. Whatever life you had before you met him is sure to change just being with him. Are you ready for that? Is that what you really want?”
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “But I want to be with him. I’m willing to try.”
“You know what he is. There are many things he can’t change, like what he needs to do to survive. And what he can and can’t share with you, even if he wants to.”
“There are some things I can’t change, either, but I’ll do my best to adjust. I mean that. I’m not just saying that to make you feel better.”
“I hope so,” he said softly, “for both your sakes.”
I excused myself to take a shower, my good mood slightly soured by his gloom-and-doom outlook. Afterward, I got dressed and went out to get Theo, who was on the deck with the dogs.
“I’m making breakfast. Do you want anything to eat? Do you need to shower?”
He grinned. “Are you insinuating anything?”
He was bantering all the time. It was amusing, but also annoying.
“Yes or no?” I said, trying hard not to smile in spite of myself.
“No, Aran and I took turns showering last night when we got back here. I hope you don’t mind that I used all your shampoo.”
Ballsy, but I was beginning to think that was his middle name. “Don’t worry; I keep a supply on hand. Breakfast?”
“No, we already ate.”
Strange that he hadn’t joked about that, when he had about almost everything else. “After breakfast, I need some help with the firewood and some cleaning.”
“I don’t do windows,” he deadpanned.
“I hope you put up Halloween decorations, cause I need help with those, too.”
* * * *
Theo did try hard; I gave him that. His wisecracks didn’t stop, but we worked well together, me being witty myself. He was just full of keen observations, in fact he had one for every new room we worked in.
In the living room, he asked, “Why did you pick these curtains? No one has ladybug curtains.”
“I like ladybugs. They eat garden pests. And they never ask questions.”
In the woodstove room, he asked, “Is there any reason why you keep all your porn on a shelf where visitors can find it?”
“I like it accessible in case I need it in an emergency.”
In the pet area, he stated, “There seems to be a large quantity of supplies on hand. I understand some, but are you expecting a shortage of cat litter this winter?”
“Anything forty pounds is easier to carry when you don’t have to haul it through ice and snow. But you’re right; those seven tubs should be in the cellar. Why don’t you carry them all down there for me? Afterwards you can carry up the box of replacement bricks for the woodstove, the shovels, and the bags of rock salt, too.”
In the dining room, he asked, “Why do you have so many weapons around? There’s something in every room.”
“You never know when a sword or ax might come in handy.”
He laughed. “Did you ever think you might be more than a little strange?”
“No. I’m a lot strange. But don’t worry; you have me beat hands down.”
By the time we’d finished the dusting and winter reorganizing, we gotten relaxed around each other. Next was getting enough firewood from the woodshed. As we walked to the barn, he said, “Let me get this straight; you named your dogs after two African lions that killed over a hundred people?”
“That’s right,” I said, a little confrontationally.
“You’re right. You’re very strange.”
“It would be worse to be utterly normal.”
“That’s true.”
“I wouldn’t get to meet people like you,” I said, winking.
“True again,” he said, returning the gesture.
I unlocked the barn and rolled back the door.
“So this is what you use to get firewood?” he said, looking at my tractor.
“You can hop on if you want a ride, but we aren’t going far.”
“Can I drive?” he asked hopefully.
“Sorry...no one drives my Deere but me.”
I climbed up and cranked the engine. It roared to life. I reached down to help Theo up, but he climbed up agilely, holding onto the roll bar and side handle. I backed the tractor out and swung her around, then drove to the woodpile.
“Do you want gloves?” I pulled mine on to start loading wood.
He gave me a disdainful look and declined, then let out a yelp when he got a splinter on the next piece of wood. I stopped what I was doing and worked it out for him. His hand was warm in mine, and I was conscious of him standing next to me. I remembered his talk of killing the night before, but pushed it aside. My hands needed to be steady, and if I thought about what he’d done in life, they wouldn’t be.
I got the splinter out and handed him a pair of men’s gloves, saying nothing but smirking. He gave me a dark look and put them on. We loaded the rest of the wood, brought it to the house and unloaded it in the basement. I tried to be quiet, knowing Danial was trying to sleep close by.
“Don’t worry about disturbing him,” Theo said. “He already knows we’re here. He’s heard us by now, just like he heard us moving around upstairs earlier. But that alone won’t wake him. He’ll get the rest he needs. ”
I relaxed. The work went faster. We finished unloading the wood and drove back to the woodpile. Theo hopped down and brushed wood chips off. “Decorations now?”
“We aren’t done. We need to get at least one more load into the basement.”
He made a face. “What? I’m going to get all dirty a
gain.”
“That's right,” I said smugly. “Grab some wood.”
We finished moving the second load in record time, still trading insults and jokes. By that time, I’d completely relaxed, deciding Theo couldn’t be the stone-cold killer I’d thought him to be. He was simply too warm and friendly, his laughter too contagious.
After storing the tractor and locking the barn, we walked back to the house. As Theo had predicted, we were filthy with dirt and sawdust. “Why don’t you go in and take a shower?” I said. “I need to mow, at least the part by the house.”
“No can do, Sar,” he said seriously. “You should go inside and start getting ready. It’s almost six. Danial will be up at seven. That gives you an hour.” He gave a long-suffering sigh and said in a martyr’s voice, “I’ll mow around the house.”
I envisioned him doing all sorts of horrible things to my mower blade in his urge to get it done. “Forget it. We’ll take turns showering, and then put up the decorations.”
Heading inside, I was abruptly hit with an attack of nerves. What did one wear for sex? What did Danial expect? What did I expect? Was I making a mistake doing this, especially so soon?
Theo stepped close to me. “Some words of advice, Sarelle?”
“As long as you’re serious.”
His eyes softened. They were a grey-blue color, like the sky before a storm. His expression was serious, neither joking nor dangerous. “Be yourself and dress how you want. Danial wants you, not an actress.”
“Thanks,” I said, feeling relieved and not knowing why. His advice wasn’t exactly a revelation. “I know that, but I needed to hear it. I’m nervous.”
“He probably is, too; just like he was the other night. Now make sure to leave some hot water for me.”
I rolled my eyes at him. After I’d cleaned up, we began putting up decorations—all seven boxes of them. I hadn’t put up any last year. This year, I was putting them all up to celebrate.
“Is there any particular place these should go?” he said, holding up a stuffed ghost and a skull candle.
“No. Be creative.”
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