Rather than giving her a prudish stare, he laughed. “Yes, you are definitely back to your old self.”
“How would you even know what my old self is like?”
“Caitlin,” he said.
“You banged Caitlin?” Lydia gasped and fanned herself as if shocked. The idea of Caitlin with Justin was so laughable that Lydia had trouble keeping a straight face. Hell would freeze over before Caitlin slept with Justin.
He snorted. “I’d forgotten how crude you can be. Before you say anything, I didn’t need to talk to you to figure that out. One only needs about five minutes in your presence to come to that conclusion. It’s funny since your cousin tries to act so proper.”
Lydia shrugged. “To be totally honest, the whole crude bimbo act was originally to upset my mom when she brought over new boyfriends. Any attention seemed better than being forgotten. The act also made me seem less innocent with the boyfriends. Some guys went for the cute little girls, but they tended to stay away from the foul mouthed little demon child. After a while it just became a habit.”
No one spoke, and she cursed under her breath. What the hell had possessed her to reveal that personal detail? Must be a side effect from the coma thing. While pretending to study the dove grey paint on the wall, Lydia tried to shift the conversation away from her childhood. “So you and Caitlin are on speaking terms?”
An odd expression came over his face. “I guess one could say we have a truce of sorts for now. Once she realizes you were here all of this time she’s going to be mad as hell. Enough about Caitlin. How are you?”
“Fat and confused,” she said.
“Your weight is great,” he said in a very clinical voice. “The fact that you were so underweight before most likely contributed to your condition.”
“Is that your way of saying skinny people don’t do well with vampires?”
“Good,” he said, ignoring her sarcasm. “Roman already explained what happened so I don’t have to. I was worried he’d leave the explanation up to me.”
“He didn’t explain. I knew Dominic was a vampire already. Roman did confirm it, but I don’t know what happened. Care to enlighten me?”
“No,” Justin said, “but I’ll give you the basics anyway. Dominic was draining your energy too often. Not sure why you stayed with him, but I guess love makes us do crazy things. In your case, love makes you do dangerously stupid things.”
Lydia was embarrassed, and angry at Justin for pointing out her obvious stupidity. When she looked down at her hand it was tied up in her hair again. What a pain in the ass it was going to be to free her hand.
“That’s enough, Justin,” Roman said quietly from the door before walking over to help free her hand.
Justin paled, which gave Lydia perverse pleasure. The last thing she needed was to have Caitlin’s stalker remind her of how stupid she’d been. Wow! Life looks so much worse when you’re being judged by a stalker.
“I’ll finish the explanation,” Roman said. “Draining small amounts of energy from humans is how we survive. We use supplements so we won’t need to take blood. Dominic took so much energy that you had nothing left. Noah was the first to suspect you might have some psychic abilities. He saved your life,” Roman said.
“I guess I owe Noah,” she said.
“We all do,” Roman said still holding the hand that he’d freed from her hair and making circles on the top of it with his thumb. “To help you recover, we all gave you some of our own energy.”
“How many people did this energy thing?” she asked.
“Four,” Roman said without looking away from her hand.
“That sounds pretty damn creepy,” she said with a slight tremor in her voice.
“It was mostly Roman,” Justin said, and she didn’t miss Roman’s glare. “He didn’t like anyone else touching you.”
“Really?” Lydia asked with raised eyebrows.
“I thought it would make you uncomfortable to have so many people involved,” Roman said and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
“Well, whatever the reason, thank you,” she said. “The thought of a bunch of people doing that energy thing did weird me out. I don’t know why, but the whole thing sounds too personal.”
“The experience can be very intimate for some,” Roman explained.
“Is it an intimate experience for you?” she asked.
He cleared his throat. “Yes.”
“What does all of this mean to me?” No one had explained that yet, but something had changed.
“You’re like us now,” Roman said without further explanation.
“Then why don’t I have fangs like Dominic?”
“Females don’t get fangs,” Justin explained.
“Well, now that just seems sexist,” she muttered.
“You won’t need them anyway,” Justin continued.
“What do I need?”
“Energy,” Roman answered. “It’s what you would call someone’s life force. You’ll feed from me.” There was no mistaking the possessive note in his voice. “I mean, you’ll feed from me for now. Other arrangements can be made later.”
Roman finally released her hand and stepped back. Lydia would be lying if she didn’t admit that she already missed the contact. “How does this change me?”
“Other than the hair?” Justin asked with a smile. “I wasn’t sure whether I should come through the front door or stand outside of your window and ask you to let down your golden hair.”
Lydia’s mouth dropped open. Justin had a sense of humor? Now, that was a surprise.
“You won’t age,” Roman said, ignoring Justin’s joke. “You’ll be stronger and your talent with plants will be even more impressive. In time, your eyes will become more sensitive to the light, and you’ll need to wear sunglasses when you go out on sunny days.”
“So what’s bad about it? I can deal with the sunglasses. In fact, I happen to look fantastic in sunglasses.” The hair flip she attempted was a big fail.
No one answered, meaning there was something bad to all of this and she wanted answers now. Justin seemed like the easiest to intimidate. “If you don’t tell me everything now, I’ll tell Caitlin that you grabbed my boobs.”
“There was some irreparable damage done to your reproductive organs,” Justin said hesitantly.
Roman slipped an arm around her. “I’m afraid you won’t be able to have children.”
Her laughter startled both men. “I don’t want children. In fact, I’ve never experienced the maternal tug. Being a fun auntie would be cool, but I’m not cut out for the mom thing.”
Both men stared at her and then seemed to relax.
Roman shook his head. “You have an amazing way of adapting to the world.”
“Yeah, well I learned early on that the world’s not going to adapt to me,” she said. “Okay, now that came out sounding all self‑pitying and I didn’t mean it that way. From the sound of it, no one expected me to survive, but I did. Oh, and my boobs are bigger. I can’t wait to tell Hannah about my bigger boobs even though they’ll still be much smaller than hers. Man, I’ll bet hers are huge now that she’s pregnant. I can’t wait to try on bras.”
“Are you done talking about your breasts?” Justin asked, looking unsure of how to take her boob rant.
“Unless you wanted to examine them to make sure they’re okay,” she teased.
Roman’s arm tightened around her. “Stay away from her breasts,” he ground out. “There is no reason for her to undress for the exam.”
Justin’s expression shifted from shock to worry. Maybe there was even a little pity. Finally, he nodded. “I can do the exam with her clothes on.”
Roman nodded and walked toward the door. “Finish quickly. Lydia needs new clothes so I’m taking her shopping and then to dinner.” He paused to look at Lydia one last time. “We’ll stop at a bookstore too.”
Well, damn! The man was taking her to a bookstore.
When Roman left, Justin blew
out a frustrated breath. “I am an idiot for saying this because Roman might kill me if he hears about it,” Justin said as he rummaged through the large black bag he’d carried in with him. “Be careful with Roman.”
“You think he’s going to hurt me?” Lydia asked while she twisted the wedding ring around on her finger.
“I don’t know,” Justin said and then stared helplessly at the stethoscope in his hand. “This would be a lot easier if I didn’t have to be afraid that my uncle was going to come in here and kill me for seeing your breasts. It’s not like I haven’t seen them before.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he froze and gave her a sheepish smile. “That sounded a lot less perverted in my head.”
“Yeah, I get it,” she said. “You’re a doctor and you took care of me. How about if you tell me where to put that thing and I’ll try to follow orders?”
He didn’t look at her when he replied. “Something tells me you aren’t very good at taking orders.”
“You’re right about that.”
“That’s one of the reasons I worry about you getting too close to Roman,” Justin said. “Roman expects people to do what he says when he says it. He doesn’t even like people questioning him. You don’t have the best track record for self‑preservation.”
“Why are you trying so hard to scare me off from Roman? I just woke up from a coma and barely know the man. Okay, so you have good reason to question my judgment. Yeah, I fucked up with Dominic. How the hell could I have even guessed he’d force me to take his blood?”
Justin’s head snapped up. “Dominic forced you to take his blood?”
“Guess that shocks all the vampires. Apparently, it turned me into some sort of junkie who would do anything to have him. I don’t even remember everything that happened, just enough to feel stupid and used. The last thing I need right now is you judging me about this because I’m doing fine judging myself.”
“I’m really sorry for being such an ass, Lydia,” Justin said softly. “There are rumors about some of our kind having addictive blood, but I’ve never seen it. We should have killed Dominic when we had the chance.”
“So I keep hearing,” she said. Why she was pissed, she didn’t know but she made no effort to hide her anger. “The thing I hate most about all of this is the fact that I agree about killing Dominic, and I’m not the type of person to want someone dead. You know, I wish I could forget it happened.”
“He’s already tried to get to you once. We’re pretty sure it will happen again,” Justin said.
“And if he doesn’t come after me, he’ll go after someone else. I agree you should have killed him and I don’t like myself for feeling that way. As for Roman, what we do is none of your damn business. He’s been nothing but nice to me since I woke up. Fine, it’s been less than a day, but he painted my fucking nails while I was asleep.”
“In the past, he’s been a less than ideal husband,” Justin said cryptically.
For some reason, that made Lydia even angrier. “So we all get judged by our pasts? A stalker like you probably shouldn’t be passing judgment on others. If you insult Roman again I’ll. . .” She couldn’t think of anything bad enough for her threat.
“You’ll tell Caitlin I touched your breasts?” he suggested with an amused grin.
“No,” she said with a sweet smile. “If you insult Roman again, I’ll tell him you touched my boobs.”
Justin laughed and held his hands up in surrender. “Fine, I won’t insult him again. I’m beginning to think you might be a good match for my uncle.”
“Why is that?”
“You can be just as ruthless as he can. Now, let’s get you checked out before Roman comes back up and kills me for being in the room with you too long.”
Chapter Five
Roman looked out of place in a shopping mall. Cute little shops in Carmel by the Sea had been his suggestion. Lydia’s mom would have approved of that plan. Maybe that was why Lydia had insisted on going to the mall. In truth, they’d gone all the way to Pleasanton in hopes of running into her cousin or friends. Ironically, Lydia might hide in the fitting room if she saw anyone she knew.
Poor Roman looked lost standing in Express. The sales clerk had been nice enough to let Lydia wear a pair of jeans out of the store. Now she felt like her old self. Well, except for the hair.
“Mommy!” screeched a little voice. Lydia knew what was coming. The same scene had played out at least a dozen times already. “Rapunzel is shopping too!”
Roman chuckled as the blushing mother gave Lydia an apologetic smile and pulled her child into The Children’s Place. “You may be the most popular attraction here.”
“Sweetie,” she said in her most sultry voice, “I’m the most popular attraction everywhere I go.”
Roman stared for a long moment before replying. “You certainly are. Can I ask a question?”
“Yes, you spent too much money at Victoria’s Secret,” she said and eyed the pink bags he was carrying. She’d only gone in for bras, but Roman was obviously a lover of lingerie. The whole thing was pretty damn funny because he kept insisting that he wasn’t asking to see her in it, but wanted her to have nice things.
“I’m happy with our purchases,” he said. “Why come all the way out here to shop. This was nearly a two hour drive.”
She snorted. “With the way you drive, it was just over an hour.”
“Are you complaining about my driving?”
“Nope, but I’m a bit of a risk taker,” she admitted.
“If you wanted to see your friends, you could have invited them to my home,” he said.
That was an annoyingly observant statement.
“I’m not sure I’m ready to see my friends,” she admitted. “If I run into them it’s okay, right? Yeah, that sounded pretty lame.”
“No,” he assured her. “Give yourself time to process the shocks you’ve had today. Are you hungry?”
“Yes,” she said with a smile. “Thanks for helping me change the subject.”
“What are you in the mood for? I’m not sure what’s close by, but I’m sure I can get reservations somewhere nice.”
“Let’s go to The Cheesecake Factory. It’s in the mall.”
The distressed look on Roman’s face was laughable.
“I make it a rule to never eat at restaurants with ‘Factory’ in the name,” he said.
“Don’t be a pain in the ass,” she said and started to drag him along. He made a big production of being offended by the idea but gave no real resistance.
“What did my nephew say when he was warning you about me?” he asked.
Lydia stopped so fast that she stumbled. Luckily Roman reached out and caught her arm. Damn, the man moved fast. “As you can see, I’m pretty graceful,” she said with a smile. “Why would Justin warn me about you?”
“Such a polite way to avoid the subject.” He released her arm and gathered up the bags he’d dropped. “Justin may be a bit detached from people, but the boy takes his responsibility toward his patients very seriously. Leaving you in my care must be difficult.”
“Justin is an idiot. You aren’t some big scary monster.”
Roman stopped just outside of The Cheesecake Factory and met her gaze. “What makes you say that? Justin has known me his entire life. You’ve known me less than twenty‑four hours. How can you possibly know if I’m a monster? Make no mistake on this; I’ve done horrible things in my life.”
Her brow scrunched up in thought. That was an excellent question. It’s not like she was the best judge of character. Hell, a little caution would have saved her from Dominic. Of course, in spite of her childhood, Lydia made an effort to see the best in people. If that weren’t the case, she never would have ended up friends with Caitlin. With Roman, it was more complex, and there was no way to explain what she felt without sounding crazy. “I feel you inside of me,” she said and then blushed. “That sounded really dirty, didn’t it?”
He chuckled and adjusted the bags so he co
uld open the door for her. When she walked past him, he leaned down and whispered. “I’d love to have you feel me inside of you in a dirty way too.”
Lydia nearly stumbled again and her cheeks flushed. It wasn’t from embarrassment. She was so turned on that walking to the table was a challenge.
Roman studied the wine list which gave Lydia a few minutes to get her insane arousal under control.
“People don’t order wine at The Cheesecake Factory,” she explained.
“Then why do they have such an extensive wine list?” he asked and set the menu on the table.
“Good point,” she said. “I’ll correct that. Normal people don’t order wine at The Cheesecake Factory. Apparently, a lot of freaks eat here.”
“Hopefully, the salmon is good,” he said.
“Don’t have a clue. I always get a burger. If we share a burger, we’ll have room for dessert.”
He considered her suggestions. “I’m not a big fan of ground beef.”
She gave him a look and waited until he sighed and nodded. “And no eating with a fork and knife.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Do I strike you as that uptight?”
“About your food? Yes, you do. What’s your stand on cheesecake?”
“A decadent treat.” His voice was a sexy rumble.
The waiter came and took their order.
“Will we be sharing a slice of cheesecake as well?” Roman asked after the waiter left. “Perhaps I should sit next to you in the booth, if we’re going to share food.”
Lydia patted the seat beside her. “Now that’s what I call a decadent treat.” No matter how crazy it was to flirt with Roman, a virtual stranger, flirting made her feel in control and more like her old self.
He smiled and slid into the booth beside her. His large body took up a lot of space, but she found it oddly comforting. She wanted to lean in closer to his warmth. There was just something about this man that she was drawn to. This was nothing like her obsession with Dominic. It was even beyond a normal attraction to a sexy man. Roman’s mere presence was comforting. Despite the brave front that she was working hard to keep up, she was pretty damn scared right now. She let out a little sigh. Damn, the man smelled good.
Vampires Prefer Blondes (Psy-Vamp Book 3) Page 3