The Vampire's Mail Order Bride(33)

Her story had taken most of the fight and the anger out of him. It certainly explained why she’d come with so few things and why she didn’t seem in a rush to get married.

Stanhill went to her side to comfort her, and Hugh felt the slightest pang of jealousy. Which was just another type of chemistry.

Bloody hell.

“Stanhill, if you could give us a moment.”

The man looked up, surprise in his eyes, perhaps at the softness of Hugh’s tone. “Of course.” He patted Delaney’s shoulder. “It’ll be all right, miss.”

After he’d left and closed the doors behind him, Hugh approached. He sat on the coffee table in front of her. “In the time you’ve been here, have you been pretending about anything else besides being Annabelle?”

She looked up at him. “I’m not sure what you’re getting at.”

“Have you…been yourself? Or have you been the woman you thought I expected?”

She made a face. “Sorry, just me. I suck at lying. Usually.” She sat back, her chest rising and falling with a slow inhale. “This whole mess is…I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you sooner but Stanhill told me to wait.”

He nodded. “The thing is…if that really was you I was getting to know…” He couldn’t believe what he was about to say. “I like that person.”

Some of the angst left her eyes. “Thanks. I like you too. And since we’re being honest, you’re all right for a rich guy who doesn’t seem to have an actual job.”

“I have a job.” It just wasn’t one he could talk about.

She crossed her arms. “You mean filling in for Julian on occasion?” She shook her head. “You don’t exactly strike me as the sexy vampire type. Sexy, yes. Vampire, no.”

She thought he was sexy. He almost smiled but the thought of her reaction when and if she found out he really was a vampire stopped him. “Delaney suits you a lot better than Annabelle.”

“That works out for me then, doesn’t it?”

He wasn’t quite sure where her attitude was coming from. After all, she was the one who’d been lying. “Is there something else going on that I don’t know about?”

She stared at him for a long, hard second. “I’m just waiting for you to say whatever you have to say so I can get going. Finding a cheap motel that takes animals isn’t going to be easy.”

“You’re not going to a motel. So long as you swear you’re not lying to me about anything else, I see no reason you and Captain shouldn’t stay here.”

Her mouth opened slightly. “You mean that?”

He nodded.

“I swear I’m not lying to you about anything else.” The honesty in her eyes confirmed that.

“Good. I do have one condition for you staying here.”

She raised her brows. “And that is?”

“I expect you to stick to our pact. Thirty days.”

She frowned. “Is that why you want me to stay? So you don’t lose your inheritance?”

“I don’t care about the inheritance. I don’t need it.” It wasn’t the truth anyway, which was ironic considering he’d just asked her if she was lying about anything else. His omissions were far greater than hers.

He paused. And added to the lie. “I just want to make my grandmother happy.” Actually, he just wanted keep his amulet. But the idea of Delaney leaving seemed far worse than losing his ability to daywalk.

He hesitated. That wasn’t the only reason he wanted her to stay. “I also don’t want you to get hurt.”

Her mouth bent in the smallest of smiles. “Thank you.”

“I’m going to call Sheriff Merrow.”

The smile vanished and alarm bracketed her eyes. “Why?”

He took her hand, reveling in the warmth of her skin. “Because I want to make sure you’re not in any danger. You said you called the cops, but their apparent lack of response concerns me. This is a murder we’re talking about.”

“I know. Something should have happened by now. I’ve seen no report about a body. Maybe Rastinelli didn’t really shoot that guy.”

“No body. No evidence. That could explain the lack of action.”

“They have some evidence. I sent them the video I took.”

“Then your suspicion about Rastinelli having a man on the force is very likely correct. Even more reason to talk to Merrow about this.”

Plus, it never hurt to have a werewolf in your corner.





Delaney gave Captain a kiss on the head and inhaled his sweet kitty smell. “We dodged a bullet there, Cappy.” Which was a totally apropos statement considering the circumstances.