All I Want for Christmas is a Vampire(16)

 

She had a creepy feeling his eyes might suddenly open and gaze at her with the blank look of a zombie. With a shudder, she pushed that thought away. She reached for the receiver, but accidentally brushed her hand over his fingers. She jerked her arm back. Shoot, she'd never touched a dead person before. But he hadn't felt cold and stiff as she expected him to.

 

She slipped her hand between his fingers and his neck and slowly pulled the phone out. Her knuckles grazed the tip of his chin. It was rough with whiskers. She winced, realizing how close she was to touching his mouth. His lips were slightly parted, perfectly shaped.

 

She stepped back, bringing the phone to her chest. His expression was peaceful, so different from the intense emotions she'd seen earlier. The thick black fringe of his eyelashes cast a shadow on his pale cheeks. Beautiful. A man shouldn't look that sweet and rugged at the same time.

 

Her gaze fell to the dimple in his chin. It had been one of the first things she'd noticed about him. The whole time he'd been fussing at her, she'd wanted to poke it with her finger. She reached out her hand, then snatched it back. What was she thinking? He was one of them.

 

She dropped the receiver back into the cradle on the bedside table. It immediately rang.

 

She jumped. Good grief, she needed to get a grip. She lifted the receiver. "It's okay, Howard. I found him."

 

There was a feminine giggle. Definitely not Howard, unless he had a secret she didn't know about. "Hello?"

 

"Hi!" Another giggle. "Is Ian there?"

 

Toni hesitated. If this girl knew Ian, wouldn't she know he was dead at the moment? "He's not able to come to the phone right now. Can I take a message?"

 

"Well, I guess so." The caller giggled again.

 

Toni found a pen and pad of paper in the nightstand drawer. She waited, but there was silence. "Hello? You'll need to give me the message."

 

"Oh, right. Okay. Let me think." Another giggle.

 

Toni waited while the caller grew silent, apparently attempting to think. Did Ian actually know this girl? Hadn't he said he was looking for a Vamp woman? This girl had to be mortal because it was daylight, and she was conscious. Sorta. "Can you tell me your name?"

 

"Oh." More giggles. "I'm Mitzi."

 

Toni wrote on the pad of paper. "And your message?"

 

"Can you tell Ian I think he's really hot?"

 

"Sure." Toni glanced at Ian. He looked stone cold to her. "How did you meet him?"

 

"I haven't yet. I just found him on Single in the City. It's a dating service, you know?"

 

"I see." Was that how Ian planned to find his true love? That didn't make sense if he was looking for only Vamp women.

 

"Yeah, I just saw his profile," Mitzi continued. "And his picture. And I had to call because he's so hot!"

 

"Right. Do you want to leave a number?"

 

Mitzi recited her number. "Can you tell him I want to go out with him? And he'll probably get lucky, 'cause he's so hot!" She giggled, then thankfully hung up.

 

The second Toni set down the receiver, the phone rang again. This had to be Howard. "Hello?"

 

"Is Ian MacPhie there?" a throaty female voice asked.

 

Another woman? At least it wasn't Mitzi. "Ian is unavailable at this time. May I take a message?"

 

"My name is Lola. I was just reading Ian's profile at Single in the City, and I must say, it was fascinating."

 

"I bet." Toni glanced at the computer in the office next door. She might need to take a look at this profile.

 

"Yes," Lola continued. "I especially liked the part about Ian's castle in Scotland, and how he's spending some of his vast fortune to renovate it."

 

Vast fortune? Toni snorted, then covered it with a dainty cough. She seriously doubted Ian had a vast fortune when he was working as a security guard for Romatech Industries. Would he really stoop to telling lies on the Internet in order to get dates? The man was gorgeous. Why would he have to lie about anything, other than the little problem of being dead half the time?

 

"You see," Lola lowered her voice dramatically, "I was a royal princess in a former life. I belong in a castle."

 

"Wow."

 

"I'm also a vegetarian," Lola announced. "I do hope Ian is one, too. He's so hot."

 

"Right. Well, I can safely say he doesn't eat meat."

 

"Splendid." Lola recited her phone number. "Ta-ta."

 

Toni wrote the number down, then she glared at Ian. "Liar. You said you didn't want to date mortals."