"Of course not," Vanda growled.
Corky raised her voice. "Has anyone here slept with Ian MacPhie?"
The camera panned over a hundred faces, all shouting no, then returned to a smiling Corky. "I rest my case."
"You told me you would be nice," Vanda yelled.
Corky shrugged. "As a dedicated journalist, it's my duty to always report the truth."
"The truth?" Vanda shrieked. "The truth is you're a vicious, lying bitch!" She leaped across the table and seized Corky by the neck.
"Vanda, no!" Ian grabbed her, trying to pull her off Corky, who was getting shaken like a rag doll, although her huge breasts remained remarkably still.
Corky's eyes bugged out as she gasped for air. "Cut!"
A commercial started for custom-made coffins. Toni and Phineas stared at the TV in silence.
"Shit," Phineas finally whispered.
Toni swallowed hard. "That was bad."
"Really bad." Phineas stood as he turned off the TV. "Well, I gotta go to work." He vanished.
Toni dashed up the stairs. Carlos would be here any minute now, but she didn't want to leave without making sure Ian was all right. That was part of her job. Sorta.
She reached the fifth floor, gasping for air, and knocked on the door. No answer. She turned the knob, and it opened. That was a good sign. He hadn't locked her out.
She peered inside. The room was dark except for the light emanating from a television. She opened the door wider and spotted Corky Courrant on the TV.
"My friends, I'm sure you're terribly distressed after watching that vicious woman's attempt to strangle me." Corky sniffed and wiped away an imaginary tear. "But don't cry for me. I'm going to be all right."
The television switched off in the middle of a fake Corky sob, and Toni spotted Ian sitting in the dark.
She slipped inside the room. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Toni. I doona need a babysitter."
"I'm just here as a…friend." She approached him.
"Ye watched the interview?" He set the remote on the table beside his chair and picked up a bottle of blood. "Of course ye saw it. The entire vampire world saw it."
"I'm so sorry."
"Save yer pity for Vanda. Corky's suing her."
"That's ridiculous! Corky purposely set out to hurt you. She was cruel and vicious." Toni paced in front of him. "Though I have to admit, Vanda went shrieking across that table like a flying monkey."
Ian's dimples showed, and Toni secretly celebrated that she could still make him smile.
"Vanda is a loyal friend," he said. "I'll pay the damages."
"But it wasn't your fault." Toni resumed her pacing. "We could prove Corky was lying. You could get some of the Vamp women you've slept with to come forward and—"
"I have never slept with a Vamp." He took a sip from his bottle.
"Really?" She halted. "So you actually prefer mortal women? Never mind." She began to pace once again. "We'll get one of the mortals you slept with to—" No, that wouldn't work. Mortals wouldn't have been watching DVN.
"Most of them have passed away." Ian took another sip.
"Well, okay. I'll just call that bitch myself and tell her I've slept with you."
A corner of Ian's mouth tilted up. "Ye would lie for me, Toni?"
It wouldn't have to be a lie, the thought sprang to her mind. She winced, wishing she could do a mental rewind. Surely he wasn't doing his vampire telepathy on her. Her cheeks heated up as she slanted a wary glance his way.
He was watching her intently. A flash of red tinted his eyes before he blinked and looked away. He drank some more blood. "Ye should go, Toni."
"All right." She backed toward the door. "Just don't let this get you down, okay?"
He shrugged. "It was a silly notion from the start. Me, trying to be some sort of Romeo when I havena the slightest idea how to be charming or flirtatious."
"That's not true. You've been very charming and flirtatious with me." And one hell of a kisser.
He set the bottle on the table. "I doona know why, but it comes easy with you. But it doesna matter now. I'm pulling out of this dating nonsense."
"What?" She stepped toward him. "You're quitting?"
"A man should be honest with himself, Toni. I'm no' a ladies' man, I'm a warrior. Ye said it yerself the other night, that I was wasting my time."
"But I—" She'd said it out of frustration. And jealousy, she now realized. She'd hated the thought of him preferring a Vamp woman over her.