About a Vampire (18 page)

“Why would you lose your job?” she asked with surprise.

“The council tends to frown on having Enforcers who break our own laws,” he said dryly.

“Oh.” She bit her lip briefly and then said, “There is another reason Holly feels guilty, you know.”

Justin's eyebrows rose slightly. The comment was so out of the blue . . . and he'd thought they were done with that part of the conversation. It seemed not, he thought and asked, “What reason is that?”

“Because thoughts of your one kiss bring on her fangs, while memories of all of her husband's kisses do not,” she said quietly.

Justin's head jerked up at these words, his mind whirling. This was good, wasn't it? Not the guilt, of course, but that his kisses did what her husband's couldn't. At least the memories of them. Of course, as her life mate he'd known his kisses would have more affect than her mortal husband's, but it surprised him that her husband's kisses didn't stir enough passion to bring on her fangs. That was rather interesting, actually, and telling.

“Well,” Gia headed for the door. “I came to tell you that we are ending lessons for the day and taking Holly shopping.” Pausing at the door, she glanced back and added, “And to see if you want to join us. The boys want more food and Holly needs clothes.”

Justin considered the matter briefly and then shook his head. He wasn't going to get to woo Holly with Gia and the twins along. But their absence would give him the chance to move his wooing campaign ahead in other ways.

“You go on,” he said now, a smile pulling at his lips. “I have things to do around here.”

Gia peered at him curiously. Reading his mind, no doubt, he thought when concentration filled her face. After a moment, she smiled faintly, and nodded. “
Buona fortuna amico mio.
”

Justin merely grunted as she closed the door to his room. “Good luck, my friend,” she'd said, but he didn't need luck. He had a plan.

“W
hy don't you go upstairs and change into your new clothes?” Gia suggested as she followed Holly into the house from the garage.

“I was going to help bring in the groceries,” Holly said uncertainly, glancing back toward the loaded SUV. Dante and Tomasso were bigger shoppers than Decker, Anders, and Justin put together. But then they were also bigger eaters. In the two short days since they'd arrived, the twins had gone through nearly half the groceries the other men had bought.

“The boys can handle it,” Gia assured her. “And you aren't terribly comfortable in those clothes of mine.”

Holly grimaced at the comment and glanced down at herself. She had got up this morning, redonned the sweater and tights Gia had given her the day before and then opened her bedroom door to find another outfit neatly folded and set on the hall floor. Relieved that she wouldn't have to wear the same clothes twice, Holly had scooped them up and backed into the room to change. But the moment she'd realized how short the skirt was, and how see-through the top, she'd nearly changed back. Gia's style was definitely edgy/sexy, while Holly's style was . . . well, just not. She was more the jeans and T-­shirt kind of gal when she wasn't dressed up for work. And yes, she had been terribly uncomfortable in the other woman's clothes.

Mind you, she hadn't been any more comfortable at allowing the woman to pay for the clothes she was now wearing. Even when Gia had explained that she wasn't buying them, the Enforcers were. Apparently, since Justin had turned her while on an Enforcer job, they were footing the bill for everything from the food they were eating to the clothes on her back.

“You're right,” Holly said finally. “I guess I'm just not brave enough for your clothes. But they are beautiful and I do appreciate your letting me borrow them.”

“Bah.” Gia waved away her words. “I knew that. I can read your mind,” she reminded her and then urged her forward. “Come, let's get these up to your room.”

Nodding, Holly turned and led the way upstairs. She had to do some juggling once they got to her door to open it, but then she stumbled in, headed for the bed, only to pause after just a ­couple of steps.

“What the—­?” She turned slowly, her gaze moving over the flowers on every surface in the room. Flower arrangements sat on the bedside tables, crowded the dresser and covered every inch of the sitting table in the corner of the room. There were even flowers strewn on the bed and petals on the floor.

“Ah,” Gia said, and that was it. Just “ah.”

Holly shook her head with bewilderment. “Did someone die?”

Gia choked on a laugh and moved past her to the bed. She started to set the bags down, then paused to brush some of the flowers out of the way first. Setting the bags down then, she turned to survey the room and said, “I think maybe this is Justin's idea of the
romanticismo
.”

“
Romanticismo
?” Holly echoed blankly. “What the devil is that?”

Gia frowned briefly and then offered, “The romance?”

Holly groaned at the suggestion. Decker and Anders had warned her that he might go a bit over the top in his desperation, but this was . . .

Well, it was kind of sweet, really, she supposed. Or would be if she hadn't developed such an aversion to flowers since working at the funeral home. Prior to that she would have welcomed such a gesture. From James, she added quickly to the thought. She would have welcomed flowers from James before working at the funeral home, but they had both been as poor as church mice since getting married and hadn't been able to afford the extravagance of even a vase of flowers let alone a whole bloody store's stock, and that's what it looked like to her. There were so many she was quite sure Justin must have left the store he'd bought them from completely barren of flowers. They'd probably closed shop the moment he left.

Shaking her head, she carried her bags over to the bed and set them next to the ones Gia had put down. She then glanced worriedly at the pale blue carpeting, concerned that the crushed petals might be staining the carpet.

“I don't suppose you noticed if there was a rake in the garage, did you?” Holly asked, surveying the floor with a frown. For some reason that made Gia burst out laughing.

“I will go see,” Gia said, heading for the door.

“Oh, no,” Holly protested at once, turning to move after her. “I didn't mean for you to—­”

“I know, I know,” Gia said, waving her to a stop. “I can read your mind, remember? You change. I shall get the rake.”

“Thank you,” Holly breathed sincerely and watched her go before returning to the bags that held the clothes she'd bought that day. She quickly dug through them in search of underwear, a bra, jeans and a T-­shirt, and then paused, unsure what to do. Gia had told her to change, but the woman had also left the door open. She wasn't changing right there when any passing person might see. On the other hand, she didn't really want to risk crushing any more color into the carpet by walking anywhere again.

Clucking her tongue with exasperation, she toed a ­couple petals aside in front of her until she'd made a spot large enough to place her foot. She then stepped forward and did that again and again until she'd made her way to the bathroom. She opened that door, only to find it also full of flowers and crushed petals.

“Honestly,” Holly muttered, using her foot to sweep several petals aside. “What the heck was he thinking?”

As soon as the exasperated words left her mouth, a smile followed. The gesture was just so over the top and romantic. Much like the gourmet meal, she acknowledged. She would have been happy with salad, Shake 'N Bake pork chops, and macaroni and cheese for dinner. Instead, he'd spent hours making a fancy meal and gone to all the effort of setting that beautiful table. And a simple bouquet of flowers would have been much less bother than this sea of blooms. The man was trying. It was just a shame his efforts kept missing the mark.

Holly blinked and gave her head a shake as she realized what she was thinking. It wasn't a shame at all, she assured herself firmly if silently. She was a married woman. He shouldn't even be making these gestures. And she certainly shouldn't be enjoying them and feeling all warm and fuzzy inside because of them.

Satisfied that she'd set herself straight, Holly slipped into the bathroom, closed the door, and quickly began ripping her clothes off. She was determined to be changed and ready to rake up this mess when Gia returned. There was no way she was letting the other woman do it. This was her mess and—­well, really it was Justin's mess, she corrected herself. But after experiencing that morning's kiss, she wasn't ever letting him in her bedroom again. Ever. Like never ever.

Holly's parents hadn't raised an idiot. They had taught her that life was full of temptation. And her mother had sat down on her wedding day and flat out told her that while she knew Holly loved James, there may come a day when a good-­looking, sweet, funny, charming man like Justin might come along and tempt her to break the vows she'd made when she married James. Well, okay, so she hadn't mentioned Justin's name, and she hadn't used all those descriptors either. Holly had inserted those herself because they fit. But her mother had said a man might one day come along to tempt her to break her vows. She'd also said that while it was her choice what to do about that, she should be aware that James had known and loved her, her whole life. That he would never do anything to hurt her, and that there was always another man who might come along to tempt her from that one. Life was full of temptation and she could either spend her life chasing after the next merry-­go-­round, or ride the one she was on until the end, knowing it was a comfortable fit.

James was the merry-­go-­round she planned to stick with to the end. She'd known him all her life, loved him all her life, and knew that he loved her the same way. And while Justin was sweet and kind and had saved her life by turning her into an immortal when she fell on her scissors . . . well, what if she broke her marriage vows for him and then encountered another Justin, and then another?

Holly didn't want to be one of those women with countless lovers and six marriages under their belt, who seemed always to be dissatisfied and searching for something special. She would be satisfied with what she had and continue to build the life that she'd started with James. She'd finish her classes, get the on-­the-­job experience necessary and gain her license as a CPA. Then they'd both work for a ­couple of years to save up money to buy a house, have children, raise them, see them married and have grandchildren. She would have the normal life she'd always longed for while she'd been dragged around the world as a child. Both she and James wanted that.

And they would have it, Holly thought grimly, as she finished changing and opened the door, only to pause with surprise. Not only had Gia returned with the rake, she'd already raked up the petals. The carpet was completely petal free. It was also rake and Gia free. The other woman had apparently returned, raked up the petals, and left in the time it had taken her to change. Holly had been told that immortals were fast, but this was crazy.

The thought made her pause and tilt her head. She was an immortal. That meant she was supposed to be incredibly fast now too, and strong. She hadn't seen any evidence of that yet, but then she hadn't done anything to test it either. Stepping into the bedroom, Holly glanced around until her gaze settled on the dresser. She crossed to it, took a corner in hand, and nearly tossed the damned thing across the room when she tried to lift the end. Seriously, she put the effort into it that she would have had to prior to being turned, when she might have managed to lift the solid oak dresser an inch or so. But instead of that, it flew up, onto its side and then crashed down onto its top.

“Oh crap,” she muttered, scrambling to quickly straighten the dresser. Once she had it upright and in position again, Holly spent a minute looking it over to be sure she hadn't damaged it and then stepped back with relief and simply peered at the dresser.

“Wow,” she said finally. She was definitely stronger. A slow smile curved her lips. Now she just had to test speed. Turning abruptly, she headed out of the room and jogged downstairs.

Dante and Tomasso were at the kitchen table, eating again. Each had a double chocolate cake before them, a whole cake each. Really, those two had appetites that were scary. There was no sign of the groceries they'd bought, so either they'd tossed the bags straight into the pantry without unpacking them, or they'd used that super speed she was about to test.

“Have you seen Justin?” she asked, slowing as she crossed to the terrace doors.

“I think he's in the garage looking for a basket,” Dante answered, and then frowned. “Or upstairs fetching a blanket.”

Holly bit her lip, but didn't stop. She needed to thank him for the flowers, and explain that he should never do that again. But she didn't really want to wait for him. Besides, she wouldn't be long.

“Well, I'll find him when I get back then,” she said aloud and added, “I'm just going for a jog on the beach. Be back soon.”

Both men grunted, their mouths full of cake.

Shaking her head, Holly stepped outside and pulled the door closed, then headed around the pool to the gate in the hedges. A moment later, she was crossing the lawn to the beach. Once there, she looked first one way and then the other up the beach, chose right and burst into a run.

Increased speed they'd said? Dear God, she thought as the world whizzed by. This was almost superman speed. Okay, the world wasn't a complete blur, but it was blurring. She was definitely moving faster than mortally possible. Scary fast, in fact, she thought and put the brakes on. That's when she figured out just how fast she was going. Instead of coming to a graceful stop, she skidded briefly and then went ass over teakettle, landing flat on her back with a thud.