The Vampire’s Mail Order Bride (6 page)

The sun dropped a little farther, turning the sky the most vibrant shades of orange and pink. “It’s really beautiful here. Lots of trees and nature.”

Nothing like Brooklyn. She took another sip of her wine.

He gave her an odd look. “Doesn’t upstate New York have a lot of trees and nature?”

She drank some more wine, buying herself a little time to cover her slip. “Oh, sure, but it just seems greener here. More quiet and peaceful too.”

He laughed. “If you like quiet and peaceful, don’t go into town.”

“Gets rowdy, huh?”

“After dark, things really start up. Plus, this weekend is the Panic Parade.” He sighed and shook his head like he thought the whole thing was a little nuts.

“The Panic Parade?”

“I believe it grew out of the traditional May Day celebration. Except May Day has been reinterpreted as a cry for help as opposed to a celebration of spring.”

“I get it.” She canted her head and laughed softly. “Although, I have to admit, the whole every day is Halloween thing threw me. What’s up with that?” Ugh. Annabelle had probably never said
what’s up with that
a day in her life.

His grin didn’t fade. “It’s how the town makes money.”

“Halloween?”

“Tourists.” He took a deep breath. “When my family bought this town—”

“You own this town?” Oh boy. She was in deep. No wonder he was filthy rich and didn’t need to get out of bed until the day was nearly over. He owned everything!
All right, slow down on the wine.
And no wonder Annabelle had been so bummed her match had been canceled.

“We only own parts of it now.” He made a small face like it was nothing. “But when my family bought the town, it was floundering and on the verge of bankruptcy. The winery was closed, as were most of the other local businesses. The whole idea of every day is Halloween turned things around.”

He raised one eyebrow. “It’s America’s third-favorite holiday, you know.”

She almost laughed at how official sounding his voice was. He must tell people that a lot. “Halloween candy sales topped two billion dollars last year.” Crap. The random candy fact had just slipped out. At least it was relevant.

He nodded. “The candy shop in town is one of the most popular stores, so that seems about right.”

The news that Nocturne Falls already had a sweet shop inexplicably took her mood down a notch. “I love candy. It’s kind of…” She’d been about to say,
It’s kind of
my dream job
, but that was Delaney’s thing, not Annabelle’s. “Everyone’s favorite, I guess.” Wow, she sucked at being someone else.

She changed the subject before he asked her more about sweets. “Is there really a falls, or is that just part of the name?”

“There’s a waterfall. A few of them, but the largest is Nocturne Falls, the town’s namesake. It’s in the hills. Bit of a hike, but a popular destination.”

“Why Nocturne?”

“When the moon is especially bright, when it’s full mostly, you can see a moonbow in the mist.”

Her brows lifted. “A moonbow? Is that like a nighttime rainbow?”

“That’s exactly what it is.” His eyes sparked with amusement. “There will be a full moon while you’re here. We’ll go see it.”

“Awesome! I’ve never seen anything like that.” This place was already getting better.

He sipped his wine, still studying her. “Would you like to take a walk through town after dinner?”

“Sure.” Talking about the town would give her a topic that was less likely to cause her to blow her cover.

As if on cue, Stanhill opened one of the French doors. “Dinner is served.”

Dinner, it turned out, was served in the formal dining room on fancy china with three sets of heavy silver utensils and lots of sparkly crystal stemware. If she got through the meal without breaking something, it would be a Halloween miracle. “Do you eat like this all the time?”

Hugh looked at her, clearly unsure how to answer.

She backtracked. “I mean, it’s beautiful, but I feel a little underdressed for this much crystal and silver.”

He nodded. “It’s not often I have company. If you’d prefer something else—”

“No, it’s really nice.” And she just needed to shut up and play her part.

Stanhill brought out two covered plates. He smiled as he set hers in front of her and lifted the lid. Steak, whipped potatoes and roasted Brussels sprouts. Her stomach growled its approval, but the blood pooling on the china was a little off putting. She bit her lip.

“Something wrong, miss?” he asked as he delivered Hugh’s plate.

“I hate to say anything—” She really did. “But I think my steak might be a little underdone for my taste.” Pink was one thing, mooing when she cut into it was another.

“I’d be happy to put it back under the broiler for you.” He took her plate and disappeared with it.

Which meant Hugh was now waiting for her food to return, even though he had a full plate in front of him. He poured more wine for them, seemingly unfazed by the waiting.

“Eat, please,” she urged. “Your food will get cold otherwise.”

“That wouldn’t be very gentlemanly.”

She shrugged. “You can open a door for me later.”

He smiled. “You’re different than what I’d thought you’d be. Not that I had any real idea having only just found out about you.”

Music to her ears. “What did you think I was going to be like?”

He stared at his wine glass for a moment before answering. “If I’m honest, desperate. You don’t strike me as desperate at all. And certainly not a woman whose only thoughts are finding a husband.”

“So not a bridezilla?”

He laughed. “Not at all.”

What he didn’t know was that she really was desperate—desperate to stay alive. Desperate to get married? Not so much. “That wouldn’t be a very healthy existence, would it?”

“No.” He lifted his glass. “I like you, Annabelle Givens. After Didi told me what she’d done, I was furious.”

“Didi is your grandmother?”

He nodded. “It’s her nickname. Her real name is Elenora.”

She lifted her glass to return his toast, and they both drank. The crystal was paper thin and glistened like a prism. She set it back down carefully. “I can understand being upset with someone else making life decisions for you. Why did she do it? Because she wants you to get married and have grandbabies?”

He nodded “Exactly.”

“So why did you agree to it? You’re a grown man. You could have said no.”

His mouth thinned almost like he was embarrassed. He covered it by drinking his wine.

A second later, Delaney figured it out. He was a wealthy man who didn’t seem to have an actual job and whose family had rebuilt the town of Nocturne Falls. The picture was as clear as the goblet she was drinking from. “She threatened to take away your inheritance, didn’t she?”

Hugh choked on his wine. “Something like that.”

“So what’s the deal? You agreed to put up with me for a month and make a good show of it in exchange for what? Keeping your name in the will?” It was Anthony Rastinelli and Little Tony all over again, except Anthony had only ever threatened to take away Little Tony’s Cadillac Escalade if he didn’t “fall in line.” She had a much better idea of what that line was now.

Hugh set the glass down and stared at her. “Are you psychic?”

She laughed. “No, I just work for a big family, and I know how those kinds of things play out sometimes.” Then her humor faded. Once again, she’d said something that might not be true of Annabelle.

Fortunately, Stanhill returned with her food at that moment. She kind of wanted to kiss him for it. “Thank you!” The words came out with a little more enthusiasm than she’d intended.

His brows lifted slightly. “You must be hungry.”

Sure, let’s go with that.
“Starved.” The steak did smell incredible. She picked up her knife and fork and looked at Hugh. “Shall we?”

“Absolutely.”

Around bites of food, she kept the conversation directed at him, asking him questions about the town, his family, the house—anything she could think of to keep herself out of trouble. She learned he had two brothers, a little more about the history of the town and that apparently he wasn’t a lover of vegetables because, while he devoured his steak, the Brussels sprouts and potatoes remained largely untouched.

The meal flew by, and before she knew it, Stanhill was clearing their plates. “Dessert now or later?”

“None at all.” Hugh set his napkin on the table. “We’re going to go into town.”

Stanhill nodded. “Would you like me to drive you?”

“Yes, but we can walk home.” Hugh looked at her. “It’s only a fifteen-minute walk. Is that all right with you?”

“Totally. I walk a lot at home so—” She shut up before she said too much again. Oversharing was now her thing apparently—and her potential downfall. “Walking would be great. I’ll just run upstairs and grab a jacket.” She stood.

Hugh got up at the same time she did, and she realized it was out of politeness, not because he was as eager to leave as she was. “I’ll meet you in the foyer then.”

“Great.” She held her smile until she hit the stairs.

She was never going to manage pretending to be another woman for an entire month.

There were no true weekends in a resort town like Nocturne Falls. A Monday night could be just as busy as a Friday night. That was one of the reasons Hugh rarely went into town, unless Didi or one of his brothers requested he put in an appearance.

Being the Vampire On Duty was really Julian’s job, but every once in a while, Hugh filled in as VOD. Sebastian never did. Sebastian rarely left his house. Hugh was okay with that. Sebastian did enough keeping the family’s finances in order.

“What do you think?” Hugh asked Annabelle as they strolled Main Street along with the rest of the visitors.

Her gaze ricocheted from one thing to the next. “It’s amazing.”

It kind of was if he imagined it through her eyes. At night, the town was lit up like a jack-o-lantern. All the buildings were outlined with fairy lights. Shifts of character performers, every one of them a genuine supernatural (although the tourists didn’t know that), walked the streets taking pictures with tourists who wanted to show their friends on social media how they’d howled with the wolfman or the witch had almost turned them into a frog. And then, of course, there was the ever-present
threat
of being bitten by a vampire.

“Speak of the devil,” Hugh muttered.

Julian was a block ahead of them, posing with a group of college girls. Hugh pointed to one of the touristy shops that sold souvenirs. “Let’s go in here.”

“Where?” She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and looked at him.

Hugh pointed again, taking her elbow and trying to aim her toward the store.

Too late. Julian’s voice rang out over the pseudo-scary soundtrack piped in through hidden speakers. “Well, well, well. Look who’s decided to grace the streets of Nocturne Falls this evening.” He parked himself in front of them, hands on his hips,
cape
billowing out behind him. To say that Julian embraced his role as VOD was a substantial understatement.

“Hello to you too.” Hugh smiled tightly. “You look busy, so we won’t keep you.”

Annabelle stuck her hand out. “Hi, I’m Annabelle. You must be a friend of Hugh’s. Love the getup, by the way.” She winked at him. “Very authentic.”

Julian took her hand, turned it over and kissed it. “A friend? Sweetness, this bastion of boringness standing next to you is my brother.”

“What?” She grinned and looked at Hugh. “This is Julian, the man whore?”

Julian dropped her hand and his grin.

Hugh’s smile was instantaneous. He might have fallen a little in love with her right then and there. “Yes, this is my brother.” He put his arm around Annabelle as he turned to Julian. “And this vision of loveliness is Annabelle Givens, whom you will not try to sleep with. Understood?”

Julian clutched at his chest as though he’d been mortally wounded. “I would never try to move in on your territory.” He wiggled his brows at Annabelle. “Unless you’d welcome such an invasion.”