“Why? I like thinking about you.”

She closed her eyes. “It’s unhealthy. Not sleeping like that.” She hadn’t been sleeping too well herself.

He paused. “You don’t think about me sometimes? About how it feels when we kiss. How it feels when we almost—”

“Sometimes,” she admitted abruptly, not wanting to be reminded of things.

“What exactly do you think about?”

“Stop it,” she said.

“Stop what?” he asked.

“Stop sounding like you want to have phone sex.”

He burst out laughing. “I never said anything about phone sex.”

She smiled. Della liked his laugh—liked knowing she made him laugh. Did Jessie make him laugh? “Well, you sounded like it. Using that deep Southern sexy voice.”

“Do you think my voice is sexy?”

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“Stop talking about sex,” she snipped.

“You’re the one who started it.”

“Well, I’m finishing it, then!”

“Just one more question,” he pleaded. “And then I’ll shut up.”

“Okay,” she said, knowing Steve wasn’t easy to persuade. Sometimes the guy came off more vampire than shape-shifter. Not that he really had any vampire in him. He was just stubborn sometimes. As crazy as it sounded, she admired that streak in him.

“Have you ever had phone sex?”

“No, I just saw it in a movie.”

“What kind of movie?” he asked, sounding intrigued.

“Not the kind you think. It was a romantic comedy. A chick flick.”

“Hmm,” he said. “How did they do it?”

“Nope. You said one question,” she reminded him.

“Okay.” He paused. “Oh, I remembered something you said that you never explained. You said you had something you wanted to talk to Derek about. What’s up with that?”

She hadn’t told Steve about her weekend discoveries, and part of her didn’t know if she should, but suddenly she wanted to tell him.

“I … I think I might have an uncle who is a vampire. And maybe even an aunt.”

“What? How … what makes you think that?”

She told him about what her sister had said and then taking the picture. And about Derek finding the obituary. And reading about an aunt she didn’t know she had.

“Damn,” Steve said. “So now what? Are you going to ask Burnett to help you?”

“No, I don’t want to get them in trouble if they aren’t registered.”

“But if they aren’t registered, then they could be rogue.”

“Or they could just be part of the group of vampires who don’t trust the FRU. Just because someone isn’t registered doesn’t mean they’re bad. My cousin Chan isn’t bad. He’s just a nonconformist.”

“I know, it’s just … I worry.”

Me, too. About you and Jessie. “You shouldn’t worry. I can take care of myself.” The residuals of anger left over from Burnett popped up. “Is it because I’m a girl and you think I can’t take care of myself?”

“No. It’s … because when a guy likes a girl as much as I do, he sort of wants to protect her.”

“Then stop liking me so much!” she said, and rubbed her aching temple.

“It’s a little late for that.” Silence filled the line. “Do you need me to do anything?” he asked.

“No, I think I’ve got it under control.” She’d already accepted Miranda’s and Kylie’s help. That was already two people she could get into trouble if things didn’t go smoothly. She didn’t want to add a third person to the equation.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Sure,” she said, hoping by Saturday she’d at least have some answers.

A knock sounded on Steve’s side of the line.

“Hang on a second,” Steve said. “Jessie’s at the door.”

Jessie was at his bedroom door? For what?

Della could guess what she wanted. Clenching her hands, she listened.

“I’ll put her in room two,” the feminine voice said. Della could almost hear the adoration in the girl’s soft flirty voice.

“I’ll be right there,” Steve answered.

“You might want to put a shirt on first,” Jessie said with a tease in her voice. “You might give her a heart attack looking like that.”

Della growled, remembering distinctly how good Steve looked without a shirt. Right then her dislike for the doctor’s daughter inched up a few degrees. Okay, more than a few.

“Then again, she’d probably die happy,” Jessie added.

Steve laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ll get dressed.”

So Jessie did make him laugh. And she knew how to flirt. Jessie was flirting with her boyfri—with Steve, who didn’t even see it. Or did he?

“Hey, Della, I gotta run. We’ve got a patient. But I can’t wait to see you tomorrow. We need to talk.”

“Talk about what?” she asked.

“About us,” he said.

“What about us?” she asked.

“I’m sorry, but I have to go,” he said. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? Maybe you’ll tell me about the phone-sex movie.”

Della growled again.

Steve laughed.

She frowned. And it wasn’t until he hung up that she realized she hadn’t told him she was leaving this weekend. Chances were he wasn’t going to be happy. But he could join her in the unhappy wagon. The thought of him off playing doctor with Jessie didn’t exactly fill her with joy.

Was it better to ask for permission, or to ask for forgiveness? The question hung in Della’s thoughts, bumping against her conscience.

She sat at her computer Thursday morning, dressed in black, missing her first class and staring at the face on the screen. Lorraine Baker’s brown hair hung in loose curls around her shoulders. Her smile was … magnetic. Her green eyes bright with … life. That light wasn’t there anymore.

Dead.

Della hadn’t been able to sleep last night after Steve’s call, so she’d gotten up and started surfing the Internet for something boring enough to put her to sleep. Instead, she’d found a story about Lorraine in the local online paper. A nineteen-year-old college student with a promising future who’d died tragically in an automobile accident with her fiancé.

Lies, Della thought. Lorraine and her fiancé had died horrifically at the hands of a vampire.




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