“She didn’t make me—” Hugh frowned. “That was merely an experiment to see if there was anything there.”
Stanhill’s small grin was infuriating. “I’d ask what the conclusion was, but I can see that for myself.”
“It was nothing. It meant nothing.” It had meant too much.
“You’re a horrifically bad liar, you know that?”
Hugh slumped against the counter. “I can’t think, I can’t work…it’s awful.”
“Is it really all that bad? Maybe she’s the one. Why is that such a ghastly thing?”
Hugh glared at him. “You know why.”
“And you know from the research you’ve done that Juliette’s failure to survive the transformation was a rare occurrence.”
Hugh spat out the next thing he could think of. “Women are fickle.”
“That’s Sebastian’s story, not yours.”
“Then what if I’m the one who changes my mind?”
“Like Julian? You’re much more mature when it comes to relationships than your brother. Stop making excuses.” Stanhill shook his head. “You enjoy spending time with her?”
“Yes,” he groused. Stanhill’s questions had a pretty clear path.
“And you get along well?”
“Yes.” They did. He’d yet to find an irritating thing about her, although it was early days yet.
“Then have a go at it. See what happens. It may come to nothing.”
“And it may lead to…something.” And the possibility of that something was unsettling. Hugh started pacing again. “She came here to get married, don’t forget that.”
“But she didn’t exactly arrive with a wedding dress packed, did she?” Stanhill sighed. “Didi is a rotten piece of work for setting this whole thing up. I know she means well, but—”
“And that’s another thing.” Hugh spun around. “Who knows what that woman is putting into Annabelle’s head at this very moment?” Why couldn’t his grandmother just stay out of his life? Of course, then he’d never have met Annabelle. But oh, he’d pay for it the rest of his life if things went the way Didi wanted. Which they would not.
Stanhill shrugged one shoulder. “Undoubtedly she’s singing your praises and urging the woman to make an honest man of you, but Annabelle strikes me as a woman with her own mind. Don’t you think?”
Hugh raked a hand through his hair. Stanhill had finally said something that made sense. “She does.”
“Then set aside the concerns about her surviving the transition to vampire and tell me why do you think this—she—is bothering you so much?”
Hugh looked at the far wall of equipment. “Can you see yourself sharing your life with a woman after all these years alone?” Even as he spoke the words, he knew that wasn’t the real reason commitment eluded him. Yes, he enjoyed his time alone and loathed any thought of giving it up, but that was only a small part of what worried him. There was no putting aside the fact that Annabelle would have to face death if she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. It was too much to ask.
Too much to risk. Losing another woman he loved that way would end him. He could feel it.
“I wouldn’t call life with you solitary confinement, but I ken what you’re saying. There’d be some adjustments to make for sure. But love—”
“Love. Bah. Look at my brothers then tell me that really exists.”
“Look at your parents and your grandparents and tell me it doesn’t. Look at your life with Juliette.”
“That’s dirty pool.”
Stanhill brushed a bit of lint from his trousers. “Get out of your own way. She’s only here for a month—”
“Twenty-eight more days.”
“Not that you’re counting.” Stanhill’s phone chimed. He straightened as he pulled it from his pocket. “Just give the whole thing a chance. At the very least, you’ll make your grandmother happy and keep her from pulling a stunt like this again.” He glanced at the phone and made an odd face. “I have to go.”
“Annabelle?”
“So it seems.” He headed for the steps.
“I might go see Sebastian.”
“You do that,” Stanhill called back. “Maybe you should feed too. You sound like you could use a topping off.”
“I fed yesterday, for your information.” But Stanhill had already shut the cellar door.
Hugh gripped the edge of the worktable and studied the notes before him, but it was impossible to make sense of them with the memory of last night still stuck in his head. And trying to erase it to clear the way for anything scientific was equally pointless. All his brain wanted to do was replay that kiss. Taste again the sweet softness of her mouth. Feel the tentative, searching way she’d kissed him back. The silkiness of her hair as it slid between his fingers. The press of her body against—
“Bloody hell!”
Enough. He knew one surefire way to change his thinking. He stormed up the stairs, grabbed his keys and headed for his eldest brother’s home. There was no question Sebastian would be there. Sebastian was always home.
Sure enough, when Hugh rang the bell, Sebastian’s man ushered him into the study. Sebastian sat at his desk, ledgers spread out before him. Sebastian kept the books for the family business and preferred to do things the old-fashioned way, with pencil and paper, before entering it all into the computer. He looked up. “Hugh. What brings you by?”