Ch. 26
Wednesday morning broke cold and damp. It was a perfect day to stay in bed all day. As much as I tried, James eventually insisted that he had to make some calls to finish making our travel plans and to call the office to talk to his editor.
I stumbled downstairs to find breakfast and was foraging in the cupboards looking for the English muffins. They were in the pantry with the canned goods. James could follow a recipe, but had a vampire’s inability to categorize foods like a person does. Probably because it had been so long since they had tasted it, the memory of each food had faded. And packaged foods, forget it. That was after his time. Smiling, I was picturing my poor James trying to grocery shop when I heard the doorbell.
Listening for the sounds of people in the house I’d grown used to, I realized I didn’t hear anyone going for the door, so I shuffled through the living room to answer. Opening the door halfway I saw a young woman, maybe in her mid twenties, standing on the stoop. She was shocked to see me, her mouth hung open and her large brown eyes, surrounded by too much green eye shadow, were saucers as she stared. While she gave me a bold once over, I pictured what she was seeing and felt my cheeks warm. When I had finally gotten out of bed this morning, I had put on one of James’ white dress shirts, I liked to smell him when I rattled around the house. It hung down to my mid thighs so nothing was showing but there was also no way to convince her I was the housekeeper. “Uh, hi. Can I help you?”
Thankfully her mouth snapped closed and her eyes went back to normal. “Now I know why James doesn’t want to come to the office anymore. And, that explains the second ticket.”
Oh, the ticket! How could I have overlooked that? That had to be costly and there was no way I could let him cover it. It would hurt but I could scare up enough to repay him. “I take it you work with James?” I asked curiously.
She smiled. “Yeah, I’m his assistant, Beth. I’ve worked with him for about a year now. I make his arrangements when he asks and research any details of his trip he needs help with.” She extended her hand and I shook it.
“Would you like to come in?” As I spoke, I felt a breeze and an arm went around my waist, pulling me close. I leaned in without thinking as I recognized James’ musky sweet scent. He had snuck up using the partially opened door as a blind for his speed.
“Beth, thank you for bringing that by today. I’ve been a bit,” he stumbled uncertainly, “busy around here. I’ve only just hung up with Josh.” He reached out a hand and Beth put a large envelope in it.
“Josh is my editor,” he clarified for my benefit. He looked down at me, a mischievous light in his eyes. “I see you’ve met Claire?” His smile put a proud bubble in my chest. I could just imagine what Beth was going to share at the office when she got back.
“I just invited Beth inside.” Glancing back at her, I added, “for some tea? Or coffee?”
Beth looked from James’ possessive posturing to my casual dress and smiled politely. “No, you two have a lot to do before you leave on Sunday. James, I’m sure I’ll talk to you when you get back. Claire, it was a pleasure to meet you.” She grinned again and waved as she turned to leave.
Pulling me back in order to close the door, James looked down at me and I saw all the playfulness was gone. Misunderstanding, I began, “James, I am sorry if I just started something for you at the office. I should have considered how it would look with me in this,” I put a hand over the open collar in a nod to decency.
He rolled his eyes. “I don’t care if she puts a picture of us on her Facebook page.” He frowned. “I don’t want you answering the door right now.” Before I could object that he was being overprotective, he went on. “That could have been a vampire and you would be gone right now.”
The nausea I felt and the sweat that sprang up under my arms and on my lip were instant. It felt like I was three years old again and I had done something naughty. “I’m sorry,” I said in a small voice, looking shamefacedly at my bare feet.
His fingers stroked my cheek. “You have nothing to be sorry about. Let’s just try to keep you safe until all this is over.”
It sounded so ominous in my ears, ‘when this is over’. I hoped I wasn’t the only one concerned about the possibilities for that upcoming end.
Falsely bright, James stepped back and grabbed my hands. “Don’t you need to do some shopping?”
“What?” Shopping was the last thing on my mind right now.
“We have a wedding to attend in two days where you will unveil me.” He waved his hands up and down in front of his body like a game show hostess. “Then, maybe something a bit more formal for my unveiling of you in Scotland.”
“Uh oh. What does a human wear when she is being presented as a girlfriend or snack to ancient vampires?” I didn’t feel the lightheartedness I tried to portray.
“Why don’t I send you with the girls to the store and you can figure that out. They are pretty familiar with our vampiric flair for drama.” I could figure out what girls he was talking about and I wasn’t so sure they would care for their assignment. He misinterpreted my reticence. “It is too risky for Bradley to mount an attack in a large department store in broad daylight and this might be your last chance to get out before we go.”
Ignoring his misguided reassurance, I latched on to his other comment. “So is that part true? Vampires do like to dress fancy?” I had seen the movies and the vampires were always dressed to the nines.
“Some do like to dress dramatically all the time, but most of us live amongst humans and try to tone it down a bit. Look at me, I am always understated.” He looked so innocent, like he actually believed what he was saying.
“Are you kidding? You could be wearing a potato sack and you still wouldn’t be understated.” With his looks, it was hard to imagine him blending in to the crowd anywhere. Could Patrick Dempsey fit in at the local grocery store on a Saturday morning? Not even in sweat pants.