Almost Midnight (Shadow Falls: After Dark #3.5)(17)

The Red Dragon. It was a restaurant owned by some friends of Lee’s parents. His mother had tried to get Della and Lee to go there several times. But Lee always said he didn’t want to eat Chinese food. He had enough of that at home.

Why did he want Chinese food now?

She landed in front of the restaurant while Lee parked the car. She hid behind the tall dragon statue waiting to see them walk past. A hungry-looking kitten came slinking around the building. “Don’t have anything. But there’s a Dumpster in the back, I can smell it from here,” she whispered and then she heard footsteps.

They were holding hands and the girl, Lee’s fiancée, wore a big smile, her eyes bright with laughter. As they walked in the door, Della caught a whiff of Lee’s cologne.

Anger surged in her chest. She’d bought that cologne for him last Christmas. Didn’t he remember? Did he even care? How could he wear it for this new girl when Della had given it to him?

She waited a good ten minutes, telling herself to leave. Telling herself it was over. But when she tried to fly away, instead she swung around and headed inside.

She told the hostess she was looking for someone and walked past her into the spicy, sesame-scented air. She walked past a large fish tank with colorful fish swimming in circles as if looking for a way out. She continued past a couple and noticed the sound of plastic crinkling as they opened their fortune cookies. Perhaps she should snag one to see her own future.

Because God only knew what she planned to do when she found Lee. Part of her wanted to rip his heart out for using the cologne she’d given him to impress another girl. The other part wanted to drop to her knees and beg him to at least tell her he missed her.

All this time she’d believed Lee was engaged because his parents forced him into it. Now she didn’t know what to believe. This didn’t look forced. He actually looked … happy.

Leave. Leave. Leave. The voice of reason screamed in her head. But then she saw them at the back table. Candlelit table. Romantic table. She heard them talking. Not in English, but in Mandarin.

Della spoke Mandarin. Her father had made sure of it. But Lee had never spoken to her in that language. Right then Della knew for certain, she wasn’t tossed aside because she’d turned into a vampire. She’d been tossed aside because she was half white.

She heard the girl talking about names. Names they would give their first child. Lee leaned in and kissed her. A romantic kiss that kicked Della right in the gut. From the happiness she heard in Lee’s voice, and the way he kissed the girl, Della suspected this choice had been as much his own preference as his parents’.

A waiter must have dropped a tray of food because a loud clatter sounded right behind Della. She knew she should turn and flash away at the sound of the crash, but it was too late. She watched in horror as Lee pulled his hand away from his fiancée’s and looked up. She saw his eyes widen at the sight of her. Was it a good widen or an “oh shit” widen? She didn’t know.

Leave! Don’t stand here and look pathetic. But her feet felt concreted to the restaurant floor and pathetic was all she could feel. Her gaze locked on his as he stood up and started moving toward her. Right toward her. And she knew she looked even worse than pathetic.

She looked pitiful.

Sad.

She looked alone and heartbroken.

Embarrassment and shame washed over her. But she didn’t have time to let it engulf her. Someone grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close. Shocked, she looked up at … at Steve. He smiled down at her.

“I missed you already,” he said and then he kissed her. Not a simple sweet first kiss, but one that involved tongue and … lots of desire.





Chapter Three


Della felt the embarrassment seep out of her as something else seeped into her. And it wasn’t just Steve’s tongue. It was … passion. It was the feeling of being alive. It was hope that her sad little life wasn’t over. Since being a vampire, since she’d lost Lee, she’d thought she couldn’t feel this anymore. Or maybe she just thought she wouldn’t feel it anymore.

Someone cleared their throat. Realizing the familiar disapproving sound came from Lee, she put a hand on Steve’s chest and reluctantly pulled back.

She met Steve’s eyes briefly. She knew he’d kissed her to save her ass, but she also knew he’d enjoyed it as much as she had. The evidence was there in his warm brown eyes. Even with one of those eyes bruised, she saw the just-been-kissed heat in his gaze.

She turned to Lee. Only to realize she still didn’t have a clue what to say to him. “Uh, hey. I…”

“What are you doing here?” Lee asked. “Besides making out in the middle of a restaurant?”

Hadn’t he just been kissing his date?

As crazy as it was, Della saw something in Lee she hadn’t seen before. Her dad. Or at least his disapproving attitude. Had Lee always been that way and she just now noticed? Or had he changed?

“What’s wrong? Can’t you talk?” he asked.

His words ran amok around her head and she couldn’t decide how they made her feel or how to respond. And if she did decide she wasn’t sure her tongue could take speaking orders, it was still in shock at having just had company—Steve’s tongue.

“We were having dinner,” Steve answered for her. “Actually, we’re celebrating our three-month anniversary.” His gaze went to Della.