Smolder (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #29)(3)

“You are so going to owe me for this,” Edward said.

“One, I’ve seen you wear leather for undercover work before. Two, I wore a formal-length dress on a beach with bedazzled flip-flops for your wedding.”

“That was not this bad,” he said, motioning at the pants that the patient woman was holding up for him.

“I tried on dresses that were so low that I flashed an entire bridal store when I tripped over the hem.”

He grinned, then shook his head. “Okay, that’s fair.”

“If I said I’m sorry I missed you trying on dresses, would you be mad?” Peter asked.

“Yes,” I said firmly.

He and Edward both laughed. I tried to hold out, but I finally gave in, and we laughed until Edward had to go into the changing room and get into the freshly hemmed leather pants.





2

PETER AND I were still sitting in the chairs listening to Edward curse as he wiggled into the pants when my phone rang. It was my dad’s ringtone; my stomach dropped into my shoes with dread, but I answered it.

“Hey, Dad, what’s up?”

“You’re going through with this wedding no matter what I say, aren’t you?”

I stood up and said, “Jesus, Dad, yes, I am marrying Jean-Claude no matter what you say.”

Peter startled in his chair and stared up at me like he couldn’t believe it either. Who could? My father just kept talking all the hate about the man I loved. “He’s a vampire, Anita; in the eyes of the Church he’s a suicide at best, and at worst he’s a demon-possessed corpse.”

“We’ve discussed the Catholic Church’s view on vampires for a few weeks now, Dad. Tell me something new.”

“I know the wedding is a big event, but can’t you just live with each other without getting married?”

“I can’t believe you’re encouraging me to live in sin with a vampire. I thought that was one of the things you hated about all the people in my life?”

“If it’s a choice of cohabitating with one of them or marrying one, then I know which is my preference for my daughter.”

“I am not canceling the wedding, Dad, and the fact that you keep asking is really starting to piss me off.”

“No need to use language like that, Anita.”

“The hell there isn’t. You’re the one who’s insulting me and Jean-Claude. You wouldn’t even come to St. Louis and meet him in person before passing judgment on him.”

“He’s a vampire, Anita, I don’t have to meet him.”

“Fine, then if that’s your last word I guess I’ll find someone else to give me away, or walk my own damn self down the aisle.”

“I’m coming to St. Louis to meet your fiancé.”

“What?”

“I’m coming to meet him and I’m coming to get fitted in the wedding clothes. I don’t understand why there will be multiple fittings for a tuxedo, but you told me if I don’t come now for the first fitting I can’t be in the wedding at all.”

“So, you’re going to be in the wedding, just like that?”

“No, I’m coming for the fitting so that I have the option to be in the wedding. I need to meet this . . . your fiancé. I can’t believe you’re going to marry him, but I want to meet him before you do. I want to try and have a more open mind about it.”

I just stood there holding the phone, not sure what to say. My face must have looked more shocked than I felt, because Peter stood up and hovered near me as if he wasn’t sure how I’d take a hug, but he was thinking about risking it.

“I’m sorry that my beliefs are making your wedding difficult, Anita. I want to walk you down the aisle, I just don’t know if I can hand you over to a . . . vampire.”

“I know, Dad. You raised me to believe they were monsters, inhuman, so it wasn’t murder to kill them. If you had raised me differently I would never have become a vampire executioner and never met Jean-Claude.”

“The irony is not lost on me, Anita.”

“Good, when are you coming into town?”

“I’m working on arranging for someone to cover my practice here, so next week, if it’s not too late. We’ll stay at a hotel since I know you already have guests at your house who are going to be in the wedding.”

“Okay, wow, that’s quick, you surprised me, Dad.”

“In a good way, I hope.”

“Yeah, good, but I honestly had given up on you even meeting Jean-Claude, let alone entertaining the idea of giving me away.”

“I still haven’t decided on that, but Judith showed me that article you sent about vampires not going brain-dead, which means that they don’t technically die. If medical technology can prove that vampires aren’t the walking dead, then the Church needs to know about the new studies.”

“That’s great, Dad, thank Judith for me.”

“You can thank her yourself when we get there.”

“Great, I’ll do that. Text me your flight details and I’ll have someone meet you at the airport.”

“Someone, not you?”

I took a deep breath and let it out while I counted slowly. The guilt-tripping had already begun, and he wasn’t even here yet. “Dad, I’m in the middle of planning a wedding bigger than the last royal one, or that’s how it feels, plus I’m still working, and I’ve got friends here from out of town for the wedding. My schedule is a little smashed, but I or someone will meet your plane.”