A Vampire for Christmas(103)
His imagination shifted into hyperdrive. He suspected her blood would leave him both sated and jazzed for days. The only way to find out for sure would be to strip them both down and get skin-to-skin in a tangle of arms and legs in that brass bed right upstairs from where he now stood. Whoa, boy, that painted one hell of an image. One he couldn’t afford to hold on to right now. In fact, not ever. He needed to leave before he lost it altogether. He jumped the length of the steps, wincing only slightly when his leg reminded him that it still wasn’t happy with him. Ignoring the twinge, he hung the ladder up on the wall and headed back upstairs.
He really hated the thought of missing out on that pie. Besides, it would hurt Della’s feelings if he refused payment for services rendered. Rather than think about why that bothered him so much, he walked out into the diner, pretending to be on his phone. He hung up as soon as Della spotted him.
Sorry, I got another call and have to leave. Any chance I could get that pie to go?”
She nodded. “Will you be able to come for dinner tomorrow night?”
Lies upon lies. “I’m not sure, but I’ll try.”
As he yanked his coat back on, he cursed himself for a fool. Why had he said that? Stupid question when he already knew the answer. It was because he’d kissed her. She wasn’t the kind of woman who gave herself up to a moment like that easily or often. He knew next to nothing about her, but he knew that much.
He’d kissed Della as if it meant something. If he simply disappeared now, it would hurt her. What had started off as a joke had turned into something far more serious and not just for her. Yet another reason to exit from Della’s life with as much grace as he could muster.
Here’s the pie. It’s blueberry.”
Thank you.” He stared down at the container. “Your employee Daniel said it was his favorite.”
If you come back tomorrow, you can try the chocolate so you have something to compare it to.” Her eyes twinkled when she added, “Of course, then there’s also peach and the banana cream, not to mention I also make a mean Dutch apple pie. Gee, Eagan, think how much you’ve been missing out on all this time.”
That’s just mean, woman.” He opened the door, still oddly reluctantly to step out into the darkness.
Della surprised him by raising up to press a quick kiss to his cheek. “Not mean, just truthful. Now go. My electric bill is bad enough without trying to heat the streets of Seattle, too.”
He did as she said, walking away without looking back. Her kiss was meant as a small gesture between friends but still somehow packed a powerful punch. All he knew was that if it was really cold outside, he didn’t notice.
Two hours later the pie was gone and the kiss-induced warmth had dissipated, leaving Eagan cold and empty. Hungry, too, but not for pie. He wanted blood, warm and straight from the source. Della’s vein, to be specific.
Most often he fed from blood packs at the precinct. They kept a steady supply on hand for the nights the vampires on the force didn’t have time to hunt for themselves. A hungry vampire was more likely to lose control in the midst of a crisis. No one wanted that. It had happened before, and it wasn’t a pretty picture.
Just for grins, Eagan swung by the diner one last time. The lights were out, upstairs and down. He stopped briefly before moving on. He’d followed Daniel’s scent all the way to an apartment a few blocks away. After watching to make sure the kid stayed in for the night, he’d circled the area looking for the two young vamps. He hadn’t really expected to find them. If they’d fed from Daniel, they were probably done hunting for the night.
Time to head back to the office and report in. He hoped Lt. Hughes would assign someone to keep an eye on Daniel whenever Eagan couldn’t. After that, he’d chug down a couple of packs of blood and seek out his own bed.
For the first time since starting this case, it felt like he’d made progress. Not enough, but at least now they had the identity of one of the teenagers involved. With luck, Daniel was the first link in the chain that would lead them right to those behind the attacks.
EAGAN HAD SPENT the past twenty-four hours trying without success to find another lead in the case, one that would allow him to put some distance between him and Della. There were so many reasons he needed to stay away from her, but he was still tempted to accept her dinner invitation.
He remained convinced that blowing her off, even knowing it would hurt her feelings, was the right thing to do for both of them.