Runaway Vampire (Argeneau, #23)(23)
Dante should have looked ridiculous in the getup, and she was sure he probably did, but the clothes also drew the gaze to the breadth of his beautiful chest. At least it did if you could tear your eyes away from the way the tight joggers emphasized the huge bulge between his legs.
Mary closed her eyes on the sight he made, but once again found that the image appeared to be burned into her retinas and continued to dance on her eyelids.
“I shall feed and walk Bailey,” Dante offered quietly and Mary blinked her eyes open and merely shook her head. Not expecting her dead husband’s clothes to still be in the RV, he’d obviously just grabbed what he thought he might squeeze into from her closet and hadn’t even thought to check the closet on the other side of the bed. Mary was about to tell him that there were men’s clothes there when a knock sounded at the RV door.
“Dave,” she muttered, glancing to the door in a bit of a panic. She started toward it, then paused and whirled back. “My purse . . .”
Dante must have seen it when he’d found the clothes he was wearing because he immediately turned and pulled the door open to retrieve it. Handing it to her, he patted her arm. “Relax. All is well, I will see to Bailey.”
“Right,” she muttered, rushing toward the door, and then as she opened the door, thought to call out, “Her leash is hanging on a hook in my closet.”
“Talking to the dog now, Mary?” Dave teased curiously as she started down the steps.
Mary forced a laugh and shook her head, then said, “My nephew is driving back with me.”
The lie came out so smoothly you would have thought she’d planned it out. She hadn’t though; it just came to her on the spot, but she was grateful for it.
“That’s nice,” Dave said, smiling as he led her to the golf cart he’d driven from the office. “I could tell you found it a bit much driving down on your own when you stopped here in the fall.”
“Yes,” Mary said quietly as she got in next to him. “It was a bit more than I expected. It’s much nicer when you have someone to share the driving.”
“I can imagine,” Dave assured her as he headed the golf cart back the way he’d come. “I sure wouldn’t want to run this place without Carol helping.”
Mary smiled, and then found herself glancing over her shoulder back toward the RV. She hadn’t turned on the lights or let the sides out or anything. She should have done that, she supposed. It would make things easier for Dante. While there were hookups for water, sewer, and 50 amp power supplies, there were no night-lights around the RVs to give him light. He’d be feeling his way around inside.
Clucking her tongue with irritation at her thoughtlessness, she turned to face forward again and listened to Dave’s cheerful chatter about how busy the winter had been for them with all the snowbirds coming and going.
“But when you called last week and asked if you could move your booking forward, Carol worked her magic and managed to rearrange our other bookings for you,” Dave informed her.
“I appreciate that,” Mary said quietly. “But I told her I’d take anything you had available. I didn’t want to put you out.”
“You didn’t. She was happy to do it. You know Carol,” he added affectionately.
“Yes,” Mary said with a smile. It would be hard to find a woman with a bigger heart than Carol had. She’d become a dear friend over the years. They both had. Which was why Mary had booked two nights here this time. She’d already decided she wasn’t doing this again. The trip just wasn’t the same alone. Knowing this would be the last time she made the trek back and forth, she’d wanted to have a nice last visit with this couple who had been so good to her and Joe over the years. But with Dante to worry about, Mary now wasn’t sure she should stay the extra night.
“Good God, woman, what did you do? Drive thirty all the way from Padre Island?”
Mary smiled at that greeting from Carol as the petite bottle blonde pulled her into a hug the moment Dave ushered her inside the office.
“I’m sorry,” Mary said as she hugged her back. “I know it’s late. You probably wanted to close shop and go relax hours ago.”
“Nonsense. We keep the store open late,” Carol said at once, stepping back to scowl at her. “We were worried about you is all. Started thinking we maybe should call the sheriff’s department and see if there was an accident on the highway or something.”
Mary grimaced at the word accident, but just shook her head. “I’m fine. Just slow.”
“Hmm, well you come sign in and we’ll get you a nice drink to soothe your nerves from driving,” Carol said, leading her to the registration counter. “Dave, fetch her a rum and coke on ice.”
“Oh, no,” Mary protested at once. “Thank you, but I still have to hook up and put out the slide-outs and stuff.”
“Let your nephew take care of that. That’s what he’s here for,” Dave said lightly, moving into the office to fetch glasses.
“He doesn’t know how to do any of that . . . yet,” she added when both Carol and Dave turned to peer at her in surprise. “This is his first day in the RV.”
“Oh,” Dave smiled wryly. “How’s he liking it so far?”
Mary merely shrugged helplessly and turned her attention to the clipboard waiting on the countertop. It was her registration, already mostly filled out by Carol for her. Mary merely had to sign it. She did so, then pulled out her credit card and offered it, but Carol waved it away.