Jessica Sims - Must Love Fangs

As soon as the man disappeared back into the restaurant, I jerked my hand away from Josh. “Is this the shifter version of first base?”

He chuffed at me again, then turned, batting at my leg with his tail, indicating that I should follow once more. I did, and he took me down a set of alleys, leading me through the backstreets of downtown Fort Worth, before we came to a neatly stashed pile of clothing and shoes.

He paused, staring at me expectantly.

“Time to change?” I asked.

He reached out and licked my hand again.

“I’m going to take that as a yes. Go on, then.” I turned around, picked up his cell phone, and clicked on it, payback for his snatching my phone.

Locked. Darn. So much for my chance to snoop. I waited until Josh finished changing, listening to the sound of clothing rustling as he dressed. Then he leaned over my shoulder and neatly plucked his phone out of my hands. “That’s mine.”

“Afraid I’ll get all the numbers of your girlfriends and tell them about how you’ve been harassing me in an alley?”

“What, and give away all my smooth moves?” he teased. “Let’s get back to the agency. I imagine Ryder’s waiting. I assume she’s in on this scheme of yours?”

She was, and she was going to kill me if I showed up at the agency with Josh.

We walked back to the small strip mall off a service road. Midnight Liaisons had an unassuming storefront, since the last thing we wanted was to draw attention to our business. The lights were on inside, as they were twenty-four hours a day, but the blinds were pulled shut. When I entered the small waiting room, I frowned to see that all four desks in the main office were empty. I glanced over at Ryder’s desk. Her purse was still hanging off the back of her chair.

Not good.

I turned to Josh. “Can you wait here for a minute?”

He shrugged. “Or I could sit down and we can talk for a bit and explore this vampire fetish—”

That was the last thing I wanted right now. “Just . . . stay . . . here,” I said, placing my hands on his chest and giving him a nudge backward.

He put his hand over mine, as if to hold it. “I know you want your hands on me, Marie, but think of how jealous poor Ryder will be.”

I shoved him harder, ignoring the boyish grin on his face. “I’m going to talk to Ryder, and then we’re going to head out for a bit.”

“We are?” He seemed surprised. “Shouldn’t you be ‘working’ at your ‘job’?” He made air quotes, teasing me.

“Shouldn’t you?” I hissed back at him. “You’re being paid to track something, right? So go track.” When he didn’t move, I sighed. “Give me two minutes and I’ll tell Ryder where we’re going. Just wait here.” I didn’t want him following me in.

I half expected him to follow me in, but he did as I asked. I hitched my purse closer on my shoulder, braced myself, and headed to the back conference room, where I knew I’d find Ryder.

I cracked the door open just enough to see scaly flesh and curled wings. One misshapen arm shot out, clearly re-forming. The creature turned to me, eyes wild, and I recognized Ryder’s bright blue gaze in that awful face.

“Hey,” I said softly, forcing myself to ignore the fact that she was turning into a monster right before my eyes. “I’m taking Josh and we’re going to go get something to eat. Call me if you need me, okay?”

The hand wavered, shuddered, and clenched. Then she slowly raised it into the air and jabbed a thumbs-up.

I gave her the thumbs-up sign back and shut the door, leaving her to her business.

After all, I knew all about secrets. There were some things you just didn’t want other people to know. I swept through the office and brushed past Josh to the front door. “Come on. There’s bound to be something open this late.”

There was a time when I’d have been excited about going out to a late-night dinner with a gorgeous man. A time when, if he’d put his hand on the small of my back to guide me down the sidewalk, I’d have shivered with delight. Tonight I had a handsome, gorgeous man with his hand on my back, walking at my side, and it just bothered me. I was filled with annoyance. What did Josh so arrogantly think he could teach me about dating a male vampire? I was the one who worked at a dating agency, after all.

I strode down the sidewalk and tried not to think about Ryder, who was having a bad night. Instead, I focused on my situation, since it was a worse night for me. Josh easily kept up with my angry strides, his big form staying protectively next to me.

He gestured at a nearby restaurant. “How about that?”

I eyed the yellow sign with a frown. “A diner?”

He grinned down at me and I was distracted by how close he was, by his touch on my lower back. “Why not? Open all night.”

“It just seems so . . . ”

“Casual? It’s not a date.” His hand nudged my lower back, directing me toward the restaurant’s lit parking lot.

My mouth tightened. Of course it wasn’t a date. “You don’t need to remind me. And since you picked, you’re paying.”

“Why? It’s not a date.”

I gritted my teeth. “Fine.”

When we got inside, the elderly waitress lit up at the sight of Josh. “There’s my boy,” she crowed in a voice that sounded as if she’d smoked too many cigarettes. “How are you, Josh darlin’?”

He gave the small, stout woman a bear hug. “I’m pining away with love for you, Carol.”

She gave a raspy chuckle and swatted his bottom. “You want your usual?”

“You know I do.” He glanced over at me. “I brought a friend. She’ll probably want a menu.”

The waitress glanced over at me, her nest of overly bleached curls tilting as she studied me, then she squeezed him in a half hug. “You go pick a table and sit anywhere. I’ll get your food started.”

“You’re an angel,” he said with a grin.

I rolled my eyes and followed him to a rounded booth in the far corner of the nearly empty restaurant. When I slid in on one side, Josh slid in right next to me. I immediately scooted all the way around to the far end, putting some distance between us.

That seemed to amuse him, which only made me more irritated.

“I see why you wanted to come here. You get free food every night just because you flirt with the old ladies?”

He grinned. “Not every night, and I don’t flirt. They just love me.”

As if to prove this point, Carol showed up with two glasses of water and a coffee for Josh. She set it down in front of him, tugged his ballcap off his head in a proprietary move that surprised me, then smoothed his hair like a mother. “No hats inside, young man.”

Josh gave her a rueful smile. “Sorry.”

He looked even more boyish with his hair sticking up wildly. If it hadn’t been for the scruff on his face, he would have looked far too young.

“This one’s too charming for his own good,” Carol said affectionately, chucking Josh’s unshaved chin as if she’d been a doting mother—or grandmother.

“He only thinks he’s charming,” I pointed out. “He just expects everyone else to think it, too.”

She chuckled again, that horrible smoker’s rasp. “I like this one, Josh.”

My face colored, which made Josh grin.

“You want the same thing he’s having, honey?” she asked me.

Anything to get her away from the two of us. “Sure. Thank you.”

She put a coffee mug down in front of me and filled it, then left with another smile at Josh.

“So that’s your schtick?” I said irritably. “To be a charming freeloader?”

“First of all,” he said, lifting the coffee cup to his lips, “I pay for everything. Carol doesn’t make enough to buy me dinner on a regular basis.” He sipped it and then grimaced. “Her coffee is shit, though.”