led to Christian and his perfect body. He might have a perfect body and face and clothes, but the man had problems, she was sure of that. Problems she couldn’t begin to deal with, not when she had her own to sort out. The most immediate of which being how she was going to get through a night of work with this bum shoulder and still pounding head.
She stepped outside, the bright light doing nothing for the headache. Then she closed the door tightly behind her, hopefully leaving the memories of Christian still sleeping in his bedroom.
For the first time since Christian moved into the hell that was Shady Fork Mobile Estates, he didn’t wake immediately irritated. Irritated with himself and with the events that brought him to this very low point. Or irritated with the hunger that had to be restrained by a strict diet. Or even irritated with the evil lawn ornaments next door.
His first thought was of Jolee. How was she? A still unfamiliar sense of concern filled him. But mingled with the concern was an even more foreign emotion. He searched for a name for the feeling. It was almost like…excitement.
He slipped out of the bed and looked for his pants. Before he even had them fastened, his newly recognized excitement faded. He paused, concentrating on the atmosphere of the trailer. He didn’t feel her presence there. The fourteen by fifty-six foot space was empty as usual.
Hoping that his senses were just too weak to perceive her, he grabbed a shirt and strode to the living room. But by the time he reached the main room, he knew she was gone. The comforter was folded in the center of the sofa. Above it, his shirt was spread out against the back of the sofa, the arms stretched out wide. A lifeless welcome.
He ignored the disappointment that smothered the rest of his excitement. She must have gone back to her trailer. That was reasonable. She’d want to shower and change into clean clothes. He tugged on the shirt he carried, then went to get his shoes.
Other than the outside light, her trailer was dark. She could be asleep, he decided as he bounded up her steps. He knocked, but heard nothing from inside. He concentrated, but he didn’t feel her presence there either. He tried the doorknob. The whole knob encasement wiggled loosely in his hand. The door clicked open. She really needed to fix that.
He stepped into the dark trailer, still not able to pick up her presence. Spicy sweetness scented the whole place, but it was a lingering scent, not a fresh one. He considered searching through the rest of the trailer, but there was no point. She wasn’t here.
He tried to lock the door, which didn’t catch correctly, so he left it unlocked, as she had. Then he stood on the stoop unsure what to do next. Where was she? Worry and exasperation mingled inside him. She should be resting. What did she have against following the doctor’s orders?
What if she’d gotten ill, and decided she needed to go back to the doctor? Certainly he would have been no help if that happened in the daylight. Had she gone to another neighbor for assistance? Maybe he’d go by the hospital, just to check. He started back across the road to get his keys, when cinnamon and warm honey overwhelmed his senses. The scent was there, a definite cloud of perfume, right in the middle of the road.
The fragrance was the same type as in her trailer, waning, but still strong enough for him to sense. Pleased, he walked a little farther down the road. Her scent grew just subtly stronger. He couldn’t believe his dwindled abilities would allow him to find her. Apparently vampires were like dogs and scent was the last thing to go. He did sense her, and he intended to follow the faint trail left for him like an olfactory version of breadcrumbs.
She must have gone wherever she went the other nights he’d seen her walking. As hurt and sore as she was, she’d still gone to her nightly destination. Why? The path led him back up the main road, and he quickly realized that she’d been walking home from this place last night, when he’d nearly hit her. He passed the spot, rubber from his tires lining the road.
Her trail only went a few yards beyond that point, and for the first time, he noticed a building set back from the road. A painted wooden sign was affixed to the roof and lit with lights on the eaves: Leo’s Brew Pub and Karaoke Saloon. How multi-ethnic.
Another sign, even bigger than the name, balanced above that, reading: Member of the National Karaoke Association. Christmas lights decorated both signs and the eaves of the roof. Neon signs advertising different alcohols hung in the windows.
How had he missed this place?
The gravel parking lot to the left of the building had several cars lined up. Music drifted out from the open windows, as did the sound of voices. Suddenly he sensed Jolee’s presence; he could feel her in the warm air. Christian frowned. This was where she went every night?
He wandered closer. Peeking in a window, he saw a large open room with more Christmas lights lining the rafters. Several groups of people sat at nicked wooden tables, drinks in their hands. Two men played a game of pool in the far corner. Farther down in the opposite corner was an open space with a booth next to it. There was a monitor affixed to one of the ceiling beams and another large monitor behind that on the wall, facing out into the room. The monitor was dark, and the booth empty. A few more patrons sat on stools at a long bar at the very end of the room. And behind the bar was…Jolee.
“Jolee girl, you need to be home in bed,” Jed commented, not for the first time tonight.
Earlier Jolee had just laughed off his advice; she’d been hurting but she could handle it. However, after a few long reaches for liquor bottles on the shelves behind her and lifting a couple heavy trays, she was really hurting now.
But she forced a smile and said, “This is the best night I’ve had. I can handle it.”
Jed shook his head. “Well, let me help you.”
He’d offered that already, too, and she’d turned him down. The poor old guy was stiff enough after mopping and taking out the trash at the end of the night. She hadn’t wanted him overextending himself. But maybe just for tonight.
“No, I’ll help her,” a voice stated before she could relent.
Jolee turned to see Christian standing at the end of the bar. She walked over to him and whispered, “What are you doing here?”
“The better question is what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be resting.”
“Well, some of us have jobs,” she said pointedly.
He didn’t seem to notice the jab. “Surely, your boss would understand that you need a couple nights off.”
“I am the boss.”
Christian stared at her for a moment, then cast a look around the bar. “You own this place?” Confusion was clear in his eyes.
“What? You don’t think a woman can run a bar?”
“No, I just can’t imagine why you’d want to.” He cast another disparaging look around the place.
Anger rose in her chest, and made her pounding head feel like it was going to explode. “You know what, I really don’t need your rude comments. Just because you’re a pretentious jerk, doesn’t mean you can come in here and criticize my place. So just—”
“That was rude. Forgive me.”
She snapped her mouth closed and glared at him. “Thanks for stopping by. Now you can leave.”
“Nope,”
