away from his. He allowed the withdrawal, although his eyes still held hers.
“Are you sure you are okay?”
She nodded. “I just need to make that call. It—it’s a really important call.”
He regarded her closely, and she had the feeling that he didn’t believe her.
“And private, too,” she added, hoping that would get him to leave.
He didn’t move for a second, but then nodded. “Okay.”
He crossed the room, stopping in the doorway to look at her again. His mouth parted, as if he planned to say something else, but then he just nodded and left the room.
Wilhelmina blew out the breath that she didn’t even realize she’d been holding. She sagged back against the chair, the tingling in her body nearly overwhelming. She remained that way, boneless, her mind numbed, unable to do anything for a moment. Then she lifted the cell phone and flipped the cover up. Her fingers shook as she arrowed down to the right number.
“Hello,” she responded to the voice on the other end. Her voice was breathy, but determined. “I need to report a health code violation, and I think someone needs to be sent right away. Carfax Abbey is overrun with rats. Yes. Yes.”
She gave the woman on the other end the address.
“Thank you.”
She hit the End button, her hands still trembling. She’d done it, the right thing.
And in the nick of time, too. Sebastian Young had just proved how dangerous he was—and not just to mortals, but to her as well.
“Have you ever heard of a vampire having allergies?” Sebastian asked his sister-in law, Jane. She looked up from her computer, where she was working on the payroll.
“Is this a joke?”
Sebastian had the strange feeling that it had to be—one he wasn’t in on.
“Have you ever heard of that?” he asked again.
She shook her head. “No, but I’m pretty new at this vampire thing.”
He was relatively old, and he’d never heard of such a thing.
“Have you heard of a vampire having a cat?”
Jane pushed her chair back from her desk and regarded him with her vividly green eyes. “What’s going on?”
“Have you met the new waitress?” he asked, sitting forward in his chair, resting his hands on the polished wood of her desk. “Wilhelmina?”
“No. Is she the reason you’re so agitated?”
He wasn’t agitated. Then he glanced down, realizing he was gripping the edge of the desk. He released the wood and slid back in his seat. He wasn’t agitated. He was—confused. He had no idea what to make of Wilhelmina. He could sense emotions from her that didn’t make sense. Anxiety, even a little fear—yet a very strong determination too. He had the feeling there was a lot going on in her head that she wasn’t sharing.
“She’s different,” he said.
Jane nodded, a shrewd smile on her lips.
“Oh no. No, no,” Sebastian said, waving a hand, knowing where her thought processes were going. “Different in a weird, and very unappealing way.” Even as he said the words, he knew it wasn’t true. He noticed appealing things about her, far more appealing than he’d expected. But she was not different in the way Jane was thinking.
Jane’s eyes widened. “I’ve never heard you talk that way about a woman.”
Sebastian frowned. Jane was right. He appreciated all women, and his words had sounded more than a little rude.
“What woman?” Sebastian’s brother, Rhys, appeared in the office doorway. He leaned on the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, sporting a look much like the one his wife had worn just moments earlier.
“Damn,” Sebastian muttered, “I swear people in love are worse than drug pushers. You are always trying to get others, who are quite happily single, shackled to someone. It’s damned annoying.”
Rhys grinned at his brother, a gesture that still gave Sebastian pause. After nearly two centuries of scowls and general brooding, the fact that Rhys now readily smiled managed to startle Sebastian almost every time.
Rhys stepped around the desk to Jane and reached for her hand. She slipped out of the chair and into his arms.
“You should really try it. You don’t know what you are missing, baby bro.”
Jane grinned and added in her best “pusher” voice, “Yes, try it. What? Are you scared?”
Sebastian rolled his eyes as his brother and sister-in-law grinned at each other and then kissed.
“Room. Find one. Now,” he muttered.
Rhys pulled away from Jane, but his gaze didn’t leave his wife’s face. “My thoughts exactly.”
Jane smiled impishly, the grin somehow naughtier on her innocent features.
They left the office hand in hand, leaving Sebastian in the office, forgotten.
“I’ll be doing the same thing later tonight,” he called after them. “And it will be just as good.”
He leaned toward the door and added loudly, “Better even.”
Jane’s laughter was his only reply. A melodious, and altogether disbelieving, giggle.
Sebastian snorted, then rose to move to the other side of the desk. He settled down at the computer, minimized the payroll program that Jane had been working on, and opened the sales report. He started to peruse last month’s numbers.
But quickly the columns of figures blurred as he thought about both Rhys and Jane’s happy smiles. He did appreciate the love between his brother and Jane. Still, that didn’t mean he wanted the same thing in his life.
Unbidden, a memory of Wilhelmina’s small smile appeared in his mind, rather awkward and stiff, yet somehow endearing in its valiant attempt. He wondered what her real smile looked like. Would it be sweet? A little naughty? A bit of both.
He frowned at the computer. Why was he thinking about this? He wasn’t interested in the vampiress. She was weird with bad hair and glasses. What vampire wore glasses? And she owned a cat! Everyone knew cats didn’t like vampires.
He determinedly refocused on the document on the computer screen. He had enough to think about without thinking about Wilhelmina.
She did have the softest skin he’d ever touched. He growled, pushing away from the desk. What was his fixation with this new waitress? Why did he find himself remembering the most unimportant details about her?
“Because you need exactly what your brother’s getting,” he stated aloud to the empty room. Well, not exactly what his brother
