“Thanks to you.”
“And Chloe and Ethan.”
“My trio of heroes,” he said. Then he sobered, remembering how close he’d come to losing her to the vampire underworld. “I’m sorry I was so harsh with you before. I thought I was doing the right thing, staying away.”
“I know.”
He saw a flash of the remembered hurt he’d caused her. It made him feel guilty and amazed at the same time, amazed that she could have even been hurt by his words and absence. What could she possibly see in him? The fact that she evidently did see something worthwhile made him want to give her everything. Of course, he couldn’t. Not anything near what she deserved.
Damn, he wanted her. But even though he was fully fed, he didn’t trust himself. He broke eye contact. “You should get back to your customers. You don’t want to draw unwanted attention.”
“Afraid it’s too late for that.” But she did stand and head for the freezer door. “I’ll be back when it clears out.”
He sat in the freezer listening to the various conversations in the restaurant. He heard many of the customers ask about the cops and the dead guys in the alley, how Olivia and Mindy did their best to shift those conversations without drawing suspicion. When he detected the last person leaving the dining area and the sun approaching the western horizon, he sat up straighter.
As soon as Olivia opened the freezer door, he said, “It’s time I leave.”
“Oh, okay.” She stopped for a moment as if she’d been surprised by his abrupt statement.
He needed to get away from her for a while, to clear his senses of her smell, the sound of her voice, the rhythm of her breathing. But when she moved close, he clasped her hand and brought it to his lips, kissed her fingers.
“Don’t think I don’t want to stay,” he said. “You have no idea how much.”
She met his gaze. “Then stay.”
His mouth stretched in a sad smile. “I can’t.”
“You’re not a danger to me, not now.”
“I’m always a danger to you. You have to accept that.”
“You won’t let anything happen.”
Her faith in him was almost his undoing, partly because he knew she didn’t come to it easily. Even now, some part of her probably struggled with doubt about him, about her safety around him. And still she voiced a confidence in him he didn’t deserve, that no vamp did. Maybe he’d allow himself just a little taste. He leaned forward and kissed her, fell into the sweet flavor of her lips, their warmth. It felt like coming home after a long trip away. What was meant to be a simple parting deepened the moment she opened to him. His tongue slid into her mouth and tangled with hers. She moaned and his entire body reacted with need. Not the need of a vampire but that of a man for a woman.
Campbell started to run his fingers along her face, only to realize he was still cuffed. What the hell was he doing? As if he hadn’t put Olivia in enough danger already.
He pulled back. “I need to go.”
She hesitated but finally shifted away. Without meeting his eyes, she unhooked his cuffs then stood. He wanted to reach out to her as she headed for the door, but he refrained. He needed to leave before either one of them went too far.
Damn it, he’d already gone too far. He’d kissed her, tasted her, had gotten himself invited into the sanctuary of her home. He followed her into the kitchen, wishing things could be different.
He spotted Mindy at the far side of the kitchen and smelled her fear. She had a firm grip on one of those wooden mallets that were used to tenderize meat. Sometime during the day, she’d shaved the handle down to a sharp point, a very effective stake. Hoping to somehow put her at ease, he nodded. “Thank you.”
She pointed the makeshift stake at him. “I know you saved Olivia, but I still don’t trust you.”
“I don’t blame you.”
“You need to leave and never come back.”
“Mindy,” Olivia said from behind him, part scolding and part embarrassment.
He held up his hand. “No, it’s okay.” Campbell made the mistake of meeting Olivia’s bright eyes. In them he saw a yearning that matched his own, her unspoken plea for him to stay. But he couldn’t. Refusing to allow himself to speak any words that would even touch how he was feeling, he gripped the knob on the back door.
“Goodbye, Livvi” was all he managed before he fled into the coming night. Fled before his willpower abandoned him totally and he gave in to temptation and did more than simply kiss her.
* * *
One moment Campbell stood in front of Olivia and the next he was gone, literally in the blink of an eye. He’d pulled the door closed behind him, and she knew as she approached the door it was no use looking into the alley behind the building for him. He wouldn’t be there. That damned protective trait she so admired about him was now standing in the way of them seeing where they could go following that kiss. That and the knowledge she had to give him up for good. She bit her lip to keep it from trembling.
Remembering the kisses they’d shared, she lifted her fingers to her lips and thought she could still feel his coolness there. It should have freaked her out to kiss someone who was technically dead, but it hadn’t. He had felt very far from dead as he’d allowed himself a moment of indulgence. If nothing else, she could hold on to the fact that she was certain he wanted her for something other than her blood.
“Olivia?”
It took a moment for Mindy’s voice to penetrate the haze of memory, but when it did, Olivia locked the door before turning toward her friend.
“You didn’t have to stay,” Olivia said.
“I wasn’t going to leave you alone with him.”
“If he’d wanted to hurt me, he would have done it the moment I took his cuffs off. He could have killed me and you before we even had time to say a word. But he didn’t.”
Olivia glanced toward the back door as if Campbell would magically appear there again. After her staring did nothing to bring him back, she shifted her attention back to Mindy. “Looks as if you’re stuck staying here again tonight. I’m sorry.”
She knew Mindy wouldn’t get a wink of sleep knowing she was in a building that was no longer vampire- proof. Granted, Campbell was the only one who could enter, but that was one too many.
“Come on.” Olivia led the way up the stairs, flicking the lights off in the diner as she went and trying not to think about how much she wished Campbell was the one following her.
Once they were in the apartment, Olivia closed and locked the door at the top of the stairs. She glanced at the balcony but found it empty.
“If I hadn’t been here, you would have invited him up, wouldn’t you?” Mindy asked.
Olivia couldn’t lie to her best friend, but she didn’t want to hurt her either. So she said nothing. But she didn’t have to.
The momentary flash of disgust on Mindy’s face was enough to tell Olivia that Mindy knew more had happened between Olivia and Campbell than Olivia had admitted. Only days ago she would have felt the same way at the thought of a vamp’s lips on hers.
“We had this dog, a black lab named Renfro, when I was a kid,” Mindy said. “Best dog you’d ever want, until he wasn’t. He’d never shown any hint of viciousness, but one day he lost it and attacked Mom, bit her badly. Nobody knew why he turned like that, other than the fact he was an animal. We had to put him down. I cried and cried, but Mom wouldn’t risk him hurting Jess or me.”
“Campbell isn’t a dog.”
“No, but he is an animal who can turn with no warning.”
“You don’t have to worry about it anymore, okay?” She knew she sounded curt, but it had been a hell of a day.
Mindy didn’t look convinced, and Olivia didn’t have the energy to try to convince her. She wasn’t sure she’d find enough to convince herself.
* * *
