Chapter Eight
Leah was drizzling more dressing onto her grilled chicken salad when Abby looked toward the cafeteria door and grinned.
"Gregori's here!" Abby set down her soup spoon and jumped to her feet.
"Hi, sweetheart." Gregori hugged her, then motioned to her bowl of potato soup. "Don't let me stop you. You're eating for two now."
Leah concentrated on her salad to give the two lovebirds some privacy.
"I missed you," Abby whispered.
"I missed you more." Gregori nuzzled her neck. "I woke up from my death-sleep, and you were gone."
So the Vamps called it death-sleep? Leah took a big bite of salad. Was Dougal awake now, too?
Abby swatted her husband's shoulder. "I told you I was coming to work early and bringing Leah."
Gregori seemed to notice her for the first time. "How are you today, Leah?"
"Fine," she mumbled, her mouth full of lettuce.
"Oh." Abby glanced toward the door. "I didn't see you there, Dougal."
Leah stiffened. He was alive! She gulped down her food, then swallowed some water, her eyes watering. She peered over her shoulder and saw him coming toward them. Alive. And as handsome as ever.
She turned back, focusing on her salad.
"I think I need more food," Abby said. "I'm going through the line again."
"I'll go with you." Gregori accompanied her.
Leah pushed her salad around with her plastic fork. He was still behind her, staring at her, she could feel it. His presence seemed to engulf the room.
"Good evening," he said in a deep, lilting voice that caused a delicious little shiver to run down her back.
"Hi." She looked up as he moved to stand beside her.
He leaned forward, his nostrils flaring, then he straightened, his mouth curling into a slight smile. "How are you?"
"Fine." She paused. "How are you?"
"Well, thank you."
She fiddled with her plastic fork. If only she could come up with something brilliant to say. Would he want to hear about the research she did for her doctorate degree? Probably not. "Would you like something to eat?"
"I had a bottle when I wakened at sunset."
"Right." He doesn't eat, dummy. She slapped herself mentally. Her gaze drifted to the window, where she could see the basketball court outside and the game still in progress. "I recognize Angus, Roman, and Tino, but who is the man they're playing with?"
Dougal glanced at the window. "That's Carlos. He's a were-panther."
"Another killer cat?"
"We could give him a CAT scan to be sure."
She winced.
With a sigh, he shifted his weight. "I doona have the gift of blarney."
Did he feel socially awkward, too? "I was never good at meaningless chatter, either," she muttered.
Time stretched out as he eyed her intently. What on earth was he thinking? She filled the awkward pause by taking a bite of her salad.
"Then perhaps we should say something meaningful," he said softly.
She swallowed her salad without tasting it. "Meaningless is safe."
"If ye wanted safety, ye would have run away." He sat in the chair beside her. "Why did ye decide to stay?"
"Many reasons." But mostly you. She sipped some water. "I have an opportunity to save lives. It would be cowardly of me to refuse that, don't you think?"
"Ye're a brave lass, to be sure."
Her heart swelled. Not only did he compliment her but he also did it in a way that sounded like sweet music. She picked up her plastic knife to saw on one of the grilled chicken strips. "Another reason - as a scientist, I'm naturally curious about this new world I've stumbled into."
"Curious enough to venture into the basement while I was sleeping?"
Her plastic knife snapped in two.
"It was you, aye?" He leaned an elbow on the table as he twisted to face her. "Ye unbuttoned my shirt."
She shrugged, feigning indifference in spite of her pounding heart. "Any number of people could have gone downstairs."
"I recognize yer scent of jasmine. 'Tis verra nice."
Busted. Her cheeks grew warm. "Fine. I went to check on you. I was concerned. I am your doctor now, you know."
His mouth twitched. "So ye had a medical reason to see my chest?"
She huffed. "I wanted to see if you had a heartbeat. You didn't. I have no idea how you can be dead for hours and then magically resuscitate yourself just because the sun went down."
" 'Tis the way it is."
"It doesn't make sense."
His eyes softened and he leaned close to her. "Does everything have to make sense?"
Her skin chilled with goose bumps. No, it made no sense that she was so drawn to him.
"I'd like to spend some time with you so we can get to know each other."
He wanted to date? How could she date a vampire? It was impossible, even if a small part of her was thrilled. "I-I don't think it's wise to date anyone where I work."
He looked away, frowning, then turned back to her. " 'Tis business. Right now, ye're surrounded by vampires ye doona trust. And ye canna trust us until ye know us better. So getting to know me will help you work more efficiently."
Did he expect her to buy that leap in logic? Still, it was sweet that he was trying so hard.
His gaze lowered to her mouth, then returned to her eyes.
She swallowed hard. Was he thinking about kissing her?
"Will ye give me a chance?" he whispered. "I've waited so long for you."
Her heart lurched.
"We're back," Abby announced as she plunked down a plate filled with fried chicken strips and French fries.
Dougal straightened and looked out the window.
Leah took a deep breath. I've waited so long for you. Did that mean he thought they were somehow fated to be together? Her heart thundered in her ears. How could she have a future with him?
Abby sat at the table. "I don't usually eat like this, but I'm so hungry." She bit into a chicken strip.
Gregori sat beside her, his gaze focused on Leah and Dougal. "So what's up? You two were deep in conversation."
"It was nothing." Leah took a sip of water.
"She was explaining why she decided to stay," Dougal said.
"Ah." Gregori gave her a charming smile. "How could you resist us? We're so utterly fascinating."
Abby snorted. "And modest."
Leah smiled. "I guess it's not surprising that I would end up in a strange world. The other kids in college always said I was strange. 'Dr. Freakazoid' they called me."
Beside her, Dougal stiffened.
Abby winced. "That was mean."
Leah groaned inwardly. What had possessed her to confess that? It was all Dougal's fault. He'd completely unnerved her, and now she was babbling like a fool. "To be honest, I was kinda strange. I was fourteen when I started college."
Gregori leaned forward, his elbows on the table. "Since you were so young, they should have been nicer to you, not meaner."
"Aye," Dougal said quietly. "If ye give me their names, I'll track them down - "
"Doon?" Leah looked at him. Why did he have to sound so adorable?
"Aye, doon," Dougal muttered. "They deserve to have their heads knocked together. And as head of security here, it is my duty to protect you."
"Retroactively?"
His eyes flashed an intense green. "Anytime, anywhere."
Another wave of goose bumps prickled her arms as if he'd reached out to caress her. "It was a long time ago. I'm over it."
"Are you?"
No. For the entire twenty-three years of her life, she'd felt like she was alone in the world without any friends. Alone in a world where she didn't fit.
So how old was Dougal? Did he have centuries of pain that he carried around on those broad shoulders? I've waited so long for you. Did he crave a comforting touch as much as she did?
Her so-called friends in college had wanted her for the free tutoring. Her parents had wanted her as living proof of their own intellectual superiority. Even Dr. Lee and the other Vamps here wanted her for her expertise.
But Dougal was surprisingly different. He looked at her like she was the most desirable woman on the planet. And even more surprising, she reacted like a woman. Heart pounding, breathless, and nerve endings tingling all over. She wanted to know everything about him. And God help her, she wanted to touch him.
She shook herself mentally. He was a vampire, a volcanically inclined Vamp with a fiery dragon tattooed on his chest. She couldn't let herself get involved with him. Her carefully mapped-out life would go up in flames.
"I'm fine." She stood, pushing back her chair. "And I'm going back to work."
Dougal groaned inwardly. His one joke had been lame, and his attempt at being charming had chased her away. How could he manage to be alone with her? What would impress her? His thoughts returned to the movie she'd watched earlier. Of course. He knew exactly what to do.
He cleared his throat. "Gregori, instead of giving Leah a ride home from work, would ye mind if I teleport her?"
Gregori's eyes narrowed. "I suppose that's all right."
"And can ye give me the phone number for the guy at DVN?"
"Wilson?" Gregori stood. "Excuse me a minute, okay?" he said, patting his wife on the shoulder.
She nodded, her mouth full.
Gregori motioned for Dougal to join him over by the window. "You want a makeover? Why?"
Dougal shrugged. "Ye said I looked like a pirate."
"That never bothered you before." Gregori frowned at him. "You were staring at Leah like a half-starved animal."
Dougal winced. Was he that obvious?
"You don't deny it." Gregori sighed. "You realize Laszlo has a crush on her?"
"Aye."
"But you're still going to pursue her?"
"Aye." When Gregori continued to frown at him, Dougal added, "As far as I can tell, she's no' interested in either of us."
"Her heartbeat shot off like a rocket the minute you stepped into the room."
Dougal nodded. "I know. I frighten her."
"Maybe." Gregori gave him a speculative look. "But not the way you think." Without explaining further, he walked back to Abby. "Sweetheart, do you have time to examine Dougal's hand?"
"Sure." She dipped a French fry into a dollop of ketchup. "As soon as I'm done here."
An hour later Dougal sat in Abby's office as she studied the results of the ultrasound and X-ray of his hand. He'd asked Gregori to explain his cryptic remark, but Gregori had simply passed him Wilson's phone number and said, "Let the best man win."
Dougal frowned. The best man was most likely Laszlo. Intellectually, he was a better match for Leah. And he didn't have the checkered past that Dougal had. Most probably, Laszlo had never been kidnapped or forced to work as a slave or a pirate. He'd probably never failed someone he loved. Or buried her.
"Everything looks fine." Abby set the X-ray down and handed him a hand exerciser with black rubber grips. "The sensors in this will measure the strength of your grip. Give it a tiny squeeze."
He did, and on Abby's computer screen, a red light went up an inch on a bar graph.
"Okay, that was within the normal range for a mortal." She wrote it down in her notes. "Try again, a little harder."
He flexed his hand tighter, and the red light traveled halfway up the bar.
"It seems to be working perfectly." She gave him a curious look. "Why do you think it malfunctioned last night?"
"I think the fault was mine," Dougal confessed.
"I don't see how. Your mind is controlling it perfectly now. Why would it go awry all of a sudden?"
He recalled the moment his hand had shattered the bottle. He'd been watching Leah on the monitor. Was she the reason he'd lost control? His hand flinched, and the red light shot nearly to the top of the bar.
"Whoa, careful there." Abby cast him a worried look. "Did you do that on purpose?"
He hesitated, then shook his head.
Abby frowned. "So there is a problem. Can you remember when it first started?"
He shifted in his chair. "Last night."
"What happened last night?"
He shrugged. "I got promoted."
"That must have made you happy." Abby tapped her pen on the desk as she considered. "I wonder if your emotional state is influencing your mind control."
"It shouldna." He winced. "But I doona know how else to explain it."
"Did something upset you last night?" Abby's eyes twinkled with amusement. "Could it be that you're so old you hate birthday parties?"
A knock on the door sounded.
"Abby?" Leah cracked the door open.
Dougal's hand clenched, snapping the metal spring in two. The red light shot to the top of the bar and beeped.
Abby gasped.
He dropped the hand exerciser, and the beeping stopped.
Abby stared at him, agape.
"Is something wrong?" Leah eased into the room, giving him a wary look.
"Nay." Dougal stood. "I'm done here."
Leah turned to Abby. "I don't mean to interrupt, but I wanted to get your opinion on something."
Abby was staring wide-eyed at the monitor, then her gaze shifted to the broken hand exerciser, then to Dougal. "Did you do that on purpose?"
"Sure," he lied. There was no way he was going to admit that he only lost control when Leah was in the vicinity. Especially when she was standing in the same room.
Abby's eyes narrowed with suspicion.
Damn. She was going to figure it out. "I should get back to work now." He headed toward the door, then paused close to Leah. "What time did ye want to quit working tonight?"
Leah shrugged. "About one thirty. Why?"
"I'll be taking you home then."
Her eyes widened. Before she could object, he rushed back to the security office.
He had plans to make. Leah didn't realize it, but she was taking a little trip with him tonight.