Bite Me if You Can (28 page)

Leigh wrinkled her nose. “Rachel doesn’t seem to care for Lucian much.”

“Ah,” Bricker murmured knowingly, then his expression turned serious as he said, “Well, as it happens, I don’t think Lucian’s an ogre. I think he’s a great guy, a good friend, and cool under fire. You couldn’t find anyone better than him for a mate.”

Lucian scowled at him as he noted that Leigh was taken aback at the comment. He’d been taking it slow to sneak up on her, and Bricker was openly playing matchmaker. It was obvious someone had been talking, and Bricker knew he couldn’t read Leigh.

“Bricker. Shut up,” he said, and turned to walk to his room to pack some clothes.

He was in his closet, stuffing clothes into a black duffel bag, when he heard Leigh call out to him. Pausing, he walked to the door between the closet and bedroom and saw her peering curiously into the room.

“Yes?” he asked.

Leigh glanced his way and smiled. “Bricker was just saying that you have no groceries here and he wouldn’t mind tagging along with us to get some. Is that okay?”

Lucian grimaced, not at all pleased with the idea, but he nodded with resignation. “Yeah. Tell him he has ten minutes to get ready.”

Leigh turned her head and peered at someone outside the room. “You have ten minutes to get ready.”

“I told you he’d say yes if you asked.” Bricker’s voice drifted into the room on a laugh.

Leigh just chuckled, then started to turn back to Lucian, her gaze stopping before it reached him. Curious, he glanced to see what had caught her attention. The only thing there was his bed, mussed from Bricker’s use.

“Black satin sheets,” she murmured with amazement, and Lucian felt his heart trip as he recalled the images he’d sent her that morning. Their bodies entwined on black satin sheets. Eyes widening like a schoolboy caught doing mischief, he turned abruptly and ducked back into the closet.

Lucian almost expected her to follow him into the closet and demand an explanation, but she didn’t. After a moment he stepped back to the door and peered warily out. Leigh was still standing in the doorway, staring at the bed, a confused look on her face.

He was debating whether to say anything when Bricker called from somewhere deep in the house, “Hey, Leigh! What do fashionable Canadian men wear grocery shopping?”

Leigh blinked and turned to peer out the door. “How do I know? I’m from Kansas.”

“Yeah, but you’ve at least been shopping today and seen the guys out there.”

“Toques and plaid?” she suggested with amusement.

“You’re joking!” Bricker squawked.

“Yes, I am.” Leigh chuckled as she moved out of the door. “Just wear... ”

Lucian didn’t hear the rest. Letting his shoulders relax, he turned back into the closet. He stuffed a couple more items into his bag, then moved to the en suite bathroom to grab his spare razor and a few other items.

When he stepped out into the sitting area, it was empty, and he followed the murmur of voices downstairs. Leigh and Mortimer were in the kitchen, talking as they waited for the kettle to boil.

“I’m making tea,” Mortimer announced as he entered. “You want any?”

“Tea?” Lucian asked with interest. It was something he hadn’t yet tried.

Mortimer grabbed a third cup from the cupboard, paused, then took a fourth cup as well. For Bricker, Lucian supposed.

“Are you coming shopping, too?” he asked Mortimer.

“No.” The other man picked up the kettle and poured water into each cup as he said, “I’m going to sleep. We were taking turns driving to try to catch up with Morgan. We were driving around the clock, one sleeping while the other drove. My shift was just ending when Bastien called and told us about the plane tickets and that he was sending a plane for us.”

Lucian nodded.

“I’ll let you each fix your own tea,” Mortimer announced as he took the tea bags out. He then took his own cup to the table.

“Ahh, tea,” Bricker said, entering the kitchen as they were finishing off their cups several minutes later. He’d changed into faded, holey jeans and a skintight maroon t-shirt. “I’ll have one of those, too.”

“No time,” Lucian announced, getting to his feet. “Your ten minutes are up.”

Bricker groaned. “You’re a hard man, Lucian.”

“Yes, I am. Don’t forget it,” he said dryly. “If you’re coming, then let’s go.”

Taking Leigh’s arm as she got to her feet, Lucian walked her out to the car, noticing the way her eyes ate up the environment he’d had built around his home.

“How much land do you have?” she asked, curious.

“Twenty or thirty acres,” he answered, then glanced around and realized she’d only seen the front yard. “The river winds through it, then comes around the house and empties into the pond. “There’s a fountain spout in the pond,” he added, gesturing to a point just in front a little bridge and pagoda. “I turned it off before heading down to Kansas, though,” he explained, then promised, “I’ll bring you back in the next couple of days and show you around properly. There’s a pool, an outdoor shower, a bunkhouse, and a little studio on its own.”

“It’s lovely, and I’d love to see more,” Leigh told him solemnly.

“Tomorrow,” he decided. “I’ll bring you back tomorrow.”

Lucian opened the front passenger door for her, then closed it and turned, remembering that Bricker was accompanying them. He was standing beside the car, grinning like an idiot. Lucian scowled.

“Get in,” he muttered, and walked around to the driver’s side.

It occurred to him then that he was acting as out of character around Leigh as the two of them had on the day they brought her back to the hotel. The difference was, he’d been surprised and exasperated by their behavior. His own actions, on the other hand, seemed to be causing Bricker a great deal of amusement. Sighing, Lucian slid behind the wheel and started the car.

They stopped at Marguerite’s to drop off their purchases, to make room in the trunk for the groceries, setting them inside the foyer to be put away when they got back. Then they fed Julius before continuing on to the grocery store.

Leigh was an organized shopper, Lucian saw with approval. She had the list she’d made that morning and followed it, placing item after item in the cart he was pushing. Bricker, on the other hand, seemed to throw everything his eyes landed on into his own cart. He also wandered off, got distracted, goofed about, and joked constantly... making Leigh laugh, much to Lucian’s annoyance. And somehow, with all Bricker’s tomfoolery, Leigh ended up pushing his cart for him, at which point the man jumped on the low railing in front of the cart and said, “Push me, Leigh!”

“No,” she laughed.

“Ah, come on,” Bricker coaxed.

“No. You could get hurt,” Leigh said primly, then shook her head and glanced at Lucian to ask, “Why do I feel like we’re Mommy and Daddy and he’s the spoiled son?”

A smile broke through Lucian’s gloom. He’d been growing more depressed as she laughed at Bricker’s antics, feeling like the old stogie to Bricker’s young stud. But now that Leigh was siding herself with him and saw Bricker as childish, he felt better.

Bricker laughed. “I may be young at heart, but I’m hardly young enough to be your son,” he said to Leigh. “In truth, I’m more around the age of your grandfather if he were still alive. Is he still alive?”

She shook her head. “No. None of my grandparents are still alive. Neither are my parents, for that matter.” Then she tilted her head and asked him, “How old are you?”

Bricker grinned and admitted, “Ninety-seven.”

“Man, I hope I look as young as you at ninety-seven.”

“You will,” Lucian and Bricker said at the same moment.

Leigh considered that, and a wry expression crossed her face. “I started out cursing Donny, but now I’m starting to think I should be thanking him. Maybe I should send him a thank-you card... or flowers.”

“Flowers?” Lucian said with amusement.

“Too girly?” she asked, and tipped her head briefly to think before shouting, “I know! Blood-filled chocolates.”

Lucian raised his eyebrows at the suggestion, and she said, “You said there are specialty bars. I don’t suppose we have specialty chocolates and things like that, too?”

“No.” Lucian grinned. “But I’d be willing to be your financial backer if you wanted to start making them. The women might love it.”

Leigh shook her head. “It was just a joke. Besides, you really don’t have to taste the blood, do you? Not when you feed from a blood bag. I doubt anyone really enjoys the taste of blood.”

“You will acquire the taste,” Lucian assured her. “You’ve already acquired enjoyment of the smell.”

Leigh blinked in surprise at his claim, then said, “The cleaner.”

Lucian nodded.

She frowned, apparently not pleased to acknowledge she’d been attracted to the scent, then her eyes widened with horror and she asked, “Do you mean to say I’m going to begin to actually enjoy the taste of blood?”

“I’m afraid so,” he said apologetically, though he wasn’t sure why he felt he should apologize.

“Gross,” she said with disgust.

Leigh was quiet after that as they finished the last bit of shopping and made their way to the checkout.

They dropped Bricker off at Lucian’s house with his groceries, then continued on to Marguerite’s with their own.

“Someone’s here,” Leigh said with surprise as they drove up the driveway.

Lucian frowned as he peered at the three cars in front of the house. He recognized one of them as Rachel and Etienne’s. The other looked like Lissianna and Greg’s. He had no idea who the third vehicle belonged to and could only wonder what had brought them all there.

He parked in the garage, popped the trunk, and began to pull out bags, his mind taken up with what might have happened to cause his relatives to descend on him. Between himself and Leigh, they managed to grab all of the grocery bags from the trunk, but then, he could carry more than the average man and had six in each hand, while Leigh had only three bags in each.

The door opened as they approached, and Thomas appeared with Julius at his side. His presence told Lucian three things: one, the third car belonged to him; two, whatever was happening couldn’t be that serious or the man wouldn’t be smiling like an idiot as usual; and three, Thomas hadn’t died and so had no excuse for the way he’d been avoiding his phone calls.

Before he could growl at the young man, Thomas announced blithely, “I hear you’ve been trying to call me. I’m afraid my cell phone broke down. I didn’t realize it until just this morning. I had to go pick up another one today. Remind me, and I’ll give you the new number before I leave.”

With the fire taken out from under him, Lucian merely growled as he passed the younger man and entered the kitchen. He set the groceries down on the counter, started to turn back to take the groceries Leigh carried, only to freeze as he spotted Rachel, Etienne, Lissianna, and Greg all grouped together by the kitchen entrance. Every single one of them was smiling widely.

“What’s going on?” he asked warily.

“It’s an intervention,” Lissianna said with a grin.

“What?” he asked with confusion, but all four of them just grinned harder and moved forward, gravitating toward Leigh.

Stepping quickly to her side, Lucian took the groceries from her, then gestured to everyone in the room one after the other. “This is my nephew, Thomas. You won’t remember him but he picked us up at the airport when we flew in from Kansas City,” he explained, then gestured to the other four. “You remember Rachel and Etienne.”

When she nodded, he went on, “And that’s my niece Lissianna and her husband Gregory Hewitt.”

“Hello,” Leigh said.

A chorus of hellos answered her, then all five of his nieces and nephews suddenly went into action, taking bags and unloading groceries. Lucian sighed and turned to pick up and begin emptying one of the bags himself. It appeared he’d have to wait to find out what the hell was going on.

“I don’t need help,” Lucian said, facing his nieces and nephews with irritation.

The groceries were unpacked and Leigh took her purchases upstairs. The moment she left, his family announced they were there to help him “land Leigh.”

Thank you, Rachel, he thought with irritation. Honestly, his life had been easier when she’d still been angry with him, and he briefly wondered how to make it happen again.

“It won’t happen again. I know you now,” Rachel said with amusement, drawing a glare from him.

“Will you stop reading my mind, woman!” he snapped.

Rather than look cowed, the redhead grinned, unrepentant.

He was ruined, Lucian realized with dismay. His reputation as a hardass lay in tatters, and every last one of his nieces and nephews were smiling at him as if he was the cutest damned thing they’d ever seen. It was humiliating.

“I am a hardass,” Lucian said coldly, as if they had openly disputed it.

“Of course you are, Uncle. And none of us would want to anger you, or you’d surely prove it,” Lissianna said solemnly. She was blond, tall, and normally willowy. Her pregnancy was showing, however, and it alarmed Lucian how big she was. He was afraid if she didn’t have this child soon, it would explode from her belly like a stripper out of a cake... and probably already walking and talking.

“But at the moment you need our help,” Etienne said. He glanced around at the others, then shrugged and added, “And we want to help.”

“I’ve taken care of the matter myself. I don’t need your help,” Lucian repeated firmly.

A moment passed as the quintet exchanged glances, then Rachel asked suspiciously, “How have you taken care of it?”

“That’s none of your business,” he said abruptly, knowing better than to even think about the purchase he’d made that day. If they were reading his mind and he let it even enter his head, they’d know about the books. He didn’t want that.

He felt the focus of five pairs of eyes lock on his head, and five minds trying to rifle through his own. He did his damnedest to shut them out and keep them from reading anything.

“You can still lock us out,” Rachel said with surprise.

“He’s concentrating real hard,” Etienne commented, then assured them, “He can’t keep it up. It will slip out once he relaxes.”