Sunset Rising (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 5) (6 page)

Caleb

By the time Paige dropped me off at the
house, I was feeling really hungry. I only hoped Kat showed up soon
so that we could go get something to eat.

My thoughts gravitated to
her investigation, and I wondered if she had found
someone
to
eat.

Alton was holed up behind the closed door of
the study. It sounded like he was talking on the phone.

At least, I hoped he was on the phone and
not merely talking to himself.

Paige and Ethan had gone out for a night on
the town together, and Roman was who knew where.

I sat on the couch channel-surfing as I
waited for Kat. Fortunately, there was an interesting documentary
covering the American Revolution on the History Channel.

After another half hour, I was feeling so
hungry that I wandered into the kitchen for something to snack
on.

I’d no sooner opened a box of rosemary and
olive oil flavored crackers when Kat walked through the front door
with a notably displeased expression on her face.

Something must have happened.

“
What?” I
asked.

“
The keys fit, but
everything had been completely wiped clean inside and out,” she
said.

“
Crap,” I said.

In my distraction, the box of crackers
slipped from my grip.

A rush of air swirled around me. Suddenly,
Kat stood before me holding the box of crackers in her gloved
hand.

She slyly smiled at me. “Drop these?”

“
Show off,” I
said.

My super heroine. My vampire.

The sweet scent of cherry blossoms wafted
between us as I glimpsed her soft lips.

Passion flared in me; I wanted her so very
much at that moment.

I reached up to take the box of crackers
from her while at the same time stepping forward and crushing my
lips to hers in a lengthy, heated kiss.

She was an amazing kisser.

I wrapped my free arm around her waist to
pull her body against mine as I kissed her again.

Both her arms went around me in a firm grip,
and she nipped at my bottom lip.

She pressed me backward until the small of
my back impacted the kitchen counter, my lips hungry for hers.

I felt her fangs extend, and they raked
across my tongue.

Someone cleared their throat from across the
room and Kat separated from our kissing; adopting a stern
expression before slowly looking back over her shoulder.

“
Your timing really
stinks,” she said.

Alton chuckled. “Terribly sorry. But I
couldn’t help but overhear your comments when you arrived. We’re
dealing with professionals, then?”

She reluctantly disengaged her arms from
around me and turned to face Alton.

“
Based upon what little I
found, anyway,” she said. “That’s the telling part, in fact. The
scent of cleansers was fresh and even the mops they used were still
relatively damp, so they hadn’t been gone for long when I arrived.
They were exceptionally thorough.”

“
Mm,” he said, nodding his
head. “That does complicate matters somewhat. I received a report
this evening from Sir Osborn; things in London are going to require
our attention in the very near future.”

“
That’s unfortunate,” she
said. “And inconvenient. However, I’m not leaving Caleb with
matters up in the air, especially after what I discovered this
evening.”

Something in her tone bothered me.

What the hell kind of professionals are we
dealing with, anyway?

“
You and Gavyn are just
going to have to handle things until I can return,” she
said.

I had met Sir Gavyn Osborn on my last visit
to London. He was a vampire, and one of Alton’s most trusted
friends and allies, dating all the way back to the medieval period.
He owned and operated a quaint pub called the Red Griffin that also
served as a central gathering point for Alton’s forces.

As I recalled, Osborn seemed very capable in
his own right.

Alton sighed. “Yes, I’m afraid I must
concur. Gavyn and I should be able to handle things well enough for
the time being.”

“
What’s next?” she
asked.

My stomach growled and Alton looked at me
with mild amusement.

“
I believe that you should
take your mate to dinner,” he said. “We’ll talk more
later.”

Kat arched one eyebrow as she looked at me.
“You still haven’t eaten dinner?”

I felt heat rise in my cheeks.

“
Hey, enough with the
mothering,” I said. “I was waiting for you, and now it’s getting
kinda late and I’m hungry.”

She walked over to the couch where my coat
was draped over the back. With a quick motion, she tossed my coat
to me.

“
Bundle up, my love,” she
said.

Instead, given her
exchange with Alton, I felt as if she was actually saying,
buckle up
.

Prepare for rough waters ahead.

* * *

In order to save time and remain closer to
home, we went to one of my favorite New Haven hangouts.

Prime Time was a pub on Temple Street that
my friends and I frequented. It had a cozy charm about it and the
food was better than you’d expect from the average pub.

Seated beside one another at a small table
tucked away at the back of the dining room, we browsed our
menus.

Despite the dark mood that overshadowed the
evening, it felt really good to spend some time alone with Kat.

I lowered my menu to gaze across the table
at her.

She locked eyes with me. “And what have I
done to earn such a reverential look tonight?”

“
Just happy to be here
with you,” I said. “Happy to spend some quality time together. It
reminds me of when we first started dating. Do you remember the
place I took you to then?”

Her eyes narrowed slightly, as if in
contemplation.

“
Ah, Café Circa,” she
said. “It was your favorite restaurant. Downtown
Atlanta.”

I grinned. “With the long, finished oak
bar.”

“
And the barstools at the
tables,” she said.

Such a fond memory. It felt almost like a
lifetime ago; back before worldwide vampire politics and intrigue
interrupted us.

I reached out to hold her hand.

“
I love you,” I
said.

Her responding expression was both endearing
and innocent-looking.

She squeezed my hand. “And I love you. You
make my heart soar.”

“
See? I said I saw them
come in here,” said a familiar-sounding voice.

Chance Noble approached our table while
tugging at the hand of a sheepish-looking Trey Baker.

I rose from my seat for a quick embrace with
Chance and handshake with Trey.

“
Kat, you remember Chance
and Trey?” I asked.

“
Of course,” she coolly
said. “From that night at the bar.”

Kat rose from her seat like a huntress
preparing to take down her prey, but Chance bravely moved toward
her. An awkward moment occurred between them as Chance started to
move closer to Kat, presumably to attempt a similar greeting.

But Chance was kept at bay as Kat reached
out to shake her hand instead.

“
Katrina,” Chance
said.

“
Chance,” Kat
said.

“
Edgy-looking outfit,” she
said. “I love your boots. I have a brown pair of Sesto Meucci’s
almost like them.”

“
Really? What are the
odds?” Kat asked.

“
It takes a real woman to
pull off stiletto heels for any length of time,” she
said.

“
I’m rather fond of
stilettos,” Kat said.

For some weird reason, I couldn’t help
thinking that she meant knives rather than footwear.

While it was hardly a Mexican standoff, I
couldn’t help feeling as if the two of them were sizing each other
up.

“
So, fancy meeting you two
here,” I said, just to break the ice.

“
Yes, and at this time of
night, no less,” Kat said.

“
Chance and I were on our
way back from a movie when she said she noticed you two coming in
here,” Trey said in a nearly apologetic tone. “We didn’t get
another couple of miles up the street before she insisted we drive
back here.”

“
I said I was hungry,” she
said. “You ate most of the popcorn at the movie, you
know.”

“
Uh, yeah,” he said. “So,
here we are.”

“
Who goes out to see
movies on a Monday night?” Kat asked.

I gave her a sharp look.

“
It was a busy weekend,”
she replied. “And besides, I hate Mondays, so it’s better to do
something fun to take the edge off.”

“
Well, you two are welcome
to join us, if you’d like,” I said.

It seemed like the polite thing to offer,
though Kat gave me a wan look.

“
Oh, no, we’ll leave you
two-” Trey started to say.

“
How nice,” Chance
interrupted. “We’d love to.”

I glanced at Kat, whose tight-lipped smile
didn’t quite meet her eyes.

“
Well, just marvelous
then,” she said in a less than convincing tone.

I nearly winced.

Oh, a disaster in the making.

Honestly, I just wanted to crawl beneath the
table at that moment. And by the expression on Trey’s face, he
must’ve felt much the same.

Chance took my seat so she could face Kat
from across the table. I moved to the seat beside Kat. Trey took
the chair beside Chance, but hesitated as if wondering whether to
sit or not.

“
Well, isn’t this is
nice?” Chance asked. “We haven’t had much of an opportunity to get
to know each other, Katrina. You were only briefly in town when you
were last here.”

“
Mm. So true,” Kat
said.

By the time the waitress took our drink
orders, I was already tempted to ask for the check.

Chance neatly folded her hands on the place
mat before her. “So, what’s the latest on your exploits, Katrina?
We hardly know anything about you.”

I looked at Chance, wondering what her game
was all about. I felt confused, to say the least.

Trey chuckled. “C’mon, Chance, you make her
sound so mysterious.”

She gave him a flat look. “Are you shushing
me, Trey?”

He swallowed hard as his complexion flushed.
“What? No, I-”

“
You were saying,
Katrina?” Chance asked, once again focusing her full attention on
my mate.

Kat sat tall in her chair; nearly imposing
looking. She regarded Chance as if closely assessing her.

That’s not a good sign.

“
Saying? I haven’t said
anything, yet,” Kat said.

“
It seems like Caleb’s
hardly said three words about you,” Chance said. “So, it got me to
wondering, are you some spy or secret agent or
something?”

Kat arched one of her brows. “Something like
that.”

I nearly gaped at her and both Trey and
Chance seemed momentarily taken aback.

Kat forced a chuckle. “Seriously, though,
I’m just a businesswoman who travels quite a bit.”

“
Corporate consulting,” I
quickly added.

Chance looked at me. “Oh, yes, you said as
much that night at Carlucci’s. Strategic planning and restructuring
or some other sort?”

Kat spare a momentary glance at me with an
arched brow. “Carlucci’s?”

I looked back at her sheepishly. “Oh, yeah.
It’s a restaurant over on Wooster Street. We should try it
sometime.”

“
You mean that I should,”
she said. “You’ve obviously sampled the menu already.”

I stared at her, wondering about potential
innuendo in her statement.

Fortunately, her attention quickly returned
to Chance, and I made a conscious effort to slowly exhale the
breath I’d been holding.

Why the hell am I feeling so guilty? Nothing
happened that night. Chance and I only talked. Besides, Paige had
waited outside for us.

I absently rubbed my palms against my
jeans.

“
Getting back to your
earlier question, Chance,” Kat said. “I cover a span of projects
and expertise, often multiple layers simultaneously.”

Our drinks arrived, and for some reason, I
relished the temporary lull in conversation.

I looked over at Trey and he looked back at
me with a forced smile.

My throat felt so dry that I practically
gulped at my tea.

“
You’re gone so much; it
must be difficult maintaining a long-distance relationship with
Caleb,” Chance said.

I almost choked on my tea.

Everyone stared at me.

“
Okay—just down my
windpipe,” I struggled to say. “Fine now.”

“
I think you’ll find that
my relationship with Caleb is rock-solid,” Kat said.

“
Mm-hm,” Chance said while
staring back at her.

Thankfully, the awkward moment was broken by
Chance’s smartphone ringing.

“
Excuse me,” she said,
reaching into her jacket pocket and getting up from the table.
“What’s up?”

I watched as her expression darkened.

“
What? I’m out—Trey and I
are having dinner with Caleb and—” she said. “What, Dad? Caleb,
he’s—just a minute.”

She appeared unnerved when she looked back
at us, and proceeded across the dining room toward the exit.

“
That was odd,” Trey said
with a perplexed look.