A Bite to Remember Read online

  “Do you want me to unload the luggage?” Tiny asked as she reached his side.

  “Yes, please. And I’ll need my briefcase from the car, as well. After I make the phone calls, I’m going to go through the second-floor rooms. If I’m not in the office, you’ll find me upstairs.”

  “Okay, boss,” Tiny murmured as he trailed her from the kitchen.

  Vincent didn’t follow this time and Jackie let her shoulders relax a little as she walked back up the hall.

  “You were kind of tough on him,” Tiny commented as they reached the door she’d spied the office through on the way in.

  Jackie shrugged. “He needs a wakeup call. They get to a certain age and think they’re invulnerable. This place is a burglar’s dream. It’s luck alone that he hasn’t been robbed blind, or attacked…And now he has someone out to get him. We don’t have time to handle him with kid gloves. We have to secure this place quickly so we can concentrate on tracking down his saboteur.”

  “And he was rude slamming the door in our face,” Tiny added dryly, bringing a smile to her lips. The giant rarely let her get away with lying to herself.

  “Yeah,” Jackie admitted. “He was rude. And he doubted I can handle the job, and my pride was hurt, and I made sure he rethought that opinion.”

  “You think he’s rethinking?” Tiny asked.

  “I think he’s wishing he’d never called Bastien and asked for aid finding someone to help deal with this matter,” she said with a pleased grin.

  “If he’s miserable then our work here is done,” Tiny said solemnly.

  “I wish,” Jackie drawled, but was chuckling softly as Tiny left to go out to the car and she headed into the office. The giant man’s ability to jolly her out of any mood was priceless and she’d thanked God for it many times. Jackie suspected she was going to need it many, many times before this job was through.

  Sighing, she dropped into the desk chair and stared at the phone. It was cordless, and now that she was here staring at the empty receiver, Jackie recalled that Vincent had been talking on the phone when he’d answered the door. He still had that phone.

  Shaking her head, she stood again and started around the desk, pausing when Vincent Argeneau suddenly appeared, the cordless held up in his hand. After a hesitation, Jackie continued forward and reached for the phone, but he held onto it when she would have taken it.

  “I apologize for my rudeness in slamming the door in your face. I’m afraid I’d just woken up and wasn’t on the ball, and—from the information Bastien had given me—I wasn’t expecting you for another half an hour.”

  “Our flight caught a good tailwind. We landed early,” Jackie explained.

  Vincent Argeneau nodded. “Well, I was startled to find you on the step, then even more startled that you were mortal. Bastien hadn’t warned me that it would be otherwise and I just assumed that it would be one of our own dealing with the situation.”

  Jackie hesitated, then felt her shoulders relax and nodded slowly. “Apology accepted.”

  “Good. Then perhaps we can start again.” He released the phone and held out his hand with a conciliatory smile. “Hello, my name is Vincent Argeneau. You must be the amazing Jackie Morrisey that my cousin Bastien has sent to save my bacon. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’d appreciate any help you can give me in this matter. Welcome to my home.”

  Jackie automatically placed her hand in his, then blinked at the little frisson of awareness the contact caused. Startled, she quickly pulled her hand free. Her words came out fast and sharp as she said, “I’d like to have someone come out and set up a proper security system. It will run you a lot of money. If you have a problem with that…” Her voice trailed away as he nodded.

  “If you think it’s necessary, by all means, arrange it. With that out of the way, perhaps you can concentrate on my saboteur. I realize now I’ve been lax about such things. I suppose I’m lucky I haven’t been robbed blind, or attacked. Thank you for the wakeup call.”

  Jackie stiffened as she recognized her own words to Tiny moments ago, and suddenly recalled that Vincent’s kind had exceptional hearing. They could also read minds, she reminded herself grimly. She’d have to be careful around him and try to keep her thoughts blank when he was near. It was a trick she’d learned years ago. His people could read minds, but—hopefully—only if you were thinking something. Keep your thoughts blank, or recite some silly children’s rhyme over and over, and they were somewhat hampered. She’d have to remember that around this man.

  “I’ll leave you to your phone calls and go shower and dress.”

  His words drew Jackie’s attention to his bare chest and she blinked in surprise, wondering how she’d missed that earlier. The man was standing there, his dark hair sleep-tousled and wearing nothing but a pair of dark blue pajama bottoms. It left the wide, pale expanse of his chest on view. Jackie had been so angry with his behavior on answering the door, she hadn’t even noticed his state of undress. Or how handsome his chiseled face and silver-blue eyes were. Amazing, she thought with disbelief.

  “Once you’re finished with the security people, I’ll take you and Tiny shopping for the things you’ll need in the kitchen during your stay,” he announced. “Now, if you’ll excuse me…”

  Turning on his heel, Vincent Argeneau left the room. Jackie moved to the door and stared after him. Her gaze slid with interest over his muscular bare back and his behind in the pajama bottoms as he walked back to the stairs. Realizing what she was doing, she shook her head and turned away to move quickly back to the desk.

  “Do not even go there,” Jackie reprimanded herself as she searched for a phone book to look up the numbers of local security firms. “The last thing you need is to start falling for a vamp. Been there, done that, and have the scars to prove it.”

  “Talking to yourself already. That’s always a bad sign on a job.”

  Jackie gave a start at Tiny’s words and glanced up to find him standing in the doorway, a large box in his hands. “What’s that?”

  “A delivery from A.B.B. The delivery truck pulled up as I walked out to the car.”

  “A.B.B.?” Jackie grimaced, knowing it would be blood Bastien had sent from the Argeneau Blood Bank for his mother to feed on while here. He’d warned her that Marguerite Argeneau was flying out to tend to Vincent, whom she was sure was lonely and depressed as he contemplated his single status in comparison to his cousins, who were each finding their life mates. Jackie didn’t think he seemed depressed, but then she hardly knew the man.

  Tiny shifted, drawing her gaze back to the burden he held. She stared at the box that no doubt held a cooler full of bagged blood and decided this job was probably going to be a trial. They didn’t normally have to live in such close proximity to immortals and have their feeding habits in their faces. She didn’t think she’d like it.

  Sighing, Jackie found the listing of a security agency in the book, and began to dial the number on the cordless. “Put it in the kitchen and let him know it’s here. He’ll want to put it away.”

  Nodding, Tiny left the room as she waited for her call to be answered.

  Two hours later, Allen Richmond of Richmond Security was rattling off all the improvements that had to be made, and the items that had to be installed, to make Vincent Argeneau’s house secure. With each point he mentioned, Jackie put a mental check mark beside each item on the list in her head. This was the third man who’d looked over the house in the last two hours, but the first who hadn’t missed anything. This was the company she would deal with.

  “Can you do it today?” she asked when he finished.

  “It’ll cost you,” the older man warned, running a hand over his short gray hair. “I’ll have to bump another job, use equipment from another job as well. My men will have to work overtime and…” He paused to do some figures on the pad he’d been making notes on as they’d toured the house and property, then mentioned a figure that would have made most people pale. However, it was no more than she’d e
xpected and Jackie glanced at Vincent, who had joined them for the end of the tour.

  “Can you afford it?” she asked bluntly.

  Vincent scowled as if offended, then growled, “Do it.”

  Jackie turned to Allen and nodded. “Do it.”

  “I’ll call the office and have the men and equipment out here within the hour.” Allen Richmond walked away toward his car, pulling a cell phone from his pocket as he went.

  “Well…” Vincent frowned. “I guess that puts a spanner in the shopping plan.”

  “I can keep an eye on the house while you and Jackie shop,” Tiny rumbled as he joined them under the portico.

  Jackie frowned at the suggestion. The last thing she wanted to do was go shopping with Vincent Argeneau. Unfortunately, it was after four o’clock and heading for dinner time. They’d need food…and coffee. She lived off the black liquid and couldn’t go all night without. Giving in with a sigh, she said, “I’ll get my purse.”

  “I should warn you, Jackie hates shopping,” Tiny informed Vincent as she headed into the house.

  Jackie rolled her eyes at the understatement, but didn’t get the chance to comment. The telephone was ringing as she opened the door.

  “I’ll get it.” Vincent was suddenly rushing past her toward the office.

  Jackie followed him and grabbed her purse off the desk as he picked up the receiver and said hello. She’d turned to leave the office when he said, “What?” with such distress that she paused and turned back with concern.

  The man looked both stunned and horrified.

  Two

  “So the call was from your production assistant, telling you that the lead in the play who was supposed to open tonight has quit and the play can’t open?”

  “Yes,” Vincent answered wearily, his gaze on the road ahead. Jackie was driving, but he was supposed to be directing her to somewhere to buy kitchen appliances. He didn’t have a clue where people bought such things. He hadn’t told her that, however, but was hoping to spot a likely store before she realized it.

  “I was under the impression you’d permanently closed down all of your plays until you sorted out the matter of who is sabotaging them?”

  “No, not exactly,” Vincent murmured and wondered what Bastien had told her before sending her out here.

  Before he could voice the question, Jackie answered it by saying, “Bastien wasn’t very specific about details. He just said that someone was sabotaging your plays. I was hoping both Tiny and I could sit down with you later this evening to go over the particulars, but wanted to get the urgent matters out of the way first.”

  “The urgent matters being securing my home and seeing to the shopping,” Vincent murmured, a faint smile curving his lips as he glanced her way.

  “You may be able to live and function without food, but we can’t,” Jackie said defensively. “And I positively cannot function without coffee.”

  “Of course not. I wouldn’t expect you to,” he assured her quickly. “It’s common sense to see to the basics first. A safe roof over your head and food are basic needs.”

  “Not for you. At least not the food,” Jackie pointed out. Before he could comment, she suddenly braked and swerved into the driveway of a mall.

  “Sorry, I guess I got distracted,” he muttered, glancing over the large complex.

  “No problem,” Jackie said as she parked. “I almost missed it myself and I was paying attention.”

  Vincent merely grunted and slid out of the car to follow her inside. He really expected the next little while to be boring and possibly even annoying, but soon learned differently. As he concentrated on selecting items to go in the kitchen, Vincent found his frustration slipping away.

  “I don’t know why you don’t like shopping.” Vincent commented as he snatched the cheap white plastic coffeepot away from Jackie and set it back on the shelf. He then picked up the more expensive chrome and black model and dropped it in the cart.

  Not sure what would be needed in the kitchen, Vincent had simply been picking up one of everything; one blender, one mixer, one crockpot, one juicer, and so on. He’d have asked Jackie what she thought he needed, but Tiny hadn’t been kidding when he said she hated shopping. She’d been snapping and growling since they’d arrived. He thought it was kind of cute. Jackie was like a little snarling Chihuahua…but much cuter.

  “Please do not tell me you are one of those people.”

  Jackie sounded disgusted and it made him hesitate warily. “What people?”

  “People who believe in retail therapy,” she said dryly, picking up a toaster.

  “I don’t know. It does seem to be relaxing me though,” Vincent admitted. He took the toaster from her and switched it for another.

  “What was wrong with that one?” she asked sharply.

  “This one is better,” Vincent said with a shrug as he set his substitution in the cart. “It’s chrome and black and will match the rest of the appliances.”

  “So was the first one,” she pointed out impatiently.

  “But this one is a cool shape and it will toast four slices,” Vincent pointed out.

  Jackie rolled her eyes. “There are only two of us. We don’t need a four-slice toaster.”

  “There will be four of us. You forgot my aunt and myself,” Vincent reminded her.

  “You don’t eat,” she said with exasperation.

  “I do,” Vincent corrected. Not often, he acknowledged to himself, but he would start eating more while she was here. His gaze landed on the next appliance in the aisle and he brightened. “Oh, look, a waffle maker. I’ve had waffles. They were good.”

  Vincent pushed the cart further along the aisle to look at the contraption.

  “What do you mean you eat?” The question burst from Jackie as she trailed after him. Some of her annoyance appeared to have eased, replaced with confusion by his claim. “Your kind don’t eat, you suck blood.”

  Vincent smiled at an older woman pushing a cart past them in the aisle. Jackie’s words had made her stiffen and glance their way with shock.

  “We’re practicing our lines for a play,” he lied with a charming smile. The woman relaxed and smiled uncertainly back, then began moving again. Vincent waited until she’d left the aisle before turning an arched eyebrow on Jackie. He needn’t have bothered, she was already bright red with embarrassment over her slip.

  “Sorry,” she muttered, taking the waffle maker from him and placing it in the cart. She insisted, “But you don’t eat. None of you eat…Except for Bastien. He used to eat in business meetings, just to be polite I think. He’s started to eat just lately, but I gather that has something to do with Terri.”

  “Well, I eat,” Vincent informed her.

  “Then why is your kitchen completely empty of food?” Jackie asked archly.

  “I eat out a lot,” Vincent muttered, and—leaving her to chew on that—he moved further up the aisle to the next contraption, an ice cream maker. “Do you like ice cream?”

  Vincent glanced at Jackie and found her grumpy expression briefly gone. She was eyeing the ice cream maker with something close to lust.

  Realizing he was watching her, she schooled her expression into one of indifference and shrugged. “Ice cream is okay.”

  He wasn’t fooled. Smiling to himself, Vincent set the ice cream maker in the cart.

  “I think we have everything. We should go. We still have groceries to get,” Jackie reminded him.

  “There’s one more aisle. We should—”

  “Trust me, Vincent, I think you have almost everything they sell. You couldn’t possibly need anything else,” she said impatiently. Jackie paused and frowned when she saw the way he’d stopped and was smiling at her. Her voice was wary when she asked, “What?”

  “I like the way you say my name. So sharp, so concise—”

  “So annoyed,” Jackie said with exasperation. She added, “We do have everything. You’ve picked up one of every appliance in the store.”


  “I suppose you’re right,” Vincent conceded, taking pity on her beleaguered expression. “I guess we can check out.”

  He pushed the heaped cart to the front of the store and then paused, his gaze moving over the checkouts until he spotted the beaming manager waving him to an end aisle where their other two carts were already unloaded onto the checkout belt. Vincent was really quite impressed with this store. Once the first cart had been full of table linen, dishes, and silverware, he’d gone in search of somewhere he could leave it while he filled a second one. The manager had taken the cart for him and sent someone to watch at a discreet distance while they’d filled the second cart. The moment it was full, the store worker had appeared with another empty cart and switched with him.

  “Excellent service,” Vincent complimented as the manager and clerk began to help him unload.

  “New house?” the manager asked with a smile.

  “Good guess,” Vincent complimented, which could be taken as agreement or not as the man liked.

  “Not much of a guess.” The manager chuckled. “It has to be a new house. About the only thing you haven’t got here is a microwave.”

  Vincent stilled and turned accusingly on Jackie. Sighing, she threw her hands up in the air and turned to head back to the housewares section.

  Half an hour later, Jackie watched impatiently as the last of their items were rung through…including a black and chrome microwave. “We won’t have room in the car for all this,” she pointed out. “And we still have to get the actual groceries.”

  “I’d be happy to have one of the boys deliver your purchases for you,” the manager said accommodatingly.

  “Oh great!” Vincent beamed and Jackie just managed not to roll her eyes. It would just figure that he actually seemed to enjoy shopping. The man had been relaxed and cheerful through the entire grueling two hours in this store. She’d have been happy to grab a coffeepot and paper plates, but not Vincent. If they were doing it, they were doing it right, he’d said, and proceeded to take his time over choosing the dish patterns, as well as the style of drinking glasses, and then had insisted on color-coordinating all the appliances.