Page 13 of Vampire Lee

His breath froze.

A hazy memory of one of the foster homes he’d stayed in rose in his mind. There had been sweet peas growing along one side of the patio. Dillon had spent hours on end on the patio simply smelling them. He hadn’t lived there for long, only a few months, but he remembered sweet peas.

He read the instructions and headed for the door. Once he came down the stairs, he stopped. He had no idea where they had pots or soil or anything else he might need. If they had anything at all.

Hanna exited the office, hesitated before she gave him a soft smile and edged toward the kitchen, leaving as much space between them as she possibly could.

“Hanna?”

She stopped and turned to him.

“Are there any pots and eh…potting soil?”

A huge grin stretched her lips. “Yes, Devin bought some. I think he put it in the broom closet in the kitchen. Murrie told him to carry it into the basement, but…” Her voice died away, then she straightened her back. “Devin doesn’t do basements.”

Smart.

Dillon nodded a thanks since he couldn’t find his voice. Basement. He shuddered. For the most part, he forgot there was a basement. Murrie had told him there was a gym down there he was welcome to use. When Dillon had balked, he’d sighed and told him Devin wouldn’t go there either.

Hanna headed for the kitchen and after a few seconds, he followed.

“Look around in there.” She gestured at the broom closet. “And there will be a truck with soil for the garden tomorrow. Murrie informed everyone, so there wouldn’t be more panic attacks.”

Dillon stared at her. “Panic attacks?”

She shrugged. “You missed it? Vampire Lee was here to talk to Murrie, but we were in a meeting, so Devin offered him coffee in the kitchen while he waited.”

Oh, it explained why he’d been there. “I saw him.”

Hanna nodded. “Yeah, but then the buzzer from the gate sounded, and Devin didn’t know Murrie had ordered the pallet collars. So there he was with a strange vampire and another delivery truck coming. He screamed. We rushed out of the meeting. There were some tense moments where Vampire Lee most likely believed we’d kill him.” She shrugged before giving him a quick grin. “Just another day at the office.”

Poor Devin. He might appear more put together than Dillon—and he was—but he struggled too.

“There will be a truck tomorrow. No need to panic about it. And I’m pretty sure Vampire Lee is on our side.”

Pretty sure wasn’t good enough. “Why do you call him Vampire Lee?”

Hanna barked a laugh. “He’s a bartender down at The Rambling Rogue. It’s a shifter bar, though vampires go there too. Some started calling him Vampire Lee, and he asked them not to, so of course, everyone calls him Vampire Lee now.” She was quiet for a few seconds. “I don’t think he cares. He’s pretty easy-going.” Dillon nodded and opened the door to the broom closet.

Chapter 4

Lee poured a beer. It was still early and not a lot of customers were hanging around. Rei would swing by in a few hours. If Maybe-Aaron was there, they’d pretend to be together.

It was Rei’s idea. Lee had objected. Not because he minded pretending to be with Rei, they’d hooked up for real, and half the bar was aware of it, but Maybe-Aaron gave him the creeps. He didn’t want to subject Rei to any danger.

He realized how stupid it was. Rei could take care of himself, but Lee had seen fighting rings up close and personal. There had been something deadly in Rei’s gaze when he’d told Murrie’s group about it, and Lee got the feeling Rei had seen fighting rings up close and personal too.

Blowing out a breath, he tried to shake the unease. Rei could take care of himself, and he had a team looking out for him.

“Lee.” Jala leaned over the bar; her long sandy-colored hair made up in a strict hairdo.

“Evening, Boss.”

She smiled. “I was wondering if you could work tomorrow. I know you’re scheduled to be off, but Conan can’t make it, and I have someplace I need to be.”

Lee nodded. He’d been looking forward to a night off, but…“Yeah, sure. But I won’t be alone, right?” Tomorrow was Friday, which most often meant more people and more drinks per person.

“Farkas and Due will handle the door, Geri and Ozzie have the kitchen, Bernadette and Sula have the tables. You can call someone else in if you think you need it.”

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