Page 26 of Vampire Lee

He grinned at her, and she rolled her eyes. “One day, someone’s gonna rip your throat out. Why do you always have to fuck the most dangerous person in the room?” She chuckled, and he almost told her it was all for show, but something held him back. She’d never asked about his previous lovers. Granted, he’d never leaned over the bar to kiss any of them in plain sight either.

“Strong men do it for me.”

“I figured that out a long time ago. As far as kinks go, it’s not the worst, but…be careful.”

Be careful? Rei might be dangerous, but he wasn’t dangerous to him. “Are you staying here tonight?”

“No, I’m heading out in a minute.” She tilted her head and studied him. “Where is he now?”

“Who?

“Rei, stupid.”

Grinning, Lee cut another lemon slice. “At home, I think.”

“You’re living together?”

What the fuck? She never asked about his private life. “Not officially, not yet at least.”

“Too afraid to break the hearts of the dangerous men lusting for you?” She wiggled her eyebrows, and Lee barked a laugh. He’d never seen her do anything similar.

“I hate to break hearts; you know I do.” She wouldn’t, since they never talked like this. He was about to start slicing lemons again when Maybe-Aaron stepped in. Who’d let him in? Lee did his best not to tense.

“Ready to go?” Maybe-Aaron didn’t so much as look at Lee, which was…rude. Bastard.

“Evening Aaron, want me to pour you a beer?” He made a show of putting the knife down.

“No, we’re heading out.” Jala took a step in Maybe-Aaron’s direction. “I won’t be able to answer my phone, but you can text me if you need to.”

Lee nodded, doing his damnedest not to look dumbstruck. What the fuck was going on? Was Jala dating Maybe-Aaron? Nah, she had better taste, didn’t she? And bears and lions didn’t date, fuck perhaps, but not date.

He wished them a pleasant night and went back to his lemons. The rest of the staff turned up as planned and soon customers were pouring in, tired after a week’s work and looking for liquid relaxation.

Lee poured drinks, chatted and joked, poured more drinks, flirted when it was expected, and kept an eye on the door.

When Faelan sauntered over a few hours into the shift, he relaxed a fraction. “Beer?”

Faelan nodded, never wasting words when they weren’t needed. When a cute shifter woman, Lee was pretty sure she was a wolf, brushed up against him, he smiled, and Lee was left speechless—luckily, they weren’t talking. For one, he didn’t think he’d ever seen Faelan smile, and second, he was fucking gorgeous when he did. Not cute, not beautiful, but Lee’s kind of gorgeous. Which meant wicked, deadly, and with a clear invitation for a night of dirty things. Damn. Faelan had been holding out on him. Though since the cute shifter female was the one who’d triggered the response, Lee was pretty sure he wasn’t Faelan’s cup of tea.

And he shouldn’t fuck anyone else on the team, especially not when he was supposed to be dating Rei.

An image of Dillon played before his eyes. Had he ever given someone the kind of smile Faelan had given the woman? Would it have left Lee speechless if he had? Lee didn’t do humans. He was attracted to strength, capability, and power. Not power plays, it wasn’t his thing, but to have a strong man submit to him cranked his gear. Knowing they allowed him to fuck them but could have him flat on the floor in the blink of an eye if they wanted to—maybe it was a kink like Jala had said.

“Vampire Lee!”

Lee shook his head. What the hell was he doing? He sauntered over to the man who’d called and poured another beer. Faelan moved to a table, a huge hand at the small of the cute female’s back.

It didn’t take long before Hanna showed up. “Lee.” She grinned and plunked down on an available bar stool, vacated only a couple of seconds earlier.

“Hello, beautiful lady. What can I get you?”

“Something girly.”

He grinned with a hint of fang, and she gave him a throaty chuckle. “You’re such a tease.”

“Oh, I deliver.” He grabbed a martini glass and mixed an appletini. Grabbing a poison green apple, he sliced it and put a thin wedge on the rim. “One girly drink coming up. On the house.” He winked.

“I figured you’d give me something pink.” She snatched the apple wedge and bit into it.