Page 27 of The Vampire and the Case of the Cursed Canine

‘“Connor and Bunny, sitting in a tree,”’ Sidnee sang. I ignored her, but she wasn’t wrong: I would happily kiss that man anywhere. Even if the bark was scratchy, I’d still give it a go.

I flung open the door and there he stood. He’d made an effort. For once, he’d foregone his usual flannel shirt – and I missed it – in favour of a pale-blue one that matched his eyes. His black curls were perfect and he was clean-shaven.

I leapt into his arms and he caught me, a crooked smile curling those gorgeous lips. ‘Hey,’ he breathed, and then he kissed me.

I melted into him and everything in me breathed. Tension drained out of my shoulders as the delicious scent of him surrounded me. This, right here, pressed up against this divine man, was my happy place.

Eventually I pulled away, but it took a supreme force of will. ‘You wanna have a quickie in a tree?’ I asked when I had breath.

He threw back his head and laughed. When his guffaws had settled to chuckles he nodded. ‘Sure, I’m game. But maybe not now. I’m supposed to be meeting your mother properly, remember?’

I huffed. ‘I’m the one that needs you.’

His eyes softened. ‘Glad to hear it, doe, I need you too.’ He pulled me in for a hug and I nestled happily in his arms.

‘Shall we run away?’ I said into his neck.

His chest rumbled with suppressed laughter. ‘One day – but for now I can smell Sigrid’s cooking and I’m starving. Come on, we’ll face them together.’

I sighed. ‘Okay. Did I tell you Stan’s here? Can you be on your best behaviour?’

Amusement danced in his eyes. ‘I’ll play nice if he plays nice.’ That was probably the best I could hope for.

I drew back from him to shut the door and spotted Lee Margrave camped out front in Connor’s car. ‘Does Lee want to come in?’

‘Probably,’ Connor said lightly. ‘But he’s on bodyguard duty.’

‘Shouldn’t he, you know, guard your body?’

‘I figured you’d do close detail and he could do the distance thing.’

‘Oh, I can definitely do close detail.’ I gave him another soft brush of my lips.

‘Promises, promises,’ he murmured. He laced our fingers and we walked into the dining room where everyone had gathered. Mum was chatting with Gunnar and Stan, and Sidnee shot me a knowing grin.

‘Oh good,’ Sigrid smiled. ‘Connor’s here! I’ll grab the food. Everyone, seat yourselves.’ She went out to the kitchen; moments later she returned with a platter holding a huge fish, a large bowl of rice and some mixed vegetables from her garden. Good basic food, but my mouth was already watering.

‘This is chinook, also known as king salmon,’ she said as she laid it down.

‘I love how you cook fish.’ Stan’s eyes were already glued to it, waiting to dig in.

‘You have some drool here.’ I pointed to the corner of his mouth.

‘Ha-ha.’

Sigrid served my mother first as she was the honoured guest, then it was a free for all. Mum kept shooting Connor covert glances that she thought I didn’t see, but she was as obvious as a brick in the face. Now she knew he was royalty, she wanted a chance to apologise for thinking he was her bellboy.

Stan told good-natured Bunny jokes and I only had to kick him once under the table. Conversation flowed easily and we soon made short work of the food. Finally Sigrid brought in a tray of hot drinks and plied us with tea and coffee. She handed my I Survived the Black Market mug to Stan, who took it with a chuckle. I guess she’d checked and determined it was curse free.

‘That was truly wonderful,’ Mum enthused. ‘An absolute delight. Thank you so much, Sigrid.’

‘You’re very welcome, Mrs Barrington.’

‘Please, do call me Victoria.’

Stan took a big sip of his coffee and had a small coughing fit, which progressed to a bigger coughing fit. ‘Okay?’ I asked.

‘Went down the wrong pipe.’ He smiled and took another sip – but then his eyes widened and he stared into the corner of the room. ‘Good gods!’ he exclaimed suddenly, leaping up so quickly that his chair toppled over.

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