Page 17 of Blood Moon

I couldn’t figure Viktor out. He was hot then cold, interested then not. When he kissed me, the passion was red hot, but then he hid from me for days at a time.

I’d known him for a little while, and still couldn’t figure out if he was interested or not. I think the only reason he kissed me today was to keep me from going to dinner with Strain.

To be honest, I was seriously disappointed when I found out Viktor wasn’t the one who’d sent me the flowers. I didn’t want to go anywhere with the guy who’d tried to kidnap me. I just refused to let Viktor think he could tell me what to do.

I knew that being stubborn about it could get me in trouble. I wasn’t actually going to go through with it. But I was going to play it off like I was going to go to dinner with Strain.

Then he kissed me! What the hell is that all about? Now we’re going to have dinner? So in a way, because of the flowers, I get to have dinner with Viktor. I was starting to get nervous about it. Especially since he insisted on sitting in the bar and keeping an eye on me. He thought I didn’t know what he was doing, but that’s only because I didn’t feel like arguing about it again.

He jumped when the phone rang, trying to cover it up by walking past the bar to his office. I answered as usual, prepared to give our business hours or search for someone’s spouse who should have been home by now.

“Did you like the flowers?” A smooth voice whispered the words. Panic started to set in. Strain.

“What do you want?” I asked, trying to calm my racing heart. His face filled my mind and my heart picked up again, for different reasons this time.

“To make sure you got the flowers. I know your boss, and well, he can be a dick. I sent flowers as an apology. I wanted to make sure he didn’t throw them out.” The response was strange, as if we were old friends instead of strangers.

“I got the flowers. Thank you. They’re beautiful.” I glanced around the room for Viktor as I spoke. I wondered how he would react if he knew who had called me.

“So you’ll forgive me? I’ll do anything.” The hint of laughter in his voice was incredibly sexy. It made me want to agree.

“I’ll consider it.” I began, smiling at the prospect of him trying to make it up to me. Suddenly the line went dead. I looked down at the receiver in my hand and turned to the base hanging on the wall. Viktor’s hand was on it. I hadn’t seen or heard him walk up behind me.

“Why’d you do that?” I asked, shocked that he’d hung up without knowing who I was speaking to.

“I know it was him. I won’t let him manipulate you. Besides, we’re getting busy.” My face flushed with his words before I realized he was talking about the bar.

“Oh, right. I’ll get back to work.” There was nothing else to say. As I served drinks and cleared tables, I now had two men—vampires—on my mind instead of just the one. I was still angry that Viktor was trying to control me, but at the same time, I was still a little scared of Strain.

The night life hadn’t been as wild for the past five years as it was when I first started working at Midnight. Because of that, Viktor had been closing the place up around eleven every night. If it cleared out earlier, he usually had us close down to keep from wasting time and energy. ‘There’s no point in paying you to be bored,’ he would say.

I couldn’t explain it, but business had picked up tonight. I knew it would die down again before midnight, and I was thrilled. I was anxious to have a quiet evening with Viktor and talk.

When midnight came and went with the bar still packed, my mood soured. I spent the rest of the night tending bar and taking care of customers. I loved this place, but I was definitely disappointed about the change in plans. Viktor gave me an apologetic look as he moved from the bar to his office. I guess he figured I was safe as long as there were this many people around. Midnight’s hot streak lasted for a few days, then business died again.

After a couple of days with the bar being mostly empty, I approached Viktor. He’d started hanging out in the bar more as business died down. “Are you really going to make changes to the bar, or are you just using it as a front the way Uncle Vinny did?” I knew that I shouldn’t have been so blunt, but I wanted to know. He raised an eyebrow at me and I continued. “I don’t know the details of the back room operation, but I’ve seen enough to know it’s not exactly on the up and up.”

“Well, I can’t address those allegations, but you’re welcome to check out this proposal I’m reading if you’re interested in my plans for the bar,” he gestured toward his laptop and motioned for me to take a seat next to him. It was silly to think that he would just tell me about what he and Uncle Vinny had been up to.

“Can’t. The boss is around, and wouldn’t like it if I was spending too much time with one customer. Speaking of which, do you want a drink or a sandwich, or something?” I had to keep my distance, or I was afraid I’d end up in his lap. That would be bad.

“I’m sure your boss wouldn’t mind you taking a break. You might be surprised at how generous and kind he is when you get to know him.” Viktor tried not to laugh at his own ridiculous comment, but he failed. I think my grimace may have factored into that, but I can’t be sure.

“I guess a minute couldn’t hurt,” I said as I slid into the booth beside him. His laptop was open and he gestured to it again, as if he wanted me to look at what he’d been studying. “That’s my proposal! Did Uncle Vinny give you that?” I was shocked that he seemed to be taking my ideas more seriously than my uncle had.

“It’s excellent. I’ll have to change a few things so that the Maxwell logo works with it; like the color scheme, but other than that, I think it’s perfect. You obviously spent a lot of time on it.” His kind words made me blush, and I found myself leaning closer to him.

“I should get back to work. It looks like my last table just left. I don’t know if we’ll get anyone else tonight.” I stood up, but before I could walk away, Viktor put his hand on my arm.

“Why don’t you close up early? We can go across town to dinner. I know a quiet little spot,” he smiled as he spoke, and my heart melted. “I feel bad that our plan got cancelled the other night and I’d like to make it up to you.”

Without hesitation, I replied, “That sounds great. I can have everything done and be ready in an hour.” I looked at my watch, shocked that it was only seven. “Are you sure you want to close this early?”

He nodded. “I am. It’s one night, and business is really slow anyway. The rebranding and remodeling will make up for it, I promise.”

“Okay, I’d better get busy then.” I turned and walked away. As I started bussing the now empty tables, I heard Viktor on the phone. He made a reservation, then called someone else. A few minutes later, Uncle Vinny showed up and practically pushed me out the door.

“Go get ready for dinner. I’ve got this.” He took the rag from my hand and continued cleaning the bar.

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