Page 14 of My Blind Date is a Vampire

She took off her helmet, hung it on the handlebar of her bike, and shook out her dark waves. All that was missing was a dreamy filter, a slow-motion effect, and some swoon-worthy music.

“I think I just fell for you, that was so badass.” I chuckled as I walked over to her bike and admired the electric blue paint job. Rachel winked at me, her face flushed and eyes bright in a way that could only be brought on by an adrenaline rush. “Well, it’s a good thing I don’t discriminate. All suitors and suitresses are welcome to try. And you, Julia Bryant, might just be my type,” she joked, making an exaggerated show of checking me out in my cargo pants, light sweater, and sneakers. I’d decided to go for a comfortable outfit rather than something suited for a night out. Not that Rachel had gone all out either, dressed in ripped jeans, biker boots, a tight-fitting tank top, and the requisite leather jacket.

“If I ever decide to give up on men permanently, you’ll be my first port of call,” I shot back, and Rachel doubled over cackling.

We were hit with a warm blast of stuffy air that smelled of cigarettes and peanuts when we walked into the crowded bar. There were so many things going on I didn’t know where to look. A live band was playing a cover of INXS’s “Need You Tonight” on the stage, and there was some kind of tournament going on at the pool tables. Waitresses in cropped, tight-fitting shirts and short-shorts and sassy heels weaved between tables, balancing trays full of beer bottles and glasses. There was a TV screen mounted on the wall behind the bar turned to ESPN and playing highlights of a hockey game with the volume turned down low.

“First round’s on me,” Rachel called out, her voice raised to be heard over the music. She grabbed my waist and dragged me over to the counter. We were lucky enough to snatch up two empty stools, and Rachel called over the bartender who’d been too busy flirting with a customer to notice us.

Rachel started us off strong with a round of shots that turned into a competition to see who could down the most. Spoiler—Rachel was not kidding when she said she could drink anyone under the table.

“Oh my god, it sucks to be you! You look like a tomato!” She laughed at me when I tapped out after the third shot and took my sweater off and asked for a glass of water.

“Unlike you, I value my liver.” I scowled at her as she knocked back her fifth shot. I opened my mouth to comment on how great the band was; they were now covering Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name,” and the bar patrons were singing along when a heavy arm landed on my shoulder.

Brows furrowed, I turned around to tell the guy off when I saw a familiar face smiling down at me, looking like he was a few drinks shy of tipsy. “West?” I smiled at his goofy appearance. Did he come to the bar straight from work? He was still dressed in his work clothes with his tie loose. Standing next to him was a dark-haired man who looked familiar but I’d never met before.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming here tonight? If I’d known you were coming I would have ditched this sorry dude to chill with you instead,” he slurred, jabbing his thumb at his companion, who was staring at me intently, as if trying to place me. “I’ve been trying to get you to go out with me all week, but you kept blowing me off. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you didn’t like me. How can you not love this face? It’s unimaginable… Ladies love me! Don’t they, Logan?”

Rachel and Logan snorted, and I grimaced. It looked like West was way beyond tipsy, and he probably had no idea what he was saying.

“Hey, Corny, you might want to shut your trap before you embarrass yourself even more,” Rachel piped up, grabbing my bottled water and passing it to West.

“Corny? Is that a nickname or something?” I asked, not wanting to address West directly. At my question, Logan and Rachel started laughing.

“I’m surprised that you haven’t learned his first name, considering that you guys work together. You look familiar… We haven’t slept together before, have we?” Logan asked, leaning on the counter and studying my features. I shrank back in my seat, almost falling off my stool.

“Knock it off, Logan. You wish you could bag a woman like Julia. Too bad she has more class than that,” Rachel snapped at him before turning to face me with an unreadable expression on her face. “Julia, this is my brother, Logan. As much as I love him, I will warn you not to dip your feet into that pond. He collects venereal diseases like Ash collects Pokémon. And, of course, you know our cousin, Cornelius West.” She tried and failed to choke back a laugh when she told me West’s ridiculous name, and I couldn’t help but join in when West groaned and hurled a few choice insults at Rachel.

“I’ll have you know I’m healthy as a horse and have the medical reports to back it up,” an affronted Logan said, defending himself. He then snapped his fingers, an expression of understanding dawning on in his dark eyes. Knowing now that he was Rachel’s brother, I understood why he looked so familiar—they were basically the gender-bent versions of each other. “I remember why you look so familiar. Aren’t you the chick I saw having dinner with Landon Grayson at Clair de Lune last Friday?”

CHAPTER 16

Logan’s statement landed like a bomb, and at the most awkward moment too. The band had just stopped performing to take a short break, so his voice carried across the room. Not that anyone paid any attention except for a few curious people who quickly went about their business.

Music from the bar’s speakers soon took over for the band, but the atmosphere around our small group had tanked quickly. Rachel and West both wore tight expressions. Rachel stared at me like I’d grown two heads, and West as if I’d kicked his sick puppy.

“You’re dating that leech? Is that why you’ve been blowing me off, for Landon freakin’ Grayson?” West accused. I was taken aback by the venom in his voice, but the condescending way he talked down to me and referred to Landon as a leech had my back up.

“West, knock it off,” Logan warned. “She isn’t your woman, so there’s no need to get on her case. And the two of you need to get over yourselves. Grayson is a great guy who’s done nothing but good things for this community. It’s not like he can do anything about who and what he is.”

Who and what he is? Logan’s statement set off alarm bells in my head. Nothing about Landon had suggested that he was a bad person, and Beverly spoke affectionately about him. Even though I called him tall, dark, and dangerous, I only meant it in a sexy James Bond type of way. I didn’t think he was actually a dangerous person. But then…I’d been wrong about men before…

“Is there something I should know about Landon?” I asked Rachel.

“Screw this!” West yelled as he pushed off the counter and walked away.

“I’ll go take care of that. It was nice meeting you, Julia, and sorry for outing you and Landon before you were ready,” Logan apologized and ran off after his cousin.

“What was that all about?” I demanded. Ever since I’d arrived in Mystic Cove, I’d had the distinct feeling that there was something more simmering beneath the surface. There were certain things people said, nuances and complexities to interactions between people that made me feel that as much as everyone had welcomed me with open smiles, I was still very much on the outside looking in.

Rachel sighed and signaled for a beer. I followed suit but asked for a virgin cocktail, not wanting to overdo it.

“You and Landon, huh? I thought you weren’t interested in dating. How did that happen?”

“Beverly.”

That seemed to be all the answer Rachel needed because some of the tension seeped from her shoulders, but the guarded look in her eyes remained.

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