Page 6 of Top Secret Vampire

“I will doanythingfor you,” I ground out.

“Oh . . .” Reese’s eyes widened above her hands still cupping her cheeks. “That’s quite sweet of you. Are you sure I can’t call you Wolfie or Wolf?”

“I will indulge you in this, though I prefer Wolf. Never Wolfie.”

Her hands slid away, landing on her lap, and she shot me a smile that made my heart seize before it began pounding again. “Cool. Cool.”

“Yes, quite . . . chilled.” It had been some time since I’d interacted with humans beyond simple exchanges. The temperature in the room did not reflect her statement, but perhaps she meant something else with the word.

It had also been a long time since I’d taken a job. Naturally, I didn’t need to work. I’d amassed enough wealth ages ago to sustain my lifestyle. But when Katar reached out, indicating I might find this fun, I was intrigued. When had anything last sparked my interest in human activities?

“You can solve crimes,” Katar had said.

“And what will I do with the villains of said crimes?” I’d asked.

“They’ll need to be prosecuted in the usual, human way.”

“A pity,” I’d said.

“I thought you gave that up?” he’d asked, his mouth twitching with humor.

“It has been so long since I indulged in draining a true villain that I can’t quite recall the taste, though I do remember them being universally bitter. There’s something about nasty deeds that taints the blood.” Yet I’d hunted them. When one needed blood to survive, one wasn’t always choosy. Villains, while less tasty, deserved what I brought them. Innocents did not.

“Are you on board?” Katar had asked with an indulgent smile.

Such a trite term, on board, but . . . “Yes,” I’d said.

Reese shifting in her chair brought me back to the present.

“Please, explain what you mean by a stalker,” I said.

“Seagulls. Leave Town.” The last, Reese said with a shudder. “And exploding blenders.” She punctuated each statement with a nod of her head.

This was also a job, not my first meeting with my true mate, despite my wish to indulge in the glory of such a moment. I tugged a pad of paper from my desk and removed a pen from the center desk drawer. I held the pen over the paper, poised to write. “Tell me everything.”

“I either need a ghost exterminator or a bodyguard. Or both.” Her head tilted. “Are you capable of doing both?”

“What makes you believe this is a stalker or a ghost, for that matter?”

“Let me back up,” she said. “Odd things have happened to me recently, and I believe the incidents are connected.”

I’d soon determine if this was true. “I’m prepared to guard your body with my own. A potential ghost, you say?”

“That’s my mother’s thought.” Reese burst a song about a woman named Jolene who was stealing another woman’s man away.

“I assure you, no one, not even a woman with the illustrious name of Jolene, could steal your man away,” I told her firmly.

“Oh good.” She smiled again, and I wanted to ask her not to, because it not only made my heart compress, but it also made my cock jut against the front of my pants—another appalling, embarrassing gesture I was grateful none of my brethren were here to see.

“If your issue involves a ghost, I’m quite capable of eradicating it,” I said.

“I want to release her from her earthly bindings and send her peacefully on her way,” she said, “not destroy her.”

“Are you a witch?” I asked.

“I wish.”

“Reese,” Tracy snapped. “Stop chattering. Tell him what you need so we can tell him we’re not interested in his dubious services and leave. A vampire. Really?”

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