Page 68 of How a Vampire Falls

Her mouth pursed. She came closer, all but gliding, and her eyes flashed pale red as they caught the streetlights. “I’m in town for the weekend.”

Don’t ask why. Never ask why.Whywas a hook with a barb that he’d swallowed too often, only to have his insides torn out and stomped on. He didn’t allow himself to step back, not even when she ran her hand down his chest.

“I figured it was about time to remind you what we had together. What we can still have.”

“Not interested,” he said.

“I’ve worked on myself, you know. I have some regrets about us.”

“Some regrets?” He couldn’t help laughing. “Is that like ‘mistakes were made’?”

Jacqueline ought to bare her teeth at being laughed at, but instead her eyes welled up. “I needed to feel like you cared, likeI meant more to you than anything else in the world, including that job you love so much.”

The old accusations still clawed at him, but his scars were finally growing calluses. “You did mean more to me. But nothing I did was enough to prove that to you.”

“Because I was insecure, Ryker. But that’s in our past, and now we can focus on our future.”

“Is cheating also in your past? How about lying?”

Something burned behind her tears, behind the mask of sincerity she held onto. “You’ve forgotten us. The power couple we were, the potential of us. You’re throwing it all away.”

“No. You did that, single-handedly, and there’s nothing else to say to each other.” But some instinct was tugging at his thoughts. Why was Jacqueline herenow? Why…?

“I’m not giving up on us, Ryker.”

He kept staring at her, his tired mind fighting to make the puzzle pieces fit…and then he got it. “Why is your hair white?”

Jacqueline tugged her braid over her shoulder and brushed her fingers over the woven locks. “It’s silver.”

Yep. Called it. He bared his teeth faster than he could think better of it.

Instantly dry-eyed, Jacqueline bared hers right back. “That’s right. Obviously silver hair turns you on. I don’t love it, but I’ll tolerate it long enough to show you which silver-haired woman in your life is clearly superior.”

“You’re not in my life, Jacqueline.” But his mind raced. How did she know? How…?

And curse it all, she could still read him. She laughed, a hollow sound lacking all warmth. He wondered how he hadn’t noticed the wrongness of her laugh on their first date.

“Should I let you work on the puzzle? Or should I be nice and tell you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Or he hoped he didn’t.

“I’m talking about your little country vampire who makes toys for a living.”

She could poke at him all day and all night, but she wouldneverbe allowed to talk about Leslie with derision. Not in his presence. His heart gave an angry extra beat, so hard Jacqueline heard it. Her dark eyebrows shot up toward her ridiculous hair.

“Get off my property, Jacqueline.”

“You don’t even remember, do you?”

“Right now. I mean it.”

“You told me about her, your one true match from a stupid test in college. Leslie Snow.”

A cold drip of dread traveled his spine. He had to know what she meant, how far she was willing to go. But if he asked pointblank, she wouldn’t tell him.

His silence goaded her on. “And there it is, this week on her little social page—aw, a cutesy little post that she’s traveling this weekend. Going to see herboyfriend. And the day after that—a picture of her arrival at a very recognizable airport.”

“So you’ve been following her online for years.”

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