Page 80 of How a Vampire Falls

“Now you listen to me,” she said.

“Yes, ma’am.” That was a grin. Good.

“Ryker Maddox, you are a stellar boyfriend. You see me, you hear me, you care about my art and my family and my little town because they’remeand what matters to me, matters to you. Iloveyour devotion to your job, your intelligence at solving convoluted money crimes and getting justice for victims. You have never made me feel second-place because of the work you do, not once.”

He heaved a hard breath as she held him. Leslie held on and kept going. More to say. Things he had to hear from her and no one else.

“You’ve also never been boring a day in your life. In fact I’d be fine with it if you were the tiniest bit boring, but that’s not who you are. You’re a math wizard, a sparring expert, an outgoingrisk-taker willing to hop on a plane to meet a woman who might have told you to get out of her town.”

Now the slightest chuckle shook his frame. That was good too. Leslie leaned back and took his dear face between her hands.

“Last but not least,” she said. “Your fear is real. It’s out of your control. It doesn’t make you a coward. It’s just a crummy thing you have to deal with, the same as all of us deal with crummy things in life. You’re a strong, smart, gorgeous vampire and I’m madly in love with you because ofyou.”

Silver tears sparkled unshed in his eyes. Leslie cupped his neck again, brought his face down to hers, and kissed him. She kept her lips soft and gentle, kept her fingers gentle as they pushed up from his neck into his hair. When they drew back from the kiss, Ryker’s eyes were wholly blue again and dancing with silver. His tears were gone.

“There,” she said. “I hope you can keep her garbage out of your head from now on.”

“I hope so too,” he whispered. “I think maybe I can.”

“And if she ever has the misfortune to run into me, I will fight her.”

He gave a low chuckle. “Not necessary.”

“If I had an ex that called me the things she called you—?”

Ryker hissed.

“Exactly. And you said she’s in town, so I might get a chance.”

His mouth formed a taut grimace as he studied her. “Leslie, I…I don’t want to, but I think I should tell you.”

“Then you should.”

“Jacqueline has been following you on social media since I mentioned you years ago.”

Whoa. “Okay, consider her blocked. Does she use her real name?”

“Usually, yeah. She’s probably got more than one handle following you. But that’s not all.” He blinked, but his eyesremained charcoal-gray. “Jacqueline’s a brunette, and I’ve never known her to dye her hair before. But right now… The dye job she got is closer to white than silver. But she called it silver.”

“She copied my hair.” That was…creepy. And weird. And creepy. “Let’s see how many versions of her are following me.”

“Look for Jacqueline Hargrave first. Then try Hargrave Money or Vamp CFO.”

Across Leslie’s social platforms, Jacqueline Hargrave had followed her three times, and Vamp CFO had followed her twice. Hargrave Money showed up only once. She blocked every last account, then put her phone away with a hum of satisfaction.

Ryker, on the other hand, was grimacing though his eyes were finally blue again.

“What?” Leslie said. “Yeah, she’ll figure it out, but the worst she can do is create another profile, and now I’m on the lookout for her.”

“It’s not that. Leslie, when I told her to get off my property, she left. It felt almost…” He shook his head.

“Too easy?”

“Yeah. It’s been more than twenty-four hours. I mean, yes, this is a moderately big city. But she knows my favorite places. She should have run into us by now if she’s been trying to.”

“Maybe she’s not.”

“She said she was going to track you down and let you know…why I’m crap.”

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