Page 22 of The Vampire’s Temptation

Run.Scream. Do something.

But her ass was glued to the swing. Or so it seemed.

“I had hoped to spare you the details, but Lawrence has made that impossible.”

Oh God. Oh God. So Lawrence wasn’t crazy. Or maybe they were both crazy. Or—

“You see—”

“Two beers!”

Tyler stood at the doorway with Toni just behind him, if she’d ever left at all. Her heart almost burst with gratitude toward her friend. But Kenton wouldn’t speak in front of them, and she had to know what he’d been about to say.

“Thanks, Tyler,” she said, taking the drink from him and silently signaling to Toni she wanted to be alone with Kenton. Not an easy task when she’d previously made her promise not to leave her side.

“So, you were saying at dinner you’re an investor,” Tyler began, clueless to the tension around him. Another silent appeal, and this time Toni took the hint. The look on her face made it clear she didn’t like the thought of leaving them alone together, but she grabbed Tyler’s arm anyway.

“Maybe Alessandra and Kenton would like a bit of privacy?”

Tyler looked back and forth between them, and when no one spoke, he finally understood.

“Oh, right. Cheers,” he said, raising his own bottle in the air.

“We’ll be right inside if you need us,” Toni said, not so subtly.

When they left, Kenton smiled at her. “If you need a sudden rescue, she means.”

Alessandra brought her beer to her lips.

“From certain death at my hands.”

She took a tentative sip. He said that so calmly. Did that mean he wasn’t a danger—or that he was so much of a danger he didn’t even work up a sweat at the thought of killing someone?

“Uh—”

Kenton sighed. “You don’t need them to protect you, Alessandra.”

His voice was like melted chocolate from one of those chocolate fountains at weddings. Deep and smooth, dripping into a pool of more chocolate below.

Get a grip, girl. Serial killers could be smooth . . . or so she’d heard. Isn’t that what they said about Ted Bundy?

“This is going to sound crazy . . . ,” he began. First Lawrence and now him. She was never going to talk to a hot guy ever again. Apparently they were all certifiable. “But your ancestors passed down to you some special—”

“And how do you know the first thing about my ancestors?” she asked, attempting to quell a rising sense of panic.

Kenton tried to hide a slight grimace as he drank. Clearly beer wasn’t his thing. So why had he been drinking it at the jazz hall?

“I know much about you, Alessandra.”

Every time he said her name, she had to chastise herself for forgetting this was more of a stakeout than a real date. But despite the fact that this guy was clearly bad news, she could not keep her heart rate from accelerating when he looked at her that way.

“As does Lawrence.”

“And how do you know Lawrence?”

He frowned. “We are old acquaintances.”

So it wasn’t a coincidence that they’d both moved to town at the same time.