"Bricker," Jo breathed. Everybody called him Bricker and she'd actually forgotten his first name.
"Yeah, Justin Bricker, that's him," Gina said. "What a cutie. He wants me to call if you come home, so come home soon, 'kay? 'Cause he's hot and I want the excuse to call him."
"Yeah," Jo muttered. "I'm glad you're okay, Gina. I have to go now."
She hung up before Gina could ask anything else, and then simply sat there.
Gina didn't seem to remember anything
about the incident that afternoon. Jo recalled the blank look that had been on the other woman's face when she'd opened the door and first seen her in the hall with Bad-Breath Boy holding her arm.
The memory made her frown. It was the
same look that had been on the desk clerk's face earlier when they'd checked in. Like there was no one home and they were being controlled, she thought.
That was crazy thinking, Jo told herself silently. Nicholas had probably slipped the man some money without her seeing to make him more amenable, and Gina had probably been drugged to make her more quiescent. The drug had probably affected her memory, Jo assured herself, and then glanced to Charlie as he suddenly laid his head in her lap.
Jo smiled and petted him, her gaze sliding to the empty chicken bucket on the table. The sight made her remember that she was hungry and had planned to order a pizza.
Sighing, she pulled out the phone book and quickly looked up area pizza places. Jo ordered a large two-for-one special just in case Nicholas and Charlie were hungry by the time it arrived. She then pulled her wallet out of her back pocket. A quick check showed that a run to an ATM was in order. The shower was still going and she wouldn't be long, so Jo grabbed the room card again, patted Charlie reassuringly, and headed out of the room. This time she took the elevator, and was happy to be able to do so. Her legs still ached a little from the walk back up.
There was a little convenience store on the main floor of the hotel. Spotting the ATM sign in the window, Jo nipped in, made a withdrawal, and then purchased a couple of pops before heading back upstairs.
The shower had finally shut off in the bathroom when she reentered. Jo passed the door, set down the pops, and had grabbed up the ice bucket when the bathroom door opened and Nicholas came out.
"Finally, I was starting to think you'd drowned yourself in the tub," she teased as she took the clear plastic bag out of the bucket and opened it to set it back in. She then headed for the door. "I'll be right back."
Nicholas caught her arm as she made to pass him, concern on his face.
"Where are you going?"
"To get ice," she said, raising the bucket slightly.
"I'll get it." He took both the bucket and card key from her, but when he turned to the door it was her turn to catch his arm.
"You might want to cover that magnificent chest of yours before you go, stud. You wouldn't want the maids fainting from the excitement of seeing you like that."
Nicholas glanced down at himself, smiling wryly when he saw he'd been about to head out in only his jeans. He glanced to her, his eyebrows rising when he took in the fact that she was wearing his shirt.
"You tore mine off," Jo reminded him with a shrug and then reached for the hem as if about to tug it up and off and asked, "Do you want this one back?"
"No!" Nicholas caught at her hands, stopping her, and then patted her arm and moved past her into the room, muttering, "I have another."
Jo leaned in the bathroom doorway, smiling with amusement as she watched him move to the duffel bag he'd brought up from the van. Nicholas looked a bit agitated as he quickly opened it to retrieve a clean T-shirt. He was definitely avoiding looking at her, and she suspected she'd definitely embarrassed him with her teasing.
"Sorry about your shirt," he muttered, tugging the fresh T-shirt on. "You can keep that one, of course."
"Thank you," Jo murmured, her eyes eating him up as he turned and headed back toward the door.
Nicholas paused as he came abreast of her, and for a minute Jo thought he was going to kiss her. But after hesitating a moment, his gaze on her lips, he turned his face away and continued on to the door, saying, "There's a brush in my bag if you want it."
Jo's eyebrows flew up at the comment as he slipped out of the room and then she turned into the bathroom and squawked as she caught a glimpse of her foggy outline. The mirror was covered with a film of mist from Nicholas's prolonged shower, but she could see herself well enough to note that her hair was a curly mess around her head. It was only then she recalled towel drying her hair and hurrying out of the room to jump Nicholas, only he'd gone running into the bathroom and she hadn't had a mirror to check herself before rushing Charlie outside so he could take care of his business.
Dear God, she'd taken Charlie for a walk in the park looking like this, Jo thought with dismay as she grabbed a towel and quickly began to wipe the mirror. It probably hadn't been as bad as this right after her shower, though, she reassured herself. Unfortunately, Jo had inherited her mother's naturally curly, flyaway hair. It tended to imitate Ronald McDonald's wild mass if it wasn't styled. That was why she normally scraped it back into a ponytail.
Jo finished wiping the mirror and sighed as she got a better look at herself.
Wow, she was some femme fatale. It was no
wonder Nicholas hadn't kissed her before leaving; she'd be lucky if he ever tried to kiss her again after seeing her like this.
Muttering under her breath, Jo moved out of the bathroom and to his duffel bag to find the mentioned brush. She then searched the bed until she found the scrunchie he'd tugged from her hair earlier and returned to the bathroom to fix her hair. It was a bit of a struggle. Her hair knotted like no other. In truth, it was one of the few things Jo hated about herself. She considered herself smart enough, she had an okay figure, and her face was pretty enough though her mouth
was a little wide and her nose a little too tipped up. But her hair was a misery to her.
Jo had just finished getting the knots out and was giving her hair one final brush to be sure she hadn't missed any when she heard the main door open.
"One bucket of ice," Nicholas announced as he entered the room.
Jo glanced to the reflection of the doorway behind her as Nicholas strode past with a heaping bucket of ice in hand.
"Thank you," she called, starting to scrape her hair back, gathering it for her customary ponytail. "There's pop on the desk if you want one."
"Shall I pour you one?" Nicholas offered, and then-a frown entering his voice-asked, "Where did the soda come from?"
Jo hardly heard either question, her arms were raised, hands holding the hair back from her face, and eyes locked on her now-revealed neck. Frowning, she peered at the marks there for a moment, and then finished putting the scrunchie in even as she leaned forward, arching her neck to get a closer look at the two small punctures. That's what they werepuncture marks. Weird, Jo thought. She had no idea where those had come from. She should have felt something like that. Sam had had two blackfly bites up north that had looked somewhat similar, but there were no blackflies in downtown Toronto.
"Jo? Where did you get the pop?" Nicholas suddenly appeared behind her, a can of pop in hand. "You didn't leave the room, did-?"
The question died as he saw what she was doing. His gaze slid over the puncture wounds, and then he turned and walked out of sight. Jo stared at the spot where he'd been for a moment, and then looked one more time at the puncture marks, glanced back to the empty doorway, and then turned and followed him out of the room.
Nicholas was standing by the table pouring pop over ice in two glasses.
"Come sit down," he said without turning around.
"I suppose it's time we got to those explanations you wanted."
Jo hesitated. Something about the way he said it made her suspect she was about to learn something she wouldn't like, but when he slid one glass in front of the seat across from where he stood and then settled into the opposite chair, Jo
gave up her position and moved across the room to settle in the chair. She glanced at him warily, then picked up her drink and said, "I'm listening. What the hell is going on?"
"Right... well... I'm sorry. I bit you. I'm a vampire," Nicholas started, and then jumped up to rush to her side and thump her back as her drink went down the wrong way and she began to choke.
"All right?" he asked worriedly, his thumping coming to an end when her coughing and gasping slowed.
Jo nodded, wiping her face and breathing deeply as she waited for the stinging in her nose and lungs to stop. Drowning in pop, she decided, would be a terribly painful experience. Shaking her head at the completely inane thought, Jo picked up her drink again, took a sip to clear her throat, and then set the glass carefully back down and turned to glare at him where he still hovered beside her. "What kind of stupid idiot do you take me for? I'm a vampire? If that's your idea of a pickup line, it's about the most asinine, trivial bit of bullshit I've heard in a long time. I've had better lines from the computer geeks at the university. I-Crap," Jo cut herself off when Nicholas suddenly opened his mouth and his canine teeth extended into two very sharp, wicked-looking fangs. Jo was close enough she could see it was no trick. Those were his real teeth growing and shifting, she realized, and suddenly had a flash of her dream-Bad-Breath Boy Ernie, eyes glowing and fangs bared, growling at her like a rabid dog. Only it hadn't had the same feel as the rest of the dream and didn't now either. At that
moment it felt like a memory that had somehow managed to stay veiled earlier when the rest had come back to her.
"Crap!" Jo repeated more loudly, and leaped out of her chair and away from Nicholas.
"Jo, wait a minute," he said quickly, grabbing for her arm as she tried to rush for the door.
"Don't touch me," she gasped, jerking away from his hold and facing him as she backed toward the door now.
"Okay," Nicholas said soothingly, hands rising, palms open in the traditional calming manner. "It's okay. I won't touch you. Just calm down. You're safe. I'm a good vampire," he added, and then grimaced as if he couldn't believe he'd
spoken the words. Sighing, Nicholas tried a different tactic, saying, "I saved you, remember? From Ernie? Twice?"
Jo had backed into the small entry hall, but Charlie was still lying on the carpet under the table. The German shepherd was peering uncertainly from her to Nicholas as if unsure what they were up to. He didn't look especially worried, however, just kind of curious, like he was wondering what her problem was.
Jo slowed to a halt as she realized she
couldn't leave the dog behind, and then slowly considered Nicholas's words.
He had saved her twice, she acknowledged,
eyeing him warily, and if he'd wanted to hurt her...
Her eyes narrowed and her hand rose to her neck, running lightly over the puncture wounds there. They didn't hurt, and while she had a vague recollection of feeling a slight nip while they were...
well, earlier on the bed, it hadn't really hurt
then either. Still... "You bit me?"
Nicholas grimaced. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I just got a little too excited and..." He shrugged unhappily. "I am sorry, Jo."
She relaxed a little, and then shook her head and said with disbelief. "A good vampire?"
"That wasn't maybe the best way to start off," he acknowledged on a sigh.
"You think?" she asked sarcastically.
"Yeah," Nicholas said wryly, and then added, "And I'm not really a vampire anyway, it's just what others like to call us."
Jo propped her hands on her hips. "Right. Sure. Tell me you're a vampire, flash some fang to prove it, and then tell me you're not a vamp? I saw the fangs and the bite, Nicholas. I mean-Oh, hang on," she interrupted herself suddenly. "You were running around under the sun today when you got me out of the apartment. Vampires can't go out in sunlight." Jo scowled. "What's the deal here? Are those fake teeth? Did you bite me with some kind of weird, trick Goth dentures?"
"No," Nicholas assured her solemnly. He then hesitated and suggested,
"Why don't you come sit down again and I'll
explain everything?"
Jo glanced to the table, and then to Charlie. The German shepherd had apparently gotten bored with their drama. He'd laid his head back down, his eyes closed. Her gaze slid back to Nicholas.
"You're perfectly safe with me," Nicholas promised, and then pointed out, "I was going to leave you at the clinic and have Bricker and Anders collect you to keep you safe. I'd hardly harm you now."
Jo felt herself relax a little. She kept forgetting that the first time she'd met the man was when he'd saved her from Bad-Breath Boy Ernie. She'd met him again today the same way. Why would Nicholas save her, just to turn around and hurt her?
"Fine," Jo said at last, and gestured to the table. "Sit down and I'll come join you."
Nicholas glanced from her to the door, and then to the table, no doubt worrying that she would flee the room when he turned his back to claim his chair. However, he nodded solemnly and did so.
Jo waited until Nicholas had scooted his chair in and glanced her way before giving up her position by the door and slowly crossing the room to reclaim her seat. She peered at him silently, and then merely raised her eyebrows in question. "So?
Are you a vampire, or not?"
Nicholas hesitated. "Not in the traditional sense."
"Uh huh, and how does that work?" Jo asked dryly. "You see, to me that's kind of like an expectant mother saying she isn't pregnant in the traditional sense. Either she's preggers or she isn't, and either you're a vampire or you're not. Which is it?"
Nicholas frowned and picked up his glass to take a drink. His expression thoughtful, he swallowed, set down the glass, and said, "See now, I started this wrong. I started at the back end of the horse rather than the front."