“Don’t tell me the thought’s never crossed your mind, either,” he said very softly. “I remember that night we kissed, before Bones showed back up in your life. You weren’t treating me like just a friend then.”
Figures he’d bring that up, I thought, frustration and annoyance competing within me. One evening of way too many drinks and loneliness had led to a kiss that should have never happened.
“You’re an attractive man, and I’m not dead. Yeah, the thought crossed my mind once or twice. But that was before Bones came back. I can honestly say it hasn’t happened since.”
“Sometimes I hate Don,” Tate spat.
I was baffled. “What does my uncle have to do with any of this?”
“Don knew what you were from the moment you were born, and I’d known him for three years before I met you. Three years, Cat. That fucking torments me. All Don would’ve had to do was look you up six months sooner than he did. Then you wouldn’t have met Bones first, you would have met me. We like each other, you’re attracted to me, and as a fellow vampire hunter, I would have been your perfect man. You would have fallen in love with me instead of ever loving Bones.”
I was amazed by how much thought he’d put into this—and the worst part was, if I had met Tate before Bones, there was a good chance I might have ended up dating him. I couldn’t say I’d have fallen in love with him, but there was nothing about Tate that made him unappealing as boyfriend material.
“Or I could have been killed on my first mission, that’s a more likely scenario, because then Bones wouldn’t have trained me first. And even if it all went like you described, it still wouldn’t have worked out between us.”
“Why?” Tate asked harshly.
“Bones would have been hired to kill me. He was offered the hit during the years I ran from him and the undead world didn’t know of our connection. So either Bones would have killed me, or he would have been intrigued by my being a half-breed and captured me, like he did when we first met. Either way, you and I still wouldn’t have made it. Sometimes two people just aren’t meant to be together.”
“I don’t believe that,” he said, stubbornness written all over him.
Refusal to quit in spite of overwhelming odds. That’s what made Tate such a brave soldier, but in this regard, it also made him hold on to something he should let go of.
“Things will change,” I said at last. “One day, you’ll meet a woman who’ll make you realize your feelings for me weren’t the real deal. And when that happens, I’ll be happy for you.”
Tate shook his head. “Or you’ll realize Bones isn’t the man you thought he was, and you’ll leave him. Come on, Cat, you barely even know him.”
“I don’t know Bones?” I repeated. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“He’s almost two hundred and fifty years old, and you’ve been around him, combined, for less than one year,” Tate stated flatly.
“I know what counts,” I said in a hard voice, stung.
“Or you’re blinded by infatuation. Bones is a former pro, Cat. He’s been romancing women for centuries. Annette’s told me some things about him, and I gotta say, sometimes I don’t know whether to stab Bones—or shake his hand. Someone like that doesn’t just wake up one morning and change everything about their life by becoming a one-woman man.”
Tate’s voice became rougher, lower, and he turned until I faced him.
“But I’ve been by your side for almost five years. You know you can trust me. You know I’d never lie to you, or cheat on you, and baby, he will. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but it’ll happen. And when it does, you’ll leave him. And I’ll be waiting.”
This conversation was going nowhere. So much for talking sense into him about our friendship. I shot Tate an exasperated look even as I pasted a fake smile on my face and headed back to the cotton candy vendor. I couldn’t swill gin here, but I could pound sugar while waiting to see if Anthony showed up.
Three cotton candies and two spins on the Ferris wheel later—hey, nothing beat the Ferris wheel for getting a good vantage point—there was still no sign of Anthony. Or any other vampires aside from Tate. It was after ten, so most of the youngest kids were gone by now. Santa was looking less jolly as the time dragged on. No doubt he was counting down the minutes until midnight, when the carnival closed.
Tate and I hadn’t spoken much since our prior argument. We continued to act like a happy couple. Tate played a marksman game, much to the dismay of the carny behind the counter, since with Tate’s military background and new vampire status, he nailed every target. I then had to walk around holding a huge stuffed polar bear.
Oh yeah. No one looking at us would think we were out hunting vampires.