I pivoted around in my chair, and the glass I’d been protecting from any added chemicals crashed to the floor. Six years later and still I knew him at a glance.
Danny Milton stood in front of me, openmouthed at my appearance in my tight silver dress and knee-high boots. The black leather gloves that were my standard matched my heart when I saw his gaze drop from my face to my cleavage and back again.
“Wow, Catherine, you look…wow!”
Either he was truly speechless at my appearance or college literary classes had not been kind. My eyes narrowed as I considered my options. One: Put a stake through his heart. Appealing, but morally incorrect. Two: Ignore him and hope he went away. Possible, but too kind. Three: Order another drink and throw it in his face while thanking him for the memories. Deserved, but too flashy. I wasn’t looking to draw unwanted attention or get thrown out of the place. That only left Option Two. Damn, that was the least satisfying of them all.
I raked him with a withering stare and then turned my back. I hoped he’d get the message.
He didn’t. “Hey, you’ve got to remember me. We met on the road and you helped me change my tire. And you can’t forget I was the first person you ever—”
“Shut up, you idiot!”
After so long, he had the unimaginable nerve to start blurting out loud enough for the deaf to hear that he’d been the first guy I slept with? Maybe Option One was the better plan after all.
“See, you do remember me,” he went on, apparently not catching the ‘idiot’ part. “Gee, it’s been…what, six years? More? I almost didn’t recognize you. I know you didn’t look like this before. Not that you weren’t cute and all, but you kind of looked like a baby then. You’re all grown up now.”
He certainly didn’t appear much different. His hair was about the same length, the same sandy brown, and his eyes were the blue of my memory. Danny was a touch softer around the midsection, or perhaps bitterness colored my vision. To me, he looked like all the rest now. Just another guy trying to take advantage. Too bad I couldn’t kill him for that reason alone.
“Danny, for your own good, turn around and walk away.” Bones was here somewhere, though I didn’t see him, but if he was watching me and found out who this was, I knew he’d have no conflict of conscience about pulling Danny’s plug.
“But why? We should catch up. After all, it’s been a long time.” Without invitation, he plunked down at the recently vacated seat next to me.
“There’s nothing to catch up on. You came, you saw, you scored, you left. End of story.”
I turned my back again, surprised at the stab of hurt that still remained. Some wounds never quite healed, even with time and knowledge.
“Oh, come on, Catherine, it wasn’t all like that—”
“Well, hallo there, mate. What have we here?”
Bones materialized from behind Danny, a truly vicious smile on his face. Oh shit.
“This person was just leaving,” I stiffly said, praying Danny would have half a brain cell and bolt before Bones realized who he was. If he hadn’t already. The look on Bones’s face was pure predator.
“Not yet, Kitten, we haven’t been introduced.” Uh-oh, not a good idea, not a good idea. “My name is Bones, and you are…?”
“Danny Milton. I’m an old friend of Catherine’s.”
Unsuspecting, Danny reached out to shake the hand that was offered to him. Bones grasped it and didn’t let go, even when Danny attempted to tug it free.
“Hey, man, I don’t want any trouble, I was just saying hello to Catherine and…uunnngghhhh.”
“Don’t say a word.” Bones spoke in a voice so low he was barely audible. Underneath his lashes, his eyes blazed with green fire and power leaked off him. His grip tightened, and I literally heard the bones shatter in Danny’s hand.
“Stop it,” I breathed, standing up to touch him.
He was immobile under my fingers, only his hand kept contracting. Tears streamed down Danny’s face although he stayed silent, helpless under that green gaze.
“It isn’t worth it. You’re not changing anything that happened.”
“He hurt you, Kitten,” Bones replied, pitilessly watching the tears roll from Danny’s eyes. “I’ll kill him for it.”
“Don’t.” I knew he wasn’t using a figure of speech. “It’s over. If it wasn’t for him using me, I’d have never gone for that first vampire. That means I wouldn’t have met you. Things happen for a reason, don’t you believe that?”
Although he didn’t relax his hand, he looked over at me.
I brushed his face. “Please. Let him go.”
Bones released him. Danny fell to his knees and promptly threw up. Blood oozed out from his hand where his bones had broken through his skin. Looking down at him, I felt only the barest hint of sympathy. A lot had happened in the years since I’d seen him.
“Bartender, he looks like he might need a cab,” Bones said tersely to the man behind the counter, who hadn’t noticed a thing. “Poor bugger can’t hold his drink.”