About a Vampire

“How?” Holly asked at once.

“You’ll feel a very faint sort of buzzing through your body,” he explained. “It’s probably happening right now, but because you’re still adjusting to being more sensitive to so many things at once, that one won’t get noticed at first.”

“I suppose you mean the hearing, smelling and seeing better?” Holly asked, and while she had noticed being able to see farther and hear conversations she wouldn’t have been able to before, it wasn’t like she suddenly had X--ray vision or anything.

“Your brain is overwhelmed right now with all the new levels of information. It’s not used to taking in so much data. You’ll notice the difference over time though,” Mac assured her as he finished transferring the blood, closed the refrigerator, and straightened with the cooler in hand.

“Oh,” Holly murmured as she followed him out of the kitchen. When they reached the front door, she asked, “Are you a newbie too?”

“Yeah. Two years tomorrow,” he announced with a grin as he opened the door. “It’s great, huh?”

“Great,” Holly said and his eyebrows rose at her lack of enthusiasm.

Reaching out, Mac patted her shoulder. “It’ll get better. Change can be hard, but once you adjust, you’ll enjoy it. I promise.”

“Thank you,” Holly whispered, and then watched silently as he walked out to the van parked in her driveway.

Closing the door, she let her forehead rest against it and closed her eyes. I’ll adjust, she assured herself. But right now, she had to sort out where to put the mini fridge that was apparently coming. Not her bedroom. She needed it somewhere James wouldn’t notice. Holly knew she had to tell him about the change in her at some point, but she wasn’t ready for that conversation right now. She needed a little time to adjust to the changes herself before she tried to help him adjust.

The laundry room downstairs, Holly decided suddenly. James hated laundry. She’d put the refrigerator in there and then take over the chore of doing laundry from now on, until she explained everything. Yes, that would do, she decided and then gave a start when the doorbell rang again.

Whirling, she opened the door. The refrigerator had arrived.

“Honey?”

Holly shifted sleepily on the couch and blinked her eyes open. When she recognized the man leaning over her, she sat up abruptly, the blanket she’d pulled over herself dropping to her waist. “James.”

“What are you doing sleeping on the couch, honey? When did you get home?”

“Around noon,” she answered running a hand through her hair to be sure it wasn’t standing on end. “I laid down on the couch because I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Well, you’re home now. How about a hug for the poor husband who had to do without you for so long?”

“Oh.” Flushing, Holly stood, allowing the blanket to slip to the floor, but rather than hug her, James stepped back, eyes widening.

“Whoa, wow, what are you wearing?”

Holly glanced down, blushing brightly as she stared at Gia’s leather outfit. She wasn’t surprised by his reaction. She didn’t even own a skirt in her meager wardrobe. Jeans and dress pants were all she usually wore, and this skirt was a little short . . . okay a lot short, she acknowledged, tugging at the hem to make it look a little longer.

“Oh, I borrowed this from a friend and didn’t have time to change before the bus left,” she lied.

“Plane.”

Holly glanced at him blankly. “What?”

“You mean before your plane left,” James explained. “You surely didn’t take a bus all the way home from New York,” he added with a laugh.

“Yes, plane,” she said weakly, giving her head a shake. She had always been a horrible liar, but how could she have forgotten she was supposed to have been in New York on an internship rather than in Los Angeles playing Bela Lugosi?

“Well, good. I’m glad the outfit’s borrowed,” James said on a laugh. “For a minute I thought you were—-” Cutting himself off abruptly, he shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. You look great. You’ve lost weight, haven’t you?”

“I—-a little,” she murmured.

“Good.” Smiling, he turned to head for the kitchen. “I’m starved. Let’s have some breakfast.”

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