She offered an unapologetic smile. “Do you have a watch?”
I smiled back and crooked my finger to whisper in her ear. “If you want to know what turns Christian on, he likes it when you stick your tongue in his ear. It’s his thing.” I patted her hand and sat back. “I’m glad to see him dating again. He’s been through a rough patch lately. Maybe you can get him to take off that scarf. He can be so deceptively shy.”
She winked, and it occurred to me that Marlene wasn’t very bright. Maybe that was the way he liked them. I should have told her he liked women who licked the bones from my plate.
When Marlene turned her gaze toward Glass, I felt a small sting of jealousy. The woman was so well endowed that she practically needed separate reservations for her breasts. Was Marlene the epitome of what Chitah men wanted?
Glass sat back in his chair and looked her over. “Do you normally date Vampires?”
“If the right man asks,” she said. “What do you do for a living?”
“Keep the streets clean.”
She chuckled. “So you’re a street sweeper?”
His jaw set.
“Glass is a detective,” I informed her. “He works with the higher authority solving crimes.”
Marlene rubbed her nose and then switched to the chair nearest me. “So how do you know Christian?”
Glass leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table, his fingers laced together. “They spent last night together in Washington. I would love to hear all about that.”
I frowned. “I’m sorry, Glass. I’m not trying to ignore you. None of this was planned.”
A bottle of wine appeared on the table, and Christian sat down next to Glass. “Are we playing musical chairs?” He topped everyone’s glass, and when finished, he drank half of his. “Nowthat’sthe stuff.”
“I was just asking how you two know each other,” Marlene said.
Christian gave me a guarded look. “She’s my partner in crime.”
The detective touched the stem of his wineglass. “Now that I have you both here, maybe we should discuss the case. Have you made any progress?”
He directed his question to Christian, thank God. After a few glasses of wine, I was afraid I might start telling him everything. Case details, leads, the security code to our gate, my favorite sex positions…
Christian waved his half-empty glass and sat back. “We’re close to finding the fanghole who’s responsible.”
Glass shifted in his chair. “Do you have a name? I can run a background check to see if they have any previous offenses.”
Christian’s lips twisted in a sardonic smile. “You mean to say that you haven’t come up with a single lead?”
“I’ve spent hours at the crime scenes. But you wouldn’t know that since you sped away like a child.”
I sipped my wine, noticing the disdain on Christian’s face.
Christian stroked his beard and set down his drink. “As it so happens, Raven and I stayed up all night going over the case. She hogs the covers.”
I would have kicked him under the table had Marlene not been sitting between us.
“Is that so,” Glass said.
When his eyes skated off to the side, I reached across the table and held his hand.
Marlene must have taken that as her cue. She wrapped her hands around Christian’s neck and rammed her tongue in his ear. I quelled my urge to burst out laughing when he shrank back and tilted his head in obvious disgust.
“It’s too early to reveal our findings,” I said. “I’m sure Viktor will give you a call when we have something concrete. Are you positive there aren’t any photographs from the previous cases you can share with us? Evidence? Anything?”
He placed his hand on top of mine. “You’ll be the first to know if I have something you want.”
