Chapter seventeen
Morgan
I’m blearily pouring Oscar a bowl of cereal when it hits me. It wasn’t a bizarre dream. It was real. The paranormal world is real. And Ned is a vampire.
I groan and rub my hand over my face. And I drank far too much vodka with Sammy. Add in the fact that I was probably only asleep for a couple of hours before the kids came and bounced on my bed, and it’s a miracle that I don’t feel worse.
The doorbell rings and the sound lances through my brain. Grimly, I shuffle off to the door.
It’s Ned. In dark sunglasses and a baseball cap and hoodie. His shoulders are hunched.
The sun is shining brightly. And he is a vampire. My heart races. My hand grabs him and yanks him inside while my other hand slams the door shut.
“What are you doing!” I shout far too loudly for my own fragile head.
I close my eyes against the pain and breathe deeply. “Do you need to be invited in now that I know you are a vampire?”
I open my eyes. Ned has taken his sunglasses off. His expression is a mixture of wary and sheepish.
“I need to be invited in, not because I am a vampire, but because we were dating and I lied to you and you might not want anything to do with me anymore.”
I stare at him. “Were dating? Past tense?”
My mind whirls and catches up with the rest of what he just said. Oh. Past tense, but not because he is dumping me, but because he thinks I might dump him.
I suck in a deep breath. Discovering the world is not as it seems, is frightening and disorientating. Just like it must have been for Ned. Call me crazy, but I know him, and I know that however he ended up being turned into a vampire, it was not by some malicious intent on his behalf.
I’m not going to hate him for something he never chose.
Ned swallows. I watch his Adam’s apple bob.
“I hope we are still dating,” I say.
Relief flows through Ned’s beautiful hazel eyes. “I hope so too,” he whispers, and it’s my turn to be flooded with relief.
But wait a minute. He is staring up at me with those beautiful eyes of his, while practically trembling. He looks hopeful, but as if the hope he is experiencing is a painful emotion.
This wonderful man is tentative and unsure. He is bracing himself for rejection, even though I just told him I still want him.
I can’t stand it. I can’t stand that he doubts himself, or my feelings for him.
My hands reach out and grab fistfuls of his hoodie. I yank him up to me and press my lips against his.
I feel his surprise. Then his shuddering relief, quickly followed by delight, and then finally, his passion. He kisses me back like it is an act of worship. His arms wrap around my neck and he presses his entire body as close to mine as he can get.
Fireworks are igniting in my mind. My soul is swirling and my heart racing. I’m kissing Ned and it is perfect.
“Daddy, I want to…”
Ned and I leap apart as if we are a pair of school kids caught behind the bike shed.
“Ned!” exclaims Lottie happily. “Come play tea party!”
I chuckle as I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. Ned’s eyes are bright. His lips swollen. He has never looked more beautiful.
“It’s Ned’s day off, sweetie.”
Lottie’s lips begin to puff out in a pout, but Ned intercedes. “No, it’s fine. I love tea parties!”
