Page 50 of Cooper’s Passion

“Everybody’s working different shifts. It’s never too busy in here.” He pointed to her empty plate. “You want some more?”

“No, I’m done. But you haven’t eaten. Aren’t you hungry?”

He wasn’t, because he’d gulped down two bottles of blood, but he couldn’t very well disclose that. “I’ll eat something later. I’d rather go out there and see if anybody saw the guy from the sketch.”

“Where do we start?”

“There’s an apartment building overlooking the alley where Janet’s body was found. Somebody might have seen something from their window.”

On their way to the parking garage, Cooper noticed that Anita didn’t walk as closely next to him as she’d done before. She was quieter too, and it didn’t feel like the companionable silence that they’d shared before. But he didn’t want to ask her if anything was wrong. Maybe she was exhausted. And why not? They’d had marathon sex, and while he as a vampire hybrid had pretty much endless energy for lovemaking, a human like Anita needed more sleep than he’d allowed her.

Damn it, he was a selfish bastard for not letting her rest when she’d needed rest. He hadn’t even tried to rein in his insatiable need for sex and just assumed that she wanted the same.

When they were in the car, driving toward North Beach, his guilty conscience didn’t let him remain silent. “I’m sorry, Anita.”

She glanced at him. “Sorry for what?”

He sighed. “For not letting you rest last night. I’m sorry I’m so demanding when it comes to sex. My only excuse is that you’re an amazing woman, and I just can’t keep my hands off you.”

“Oh.”

“I promise you I’ll let you sleep in the other guestroom tonight if that’s what you need to get some rest from me. I’m afraid that if we’re in the same bed, I won’t be able to restrain myself.”

There was a moment of silence, and for a second, he wondered if he’d said something wrong.

“Are you always like this? I mean with other women?”

“Not really. I mean don’t get me wrong, I do love sex, and I’ve had my fair share of pretty women…” He shrugged. “But they never got under my skin. Not like you.”

“So I fit your type, hmm?”

“That’s not it. I actually don’t have a type. No, it’s something else about you. When I talk to you, when I’m with you, I want you to know everything about me.”

* * *

Anita’s head was spinning.How could he play the open and honest man so convincingly while at the same time keeping a secret from her? And how was she going to find out what he was hiding from her? She couldn’t exactly ask him directly. If it was something worth lying about, he might lash out if confronted with the truth.

The silence was stretching between them, and she knew she had to say something, or he would eventually realize that something was wrong.

“I feel I already know a lot about you,” she finally said.

After all, she’d met his uncles and aunts, and his baby cousin, and saw how they lived. On the surface, they were a normal family—well, a rich, normal family, because the house his Uncle Wesley lived in was a massive Victorian that had to be worth several millions. But what was lying beneath the surface? What secrets were they hiding? Was it something that would change how she felt about him?

She suddenly felt Cooper’s warm hand on her thigh. “We’re here.”

They got out of the car, and Cooper pointed to the apartment building he’d spoken about earlier. They cut through the covered parking of a commercial building, crossed the street, and headed for the entrance door, which wasn’t locked, and entered.

“Let’s start with the flats that overlook the alley,” Cooper suggested, and they began knocking on doors.

Cooper took the lead, and introduced himself to the tenants that opened their doors. “We’re investigators working with the SFPD and are looking for this man.” Cooper turned his cellphone so the tenant could see it. “He may have been in this area two nights ago. Do you recognize him?”

The woman who’d opened the door shook her head. “Sorry, doesn’t look familiar.”

“He may have been hanging around in the alley behind you,” Anita added to help jog the woman’s memory.

“Sorry, I can’t help you. I have better things to do than look out the window all night.” She shut the door.

They moved to the next flat and continued questioning the other tenants in the same manner. Anita had to admit that Cooper had excellent manners and treated everybody he spoke to with courtesy, never getting impatient or frustrated. She felt herself involuntarily relax in his presence. Would her body really react like this if he was a bad guy? At the moment, she couldn’t trust her own judgement. When she and Cooper had made love, she’d felt loved and understood, cherished even, and desired. No man had ever taken care of her the way Cooper did, the way he made sure to give her the same pleasure he took for himself. She couldn’t imagine a more selfless lover. But was the old adage true? If something sounds too good to be true... Or was she simply focusing on some minor inconsistencies to sabotage this relationship? She pushed the thoughts aside, concentrating on the task at hand.