Chapter 6

Charlotte

After speaking to Holly a few times, I eventually relaxed around Samuel. The downside was I had so many questions I wanted to ask him, but I was afraid of asking them in case I went back to thinking of him as a blood-sucking monster.

"Are we going to your parent's house for dinner?"

"How did you—" I began to ask but stopped when I remembered he had serious fucking stalking issues.

After two weeks of his insane daily railroading, I should have known better.

"Yae arnae going to ma parents' house," I said with determination.

"I've already been. I saw your naked tushy baby pictures."

I rubbed a hand over my face before I turned towards him. Whatever I was about to say died away when I saw his expression. He was looking at me with adoration. His eyes were soft, and he had a small smile on his handsome face. I felt my face go beetroot-red when he began to sniff the air like a bloodhound.

I frowned when a thought occurred to me. The change in Jamie was night and day since Samuel had first come to Elgin. I thought of Jamie's broken arm and bruised face. His apology was completely out of character, but it had sounded sincere.

"Did you—What did you do to Jamie?" I asked suspiciously.

"You know how I can tell when you're stressed out?" he asked instead of answering my question.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"You start to speak properly, but when you're angry, your accent gets much stronger."

"Thank you, Sherlock, for your amazing insight and observation skills," I said dryly. "Now answer the question."

My phone began to ring, and I reached for my phone to see it was Granny.

"Huv yae dun the dirty wae him yet or are yae just gonna hang around the supermarket wae him aw day?"

I glanced around the shop and didn't see my Gran anywhere, so one of her many minions must have reported back to her.

"Why am I surrounded by stalkers, Granny?"

"Why Lottie, yae huv an active imagination. Yae always did, even as a wean."

"I will see yae tonight, Granny. Love you," I said before hanging up.

"Ur yae gonna dae the dirty wae me, Charlotte?" Samuel said, mimicking my Granny.

"No wonder yae both get on so well," I said, shaking my head before pushing the trolley towards the next aisle. "Wait, what did yae do tae Jamie?" I asked, remembering my question.

When I looked up at his face, I caught a glimpse of red before they returned to their usual almost black colour.

"I simply adjusted his mindset more towards his family," he said before he put his arm around my waist and began to move me along.

I opened my mouth to speak but stopped again because my sister and niece were happier with the new and improved version of Jamie. Whenever I saw him he was extremely polite and stayed well away from my person to the point that my mother asked me if anything had happened between us.

I focused on Mr Wilson's shopping list again because I wasn't going to stress over something that, in the grand scheme of things, had a positive impact on my family's life.

∞∞∞

Be ready for 7 pm. We are going out for dinner.

I ignored his message because he was sitting next to me. He was one obsessed vampire, but my family loved him. It had been almost a week since he came to dinner at my house. He'd acted like a perfect gentleman, and my parents annoyingly welcomed him with open arms. I had to admit that he got ten out of ten for tenacity. No matter what I threw at him, he seemed to pass every test.

Work was so much more fun with Samuel with me. We were sitting at the pharmacy waiting for my client's prescriptions. He never seemed to get impatient, no matter what my job entailed. His super-fast speed and strength came in handy, especially when I helped my more infirm clients.

I got another message, and I rolled my eyes and turned my phone over.

Ur yae getting some condoms?

It wasn't Samuel, but my Gran this time.

Granny was doing ma head in. It was my fault for teaching her how to use the smartphone I'd bought for her. I wouldn't be surprised if she had a sex tape uploaded somewhere by now. My poor Grandad, I don't know how he'd managed to keep up with her. I didn't bother to see who was around me because one of her minions could have seen us through the pharmacy window from the main street.

No, I don't like the feel of them. Plus, I thought you wanted more great grand weans.

Happy with my response, I turned the phone back around, but when I felt Samuel's eyes on me, I glanced at him, and he looked peaky. I didn't think Vampires could get ill.

"Ur yae alright?" I asked with a frown.

Was there such a thing as a vampire medical professional? Or did sucking blood ail all problems?

He slowly shook his head but kept his eyes on me.

"Charlotte, we won't need any condoms tonight," he murmured with his intense dark eyes on me. The artificial lights in the chemist seemed to reflect brightly in the dark ebony pools, and I couldn't look away from his shining orbs of darkness.

I slowly swallowed because I couldn't deny my attraction to him, but before I could say anything, Lorna shouted my name. When I stood up to go to the counter, Samuel slipped his hand into mine and walked with me. Lorna grinned at us as she looked at our hands.

Damn it. The entire town was talking about us.

"Yer Gran just text me asking me no tae gie yae any condoms," she said with a snigger.

I groaned and wanted the earth to swallow me up, but Samuel began to chuckle.

"I love Granny Glenda," he whispered to me.

I snatched the white paper bags from Lorna's hand and practically ran out of the chemist. They were all going to drive me crazy.

∞∞∞

I'd chosen my dress carefully for tonight. It was a black and red sleeveless dress that was tight at the bodice but flared out at my hips. I slipped into my shiny black toeless shoes with red heels to match my dress. Once I put my matching red lipstick on, I had a final look in the full-length mirror on my wardrobe. I pushed my hair back and checked how I looked from the side before smoothing down the dress's material. Since he wouldn't tell me where we were going, I opted for smart rather than casual. He didn't seem like the type to take me to a fast-food chain or the local pub. The heels gave me a bit of height, which I needed with Samuel.

For the amount of walking I did for work, it was rare that I wore heels. It felt nice getting dressed up for a change. I'd convinced Samuel to ditch the car on the drier days or when I had less shopping to get in for people. He seemed to enjoy the walks after he got over the initial complaining.

The doorbell chimed, and I took a deep breath. I was going on my first date with a freaking vampire.