15. Maisie

Chapter fifteen

Maisie

When I wake up the next morning, I’m tucked under a warm comforter, alone.

I sit up, looking around for any sign of Barnaby, but he’s gone. In his wake, though, I can smell something absolutely marvelous in the air.

Bacon .

Leaping out of bed, I grab my clothes off the floor and hurriedly put them on. The smell has triggered a deep and powerful hunger in me, and I wonder if it’s because of all the blood I lost last night. I desperately need food, and I need it now.

When I come down the stairs, I find Barnaby in the kitchen, flipping bacon over in a pan. In another pan, he’s cooking what appears to be French toast. I’m giddy at the idea of so much food.

He glances up as I approach in my bare feet, and a slight smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. He’s dressed, but not in his usual stuffy clothes. Instead, he wears a collared shirt with the top few buttons open, and soft pants cling to his rather perfect ass. I take him in, and for a moment, I wonder what it would be like to wake up to this every morning.

I approach him from behind and slip my arms around his waist. He tenses, though, so I release him.

“Are you all right?” I nuzzle his back with my nose. Barnaby sighs and lets one of his hands drop to mine, covering it where it rests across his belly.

“Yes.”

Satisfied, I let him go and sit down at the table, where a cup of black coffee is waiting for me.

“Coffee?” I’m pleasantly surprised.

Barnaby glances at me over his shoulder. “I remember what it was like to have a fresh cup of hot tea in the morning. I figured you would want some.”

“I didn’t think you would have coffee,” I say, sipping it. Oh, wow, that’s good.

“I purchased some.” He turns his head away with a somewhat bashful expression. “I didn’t know if you would be staying over, but I wanted to be prepared if you did.”

That warms me even more than the coffee does. He anticipated my needs, even though they are no longer his needs.

“Thank you.” I say it as sincerely as possible. “This means a lot to me.”

“No problem.” He doesn’t say anything else as he flips the French toast, so we fall into silence while he cooks. A few minutes later, he removes something from the oven, and brings over a plate with bacon, eggs, and toast, then sets it in front of me. He sits at the table, too, and there’s a color in his face I’ve never seen before.

“You look good,” I remark as I stuff some bacon in my mouth. “And this is heavenly.”

“Good.” Barnaby nods. “I’m glad it pleases you.”

It’s utterly perfect, but he doesn’t speak while I eat. When I’m finally finished, I offer to clean up, but he refuses again.

“Adeline will take care of it later,” he says. “I need to go open the store soon.”

Understanding that it’s time to leave, I quickly wash my face and slip on my shoes.

“Would you like a ride into town?” I ask him.

Barnaby shakes his head. “The walk will do me good.”

It’s a very long way, but I don’t argue. Still, it makes me a little sad. I had wanted to prolong this, to spend more time with him, but I get the sense that he needs his space.

“All right.”

When it’s time to leave, he gives me a light kiss at the front door, and it closes behind me.

The rest of the day, I’m in a daze. All I can think about is Barnaby, how it felt to lie underneath him, to take him inside me with his fangs sunk into my flesh. How did that feel so good? It made my orgasm ten times more intense.

I want him to drink from me every time.

Hiking feels like it’ll take far too much energy, so I decide instead to explore the cove. There’s a small boat that conducts tours, and I sign up for one before boarding with a life jacket on.

It’s an easy trip, and I can zone out listening to the tour guide as she points out each landmark around the cove. We’re given fishing rods, and a few of the other tourists manage to land a fish.

“Be careful,” she tells us. “There are mermaids here. Sometimes they get grumpy with us if we fish too far out.”

I kind of hope I see one. I wonder what a mermaid looks like up close.

As I head back to my apartment that afternoon, I stop at the bookstore to see Barnaby. He’s alone, as usual, reading a book behind the counter.

“Hi,” I say when I step inside.

Barnaby glances up. “Oh, hello.” He sounds unusually cheery. “Have a nice day?”

“Oh yes! Saw the cove, and it was lovely. There’s so much to do and see, and it’s so beautiful.”

When he smiles, it’s surprisingly big and carefree. “That natural beauty is the reason I decided to stay here when I found it. Very few places on earth can offer both the sea and the mountains.”

He’s absolutely right. Somehow I stumbled across the perfect vacation.

Remembering that, though, brings down my mood. I’ve already spent a week and a half here. That leaves just a few weeks until I have to leave again—which means abandoning whatever is budding between us .

It makes my stomach sour to think about. But it also means I can’t waste any time.

“What are you doing after you close up shop?” I ask, sidling up to the counter. I take a quick peek out the front window to see if anyone’s watching, and then lean toward Barnaby, resting on my elbows.

He quirks an eyebrow before he leans against the counter, too, bringing our faces rather close together. “I have not made plans. Well, outside of reading.”

“You could read me another chapter of that book.” I lower my lashes and bat them. His left brow rises. “They’d only just met when we stopped. I want to see the fireworks.”

He seems to realize a little late what I’m insinuating, and his mouth turns up at one side. “I see. I suppose we could read together again.”

“I’d like that.”

Checking once more that we aren’t being watched, I lean forward and peck him quickly on the lips. Barnaby jolts, but I’m already backing away and giving him a tiny wave.

“I’ll see you later?” I ask in a singsong voice.

He rubs his lips like he’s mystified by what I just did, then he slowly nods. “Yes. I’ll close at ten, and we can drive there together.”

“Great.”

I’m ecstatic. He wants a repeat. Most of the time when I hit it off with a guy, I never see him again, so this is a wonderful change of pace.

After quick goodbyes, I head back out of the bookstore, humming a tune under my breath. I might only have a few weeks left, but I’m going to make the absolute best of them.

Someone gasps as I bump into them. I wasn’t paying attention at all to where I was going, and now I’m face-to-face with a small, plump woman wearing a bright pink dress and a straw sun hat.

“Oh, gosh, I’m so sorry,” I say, backing away. “I wasn’t looking where I was going, and—”

“Quite all right!” The woman peels down her sunglasses to get a look at me. “Didn’t find anything you wanted at the bookstore?” She glances down at my empty hands.

I stare at her. “Huh?” Then I realize she probably thinks I’m a customer. “No, no. I’ve already bought, like, three books there. But I’m kind of friends with the owner, and I live upstairs, so—”

The woman gasps. “You’re the renter!” She claps her hands together, and her face is alight. “And you’re friends with Barnaby? Isn’t that lovely!”

I feel immediately like I’ve done something wrong. He will not like this, whatever it is.

“Uh, yeah, I guess so.” I tilt my head, trying to figure out who this woman is. “What’s your name?”

“My apologies.” She tucks her sunglasses away into her purse, then extends a hand to me. I shake it, and her grip is surprisingly firm. “I’m Louise, mayor of Hallow’s Cove.”

I balk. The fucking mayor ? Great. And she probably just saw Barnaby and me making out .

“No need for that look.” She winks at me. “I’m glad to see our resident grouch branching out. It’s good for him.”

“He’s wonderful,” I say. I don’t like that she called him a grouch . “Very, um, accommodating. And welcoming.” Right. He is my landlord, technically.

This only seems to please the mayor even more. Her eyes flick to the bandage on my neck, and she looks like she might just burst with excitement.

“I love to hear that. Maybe you could convince him one of these days to open the antique shop? The street fair was such a success, we’re thinking about hosting one every other week on Thursdays.”

I grimace at the thought. I don’t get the sense Barnaby wants strangers poking through his furniture.

“Just drop the hint,” Louise says, barreling onward. “That place has been shut up for too long. It needs some air.”

She’s not wrong about that. Some of those antiques probably need to be cleaned to help preserve them.

“All right,” I say noncommittally. “I’ll try.”

A wide smile pinches her round cheeks. “Thank you. I think it would be a fun thing for tourists, you know? There’s so much history there.”

“Sure.” I doubt Barnaby will go for the idea, though.

Suddenly, the woman’s face changes . On top of her neck is now Barnaby’s head—a perfect replica. She imitates his voice as she says, “I don’t want greasy hands all over my antiques! ”

I gape at her, completely taken aback. Then Louise shifts to her original face, with its plump cheeks and plump lips.

“I know, I know,” she continues, rolling her eyes. “But I’m sure you can convince him.” She turns on her heel. “Well, I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay in Hallow’s Cove. Don’t hesitate to call the mayor’s office if you need anything!”

With that, she continues off down the sidewalk without even waiting for a response. I stare after her, feeling like I was just hit by a hurricane.

Huh. A mimic, I guess.

Finally, I’m free, so I decide to get a big dinner and stock up for tonight. If Barnaby wants to feed on me again, I’ll need to be prepared.

Lots of iron, you know.