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Dane was impressed with Jacqueline for having shared her story. He could see how reluctant she’d been to do so. Him? He figured it was the only way to heal from the trauma and the whole change-to-their-lives aspect. He was fortunate his brothers were behind him all the way. Of course, they were angry with him for going off alone to fight, but he’d had his reasons. Still, he felt a hunter might have even been responsible for setting him up, if Lucilla hadn’t lied to him about it. He still couldn’t believe someone close to him could have been involved in his downfall either. He needed proof though. Which is why he didn’t mention at the meeting any names or that a hunter and someone close to him might be responsible. It would be irresponsible to out any hunter who might not have been involved in any kind of shenanigans. He hadn’t even mentioned it to his brothers who would be sure to take down a hunter or two if they believed their actions had led Dane to have his current vampiric condition.
He couldn’t believe Stacey had sex with a guy she thought was human and turned out to be a rogue vampire though. That was one for the books. At least Anne and Jacqueline had both opened up more about how they truly felt about being hunters turned vampires. He wasn’t really able to do that yet. Maybe in the future.
He had wanted to change out of his bloody shirt before he came into the meeting, but he hadn’t had a spare one with him and if he’d returned home to do so, he wouldn’t have made it back in time for the meeting. As it was, he was a quarter of an hour late. Besides, he figured whoever was there would be used to seeing someone after a fight with vampires. He really thought some other men would be here too, so he felt a little uncomfortable that he was the only male here who had been turned. Maybe in the future, they would have more men in the meeting. Though being with all the ladies had been a boost to his ego when he’d kind of needed it.
He still couldn’t quite figure out Jacqueline. She was a gorgeous redhead with penetrating blue eyes. She looked like she could fight most any rogue vampire without any problem.
Anne and Stacey were intrigued with him. Jacqueline seemed to be immune to him—in a way—like she was trying really hard to not show she was interested in him. Maybe. Perhaps he was seeing things into it that were not truly there.
That was one of the problems he was having with being both a hunter and a vampire. He couldn’t quite figure out his place in the world, so he was glad that some of the women who were in the same boat as him seemed to think he was all right. Like Jacqueline, he’d been engaged to be married and that went out the door as soon as his fiancée learned he had been turned. She might have come back to him in time when she realized he hadn’t changed all that much, but her parents were dead set on him never showing up on their doorstep again. Period. And she was close to her parents, so it was a foregone conclusion marrying her wasn’t a viable option any longer.
“Well, if no one has anything else to add,” Anne said, “we’ll meet the same time next week, and I’ll be sure to bring a new coffee pot, coffee, and filters. Oh, and I’ve shared everyone’s emails and phone numbers with everyone else so we can do group chats or individual chats if anyone is in need of an understanding ear.” Anne was a pretty woman who was in great shape and probably could take most of the rogue vampires out that she had to fight. She was a vibrant brunette with dark chocolate eyes, and he was glad she had organized the group.
“Thanks,” Dane said.
Stacey and Jacqueline also thanked her, and then Stacey rose from her seat, waiting for Dane to stand and walk out with her. Dane stood, but he wasn’t leaving yet. He knew Stacey was hoping to make a deeper connection with him. She was a lovely dark-haired woman with soft green bedroom eyes, but he wasn’t biting.
Jacqueline was still sitting, and he suspected she wanted them to leave before she did so she could avoid talking to them. Finally, Jacqueline let out her breath and said, “Night, all. See you next week.” She rose from her chair suddenly and stalked off.
“Until next week,” Dane said, and found himself inexplicably trying to catch up to Jacqueline.
Stacey hurried after him, and Anne closed the door to the meeting room and followed the rest of them out. Jacqueline suddenly vanished, surprising him.
“Don’t you hate it when they do that?” Stacey asked, catching up to Dane and taking hold of his arm.
He was not into women who forced themselves on him. Though, as he left the building and saw Jacqueline driving off in a black sedan, he wasn’t used to women fleeing from him either. He smiled. He had every intention of getting to know her better. She was a challenge and a puzzle, and he loved managing both.
“So do you have anything going on tonight?” Stacey asked him as he pulled his arm free of her hand.
“Yeah, sleep. I’ve been busy the last few days and if I’m going to continue doing my job, I’ve got to get some rest.” Would he have said that to Jacqueline had she asked him the same question? No way in hell. He would have had a cup of coffee with her, though he guessed that wouldn’t have been a great option the way he was dressed right now.
“Oh, yeah, me too. But you know you can call me or email me, text me, whatever, any time,” Stacey said.
Anne locked the door behind her to the building and said, “We need to do group emails, no dating between males and females. Unless one of you is gay and then you can share chats and the like. But no romantic involvements while we’re trying to sort out our feelings.”
Stacey looked at Dane as if she was hoping he would tell Anne that he wouldn’t go along with it.
He smiled. “Yeah, Anne’s right. If a guy joins the group, I can meet up with him to discuss how I’m feeling and vice versa. Unless he’s gay and then Stacey can talk to him.”
Stacey shrugged, then got into her chartreuse-colored, Flower Power VW Bug. She smiled and waved at him and drove off.
Anne just smiled and got into her Jeep. “See you next week.”
“Unless I’m fighting evil, I’ll be here.” He got into his black pickup and followed them off the parking lot, thinking maybe this therapy group wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all. Of course, as soon as he was in his vehicle, he swore his brothers knew it and one of his middle brothers Ryan called him right away.
“So, how did it go?”
“Better than I expected. It’s kind of too early to tell.”
“How many showed up?” Ryan asked.
“There were only four of us. The other three were women.” All three were damned attractive too and none of them appeared to have any mates.
“Bummer,” Ryan said, sounding facetious.
Dane knew he was thinking he had all the luck. But really, all of them had issues, so it wasn’t like they were all there to get together for fun. Well, maybe Stacey was. Anne seemed to have a good head on her shoulders. All four of them seemed to be about the same age. But Jacqueline was the one who really intrigued him. Go figure.
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