‘Did you find somewhere?’ Wladek asks, making me jump even though he’s speaking at a perfectly ordinary volume. I press my hands between the bench and my thighs to steady them.
Bram looks up from the phone and shakes his head. ‘No luck anywhere. I even went back to the bar– figured I could always get some earplugs.’ He scrubs a hand over his stubble. ‘But Quinn already offered the sofa to Sammi. She was at a loose end too, and she’ll sleep through anything.’
Wladek blows a breath out. ‘Same story on the WhatsApp group. Everyone’s full to bursting.’ Wladek’s smile is also a wince, and his fangs distort the shape of his lips with the movement. ‘Sorry, kid.’
I feel Bram’s sigh to my bones. ‘It’s the Goth Weekend,’ he says, with a shrug of defeat. ‘Every bed, sofa and coffin in this town is spoken for.’
I can’t help but notice thecoffinhe slipped in there, and a shiver slips up my spine at the memory of my vampire encounter last night. Guilt is hot on its heels, though. Noteverysofa is spoken for.
It’s not my fault. I shouldn’t feel bad in the slightest that I’m sleeping in a beautiful little cottage while this man gets turfed out on the streets through no fault of his own. It isn’t my problem to fix– I know it isn’t.
But God help me, I’m going to try and fix it anyway.
I think of Mina’s words from last night, spoken without even the faintest scrap of doubt in her voice.You can trust him, she’d said.He’s a good guy.Hadn’t Peggy just said the same thing? And I can’t deny that he was the perfect guest last night. I mean, after all the accidental nakedness, of course. When I finally ventured downstairs this morning, I even found that he’d washed both our mugs up and left the damp tea towel neatly folded over the radiator.
‘You could stay on the sofa in the annexe?’ I blurt, before I can overthink it, and three sets of eyes turn to me at once.
‘Lucy, no,’ Bram says, a look of shock on his face, which for some reason makes me all the more determined to do the right thing.
‘It’s better than a park bench,’ I say, with a shrug. I’m trying to play off as casual, though in reality it feels anything but. Something about the intensity of his stare burning into me is making my pulse pick up. A moment passes, and he shakes his head, his forehead furrowing into a frown.
‘I can’t impose on you like that.’
But he needs this, and I know it. ‘I’m offering,’ I say, meeting his eyes steadily, like I did last night. Letting him know I’m not scared of him. Who knows, maybe I should be. But it’s just for a couple of days.
He doesn’t say anything, and I can almost see the conflicting emotions warring behind his eyes.
‘We actually have a roll-up camping mattress and a sleeping bag you can borrow,’ Peggy says then, dusting floury hands on her apron before propping them on her hips.
Wladek nods in response. ‘We do! I know the annexe is tiny but if you move that coffee table under the window there should be just enough room.’
‘Might be more comfortable than twisting yourself into knots on the sofa,’ I say, and then I’m immediately flooded by regret when Bram’s eyes dart back to mine. I feel like I’ve confessed something. My cheeks burn with embarrassment, and he looks away, up at the ceiling and then down at the floor, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows.
He takes a deep breath and then blows it out all at once. ‘I want it known that I don’t feel comfortableat allwith invading your space,’ he says, a note of acceptance in his voice now. His phone rings and he swipes to silence it, hiseyes piercing mineagain. ‘But,’ he continues, more slowly, ‘I’m going to say yes. Mainly because I’ve got no other choice.’
Wladek beams a big, toothy grin at me. ‘It’s awfully good of you, Lucy.’
Bram chances a smile too, and though his is more guarded, it’s no less grateful. ‘I’ll stay out of your hair as much as I can,’ he says. His voice is warm, genuine. ‘And thank you.’
‘You’re a lifesaver,’ Peggy says, and the look on her face, on all of their faces, actually, makes me warm with satisfaction. It’s a familiar feeling. I’m not good at a lot of things, but I’m good at making people happy. I mean, some might say I sacrifice my own needs to achieve it, but that’s just me.
Lucy Partridge: people-pleaser extraordinaire.
I mean, hey, what’s the worst that could happen? Ok fine, the worst that could happen is that everyone’s wrong about him and he murders me and buries me in the garden to spend eternity under the watchful gaze of that bloody vampire statue, but that’s just my stupid imagination talking.
Everything will be fine. It’s just one weekend.
Chapter Four
BRAM
Samira is playing pool in the storeroom when I find her.
She’s our business manager, though you wouldn’t know it to look at her– in yesterday’s clothes and with her hair sticking up in every conceivable direction, she looks as if she couldn’t manage her way out of a paper bag. But she’s as sharp as a razor when she’s in the zone.
She’s a lawyer in her day job, which I couldn’t believe until I saw her in action. Turns out she can talk her way into or out ofanything.
And yes, our business manager has a day job. What can I say, running a Dracula-themed bar in a seaside town isn’t making us millions. She spends four days a week doing her lawyer thing, and the rest of the time she devotes to Bitten.