Christian glanced at Carolyn curiously. Just moments ago he'd been standing on his terrace, staring down at her villa below. He was supposed to be trying to sleep so that the shared dreams would come, but sleep had evaded him and he'd pulled his clothes back on and walked outside to simply stare down on her lighted villa as his mind filled with imaginings of what he would do to, and with her, once they'd gotten past all this and were lifemates. His fantasies had definitely been in the not-gay category, but had been interrupted when he'd seen her leave the villa to start walking down the road.
Christian couldn't have stayed on that terrace had his feet been Krazy Glued to the tiles. He'd leaped over the railing and run down through the sloping hill of vines and foliage to the road, then continued past her villa and down to the next road so that he could come up the lane in front of her as if their meeting was accidental.
"Stuff I'll need to get to know you better before I'll be comfortable discussing it," Carolyn added, drawing his mind back to their conversation.
Christian murmured in understanding, but wondered what the "stuff" was. He didn't ask though. He suspected he was on shaky ground at the moment. The minute he'd left her at her villa Christian had begun to worry that the kiss may have scared her off. He was walking a fine line here, using the cover of homosexuality to keep her from avoiding him so that he could build a relationship and earn her trust, while also fighting an attraction that was only going to grow between them.
The irony that he was lying to gain her trust didn't escape him. Although he wasn't the one who had actually spoken the lie, Gia had. But he'd let it stand and furthered it. As for the growing attraction, that was going to be the hardest part. Even now it was a struggle not to simply pull her into his arms and kiss her again.
That kiss at her door had hit him even harder than the ear nuzzling earlier. It had been too long since he'd experienced desire for him to be able to handle it with any kind of equanimity. It had been centuries since he'd even been interested in sex. That wasn't uncommon for his people.
They often became weary of food and sex after a century or two. Both became more a bother than a pleasure, so immortals generally stopped troubling with them.
His interest in food had ended by the time he was about a century and a half old, sex at about the same time.
Both had just slowly seemed to lose their flavor and excitement.
But since encountering Carolyn his long dead desire was like a lion in his gut, yawning itself awake and hungry after a long sleep. If he hadn't been aware of everyone waiting and watching in the bus, Christian wasn't sure he could have ended that good-night kiss as he had. He certainly hadn't wanted to. He'd wanted to peel away her clothes and-Hell, had he followed his instincts, Christian wasn't sure he could have managed the willpower to take her inside, he might have ravished her right there against the door, or on the cold stone walk.
He definitely needed to keep his hands and mouth off her when they were alone, Christian acknowledged grimly.
He just hoped he could do it.
Grimacing at the thought, he tuned back in to Carolyn's voice as she chattered away about St. Lucia. She was much more relaxed than when he'd first encountered her.
It reassured him that he'd chosen the right tactic by voicing an apology and mentioning the bit about avoiding the others to avoid the need to kiss her again. If the passion of their kiss had scared her, his words had obviously reassured her.
"I was really bummed when we got here and I saw all the honeymooners around," she was admitting now. "And then with Bethany out of commission... well, it was really getting depressing. It'll be nice to have a buddy to hang around with."
Buddy? Christian grimaced, but kept his mouth shut.
Friend first, lover second, and then spill the beans and convince her to turn and be your lifemate, he reminded himself grimly of the plan.
"But it is a lovely spot," Carolyn continued. "Even at night."
"Yes." He glanced around. It was lovely, but he doubted she could see just how lovely with her mortal eyesight. He could give her the gift of seeing at night. He'd like to see her reaction once she had immortal eyes.
"Oh, good, the bar's still open," Carolyn said as they walked through the main building several moments later.
Christian glanced ahead and could see the bar lights twinkling over the happy guests.
"I hope my purse is still there," Carolyn said fretfully.
"I can't believe I left it behind. I guess I was a little distracted."
Christian supposed the distraction had been her eagerness to escape him. He was sure that was the reason she'd decided to leave once they'd gotten back from the beach.
He'd known he'd upset her by asking about her husband, but hadn't realized how much until they got back to the table. He would definitely steer clear of the subject for a while. At least until he was sure it wouldn't send her running again.
"Darn, it's not there."
Christian followed Carolyn's gaze to the table they'd sat earlier. It was now occupied by a couple in their thirties who were smiling and kissing each other, but he could see that there was no purse on the table.
"Oh, pretty lady!"
Christian turned a scowl on the bartender at the call and followed when Carolyn headed that way.
"You forgot this." Smiling widely, the man reached under the bar to retrieve a small black purse.
"Oh, thank you!" Carolyn rushed the last few feet to claim it, laughing and relaxed again. "I was afraid it was gone for good when I didn't see it there."
"No. I saw it when I was clearing the table and brought it here. I knew you would come back for it," the bartender assured her.
"Thank you," Carolyn opened her purse. "Let me tip you."
"No, no, you buy a drink, I take a tip, but otherwise, it's not necessary."
"Oh." Carolyn frowned.
"Let's have a drink then," Christian said, his scowl fading as the man inadvertently offered him an opportunity to get to spend more time with Carolyn.
"Oh, but I have to get up early to meet Genie for breakfast before she starts work," she said reluctantly.
"One drink," Christian coaxed.
Carolyn hesitated, then nodded, "All right then. But I can't stay long."
"Right. We'll be fast," Christian assured her.
Carolyn turned to the bartender, taking out her money.
"I'll have a white wine, please, and whatever he's having."
Christian caught her hand and urged her away. "I'll get it."
"But-"
"I'll tip him. Besides, I want something to eat. I haven't eaten in a while." For about three and a half centuries, he added silently as his eye was caught by a passing waitress with a tray of something giving off the most delectable smells.
"Oh." She hesitated.
"Go find us a table. I'll follow with the drinks." Christian watched as Carolyn turned to survey the available tables. When she started to move off, he pulled out his wallet and asked the bartender. "What's good?"
"Our wraps are very popular," he said at once.
"Two of those then, please, and-"
He paused, at a loss as to what to order to drink. It had been a while since he'd indulged. Smiling wryly, he said, "Whatever your most popular drink is."
Nodding, the bartender accepted his money and said, "Go sit down. I will bring your drinks and change."
"No change. Just the drinks," Christian said and turned to follow the path Carolyn had taken. She'd found a table in the corner along the rail overlooking the beach and was peering out over the sand and sea when he joined her.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she said on a little sigh.
"Yes," he agreed without bothering to look. She was the most beautiful thing there was here for him to see. His lifemate. It made her more precious than diamonds and more beautiful than the loveliest flower to him.
Carolyn turned and smiled at him. "So tell me how you got into music."
Christian hesitated and frowned. She needed to get to know him to trust him. The problem was in this area, as with most others, he had to be careful. He couldn't tell her he'd been born in the late 15th century, etc. etc.
"The usual," he said finally, deciding just to avoid too much detail. "I liked music, so my father suggested I try various instruments. I showed an aptitude for the violin, so he sent for a teacher to give me classical training."
"Classical training?" Carolyn said with amusement.
Christian smiled faintly. That was pretty much the only kind of training there had been back then, but he supposed it surprised her because he played in a rock band. "Yes, classical. He hired the best in the country to teach me. I think he was hoping I would become an Italian Johannes de Sarto... Sarto was a Franco/Flemish composer who was popular a long time ago," he explained when she looked blank at the name.
"Ah." She nodded and then smiled wryly. "I take it your interests didn't lie in that area though?"
"They did for a while, but it got boring playing the same songs over and over again. So I put down the violin and went to work for the family instead, and then picked it up and put it down over and over. I guess this is one of my picking-it-up-again phases."
"Hard-rock violin?" Carolyn asked with a grin.
Christian chuckled. "Gia dragged me into it. Come play with us, she said. I did, and-"
He shrugged. "I like it. It's more interesting. The music gets into your blood.
I've been playing with the band for ten years and am not yet bored."
Carolyn's eyes widened. "You must have been a child prodigy."
He shrugged. "I was five when I started to play."
"Ah." She nodded. "And then Gia dragged you into the band. What was it? A high school band in someone's garage?"
"Oh, God no. We were well out of school when we started. No doubt old enough to know better," he added with a laugh that faded when he saw the way she was looking at him. "What?"
"Ten years ago you couldn't have been more than fifteen or sixteen," she said slowly. "And you said you put down the violin and worked for the company several times before that, but-"
"I'm older than I look," he interrupted quietly.
"Gia said that too," Carolyn murmured, peering at him more closely.
He'd thought he was being careful, but he'd obviously have to watch every word he said. Carolyn wasn't a stupid woman. Much to his relief the bartender arrived then with their drinks to distract her.
Christian picked up his drink to try it, searching his mind for a way to keep her distracted from his slip. But he grimaced and set the drink down after tasting it. It was far too sweet. He'd much preferred the drink he'd tried earlier, the slushy green one Genie had ordered and he'd copied. That had been sweet/tart, much more to his taste.
He would have ordered it again if he'd thought of it.
"No good?" Carolyn asked sympathetically.
"I preferred the earlier drink," he muttered. "But the bartender said these were popular."
"I like the sweet/tart of lime margaritas too," she said wryly. "Not too keen on sweet, sweet drinks."
"No." Christian repeated lime margarita in his head several times to be sure he recalled it for the next time.
Not having consumed anything but blood for centuries, it was hard to know what he would and wouldn't like whether it was food or drink. Everything was new to him now.
"How old were you when-"
"Oh look, the food's here," Christian interrupted with relief as a waitress approached with two plates.
Carolyn glanced around and they both sat back as the waitress set the plates on the table.
"Thank you," Christian said, and then lifted his drink.
"Could you take this away and bring me one of those slushy lime margaritas?"
She took the glass with a smile. "Of course. I'll have this taken off your bill."
"Oh, no, that's not necessary. I..." Christian let his words trail off. The woman had just walked away with the drink.
Carolyn chuckled at his vexed expression. "It won't go on the bill."
"But I ordered it," he pointed out.
"On the bartender's recommendation and you didn't like it," she argued.
"She didn't know that."
"Yeah, but they're all about service here, and considering the prices, they can afford to be," she said with a shrug.
Christian peered at her silently. It was pricey here, and it made him wonder how she afforded it. She'd started life poor and worked hard to get a degree and a good job, but had the money situation changed that much through her hard work? Or had she married money? Unfortunately, he couldn't ask without touching on her marriage, which was a subject he had to avoid to prevent her from withdrawing again. Or, at least, he'd have to approach it like disarming a bomb, delicately and with a prayer on his lips.
"What's this?" Carolyn asked curiously, examining the rolled sandwich and chips on her plate.
"The bartender called it a wrap."
"I can see it's a wrap," she said with amusement. "What kind is it?"
"Oh." He hesitated but then grimaced. "I'm not sure.
He said it was the house specialty and popular, so I ordered us both one," Christian answered and then smiled wryly and pointed out, "Mind you, considering the lack of success of his recommended drink, however, this could be a mistake."
Carolyn chuckled, but shook her head. "I don't know.
It smells delicious."
Christian had to agree. The wrap was looking more promising than the drink had turned out to be. His stomach apparently agreed. Deprived of anything but blood for centuries and not complaining about it before this, it now gave a rumble loud enough that Carolyn actually heard it.
She laughed at his embarrassed expression. "You'd better feed that beast or it might crawl up your throat and do it for you."
Christian smiled faintly, and picked up one half of the sliced wrap. He peered curiously at the pinwheel opening, trying to sort out what was in it. It looked like chicken, rice, peas, and other vegetables.
"Mmmm." That moan from Carolyn drew his gaze to see that she'd taken a bite and was now rolling her eyes with apparent pleasure. "Try it. It's good."
Christian needed no further prompting. He took a bite, and immediately closed his eyes as flavor drenched his tongue. Food. Dear God, it had been centuries since food had appealed to him, but even when he'd been eating, he didn't recall anything having tasted this good.
"Good, huh?" Carolyn asked with amusement.
Christian opened his eyes and stared at her, knowing she was the only reason the wrap tasted as good as it did.
She'd not only reawakened all his appetites, but added an extra sparkle and excitement to them... and all with the simple fact of her existence.
It was rather bewildering really, Christian thought.
He had no idea how the nanos chose mates, or how his mother seemed to sense when someone was a possible lifemate for an immortal... and really, Carolyn was the most unlikely lifemate he could have imagined. A wounded bird. But then, so had he been until little more than a year ago. Not as wounded as Carolyn perhaps, but wounded just the same. A son without a mother until Marguerite reentered his life. And Carolyn was a woman without a family. He could give her that. Parents-in-law, grandparents, and even brothers and sisters and a niece, as well as all the cousins and aunts and uncles anyone could want. Probably more family than any sane person would want to interfere in their life, he thought wryly.
"What are you smiling about?" Carolyn asked curiously.
"My family," he admitted honestly, and when her eyebrows rose, he shrugged. "You make me think of them."
She blinked and then chuckled. "If you were straight, I think I'd be insulted. Fortunately, you aren't, so..." She shrugged. "I think I understand. You make me think of Brent too, and he's the closest thing I have to family."
Great, Christian thought on a sigh. He reminded her of her gay buddy. Wow, was that sexy or what?
"I didn't realize how much I've missed him until now," Carolyn said suddenly.
"Do you see him at all?" Christian asked.
"Oh sure, I go to BC at least once a year and he and Stanley come to Ontario two or three times a year to see his family. We get together then."
Christian wanted to ask what Brent had thought of her husband, but knew better than to broach that subject.
The waitress arrived then with his margarita and he thanked her and took a drink, relieved to find it as good as he'd recalled. They ate in silence for a bit, and then Carolyn asked, "Do you travel a lot with the band?"
Christian took a drink to clear his throat and shook his head. "We mostly play locally. This is the first time we've played away from home."
"Really?" She didn't hide her surprise. "You're very good. I would have thought you'd be in demand all over."
Christian shrugged. "We've had requests to do gigs farther away, but always turned them down."
"Why?"
"Because we all have day jobs we can't be away from."
"Really?" That had her curious. "What do you do during the day?"
"I work for the family construction firm. Most of us do," Christian added. It was how they'd gotten time off so easily. Marguerite wanted them here, so Julius, his father, and their boss, had said to come. Christian also did occasional work for the council as an enforcer, but he couldn't tell her about that.
"I can see you in construction," Carolyn decided, her gaze sliding over his shoulders and chest.
Christian's body reacted as if she'd physically touched him. His nipples even hardened, something he didn't think anything but cold could cause. Well, at least not in a man. It had certainly never happened to him before that he'd noticed.
"I can see you working a jackhammer or slinging a sledgehammer," she said with a nod and took a drink of her wine.
Christian chuckled. "Nothing so physical. I'm basically an overseer. I check on the sites, make sure they're keeping on schedule, handle any problems that arise to hold up jobs."
"Oh," she sighed with feigned disappointment. "Well, scratch the sexy image of you shirtless and sweaty with a hard hat on."
Christian's eyes widened incredulously. Was she flirting?
That had sounded flirty. On the other hand she thought he was gay, so probably felt safe flirting with him now. This was definitely going to be a challenge, he decided.
"So which do you prefer?" Carolyn asked as she picked up her wine for a sip.
"Construction or music you mean?" he asked and when she nodded, he considered the question briefly. "Music."
"Then why not give up your day job and pursue music full time?"
"Because none of us is interested in fame and fortune, and the way things are, we can play our music without worrying about either."
"I thought every musician wanted to be famous," Carolyn said with surprise.
Christian shrugged. "Perhaps they do. I don't know.
I'm sure there are some who aren't interested in it, and just want to do what they love. Perhaps they want their music to gain acclaim, but I doubt anyone wants the kind of fame that plagues performers now. We certainly don't." It would make life very difficult to have their faces splashed everywhere. Perhaps not right away, but that kind of fame would make it hard to be anonymous and hide what they were since they didn't age.
"Okay, but what about fortune?" she asked.
"All of us already have fortunes, or are well on the way to it," he said with disinterest. For some reason that made Carolyn still.
"You do?" she asked with obvious surprise.
Christian nodded and took another bite of his wrap, wondering what had caused the odd expression now on her face. He wasn't even sure what the look was, a sort of stunned one, but with something else, something akin to, but not quite, longing. Finally, he asked, "What?"
Carolyn shook her head and smiled crookedly. "Nothing.
You're just enough to make a gal wish you were fifteen years older and straight."
"After my money, huh?" he teased, not believing it for a moment. He didn't yet know how she'd gotten it, but she had money. Her clothes and the few pieces of jewelry she wore said as much, not to mention the fact that she was staying in a villa. Genie might be a friend, but he didn't think she could get Carolyn and her friend a reduction on the price of the villa they were in, and he knew they didn't come cheap. He'd made arrangements to switch the billing for their villa to him before they'd gone down to the bar to perform and the price had raised his eyebrows.
"Yeah, that's me. The gold-digging divorcee, looking for her next victim."
Christian eyed her silently. There was something in her tone of voice that sounded almost like bitterness. It raised questions in him, but questions he couldn't ask without touching too close to her marriage.
"Julius is your older brother, right?" Carolyn asked suddenly.
Christian hesitated. He didn't want to lie to her, but she wouldn't believe him if he claimed Julius Notte as his father. Finally he said, "Julius is older than me."
"And the construction company, it's the family business?" she asked.
He nodded.
"So, what about your parents? Are they retired?" Carolyn sipped her wine.
"My parents are presently on an extended vacation," he said carefully. It wasn't a lie, a honeymoon could be considered a vacation... couldn't it?
"Any other siblings besides Julius?" she asked.
"Three half-brothers and a half-sister, through my mother." A smile curved his lips as he thought about the relatives he'd just recently become acquainted with.
"Wow, a big family then," she said enviously. "What are their ages? I'm guessing Julius is the oldest if he runs the company. How many years are there between you?"
Christian silently cursed. There was no way to answer without lying through his teeth, so he did the only thing he could think to do and stuffed his mouth with food while he scrambled to come up with a way to deflect the question.
"Hey, you two," Gia said brightly, suddenly appearing at the table.
"Gia, hi." Carolyn smiled at his cousin as she joined them.
Christian merely grunted and continued to chew, but knew Gia had just saved his bacon. He also had no doubt his mother had sent the woman down to keep an eye on things in case he needed help. Christian just wondered how long and where exactly she'd been skulking around.
He hadn't seen her approach.
"You couldn't sleep either?" Carolyn pushed away her half eaten sandwich.
"Jet lag is a bitch," Gia said wryly. "Makes me glad I don't have to travel much."
"Yeah, Christian was telling me you guys only play locally," Carolyn said. "Do you work for the family company too?"
"No, I'm a hunter," Gia answered and Christian froze.
When Gia's expression froze as well, he realized she'd recognized the slip, but before either of them could react, Carolyn said, "A corporate headhunter?"
Christian relaxed as Gia quickly nodded. "Yes, a corporate head hunter."
"Really?" Carolyn smiled. "I use those all the time.
Do you work only in Europe or do you do work in Canada and the U.S. too?"
"Mostly Europe," Gia murmured.
"That's a shame. I haven't been too happy with the company we usually hire. If you worked in the U.S. and Canada I'd have hired your firm next time." She laughed and added, "I already know you can be persuasive at getting someone to take on a job they may not be eager to do."
Gia and Carolyn chuckled and Christian forced a smile, knowing Carolyn was talking about Gia's persuading her to be his supposed beard.
"Well," Carolyn said, glancing at her wristwatch. "It's good you showed up. You can keep Christian company. I need to get back to the villa and get some sleep."
Christian quickly swallowed his food and stood.
"We'll walk back with you."
"Don't be silly. Stay, finish your-Oh."
She peered blankly as he grabbed up the last of his sandwich and stuffed it in his mouth.
"I guess he's done," Gia said with amusement.
"I guess," Carolyn said dryly, watching him chew and swallow the mammoth mouthful he'd taken.
"Don't forget your purse," Christian said quietly as Carolyn started to turn away from the table.
She came to an abrupt halt and turned back to snatch it up. "That would have been good. Especially since that's what I came down for in the first place."
Christian followed the women out of the restaurant.
He listened idly to their happy chatter all the way to the vans, and then opened the door and saw them in. He then closed the door and climbed into the front passenger seat, leaving them alone together on the first bench seat. It was better that way. Less tempting. He was determined to see her back to her villa without kissing or touching her.
The moment the van stopped, he was out and opening the door for her.
"Thank you." Carolyn took his offered hand to disembark.
When he released her, she turned toward the stone path to her villa, saying, "Good night."
"Good night," Christian said quietly as he closed the door. He watched her walk away as he got back into the van. The moment she slipped inside, the driver pulled away and Christian forced himself to relax back in his seat.
"Are you going to try to sleep again?" Gia asked as they walked from the van to their own villa moments later.
Christian grimaced. "I slept all afternoon. I'm not likely to sleep now. It's why I was awake to see her leave for the lounge earlier."
Gia nodded. "Your parents saw you leave. Marguerite called and asked me to keep an eye on the two of you and make sure you didn't need help."
"She has such faith in my abilities," he said wryly, opening the door for Gia.
Gia chuckled as she entered the villa. "She was only worried because you can't control or wipe Carolyn's mind and she feared she might ask something that you would have difficulty answering honestly... as she did," she pointed out dryly.
"Yeah." Christian followed her inside. "Thanks for intervening."
"Hey, you're my favorite cousin," she said lightly, bumping his arm with her shoulder, and then added with a grin, "Well, one of them."
"Right," he said with a laugh.
"So what are you going to do?" she asked, as she closed the door.
"Wait for dawn and then find her tomorrow morning, spend the day with her, and earn her trust."
"Out in sunlight?" she asked with concern. "And when will you sleep?"
"I'll sleep tomorrow night. By then I ought to conk right out. And I don't see any alternative to going out in daylight. Between the shows at night and her mortal hours, it's the only way to spend more than a couple of hours a day with her. I need to gain her trust."
Gia nodded solemnly. "Well, you may as well come hang with us then. Maybe you can get Zanipolo to shut up about Carolyn's thinking he must be the gay one. He's questioned why she would think that ever since returning.
He's now determined to cut his hair and grow a beard to look more manly."
Christian chuckled and followed her from the foyer.
