"Vampires tend to be skittish."

I eyed the Russell Security T-shirt that he wore. "I noticed. So they're paranoid?"

"To the extreme," he agreed, sipping his coffee again with a grimace. "Vampires are a dog-eat-dog society. You look at someone's blood partner the wrong way, and you could find yourself with a contract on your head. You go into someone's territory and set up shop, there's a contract on your head. It's like the mafia with fangs. The smart ones lay low or leave town fast."

That sounded awful. There was so much that I didn't know about vampires, and I was quickly realizing that Josh could help fill in some of the fuzzy edges. "So what's a blood partner?"

"A vampire's mate is called a blood partner. Blood partners only drink from each other. And since vampire women are rare, you'll find a lot more single male vampires, since every female that isn't partnered pretty much has her choice of men."

Interesting. That sounded like it could work in my favor. If vampire females were highly prized, my willingness to become a vampire female would probably be looked upon positively. "So why aren't there many vampire females?"

"Same thing as female shifters, I imagine," he said. "You're marrying into a family that's not exactly the most fun to get along with. And I hear it's quite painful for the victim if the turning doesn't take-or it kills them."

That wasn't a deterrent for me. I was dying anyhow, so I'd take my chances. I rubbed my eyes, feeling suddenly a bit tired. The more I found out about vampires, the less I wanted to become one, but I was low on choices. Very low. "So vampires are skittish and think everyone is out to get them. Is that why my date didn't show up?"

"That's my guess. Either that, or he didn't like the way you looked and had second thoughts."

I scowled. "I look perfectly acceptable."

"You're beautiful," he agreed.

I was momentarily flabbergasted. "I . . . thank you."

"To me," he amended. "Vampires like different things."

Oh, I remembered. Badonkadonk. Still, I felt warm under Josh's flattery and didn't even mind the reminder. "So what is it about me you'd change?"

He studied me for a long moment, the intense scrutiny making my cheeks flush. His gaze swept over my face, then my chest, then back over my face again. A smile curved his sexy mouth. "I wouldn't change anything."

My cheeks felt as if they'd been on fire.

"But we're not talking about me. You're talking about hooking a vampire . . . unless you changed your mind and decided you want me instead?"

Figured that he'd bring the conversation back around to how sexy he was. I kicked him under the table. "I didn't change my mind. Tell me about what I need to do to get a vampire."

"You girls and your weird vampire fetishes," he said with a shake of his head. "You know dating a vampire's not like it is on TV, right?"

"I'm not stupid."

"No, you're not, but I am questioning your taste in men." At my glare, he raised a placating hand. "Fine, then. Let's start with the basics. You went through the agency?"

I said nothing, suddenly nervous. Josh was the brother-in-law of my boss. If she knew that I was using the database for my own personal needs, I'd be fired in a red-hot minute. That was a big no-no, especially since I was only a marginal member of the Alliance.

Of course, Bathsheba had dated through the agency herself, once upon a time. Anytime it came up, however, she was quick to explain that it hadn't been her choice-she'd been blackmailed into it to hide the fact that Sara was a werewolf. She didn't want Ryder and me dating through the agency because the fact that a human had used the service had stirred up a real hornet's nest among the shifter clans. Some wanted to date humans, but more of them didn't want us contaminating the works. I could understand it, even if it was cross with all of my own plans.

Josh sighed at my reluctance. "I'm not going to rat on you, Marie. If I was, would we be here?"

I had no idea. But I supposed I had to trust someone-I was getting nowhere fast on my own, and I didn't have a ton of vampires in the database to experiment with. "I'm in the database. As Minnie Michigo. Were-otter."

The nod of approval came slowly. "Michigo was a good choice. Lots of them in the area."

Strange, how flustered I felt when I had his approval. "That's why I picked them. Plus, they're not a bigger predator that could be intimidating."

He nodded again, his expression thoughtful. "Your no-show could have run a background check and found out that Minnie didn't exist." He pulled out his phone and began to flip through screens.

"What are you doing?" I asked warily.

"Looking up Minnie's profile." Then he frowned, looking back up at me. "No picture?"

"I send it if they ask for it," I said defensively. "Why should looks matter?"

"Because you're dealing with men," he said bluntly. "Did you send a picture to this last guy? Send it to me."

I sent the photo to Josh's profile.

His eyes widened. "What the hell is this?"

I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling defensive. "Just a picture I pulled off the internet. I thought it might convey fun and lightheartedness." You know, all those things I wasn't good at myself. "It's kind of a silly pose, but I thought it might look natural."

Josh continued to stare at the picture, and then back at me. "That's not you, right?"

I snorted. "No, that's not me. She's putting her fist in her mouth, and I can't do that."

"Marie," he said slowly. "That's not her fist. That's not even her body part."

I snatched the phone away from him and studied it for a minute . . . good God. "I . . . oh." A hot flush crept over my face, and I quickly handed the phone back to him. "I thought it was just a silly picture," I said defensively.

He threw back his head and laughed. "Well, I think I'm beginning to see why date number three was afraid to meet you."

"Shut up."

Josh only grinned at me. He glanced back down at the picture, shook his head, then clicked his phone off and tossed it on the table. He slouched in the booth, his gaze moving over me.

I internally squirmed. "What?"

"I see three main problems."

"Well, what are they?"

"You sure you want to know?"

Now he was just torturing me. "Of course I want to know," I said, feeling exasperated. "Would I be sitting here in the middle of the night with you if I didn't?"

He winced and clutched a hand to his chest, as if shot through the heart. Those long-lashed eyes closed dramatically. "Marie, that hurts me. Deeply." His tone was playful, but I got the impression that I had actually hurt his feelings.

"You knew why I was coming here," I said. "Either help me, or leave me alone."

"I'll help you, but I have conditions."

"What kind of conditions?"

"If you want to find a vampire, you have to let me help you."

"Isn't that what I'm doing?"

"No," he said. "I mean really help you. You work at a dating agency, right? You help clients make a match." He tapped his chest with a finger, and my gaze went to that tight shirt straining over his big shoulders. "I'm an expert on women."

"I'll just bet you are," I said dryly.

Josh tilted his head, as if studying me. "Don't believe me? I think my track record speaks for itself."

"Oh, it says something, all right. It says that you know how to bait the hook, but-"

"Bait a hook?" he sputtered, laughing.

"-but I haven't seen anything that tells me that you know how to have a relationship," I continued, ignoring his laugh. "You never stick around long enough to find out. You like the chase, Joshua Russell. You get a girl, date her, and then you dump her."

"If we're going to compare fishing to women," he said softly, his eyes gleaming dangerously, "I not only know how to bait the hook but I also know how to reel in my catch. If I'm throwing back what I'm catching, it's because I'm after a different sort of fish."

"The one that got away?" I teased.

He laughed, and the tension was gone. "Something like that."

He made his endless string of dates sound so . . . practical. He stopped dating them because they weren't what he was looking for. That sounded very reasonable. Or was I just falling under his spell? I sighed. "All right. So how can I catch a vampire?"

"You need to be caught by a vampire. There's a difference, and that's where I come in. I'll help you bag a vampire, but you have to take my advice seriously if this is going to work."

I watched him uneasily. It was a generous offer, and yet . . . "I don't understand. What are you getting out of this?"

"How about the knowledge that you'll be safe?" His lips tightened, and I found my gaze going to his warm, curving mouth, framed by a day's stubble. "You're human, and you're pretty much approaching every vampire asking them to date you. That's not the safest situation, Marie. Get mixed up with the wrong vampire, and you could be in trouble."

Danger hadn't been on my mind, it was true. I didn't care about the consequences. I hated that he was making me slow down and think about them. "So this is your knight in shining armor thing? Like you do with her?" I thumbed a gesture at Carol, on the far side of the restaurant, taking an order from a trucker. "Patron saint of lost causes?"

"No," he said bluntly. "This is about me giving you what you think you want. I don't know why on earth you want a vampire, but you're determined to get one. And since you're fixed on this course of action, I'm going to help you." He picked up his coffee cup, realized it was empty, and reached for mine. "I want you to see that you really don't want a vampire. They're not like in the movies."

"I'm not that shallow," I said quickly. When he brought my cup to his lips and placed his mouth directly over where I'd been drinking, a funny flush went through my body.

"All right, then, maybe I'm the shallow one. Because I see your desire to get it on with a vampire and think that maybe, if I show you how vampires really are, you'll change your mind." Those gorgeous eyes focused on my face, making my mouth go dry. A slow, lazy grin began to spread over his face as he drained my coffee and put the cup down. "Maybe you'll go cougar instead."

Somehow I didn't think he was referring to me dating younger men.

Maybe I should have told him the truth. But the words caught in my throat as he continued to grin at me expectantly. The way he was laughing with me, flirting with me . . .

He was treating me like one of the girls he dated.

And call me crazy, but I liked being attractive to him.

"Why me?" I couldn't help but ask.

I wasn't pretty like Ryder, or flirty. I wasn't soft and feminine like Bathsheba. I was all hard angles, dark hair and glasses. I didn't laugh and joke around like Sara. I was acerbic and distant. What did he see in me that made him stay here? Made him more or less offer a one-night stand if I changed my mind about dating a vampire?

"Because," he said slowly, spinning the small coffee cup with his big fingers, "I've never met anyone as alone as you, Marie. You hold everyone away from you with that icy frown. You need a thawing."

He leaned forward, all devastating grin again. "And I'm pretty sure I could make you melt."

We left the restaurant after that, with me feeling incredibly flustered and unable to converse with Josh. Despite his talk, he'd paid for my dinner and escorted me back to the agency, then left-probably to give Carol a ride home.

I worked for a few more hours, pretending everything was normal, when Ryder eventually slunk back to her desk, every blond hair in place, her clothes neat. She said nothing about her transformation. I said nothing about it, either. If she wanted to talk, I was here.

Ryder never wanted to talk about it, and I understood.

When dawn crept over the horizon, Bath and Beau came into the office. They both looked alert and happy, whereas Ryder and I were dragging, as always, at the end of our shift. They greeted us, then headed on to Bath's office, their heads together as they talked. As soon as they got to the office, the door shut and Bathsheba's laughter trilled out.

Ryder smiled, even as it turned into a yawn. "It's nice to see people in love, isn't it?"

I shrugged. "If you're a hopeless romantic, I guess."

She made a face at me. "We work at a dating agency. We should be hopeless romantics."

She had a point.

Ten minutes after eight-as usual-Sara came into the office, an enormous cup of Starbucks in her hand and her mouth looking like she'd just been making out in the car. Which she probably had. "Good morning," she said cheerfully. "You two look fresh as daisies."

"Don't make me growl at you," Ryder teased with another yawn.

"She probably likes that," I said slyly and began to shut down my computer.

Sara only grinned, running a hand through her chin-length, shaggy red hair. "Did you guys get far on Bath's project?"

"Not too far," I admitted. "I'll give it more of a go tonight."

She just made a noise of assent and flopped down at her desk, texting on her phone with her free hand. A few minutes later, Beau left Bathsheba's office and strolled out. Bath immediately headed for the coffee, and I noticed her mouth looked recently kissed, too.

I felt an envious pang. Maybe there was a hopeless romantic inside me, after all.

With the day shift now in the office, Ryder and I left. I drove home to my small apartment and tossed my keys and purse on the table by the door. I took a shower, changed into my pajamas, put on soothing music, and drank a cup of chamomile tea. I was utterly exhausted.

Yet when I got into bed and tried to sleep, it wouldn't come. My mind kept racing, thinking about Josh. His hand at the small of my back. That lazy, flirty grin he tossed my way as if it hadn't been a dangerous thing. His concern and affection for Carol, who didn't have anyone to look out for her.

I've never met anyone as alone as you, Marie.

If I was, it was because it would hurt everyone less when I died.

I tossed and turned for a few hours, wanting to weep in frustration. I glanced at the Virgin Mary figure on my nightstand. It had been my mother's before she'd passed on, and her mother's before her. I touched the figure. Please. Let me sleep. Let this all be a bad case of anxiety.

But I couldn't sleep. It was like my body no longer knew how.