GiGi

Below deck, GiGi could see that there was not actually one bed on the boat. There were three large bedrooms, each with a California king-size bed in them.

She teased him. “So that is what you can buy on a travel show salary.”

“Pretty much.”

Just then she got a little queasy at the gentle rocking of the boat. “Do you mind if we go back up on deck? I think my stomach is feeling a little unsettled and it might help if I can see the dock. I’m sorry, I guess I don’t have very good sea legs.”

She didn’t have to say another word. Before she even got the whole sentence out, she was in his arms and he was carrying her back up to the deck, rather dramatically. “It’s OK, you don’t have to carry me.”

But he had insisted, and in seconds she was wrapped up in a blanket, sitting in a lounge chair on the deck, facing the pier, a mug of hot ginger tea in her hand.

“This is a little over the top,” she said. “How did you get hot tea? Hey, where are you going?”

But he ignored her and went back below deck again.

Seconds later he was back at her side with a small vial. “Found the lavender oil. Here, smell this.” He unscrewed the top of the teensy delicate bottle of essential oil and held it under her nose.

She grinned at him and was touched at his frenzy of action around her at the mere mention of being slightly nauseated. “Between the ginger and the lavender, and watching you run around like a housemaid, I think I’m potently distracted from my silly little bout of seasickness.”

“On-board generator.” he said.

“What?”

“That’s how I made the tea. There’s a kitchenette down below.”

“I appreciate all this effort. Mainly just looking at the land is helpful. There is enough of a moon that I can see it.”

“I’m glad,” he said, inching himself down so he was sitting on the deck next to her chair. “So tell me. How did you and Rosemary end up becoming so close?”

It made her feel warm and protected with this hulk of a man this near, and this interested in her. “Well, as you know, she and I are cousins. My parents died young. Accidentally shot by deer hunters when they were … hiking … in the swamp. It was awful. Aunt Betsy and Uncle Lionel took me in. Rosie and I are like sisters, but free of the drama. So tell me about you. How did you and Ash and Bobby and Penny meet each other?”

Vann reached out and stroked her hair again. Was he aware that playing with her hair was the second quickest way to her heart? The first being cheese?

“We were all homeschooled together,” he said. “Well, it goes back further than that. We were in regular school as kids. But there was an incident. We don’t really like to talk about it much. Bobby might decide to tell you someday, but we’ve all agreed to respect his wish not to talk about it. After the incident, we were all pulled out and homeschooled by Ash’s mom, Charlene, may she rest in peace. And after she died, we finished our junior and senior years of high school at Jefferson. By that time, Charlene had prepared us to go back in to normal society without causing more incidents. We all more or less grew up at the old JB Chicken estate. It was the best. We were safe to be ourselves there. We’ve stuck together ever since.”

GiGi pressed. “So, can you at least tell me what led up to the incident? What’s so different about all of you?”

Vann sighed and looked down. He appeared to not be ready to talk about it just yet. “Let’s just say, we all come from a weird background and certain …mutations … happen when we all reach the same age, and some of us don’t handle it well the first time it occurs.”

GiGi stared at him. This was sounding weirder and weirder. And familiar.

“What kind of weird things? I mean, what happens to you?”

He hesitated but finally continued. “To put it mildly. Weird shit happens to us whenever there’s a full moon.”

GiGi froze. Could this be true? No, it was impossible. Was it? Did she really want to know?

“Say no more, Vann. I get it. In fact, I think I’ve seen it. Trust me, when there’s a full moon, weird shit happens at the restaurant, too. Staff goes missing. Patrons are extra hungry. Tips sometimes are outrageously high. The stove acts up. There are fights. Somebody gets thrown out. It’s never boring, I can tell you that.”

Vann looked at her. There was something strange, pleading in his eyes. He was trying to communicate something without actually saying it.

But all he said was, “I’m glad there’s somebody there who gets it. It’s almost, kind of like magic.”

Her stomach fluttered. “Kind of magic? I’d say full-blown in-your-face magic. Yeah. I believe it.”

The moon. Oh shit.

It was at this moment GiGi realized that the white sliver in the sky was a waning moon, not a waxing moon. Tomorrow night was hunting night for her. Of course it would be. Shit. She was about to be the deliverer of bad news, but how could she go about it? Most of the time, panthers did not have to worry about shifting into beast mode until the moon was fully waned and blackened in the sky. But if her emotions got out of control, as was likely to happen around this delicious specimen of manhood—there’s no telling what her hormones would do.

“Vann, I’m afraid we might need to cut this date short.”

But he didn’t hear a word she said because he was speaking at the same time. It sounded to her as if he had said, “I think I love you, angel face.”

They froze. And then before she could run away, he wiped the fight-or-flight expression off her face with a deep, forceful but slow kiss. Her blood flooded all her dormant nooks and crannies with urgent, dark desires, but also relief. She had been aching for his lips since he had helped her remove her coat and the strap of her dress had fallen.