Free Follow Me When the Sun Goes Down by Lisa Olsen

shoulder again.  I was really going to have to start locking my door during the day, especially considering I’d never made it to my bed and lay awkwardly sprawled on the floor, drooling onto the carpet.  My head felt like it was stuffed with soggy cotton, and from the half gone bottle next to the couch, I could guess why.
    “I’m sorry to disturb you, but your appointment is here.”
    “I’m dying,” I croaked, brushing her hand away from my shoulder.  “Whoever it is, send them away.”
    Maggie hesitated, her expressive eyes wide with worry.  “You’re ill?  Should I call for Jenessa instead?”
    “No.”  Pushing myself up to a sitting position, I leaned against the couch.  “I’m fine, just being a big baby,” I sighed.  “Who’s here again?”
    “Macallister James.  You approved the appointment when I set it.”
    “It’s fine, I had a rough day is all.  Tell him I’ll be up in a jiff and offer him a drink while he waits.  The normal kind, not the bloody kind,” I added quickly.  Thank goodness we’d outfitted the deep porch with some comfortable patio furniture since he couldn’t be invited in until I did it myself. 
    “Can I get you anything?” she hesitated, her head bowed.
    “No, I’d better stop whining and get a move on.” 
    The hot shower helped.  Mostly my head was still groggy and my ears seemed particularly sensitive to the tiniest sound.  I felt well enough to climb the stairs at normal speed, but not so good that I wasn’t annoyed not to find Rob waiting for me by the door in his usual spot.  Instead Gunnar waited on hand, just in case the inviting in process didn’t go so smoothly.  
    The boots and jeans were back, and this time a well worn cowboy hat completed the ensemble.  Macallister rose to his feet when Gunnar opened the door, hat in hand. 
    “Evenin’, ma’am,” he smiled genially, a scruff of whiskers accentuating his dimples rather than camouflaging them.        
    “Howdy,” I drawled back, unable to resist.  “Please , come in.”
    Gunnar bristled beside me for the moment of truth, but the vampire strode in without any difficulties.  My bodyguard remained wary as I waved us through to my study, and he followed us into the room. 
    “You want me to stay with you, boss?” he asked, having picked up the habit of calling me boss from Felix.
    “No, thanks, I’ll manage.  Can you please go put on a pot of coffee though?”  I didn’t normally indulge, but it sounded good at the time.  Gunnar trundled off, and I closed the door behind him, facing the self appointed speaker for Texas across the huge oak desk.  “I’m sorry to have kept you waiting out there for so long, something came up I had to take care of first.”  Not a lie… Without the shower I wouldn’t have been able to form complex sentences. 
    “S’alright, darlin’, you was worth the wait,” he winked, setting his hat on the corner of my desk to pull out a silver flask.  “Want a little hair of the dog?”
    I was about to say no, but accepted on a whim.  “Sure, why not?”  It couldn’t make me feel much worse.  I tipped the flask back, the alcohol burning on the way down, but I knew to hold my breath until I could speak without coughing.  “Smooth.” 
    Macallister accepted the flask back, taking a pull on it himself.  “That there’s sippin’ whiskey all the way from Scotland,” he declared with pride.
    “I think that’s called scotch.”
    “Whatever the name, it’s smooth as a baby’s bottom, ain’t it?” he chuckled, passing it back to me again.  I took a smaller sip this time before returning it.
    “It’s nice.”
    “Remind me later and I’ll send ya a case.”
    “That’s n ot necessary,” I waved him off.
    “It’ll be my pleasure for the gift you sent me.”
    Had Maggie sent something on my behalf?  I didn’t remember her saying anything about it.  “I didn’t send you any gift.”
    “Oh, but you did.  A mighty fine