Free Her Blood Sings: Episode 01 by Vivian Wolkoff

leaned forward and locked eyes with Lucy. She blinked, her face
going slack. He said something to her and Lucy answered. He said
something else and leaned back on his seat. She gave him an absent
nod, picked up the cup of coffee and saucer and walked back to
Evie.
    Lucy blinked and shook her head as if she was
clearing her head.
    She handed the cup to Evie. "He won't talk to
me. He said he will only talk to you."
    "Lucy, please -"
    "No, Evie," Lucy said. She shook her head,
trying to add more weight to her words. "You can be mad at me all
you want, but that guy is weird. Besides, I slept with his
brother."
    Evie could feel her anger bubble under her
skin like lava. She marched to his table and dumped the cup of
coffee in front of him.
    "Why?" she asked. It was the only thing she
could think of saying to him. "You're attractive. There. Are you
happy now?"
    "No, I'm not, Evie," he said. "Because you're
absolutely right. Looks are only skin deep. There has to be
something else to keep the attraction alive." His stare turned
molten. His eyes were two blue flames heating her skin. "And even
though you're sinfully hot, what you do is far more attractive. I
can't leave you alone."
    Evie was too dumbfounded to say anything
else. Her breathing was coming out in short, harsh pants. Her brain
was out for the count.
    She took in a shaky breath and looked
away.
    Evie's heart thudded in her chest, all warmth
leaving her. Dan was outside the café, glaring at her.

Chapter 12
     
    Dan had thanked his lucky stars. He had
feared Evie had moved out of town or changed jobs, but his girl
stuck to her routine. She still lived in that brick building in
that same old idyllic street where her grandma had lived. She still
worked at the same café. He was waiting outside Evie's work,
watching her work. Dan had to be reacquainted with her schedule, to
find out who was in her life.
    Besides, he wanted to be with her. Dan missed
Evie too much.
    He watched from a darken alley as she moved
inside the warm little café. He saw her smiles and her words to the
patrons. He hated that anyone other than himself deserved her
smiles. Dan told himself Evie was working, that it meant nothing.
As far as he could tell, she had no one in her life. Beating the
crap out of that bozo she was seeing the last time had taught her a
lesson. She was his and no one else's. She was waiting for him now.
He could tell.
    Dan shivered into his coat. The night was
crisp, sharp. It had started snowing again. This place was nothing
but snow and misery. He had no idea why Evie liked it here. Even
Mom had loved it up here, always talking about how nice people
were, how the country was gorgeous. Personally, Dan couldn't wait
to leave this frozen hell behind. He wanted to go back home. He
dreamed of being welcomed in Mr. Williams' garage once again, of
sliding back to his routine of cars and Evie.
    Amidst his daydreaming, Dan noticed the
client gawking at Evie. The guy was sitting on the bay window seat.
He was tall, with trendy clothes and that wayward hair girls seemed
to love. And he was looking at Evie like he owned her. Dan's hands
curled into gloved fists.
    At first, Evie seemed eager to put as much
distance between her and that guy as possible. She had even sent
another waitress to that guy's table.
    "Good girl," Dan muttered to himself.
    The guy and the waitress talked briefly while
Evie watched them, chewing her bottom lip. Dan watched her. She
shouldn't be looking at the guy and fidgeting with her hair like
that. She shouldn't be blushing every time his eyes met hers. She
should be annoyed. She should look like she hated that guy's
attention.
    The waitress blinked at the guy and nodded.
She walked back to Evie and they talked. Evie frowned, clearly not
happy, but she ended up walking to the guy's table.
    "No, no, no," Dan said to himself. "Go back,
Evie. Walk away."
    Dan watched Evie and the guy talk. He was
shamelessly flirting with her, his eyes burning holes into her.