Free Blue Twilight by MAGGIE SHAYNE

believes that, it can’t be good for his ego.”
    Max gnawed her lip for several seconds. “I know what I ought to do. I ought to put on that black teddy and march right into his bedroom and show him just how serious I am.”
    She strode away from the gorgeous view, yanked open the top drawer of the dresser that took up fully half of one wall and pulled out the teddy. A crescent-shaped mirror framed in scrolled wood was mounted to the dresser, and she held the teddy to her chest and stared at her reflection.
    â€œYou sure that won’t send him running back to White Plains at the speed of sound, Max?”
    Max frowned and licked her lips. “I can’t have him thinking what he’s thinking.”
    Stormy slid off the bed, came behind her and put a firm hand on her shoulder. “I have my doubts he really believes any of that crap, anyway. Deep down, I mean.”
    â€œThen why would he…?”
    â€œMaybe it’s just easier that way,” Stormy said. “Telling you to stop teasing him is way easier than telling you to stop wanting him, don’t you think?”
    Max turned slowly. “You think he knows I’m serious, and just…isn’t interested?”
    â€œI know it’s a possibility you’ve never considered, hon, but don’t you think you have to?”
    â€œBut…but how could he not want me?” She blinked away the stupid, ridiculous moisture that had gathered in her eyes.
    Stormy squeezed her shoulder. “Might not be about you. Might be about him.”
    â€œNow you sound like a goddamn man.” Maxie crammed the teddy back into the drawer, then slammed it closed.
    â€œLook, Max, you know the age difference bugs him.”
    â€œThat’s an excuse, not a reason. It’s only eighteen years.”
    Stormy shrugged. “He’s been married before. Maybe he was burned so bad he’s sworn off women forever.”
    Max paced the bedroom. “Okay, that could be a possibility. At least that’s within the realm of reason.”
    Stormy nodded. “You know anything about the wife? What went wrong?”
    Max shook her head. “He never talks about it. If I ask, he changes the subject.”
    â€œSee? Doesn’t that sort of prove it was bad?”
    â€œMaybe it just proves he doesn’t want to talk about it. The question is, what am I supposed to do next?” Max stopped pacing, spun to face Stormy. “How can I overcome whatever it is that’s keeping him from even thinking about me as a—a love interest?”
    Stormy blinked slowly. “Because giving up is not an option, right, Max?”
    â€œOf course it’s not an option. Lou is mine.” Max paced across the room in one direction, then turned and started back again. “He’s meant for me. I’m certainly not going to let a little thing like his unwillingness to cooperate get in the way of that.” She stood still and smiled then. “Now that I think about it, he basically admitted to wanting me, too. He said I had to stop because he was a normal red-blooded man, and that his body reacts to my flirting.”
    Stormy sighed. “I suppose he might really believe you aren’t serious about him, and that would make him feel guilty for having feelings for you.”
    â€œWell, I’ll get that out of the way first and proceed from there.”
    â€œHave you decided how you’re going to get it out of the way?”
    Max eyed the dresser drawer. “I suppose the teddy’s out of the question?”
    â€œI think if you show up in his bedroom wearing that teddy, he’ll be gone when we get up in the morning. The man’s gun-shy.”
    Max sighed. “I suppose I could just tell him.”
    â€œThat might be best.”
    Â 
    The vampire’s mind was his most powerful tool. He knew that others of his kind shared many of the same abilities—to control the mind of another, to