Bloody Freak (A Bloody Series Book #1) (8 page)

    He reached her door to find it slightly ajar. He didn
’
t hear much at first and he wond
ered if maybe she had slipped out while he was distracted. But no, he could hear the faint sound of music coming from inside. She was humming too. His curiosity was peeked. He pushed the door open a bit further. She was dancing around the room. Quite lite
r
ally sashaying around her desk, to and from the side lab tables. Swinging her hair and tapping her hands on her thighs as she worked. Talk about a change in behavior. As she was performing a particularly sexy maneuver, he involuntarily sucked in a breath.
She heard him and turned slowly.

Chapter Eight

    Ethan was standing in the door way staring at her. He didn't try to explain himself at all. He just kept staring. She realized she was staring too.
Say something. You look like an idiot just standing th
ere.
She pulled her ear buds out.

    "What are you doing?" She congratulated herself on her amazing articulation skills.

    "I was. I was looking for a status report." It came out almost phrased as a question.

    "Yeah? Well sorry, nothing yet. Bye now.
" She tried to shut the door in his face but his foot was in the way. She looked up at him. Her stomach dropped. As angry and scared as she was over this man, she couldn't help but remember him as he had been last night. She hadn
’
t examined her feelings o
n
why she felt so angry. Sure she was mad because he lied, and she was upset because she could have possibly slept with a man who could be there to kill her. But why was she so hurt? She was hurt, a lot. Probably because this morning she was so ecstatic. S
h
e really liked him. Even before she knew his name. He was still staring at her, like she was still staring at him. He looked lost. Not like he came to her door by accident lost. Like he didn
’
t know what to say or do to make everything right. 

    "You may
be my new boss, but I don't have to like it. When I have a report, I'll send it to you." She pushed him out of the doorway. Shutting the door in his face helped her get back some the bravado she had lost while he was looking at her. Maybe he did like her.
Maybe he wasn
’
t there to kill her. Who could fake that wounded look so well? Nobody.
Oh, grow up Alex,
she mentally yelled.
You don
’
t know him from Adam.
He was defiantly hiding something. Since Bren hadn
’
t answered her phone when she called she was just going to keep playing normal until they figured things out. He did look like a little boy standing there, all unsure of himself. It was adorable.
Snap out of it! Get back to work.

   She had called some fri
ends she had made in New York in the early 90's, Weres from the Orleans Pack. They had heard the news but no word yet on which Pack the killer belonged to. So she continued her work on other cases she had neglected since the Wolf Killer case. What a stupi
d
name. At least they weren
’
t calling him the Werewolf Killer. That would be too much. She finished up some side reports and tidied up her desk some more. Then she swept the floor. Then cleaned the windows. It occurred to her at some point during the scrub
b
ing of the underside of her desk that she had never cleaned this much in her life. She didn
’
t want to go back out into the main office. That
’
s what it was. She didn
’
t want to run into Ethan again. Damn the man. He had her cleaning out of fear. Well screw
t
hat. She got up, brushed herself off and flung open her door. Managed to scare the hell out of the janitor too.

    "Sorry. Hey, you don't have to clean my office tonight. I did it myself!" She said brightly. He just looked confused. She didn
’
t clean. Ever
. Well, let him see for himself then. She waltzed over to Chris' side of the lab.

    "Hey partner." She said loudly. He looked up at her, and he had the magnifying goggles on his face. He looked like a nerdy bug. She snorted at him.

    "You need somethi
ng, wonder woman?" Chris asked. He looked back down at the samples of hair he was studying on the light table.

    "Not really. I just felt cooped up in my office. I didn
’
t eat much at lunch. Wanna grab something out of the wheel of death with me?"

    "No
, sorry. I have to figure out why this seventy-nine year old man would kill his wife of sixty years over a bank gift. But next time, okay?" He promised.

    "Okay." She walked further down the hall.

    "Hey, Melody." She poked her head in.

    "What?" Sh
e looked up from her counter.

    "I said hey."

    "No, what do you need?"

    "Well, maybe I just wanted to come chat? Can't I want to chat with one of my good friends?"

She just stared back. "Okay. What do you wanna chat about? Oh! I know. Let's talk about why you threw a printer at the nice, good looking, well built new boss man." She looked expectant.
Shit.

    "Well, I was feeling a little over whelmed and I over react
ed I guess. Not so surprising, right? I mean I'm under a lot of stress. And did you hear that speech? Pfft. Crap." Melody didn
’
t look convinced.

    "You saw his shoulders, right?" As if that would make up for sabotage. To Melody it probably would.

    "Ye
s, I did, but it takes more than a nice pair of shoulders to impress me. What if the man is a serial killer? Would you even care?"

    "Al, serial killers don't look
that
good, okay?" It was a good thing Melody worked in the filing room.

    "He's not that
good looking." She crossed her arms and stared down the hall. She hoped he was listening.

    "Are you insane? He looks like that guy from 300 but all suave instead of sweaty." She sighed.

Alex almost sighed too because she had seen him all sweaty. But sh
e shook that out of her head.

    "Well I don't like him. I wouldn't like him if he were the holy patron saint of Electophesis. I wouldn't like him if he saved a hundred kittens from a burning building. I wouldn't like him if he was even remotely good at s
ex!" She was now yelling down the hall. People were poking their heads out of their offices. She smiled apologetically. Melody stared at her for a bit.

    "You're gay aren't you? You don't like men, good looking men, is that it?"

    "No, Melody, I'm not
gay. I just don't like the guy, okay?" Convincing enough?

    "Alright. I still say there
’
s something wrong with you." She turned and disappeared into the file storage area.

    "Well fine! Maybe there is!" She huffed and left the room. As she was walkin
g back to the break room, she tried to very shyly get a glimpse at Ethans desk. He was already looking at her. She turned her head quickly. He looked mad. If glaring were an Olympic sport he would have gotten a gold medal for that look. Did she care? No.
S
he shook her hair out and stuck her nose in the air.
Screw you, Boss Man.

    He was going to kill her. No, he was going to fuck her brains out against the wall in the hallway. He'd show her who was bad at sex. In front of everybody. He actually stood up
, as if he would follow through with that asinine plan.
Yes, fucking your coworkers your first day on the job in the hallway was a great way to set an example for your "No fraternization" policy.
He ran his hand through his hair. What if it were like this
forever? Him wanting her, needing her, and her rejecting him. It would be for the best. For the good of his people he supposed. But what about the good of his heart? His peace of mind? His dick? Maybe if he forced himself to make her angry and despise him
more, he would see less of the woman he fell in love with and more of the printer wheeling mad woman. Though he had to admit he liked her too. He didn
’
t know if his heart could take it but it was the only sound plan he had. Get her to hate him and he woul
d
n
’
t want her anymore. It wouldn
’
t be hard. She was already half way there. He got up again and silently followed her into the break room.

    Should she get an old ham and cheese sub or an old bowl of macaroni salad?

    "Hey Chris! Which one of these is
less likely to kill me? The ham and cheese sub or...Ahhhhh!!" She screamed. Ethan was standing behind her. She didn
’
t even hear him come into the room.

    "How the hell do you do that?" She panted. Her heart had almost exploded. She wasn't sure if that wo
uld kill her or not. He was suppressing a smile, she could tell.

    "I'm sorry Princess, did I scare you?" He taunted. Chris came into the break room.

    "Are you okay? What the hell happened?" He looked at Ethans back, then back to her.

    "I'm fine.
Dracula here just snuck up on me with his cat feet." She glared at him. He glared back.

    "Okay. Well, I recommend the pizza Hot Pocket. It's only been in there about six days." Then he left her alone with the mad man.

    "Can I help you?" She turned he
r back on him to put her dollar into the machine. She wasn
’
t scared of him.

    "Yes. You can help me by obeying my
simple commands when I make them. If I ask for a status report, I expect a status report. Promptly. You can throw whatever you want at me, but I am still your superior. If you don't like it, you can always quit." He was in her face as he said the last. Li
k
e a dare.

    "I'm going to cut your tongue out," she whispered. It was as simple as that. Nobody talked to her that way. With the exception of Don, but she only put up with that for the sake of Ken
’
s sanity. Ethan found it funny though. He laughed, like
at some private joke at her expense. What had happened to the lost little boy standing in her doorway? Or the adoring gentleman from last night?

    "I suggest you get the grape juice. You want to be able to fit into your costume again next year, don't yo
u?" He walked away. She stared at the empty space where he had been standing. Flabbergasted.

    He smiled all the way back to the office. He put his feet up on the desk and everything. He was a rebel. That had been surprisingly fun. She could turn a lov
ely shade of pink when she was enraged. It brought out the vivid green of her eyes. He expected a fork to be lodged in his back as he was leaving the break room, but things were oddly quiet. No matter. She wouldn't attack him again so soon after her first
attempt. Maybe later tonight while he was on his way out to the car. He shouldn
’
t have called himself her superior. It was far from the truth. But he knew without a doubt it would infuriate her. He was right. Did she mean it when she called him Dracula? H
e
wondered if she knew he was a vampire or if it was meant in jest. She did make some small comment about him being a vampire last night. No. If she knew the truth she would be long gone, that was for sure. He was surprised she hadn't tasted it in his bloo
d
last night. Maybe she wasn
’
t experienced with other vampires. That warmed him. He liked the thought of being her first, so to speak. It was nearing the end of the night. He tried focusing on the paper work that had been left on his desk by the employees.
There was a lipstick kiss on one of the papers from Melody Lahren, the file girl. God help him.

    Alex walked calmly and quietly back to her office. She shut the door, and took her seat at the counter. Staring at her papers and her equipment, she couldn
't concentrate on any of it. He must be trying to prove to her that he was as tough as she was. A show of male bravado. Yes, that was the only explanation. But what if he had gotten tired of her indifference. Plus the printer thing. She told herself she d
i
dn't care if he liked her or not. It wasn
’
t true. She was enjoying on some level, the fact that he seemed hurt by her attack and dismissal. Now he was just being mean. Was she getting fat? Impossible. He was enjoying himself last night, she thought haught
i
ly. It kind of hurt that maybe he didn't like her anymore. She shouldn't care but she did. It was beyond stupid. He was still the enemy. She fumbled around her office like that for some time, before she realized it was time to go home.   Her head wasn't i
n
her work anymore, she needed to get herself together if she was going to solve this case. Or at the very least avert Armageddon. She got her coat on and left the office. Her cell rang as she sat down in the driver seat of her car.