Under a Vampire Moon (7 page)

“Oh, that’s a shame. It must be hard for him,” she said with sympathy, recalling many late-night talks with Brent on the subject. He really had struggled with it and it didn’t seem fair to her. She didn’t understand the anger and rage homosexuality caused in some people. Some acted like they thought the individual woke up one day and said,
Well, I think I’ll piss off the universe today by switching my sexual preference.
She was no expert on the matter, but it seemed to her that thinking a person could choose what gender they were attracted to was like thinking you could choose what you preferred to eat. Some preferred chocolate over vanilla, and others preferred vanilla to chocolate; it wasn’t a choice, but a matter of taste and what appealed to their palette. Why did they think sexual preference would be any different?

“
Si.
” Gia nodded sadly. “It wasn’t so bad for a while, he had a—what did you call it? A beard?” When Carolyn nodded, she continued, “He had a beard for years. They were good friends and she would go to family functions and such with him. But she married last year and he has not had a beard since. Everyone in the family is bothering him about bringing home another girlfriend and he’s afraid some of them are beginning to suspect. Especially Julius and the other boys in the band.”

“This cousin is one of the guys in the band?” Carolyn asked with surprise, wondering which one it could be. She was pretty sure it wasn’t Christian or Santo, and Raffaele didn’t seem likely. That left Zanipolo. Of course, she could be completely wrong. It wasn’t as if you could tell just by looking. Well, sometimes you could, she supposed, but not always, and definitely not if they were still in the closet.

“You could help him,” Gia said now, and Carolyn peered at her blankly.

“Me? Help him? How?” she asked with bewilderment.

“You could be his beard,” Gia said with a smile. “If they thought he was having an affair with you, it would lay their suspicions to rest for now and take the pressure off of him for a little while, even after this trip.”

“Oh, Gia, I don’t know,” she began with dismay.

“Oh, but it’s perfect,” Gia said at once, moving to clasp her hands. “You have done this before so know how to be a beard. He will be able to relax with you and not worry that you will try to drag him to bed, or be hurt or complain if he doesn’t try to drag you there because you know he can’t possibly be interested.”

“But I’m so much older than all you guys,” she pointed out, her voice rising along with her alarm.

“No you’re not. We aren’t as young as we look,” Gia assured her. “We just have to keep the youthful image to be in a band. And we age well in our clan,” she added when Carolyn narrowed her eyes on her, looking for crow’s-feet or any other telltale sign that the woman might be older than the twenty-five or so that she looked. “Besides, his last . . . er . . . beard was about your age, and everyone thinks he prefers older women because of it. They won’t doubt it for a moment.”

“Gia, I’d like to help, but I don’t think—”

“It would be mutually beneficial,” Gia interrupted persuasively. “He’s smart and funny and good company . . . well, perhaps not funny,” she muttered with a frown. “Actually, he’s a little serious, but I’m sure that’s just because he’s always worrying about others finding out and the family turning from him. He is good company though, and could be your escort and companion while your friend, Beth, is ill.”

“I don’t know . . . ,” Carolyn murmured, but was growing tempted to say yes. She really hated the idea of anyone suffering like Brent had. And it would be nice to have company while Beth was ill.

“And you would be doing me a great favor,” Gia said solemnly. “I worry about him. He has been so morose over it all, I fear he will do something to hurt himself. But if you were to act as his beard and get the pressure off of him, I wouldn’t have to worry so much.”

Carolyn’s eyes widened. “It’s that bad?”

“Our family is very much into machismo,” she said solemnly.

Carolyn bit her lip. It really was very tempting. In fact, the only thing now holding her back was the realization that if she agreed, she would probably have to be around the band at least occasionally, which meant being around Christian, and with her ridiculous attraction to him, that didn’t seem like a good—

“And I know Christian would be grateful,” Gia said suddenly and Carolyn stilled, and then raised wide eyes to the blonde.

“Christian?” The name came out a squeak. Dear God, she thought when the girl nodded. She’d been lusting after the poor guy and he was gay. How sad was that? And where the hell was her gaydar? She’d always thought her twenty-plus-year friendship with Brent had sharpened it to a fine point. Apparently not.

“God,” she muttered.

“So? Will you do it?” Gia asked, and then eyes twinkling, added, “You can take lots of pictures of you and Christian together and e-mail them to your ex-husband so that he thinks you are having a grand time with a buff young stallion.”

Carolyn burst out laughing at the thought, and then glanced to her with surprise. “How did you know I have an ex-husband?”

“Your finger.” She nodded toward her hand and Carolyn glanced down, sighing when she saw the mark her wedding ring had left. It was like a brand of sorts, she thought with disgust. It might actually be gone now had she taken her wedding ring off back when she’d left Robert, but she’d worn it so long she hadn’t even thought about it until Bethany had insisted she remove it when they left on this trip. “You’re single. Advertise it,” she’d said.

“He’s not actually my ex-husband yet,” Carolyn admitted unhappily. “The divorce isn’t final. The lawyer says another three months and it should be done, but right now it’s still in the process.”

“Hmm. Well, then you should definitely take pictures of you and Christian and send them to him.”

Carolyn chuckled at the thought, but knew she wouldn’t do it. She had no interest in any kind of contact with Robert, except to sign the final divorce decree.

“So? Can I tell Christian you’ll do it?” Gia asked.

Carolyn hesitated. She’d like to help him out, and the idea of company while Beth was ill was definitely a tempting one, and she was pretty sure now that she knew he was gay her attraction for Christian would die a natural death. The only real issue was what others would think. They’d all think she was some kind of cougar, playing with someone twenty years her junior. That thought bothered her and she said, “I’d like to help, Gia. But I’m kind of uncomfortable with the idea of everyone thinking I’m having a fling with someone so much younger than me.”

“Well, neither Marguerite nor Julius, nor certainly anyone in the band will think anything of it,” she reasoned patiently. “As I said, they all think Christian prefers older women. But aside from that, women in Europe take younger lovers all the time, at least among our people. No one thinks anything of it,” she said with a shrug. “And you can always tell Genie and Bethany the truth so long as they don’t tell anyone. As for everyone else, who cares about them? You’re not likely to meet anyone from here again, that’s the beauty of a vacation . . . Come on,” she cajoled. “It would be fun having you hang with the band.”

Carolyn hesitated, but then blew her breath out. “What the hell. Yes, I’ll do it.”

“That a girl!” Gia said with a grin. “I promise you won’t regret it.”

“Let’s hope you’re right,” Carolyn muttered, already having second thoughts.

“That’s my cue.” Gia slid off the counter as the sound of a guitar tuning up reached them. “Back to work for me. You should return to the table and enjoy the rest of the show.”

“Yes, I suppose so.” Carolyn slid off the counter as well. There seemed little reason to avoid Christian anymore. She’d obviously been imagining the sparks that had seemed to fly between them as he’d stared at her. He’d probably been wondering if he could persuade her to be his beard. Now that she knew the lay of the land, Carolyn was almost embarrassed by the wild thoughts that had run through her head. Shaking her head, she followed Gia to the door.

“C
aro, dear, will you order Julius and me another drink if the waitress comes around again, please?” Marguerite asked as she stood up. “We’re just going to go see if Gia and the boys are up to joining us or not.”

“Sure,” Carolyn said as the couple stood and moved toward the stage where the band was now winding up cords and putting away instruments.

“God, every single one of them is hot,” Genie said, her eyes eating the band alive as they moved around the stage. “Even that Gia. I’d switch teams if I had a chance with her.”

Carolyn laughed. “Sure you would.”

“Okay, maybe I wouldn’t, but I’d seriously consider it.”

Carolyn shook her head and glanced toward the band again.

“So what about that Christian?” Genie asked.

“What about him?” Carolyn’s eyes found the man on his haunches, setting his violin in its case.

“He was asking me loads of questions about you. You might get lucky there,” she said, elbowing her.

“Brent would have more luck than me,” Carolyn assured her.

Genie blinked. “What?”

Carolyn nodded. “I was talking to Gia in the washroom during the break. The family’s very into the macho thing and he’s gay but firmly in the closet, and she asked me to be his beard.”

“No. God, why are the good ones always gay?” Genie moaned, her eyes moving back to the stage. “Are you going to do it?”

“Yes,” she admitted. “I don’t mind helping him out, and it will give me company while Beth’s sick.”

“True.” Genie glanced back to the stage. “You could do worse than eye candy like that to keep you company. Of course, every single woman here is going to envy the hell out of you and hate your guts.”

Carolyn laughed at the suggestion, her gaze shifting to Marguerite and Julius as they reached the band.

“W
ell?” Christian asked, bending down for Marguerite to kiss his cheek.

“You were brilliant,” she assured him, beaming. “I was very proud.”

Christian flushed, but smiled and admitted, “I meant Carolyn. Do I go back and try to sleep now?”

Marguerite bit her lip and glanced to Gia. “You didn’t tell him yet?”

Gia shook her head. “I take it you read her?”

“Yes, dear, and that was brilliant thinking on your part. Absolutely brilliant.”

“Thank you, Aunt Marguerite,” Gia said, beaming under the praise.

“What was brilliant?” Christian asked at once.

Marguerite bit her lip, which didn’t seem good, but it definitely worried him when she suggested, “Why don’t we go somewhere more private to discuss it.”

“We have to take the instruments back to Genie’s office,” Raffaele rumbled. “You can talk there.”

“Won’t Genie—”

“She gave us the key,” Christian interrupted.

“Right, then we’ll do that,” she decided.

Christian glanced toward the table as he followed the others offstage, his gaze finding Carolyn. Much to his shock she gave him a tentative smile when their eyes met and Christian felt something unclench a little in his chest. He’d been worried sick about how to woo her ever since she’d fled the table earlier at his approach. It would be impossible to woo her if she wasn’t around to woo. However, it appeared that Gia’s brilliant idea was actually working. He couldn’t wait to hear it.

Unfortunately, he appeared to be the only one eager to get to the office. Everyone else was moving at a snail’s pace as Marguerite gushed with praise over the performance. Christian forced himself to be patient. He’d waited for Carolyn for five hundred years, another five minutes wasn’t going to kill him . . . hopefully.

“All right.” Christian closed Genie’s office door and turned to glance from his mother to Gia. “What’s this brilliant idea?”

When Marguerite and Gia exchanged a glance, he felt trepidation crawl up his spine again and narrowed his eyes.

“Well?” he growled.

“Now, dear, I just want you to take everything into consideration here before you react,” Marguerite cautioned, just increasing his trepidation. “You have to think where Carolyn’s head is at.”

“She was superfreaked at being attracted to you,” Gia put in solemnly. “I mean, seriously, ready-to-run-and-never-come-near-the-lounge-again freaked.”

Christian frowned, but wasn’t terribly surprised. This not-aging business could be a real pain in some ways, but he supposed it wouldn’t have been any easier had he looked five hundred. Then she wouldn’t have given him a second glance.

“And?” he prompted, when neither woman continued.

Gia glanced to Marguerite. When she nodded encouragement, Gia cleared her throat. “So I got her talking to try to figure an angle. It was obvious that just trying to convince her to overlook your age and give you a chance wasn’t going to work. She’s not the kind of woman who would be comfortable with a boy toy.”

“A boy toy?” he choked out, and then scowled when his father snickered.

“Yes, well that’s how she was thinking of you, Christian,” she said, and then pointed out, “We do look a lot younger than we are.”

“Right,” he growled. “So?”

“Well.” Gia paused to lick her lips. “I got her talking about her friends . . . Genie and Bethany and . . . er . . . Brent.”