A Bite to Remember by Lynsay Sands

there you are. I was just coming to look for you.”
    “We were upstairs talking to Allen,” Jackie explained, and then asked, “Did you find out anything?”
    “Nothing,” Tiny answered with a grimace as he straightened from the oven. “The woman’s brain was an empty slate.”
    “In more ways than one,” Marguerite added dryly.
    Jackie smiled faintly. “Well, we had a little better luck. We eliminated at least half of the letter writers from the list of suspects, and the assistant brought the employee lists by.”
    “She brought it?” Tiny asked with interest.
    “Yes. Brought rather than fax it as I requested,” she said dryly. “Vincent’s secretary wanted to check me out.”
    “No, she didn’t,” Vincent countered with amusement. “After you left, Sharon explained that the fax machine was down. Lily doesn’t drive and so Sharon offered to bring her over. It was good of her to go to the trouble.”
    “Is that what she told you?” Jackie asked dryly. “Well, I hate to ruin your illusions where your secretary is concerned, but I heard them talking as they walked by the office and clearly heard Sharon say the reason she’d broughtLily over rather than let her fax the information was because she wanted to check me out.”
    When Vincent looked stunned at this information, Jackie commented, “I’m surprised she lied to you when you could just read her and know she’s lying.”
    “I told you, we can only read another immortal if they aren’t guarding their thoughts,” Vincent muttered with a frown. “And I don’t go around reading my employees anyway. I don’t read anyone. It’s rude and intrusive.”
    “Vincent’s still young,” Marguerite said almost apologetically. “After another couple hundred years, he’ll find it easier to use the skills he has. Reading minds cuts through a lot of misunderstandings.”
    Jackie bit her lip as she realized that here she’d been thinking Marguerite was rude in trying to read her mind, yet was advocating Vincent’s reading Sharon’s mind, as well as Marguerite’s reading the actress’s. It seemed she had some double-standard issues.
    “This secretary, Sharon, is an immortal?” Tiny asked curiously.
    “Yes,” Jackie said, glad for the distraction and then added, “And a barracuda.”
    “No, she isn’t,” Vincent said with surprise. “She’s fine.”
    “She’s pushy, nosy and rude,” Jackie said irritably. Double standard or not, if Sharon had tried to read her mind one more time, she’d have plowed her.
    Vincent was frowning. “That doesn’t sound like the Sharon I know at all.”
    “This is Hollywood. Everyone’s an actor out here,” Jackie said with a shrug. The comment was directed as much toherself as him. It was a reminder. She had to stop thinking Vincent was nice. He was an immortal by birth like Cassius, and an actor by chosen trade. She mustn’t forget either fact.
    But neither detail changes the fact that he’s nice by nature. Vincent’s a good man.
    Jackie glanced sharply toward Marguerite as those words drifted through her mind. The woman had projected them into her thoughts. She’d read her mind and silently sent her answer so the men wouldn’t hear. Jackie wanted to be angry, but instead was afraid. Marguerite seemed to be encouraging her to like Vincent and the last thing she needed was encouragement. She was having trouble fighting it as it was.
    Why fight it then?
    Jackie ground her teeth together as the question floated through her head.
    “What was the production assistant like?” Tiny asked suddenly and Jackie turned to him, relieved to have something to occupy her mind besides Marguerite’s words.
    “Lily seemed all right,” she said. “She’s young though, looks like a teenager.”
    “Lily’s older than she looks,” Vincent said.
    “That’s good to know, because she looks about twelve. You do know about our child labor laws, don’t you?”
    “Lily is well over eighteen, hardly a child,”