McKenzie, Cooper - Saving Chloe (Siren Publishing Classic) by Cooper McKenzie

SAVING CHLOE

    COOPER MCKENZIE
    Copyright © 2012

    Chapter 1

    It took longer for him to get the blood off his hands than he anticipated. He’d have to let his supplier know the blood bank needed to check the quality of their bags. Of course, the fact that he was in a hurry might have something to do with the bag of blood disintegrating.
    But his friend didn’t need to know that. After more than six hundred years of looking, he wanted to keep the news of finding his mate to himself for a little longer. At least until he’d met and claimed her. Once news got out that he’d found his match, everyone would want to meet her. And when they found out she was human, they would look at her as their next meal and not his mate.
    Drying his hands quickly, he checked his clothes to make sure none of the blood splashed onto him. Wearing blood-stained clothes would not make the best first impression. Thankfully, he was wearing a black T-shirt with his black cargo shorts. Even if anything had spilled, it wouldn’t show.
    Tossing the dish towel into the open top of the washing machine, he headed toward the front door. Tonight he would meet his mate. Excitement like he hadn’t felt in more than three hundred years bubbled up in him, and he smiled.
    Stepping out onto the porch that ran around the front of his house, Declan moved to the antique rocking chair and settled in to wait. His woman was down the street again, spending time with those people who were only a couple steps above trailer trash in his estimation. She was too good for them, and from now on, he would see to it that they stayed away from his woman.

    * * * *

    What the hell am I doing here?
    Chloe Templeton looked from the half-empty can of beer in her hand to the full one Winston Jameson held right in front of her. At forty-two, the last thing she needed was to get drunk on a Thursday night.
    “No thanks,” she said. “I’m good.”
    “You’re falling behind, girlie,” Winston said as he forced the can into her free hand.
    The can was cold and wet, fresh from the giant cooler where he routinely kept five or six cases of beer on ice. Winston was an alcoholic and proud of it. Thankfully, he also had the sense to drink at home and not go out to a bar where he might endanger someone else as he made his way home afterward.
    Instead of arguing, which would do no good, Chloe took the beer. She set it on the table next to her that already held a half-dozen empty beer cans. Standing, she walked to the far side of the porch and pulled her cell phone from her pocket. Flipping it open, she gasped when she saw it was 10:46 p.m.
    Shit, another evening with no editing work done. This was the third night this week that she had been dragged to one of these gatherings, each one longer than the one before.
    She’d promised Stephanie she would have two books edited and returned by the end of the week. It was Thursday, and she had yet to get halfway through the first one. She knew the editor-in-charge would understand if they were a couple days late, but Chloe hated breaking deadlines, especially when it came to paying work.
    “Hey, Chloe, come back. You can’t go home now.” Jasmine wrapped a hand around Chloe’s arm.
    “I’ve got to go,” Chloe said gently as she tried to pull from Jasmine’s grasp.
    Instead of releasing her, the other woman tightened her hold. Her voice was loud, shrill, and drew the attention of the others. “What are you going to do? Go home and work? Or play with that battery- operated boyfriend you told me about while you get all down and depressed about Bill’s not calling this week?”
    Chloe cheeks burned as she stared the other woman in the eye. Jasmine was the epitome of a blonde bombshell, but right now Chloe didn’t see the beauty. She saw something dark and evil in the woman’s blue-green eyes. Taking a deep breath, she swallowed down the nasty comment she wished she had the guts to say aloud. You have a husband at home waiting for you. Why