Night Play.doc by Unknown Page B

and
    the tenderness of it shattered him.
    Maybe Ash was right. Didn't he owe it to both of them to at least give her a
    choice?
    Vane Kattalakis had never allowed fear to govern him. But then, he had
    never
    lost anyone he loved until eight months ago.
    In one night, he had lost everything.
    Gods, he was so tired of being alone. So tired of not trusting anyone.
    Of having no one to laugh with.
    Maybe Bride was his future.
    Maybe he would try this and see.
    But how?
    What did humans do to court each other?
    Bride sat on her stool as she cleaned up after her lunch and tossed the
    garbage
    in the trash can. The last two days had been horrible as she put her tiny
    apartment in order and did her best to forget Taylor and his cruelty. Except
    the
    rat bastard had yet to return her stuff.
    "Please don't make me have to go and get it," she said as she reviewed a
    catalogue for new merchandise by her register.
    If she did, she was taking Tabitha with her just for the sake of vengeance.
    And if Tabitha happened to bring a tire iron well, it wasn't as if Bride could
    keep her from it. It was a free country, after all. And if the tire iron ended
    up falling against Taylor's kneecaps a time or two or three dozen, well,
    accidents did happen.
    Relishing the thought, she reached down and petted her wolf behind his ears
    and
    felt instantly better.
    Over the last two days, Vane had become her constant companion. He sat
    even now
    behind the register at her feet, completely content just to be with her. If only
    she could find a man so loyal.
    The door to her shop opened.
    She looked up to see Taylor coming inside. Her heart stopped. He was tall
    and
    good-looking in that phony TV sort of way. He wore a pair of khakis and a
    black
    Ralph Lauren polo shirt.
    He strode into the store like he owned it. Like he hadn't carelessly broken
    her
    heart just a few days ago.
    "Hi, Bride," he said with that perfect capped-tooth smile of his. "Are you
    alone?"
    Her wolf started to growl.
    "Hi, Taylor," she said, reaching down to touch and soothe her companion.
    "Except
    for my pet, yeah."
    "Pet?" He peeped over the counter to look at Vane, who was now on his feet
    with
    his ears laid back.
    Taylor stepped back. "That's a hell of a pet you have there. Did your dad
    give
    him to you?"
    "What do you want?" she asked. "I know you didn't just come to shoot the
    breeze
    with me."
    "I've, um, I've got your stuff outside and wanted to know what to do with it."
    She looked outside to see a small moving van parked behind Taylor's red
    Alfa
    Romeo. "You were supposed to have it here two days ago."
    He made a disgusted sound at her. "Yeah, well I've been busy. You know, I
    actually have a life."
    She rolled her eyes at him as anger took hold. "You know, I do, too."
    "Yeah," he said with a laugh. "Eating bonbons and watching TV is so
    time-consuming."
    She gave him a reproachful glare. "You are such a jerk. What did I ever see
    in
    you?"
    He held his arms out as if he were presenting himself to her and smiled.
    "Same
    thing every woman sees in me, babe. Face it, we both know you'll never
    have
    another guy who looks as good as me interested in you."
    Vane leaped at him.
    "No!" Bride snapped, but it was too late. The wolf had already latched on to
    Taylor's arm.
    Taylor screamed out in pain.
    She grabbed the wolf and pulled him back. Vane strained against her,
    barking and
    snarling ferociously as he finally let go of Taylor's arm.
    She pulled him into the back room and locked him up.
    Taylor held his bleeding arm to his side. "That's it. Consider yourself sued."
    "Don't even try it," she said, her own temper snapping as she came back to
    where
    he was standing. "You were on my property. I'll tell the police you were
    threatening me."
    "Yeah, right, who would ever believe that?"
    "Any anchor person at the other two stations who hate you as much as I do."
    His face went pale.
    "Yeah, Taylor," she said evilly. "Remember who all the little fat chick knows
    in
    this town.