The Bite Before Christmas by Lynsay Sands, Jeaniene Frost Page A

was kind of the ideal woman. The good girl, the good wife, the good mother. She was . . . good,” Teddy finished helplessly, and then grimaced and added dryly, “Probably still is I guess. I’m the one who’s dead.”
    â€œYou’re not dead,” Katricia repeated, but her words were distracted, her thoughts on what he’d just said. “So, she was good. Kind of like a Madonna figure to you? Not—”
    â€œNot a real woman like you,” he interrupted, sitting up impatiently. “Now can we get back to my heaven?”
    â€œNo, wait,” she said, pulling back when he reached for her again. “What’s a real woman to you?”
    Teddy sighed with resignation. “Someone who fires your blood, challenges your mind, keeps you on your toes, and has your back. A partner in every sense of the word.”
    â€œAnd you think I’m that? Already?” Katricia asked with surprise.
    â€œI know you are,” he said simply and when she just stared at him, he shook his head and said, “Who scared the bear off when I was battling him?”
    â€œMe,” she said with a frown.
    â€œAnother woman would have run inside and watched through the window while I took care of business. But you had my back and you used your brain to do it,” Teddy pointed out with a nod, and then asked, “Who brained me with a snowball, and then smacked me with a dish towel and splashed me with water while we were doing dishes and just basically took every opportunity to have at me in a playful manner?”
    â€œAh,” Katricia murmured, biting her lip guiltily.
    â€œYou keep me on my toes,” Teddy said with a grin for her discomfort. “You have a sharp mind and are quick with comebacks. I don’t know how many times today you won debates let alone card games.”
    â€œAnd I fire your blood,” she whispered.
    He nodded solemnly. “Yes, ma’am, you surely do. Little Teddy’s been doing calisthenics all day since meeting you and he hasn’t been this active in a very long time. Now, can we stop all this touchy-feely talking stuff and give him the workout he’s begging for?”
    â€œBegging for?” Katricia asked with husky amusement.
    â€œYes, begging, and if you don’t mind my saying so I don’t think I should have to beg in heaven.”
    â€œTeddy,” she said with exasperation, clasping his face in both hands. “You are not dead. I turned you.”
    He stared at her for a full moment, expression blank, and then blinked and asked, “Turned me?”
    She nodded apologetically and rushed out, “I know I should have asked you first, but you were dying. I couldn’t let that happen. And your only protest when I brought it up was blood, so I turned you.”
    His eyebrows rose, and then he pulled his face free of her hands and glanced around. “But this room. It’s not—”
    â€œThis is the master bedroom of Decker’s cottage. The cottage next door to yours,” she added in explanation. “It’s my cousin, Decker’s. Bricker and Anders helped me bring you here after the turn.”
    â€œBricker and Anders?” Teddy asked with a frown. “I know Anders. He’s an enforcer. But who’s Bricker?”
    â€œBricker’s an enforcer, too,” she explained and then added, “When you passed out I called Aunt Marguerite. I was in a panic. You were dying and I needed to turn you, but the blood hadn’t arrived yet. Fortunately, the blood courier arrived on snowmobile with the blood, gas, and food while I was talking to her. I turned you and he helped me strap you to the kitchen table to keep you from hurting yourself and then stayed to help watch over you until Bricker and Anders arrived. Lucian sent them up. Marguerite called him as soon as I hung up, and he arranged for them to bring more blood, men to clear the trees away, and a snow mover