[Bayou Gavotte 00.0] Back to Bite You Read Online Free

lean-to, on his way up to the kitchen roof with a pack of shingles. He insisted on bringing them up himself, when he knew perfectly well I was strong enough to carry them.” She rolled hereyes. “Anyway, that old roof was slick as all get out. He slipped, but he couldn’t grab onto anything, and he slid over the edge. If Ophelia hadn’t been potting plants on the back porch . . .” Mirabel shut her eyes at the memory. “She caught his ankles and held him still until I could get down to the lean-to roof and pull him back up.”
    “You must be strong,” Gerry said as if he didn’t really believe it. “And so must the landscaper. Arthur was a big guy.”
    Duh. Vampires are always strong
. But obviously Gerry didn’t realize what she was, unlike Arthur, who had known right away. Clearly there’d been a vampire in Arthur’s past, although he’d avoided Mirabel’s every attempt to find out more. “Maybe she’s my grandma or something,” she had coaxed, but to no avail.
    Gerry might not even know hereditary vampires existed. Generally speaking, guys with sticks up their behinds either didn’t know or didn’t want to know. So far, vampires had kept the gene that gave them fangs and made them irresistible—not to mention the enhanced strength and other perks—more or less a secret.
    “We’re strong, all right,” Mirabel said. “But if he’d fallen off the roof I was doing today, nobody could have caught him. He would have been a goner for sure.”
    “As it happens,” Gerry said dryly, “he’s a goner anyway.”
    “True,” Mirabel sighed. “But he knew his time was short. He was ready to go, and he died happy.”
    Gerry Kingsley’s face darkened alarmingly. For a horrifying second he looked as if he wished Mirabel were dead, too. “How do you know?” he snarled.
    * * *
    Mirabel paled. She gaped up at him with wide, uneasy eyes.
    Gerry didn’t make a practice of frightening women. He knew he had frightened this one, and he didn’t care.
    “Because—” She faltered and paled even more.
    He didn’t feel an instant of remorse.
    “Because he told me so,” she said, sad and sweet and devastatingly sincere. A tear trembled at the corner of one eye.
    Oh, hell
. Now he wanted to take her in his arms and comfort her.
    And then rip off her wet clothes and fuck her. What the hell was wrong with him? She was a murderer.
    Probably.
    She wiped the tear away. A tremulous smile hovered on her mouth, and desire pooled in his loins. As if that wasn’t bad enough,
love
tugged at his heart.
    He couldn’t take it anymore. “I have to go find someplace to stay,” he said, turning away, heading for the door.
    She followed. “You’re not returning to New Orleans tonight?”
    He didn’t look back, just stomped out the door into the pouring rain. “No, I have club business to take care of.”
And a murder to investigate, damn it all
.
    Maybe. He really didn’t want to believe it. And there was no proof, only suspicion, but . . .
    “Your tools,” Mirabel said.
    He wheeled around, and without looking at her took the compressor in one hand and the nail gun in the other and headed for his truck. “Thanks.”
    “Good luck finding a hotel,” she said. “They’re all booked to the eaves because of the first game of the season.”
    He hadn’t thought of that. The rivalry between Hellebore University and LSU drew fans from all over. He dumped the equipment in the back and slammed the door shut. “What a damned nuisance.”
    Her voice pursued him. “If you can’t find a hotel, you’re welcome to stay here.”
    So she could seduce him into giving her the club? She must think him even more of a fool than Grandpa. He ripped open the door of the truck.
    “Arthur would have insisted,” she said. “He loved you very much.”
    How dare she?
    “Yes, he did,” Gerry said through clenched teeth. “I owe him a lot.”
Including justice
.
    He steeled himself to turn. Mirabel stood halfway down the walk, her