The Vampire's Valentine Surprise: A Nocturne Falls Short Read Online Free Page B

something he ever wanted to experience again.
    “Good. Because it’s not happening.” She put the spoon down and picked up the coffee cup, holding it out to him. “Take this to Marigold. She’s probably in her shop and with all this craziness going on here, she can’t be that busy.”
    He smirked as he took the cup. “My darling, it’s Valentine’s Day. I’m sure the florist’s shop makes this place look deserted.”
    Delaney put her hand on her forehead. “I totally forgot. Okay, not Marigold then. What about Charisma?”
    “I’m not sure she’s in town.”
    Delaney rested her hands on her hips. “Pandora? She’s got to be around.” She looked into the crowd. “In fact, she might be meeting with my friend Roxy about houses.”
    “I don’t know about that, but Pandora probably is here somewhere. At least I know her boyfriend and his daughter are. Stanhill and I saw them earlier. Say, Cole’s daughter’s a witch, right?”
    “A witch-in-training. This is probably full-on witch stuff. Oh, maybe you could get Corette? I know she’d do it.”
    He frowned. “Not a good idea.” He lowered his voice. “She’s a judge this year. Can’t be seen fraternizing.”
    Delaney’s eyes rounded and she shook her head. “No, definitely not. Okay, maybe you could look around and see if you can find Pandora, then bring her back here? I have to get this dough in to chill or I’m never going to be able to roll it out.”
    “I’m on it, but I’d better leave the coffee here. I’d hate for someone to run into me and spill it.” He put it at the back of her worktable, bringing him closer to her. She seemed a little pale, even for a vampire. “You sure you don’t need anything? I can bring you a bite to eat, if you’d like. Or maybe you should sit.”
    She put her hand on her stomach. “No food. Just the thought is…no. And I’ll sit when I can. Promise.”
    He frowned.
    “You’re so cute when you get all concerned. I’ll be fine.”
    “Very well.” He growled softly but took off into the throng. This was not his usual sort of activity, but that had all changed with the arrival of Delaney. She was too full of energy to be kept away from these things. She wanted to taste every flavor life had to offer and with her at his side, he was happy to do the same. Well, perhaps not happy when it came to crowds, but he enjoyed things far more with her along.
    Now he had to find out if Vicky Keller had actually tried to hurt his beloved. His fangs shot down through his gums and he knew his eyes must have silvered, because the anger in him was barely containable. No one was going to hurt Delaney and get away with it.
    First he had to find the witch. If Pandora was with Cole and his daughter, where would they be? The fairgrounds were mobbed with people. The weather was cool, but the sun was out, making it a good day for an outside event. Besides the bake-off, there were carnival games set up, pie-eating contests, tastings of all sorts… The tastings. He was sure he’d heard one of them had something to do with chocolate. That was probably something a teenage girl would enjoy very much.
    He stopped one of the event workers, a young feline shifter by the name of Caroline Linzer whose family owned the pet store in town. “Miss Linzer?”
    She smiled brightly. “Mr. Ellingham, how nice to see you. Can I help you with something?”
    “Yes. Do you know if there’s a chocolate tasting going on?”
    She nodded and pointed back toward a tent at the center of the melee. “All day long in Tent Five. There’s also chocolate carving and an exhibit on how chocolate is made.”
    “Thank you.” That was more information than he needed, but he smiled politely as he headed on his way.
    The intense smell of chocolate hit him when he was still fifty feet away. It was overpowering to his senses, but not entirely unpleasant. He made his way into the tent and navigated to the tasting area.
    He found Pandora pretty quickly thanks to