Page 5 of Bad Luck Vampire

“It’s not a hot date,” she told her with irritation, and then deciding to ignore the other woman, turned her focus back to Megan and reluctantly admitted, “More like a favor date.”

Megan’s eyebrows shot up. “Seriously? You are leaving early, on Thursday, for a date?”

“I had no say in the day or time, Megs,” Sophie said with amusement. “It’s a wedding.”

“Who gets married on a Thursday?” Megan asked at once, looking outraged at the very idea.

Before Sophie could answer, Bobby—Megan’s brother and also a coworker—slipped past Lise to enter the office and asked, “Is it a family member?”

“Family?” Sophie echoed with amusement. “Why? You getting married?”

“Oh, hell no,” Bobby said at once, his eyes widening with horror. “Elizabeth and I just started dating. Besides, I’m like you, planning to stay single forever.”

“Well, then, since you, Megan, and Mama and Papa are the only family I have, I guess it can’t be family who’s getting married, can it?” Sophie asked with an affectionate smile for the man who had been like a brother to her since his parents had taken her in as a foster child in her early teens.

“Ahhh. That’s so sweet, and we love you too,” Megan said, smiling with affection, and then abruptly asked, “So, whose wedding is it?”

Sophie sighed with resignation. She’d known this would happen if they found out. It was why she’d hoped to sneak out unnoticed. She should have known better. Everyone in what had become her family worked in this branch of the insurance company, except for her foster mother, Deb. Her foster father, George, owned and ran it and she had started working here after finishing university, just like her foster siblings, Megan and Bobby, had. And just like most siblings, she’d known they’d be all up in her business if she didn’t slip out unnoticed.

Knowing she wouldn’t get out of the building without telling all, she cast a glare at Lise, one of the few nonfamily workers here, and said, “Well, you all remember that awful date I had last weekend?”

“I said I was sorry,” Lise said with exasperation. “Carl seemed like a nice guy. How was I to know he’d turn out to be a perv?”

Before Sophie could respond, Megan exclaimed with horror, “Ohmygawd! You are not going to a wedding with that pervy Carl that Lise set you up with, are you?” She then straightened her shoulders and said firmly, “As your older sister I forbid it.”

“You’re only a month older, Megs,” Sophie pointed out with amusement. She didn’t, however, add that technically they weren’t really sisters either, mostly because as far as she was concerned, they were. The Tomlinsons were the only family she had. She’d considered them family almost from the moment they’d taken her in to foster when she was fourteen and she knew they felt the same. Instead, she said, “It’s okay. I’m not going out with Carl. My date is Tybo. The guy who helped me out.”

“You mean the hero who picked up Pervy Carl by the throat with one hand?” Bobby asked with interest.

“Yeah. Him.” Sophie nodded.

Rather than soothe Megan, that made her sister’s eyes go wide and incredulous. “The hero actually called you and your first date with him is going to be accompanying him to a wedding?”

“It’s not our first date,” she admitted. “He called Monday night and we met up for a coffee.” Pausing, she pursed her lips and then asked, “That counts as a date, doesn’t it?”

“No,” Bobby said with amusement.

It was Megan who said, “A proper date is dinner and a movie, or dinner and dancing, or a concert or something of that nature. Not twenty minutes in a noisy, overbright cafe with coffee in cardboard cups and donuts on cardboard plates.”

“Oh. Then yeah, I guess our first date is going to be a wedding,” Sophie said with a shrug. The coffee date had actually lasted an hour rather than just twenty minutes, but she didn’t think mentioning that would help matters.

“Ohmygod, Sophie!” Megan said with exasperation. “Seriously? When did you become a risk-taking masochist?”

“It’s not a risk,” Sophie assured her. “Tybo’s a cop. I should be safe enough with him.”

“A policeman?” Bobby asked with amazement. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Sophie smiled faintly at his surprise. It was rather how she’d felt. Tybo just did not seem the type. Or maybe she just had no idea what policemen were like.

“Okay,” Megan said now. “Right, he’s a policeman. So, you’re less risk-taker and more just pure masochist.”

“I am not,” Sophie protested on a laugh, although she was starting to wonder about that. After all, weddings weren’t exactly first date–type outings. She’d be meeting his friends, coworkers, and maybe even family depending on who all had been invited to this shindig. That wouldn’t make for a relaxing first date where she could get to know him.

Sighing inwardly, she admitted, “I kind of felt like I owed him for his help with Carl and couldn’t say no.”

“You don’t owe him squat,” Megan said firmly.

Sophie shrugged. “It’s all good, Megs. Tybo’s polite and funny. He’s good-looking too, and seems nice. And, I mean come on, how much more respectable can you get than a wedding for a first date? I definitely won’t have to worry about getting attacked or anything on the arm of a cop with a wedding hall full of people dancing the funky chicken around us.”

---