Kissing with Fangs

Chapter 6

Claudia hugged Angie and Brandee in turn, then invited them to sit anywhere. She took two square menus over to them and grinned like an idiot. Realizing they needed a minute to look at the offerings, she flitted off to the cash register.

The little bells tinkled over the door again and a woman she didn’t recognize entered. She was dressed like a Victorian lady in a long dress full of lace and ruffles. A huge, foppish hat covered in flowers and vines partially hid her face.

“Um… Welcome to the Boston Uncommon Tea Room. Sit anywhere you like,” Claudia said brightly.

The hat nodded.

As the woman found a table, Claudia grabbed a menu and followed her.

Brandee looked up and caught sight of the woman, and her eyes rounded, as if she were ducking school and about to get caught. She tried to hide her face behind the nine-by-nine-inch card.

Hmmm…I wonder what that’s about.

Just as Claudia was about to hand the woman her menu, the bells over the door tinkled again. In came more familiar faces. She grinned and waved to Kurt and Tory.

“I’ll be right back to take your order,” she said to the stranger.

The woman held up one finger. “No need to rush off and come back. I know what I want.”

“Oh. Of course. What’ll it be?” Claudia said as if still in the bar, but then gave herself a little mental slap upside the head. Reach back to your refined upbringing, dumbass. Her casual manner must have come from seeing the old bar’s regulars walk in.

“I’d like the raspberry and chocolate scone with Devonshire cream and a small pot of Darjeeling tea.”

“Wonderful choice,” Claudia said. As she jotted down the order and strode toward the kitchen, she wondered how the woman had managed to order something on the menu without even reading it. That’s weird. Maybe every tea house offers those items. She made a mental note to ask Chris to come up with some signature offerings.

“Sit anywhere you like, guys,” she tossed over her shoulder. Kurt and Tory headed right over to Angie and Brandee, taking the table beside them.

It seemed like old home week when Claudia returned. The guys were chatting with the girls, and Sadie stood between the tables with her hands on Tory’s and Angie’s shoulders. Claudia hated to break up the animated conversation, but she didn’t want to ignore customers, either.

“Have any of you decided what you want?”

“I want a job,” Angie said.

Claudia was taken aback. “Seriously? I thought you were bartending at one of the local hotels. One of the nicer hotels.”

“I was…I mean, I am. But my boss there is so hoity-toity. I miss everyone here. Maybe you could use someone part time?”

This was the answer to a prayer. The only other employees Claudia had hired were a couple of students who could only work evenings.

“Think about it,” Tory said. “As I recall, you became the bar’s manager because you were a klutzy cocktail waitress. It was bad enough when you bathed someone in beer, but imagine spilling hot tea in a customer’s lap.”

Claudia’s cheeks heated. It was true, but she’d hoped her sobriety would result in a steadier hand.

The bells jingled again. More customers.

Angie nodded to the front door. “It looks like you could use some help. I’ve already handed the guys our menus.”

“Hey. I was just about to…” Whoa. Take your pride and shove it, she told herself.

Sadie caught her eye and gave her a slight nod.

If I don’t take Angie up on her offer, I should fire myself. “Can you start right now?”

Angie laughed and jumped up. “You betcha.”

Claudia ripped the order pad and handed half of it to her. “Grab a pen from behind the counter and have at it. Give the orders to Chris in the kitchen.”

Brandee ordered a cup of Irish breakfast tea and plain salad, reminding Claudia she was lactose intolerant. The guys asked for coffee and cucumber-watercress sandwiches. Kurt joked that he just ordered them to find out what the heck a watercress was.

The day progressed smoothly and Claudia’s prediction about a slow start couldn’t have been more wrong. Every regular from the old bar and a bunch of new faces showed up. Had Sadie known this was going to happen?

The one thing that really baffled Claudia was why the woman wearing the giant hat was staying all day. She sipped her tea slowly and nibbled at her scone. Claudia checked on her regularly and was always dismissed with a wave of the woman’s gloved hand.

Eventually, Claudia talked her into a fresh pot of tea, figuring the other one must have grown cold by then.

When she picked up the pot with both hands, heat seared her. “Yikes!” She quickly set it down and blew on her fingers. Chelsea, one of the evening waitresses, rushed over. “Are you all right?”

Claudia inspected her fingers. They stung and were dark pink, but not red or blistered. “I—I think so.”

Chelsea mumbled under her breath, “You’d better get a good tip after that.”

The strange woman rose and faced them. “You want a good tip? Here it is… Try picking up teapots by the handles, numbnuts.”

Stunned, Claudia watched the woman glide to the cash register, drop a twenty-dollar bill next to it, and saunter out the door as if nothing had happened.

Anthony straightened his tie, using the shop window as a mirror. He was anxious for some inexplicable reason. He trusted Claudia completely, and Ruxandra had promised to stay away, so what could possibly go wrong?

Breezing into the small office sandwiched between the checkout counter and the entrance to the kitchen, Anthony spotted Claudia rubbing something onto the palm of her hand. As soon as he caught sight of the tube of ointment with the Red Cross symbol on it, he rushed to her side.

“What happened? Are you all right?”

Claudia sighed. “Yes. I was just stupid. I picked up a hot teapot by the base instead of using the handle.”

Anthony took her hand in his and inspected the burn. “I’m no doctor, but I’d say it’s a minor burn. No blisters. Does it hurt?”

She shrugged. “Not as much as it did a few minutes ago. It’s just a dull throb now.”

“I’ll take you to the emergency room, just to be sure.”

Claudia held up her glossy hand. “No! They might try to give me pain medication. I won’t take anything addictive.”

“Won’t Kurt’s protection spell take care of that?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t want to take any chances with my sobriety.”

“You’re amazing.” Anthony lifted her palm to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on her fingertips and another on her wrist. Then he kissed his way up her arm until he met the column of her neck and nibbled his way up to her jaw. She giggled and scrunched her shoulder and jaw together as if it tickled.

He captured her lips in a passionate kiss and she twined her arms around his neck, kissing him back just as fervently.

When they broke the kiss, she grinned. “You kissed me like Gomez Addams kissing Morticia.”

“Who?”

“Morticia. You know. From The Addams Family?”

Anthony shrugged. “I’ve never heard of them. Do they live around here?”

Claudia laughed. “No. It’s a TV show. You probably missed the reruns, but it was hilarious. Someday I’ll pull up an old episode on my computer and we can watch it together.”

“That would be nice.” Doing anything with Claudia sounded good—especially if it inspired more hot kisses.

“So I imagine you want to know how our first day went, other than this slight mishap.”

“Absolutely.” Anthony took the chair beside the desk and let Claudia sit in the larger one behind it.

“It was surprisingly busy. We saw many of the old regulars from the bar, as well as new faces. There was a whole group of ladies all wearing red hats. We had to push some tables together, but it worked out just fine.”

“Red hats?”

“Yeah. They weren’t all the same type of hat…like they weren’t all wearing red berets or anything. Just fashionable hats for the—um, older female set.”

“Ah, yes. I had heard we might be visited by the Red Hat Society.”

“It’s a society?”

“Yes. As I understand it, they just get together to have fun. A member spoke to me about the upcoming grand opening when she saw an ad.”

“Ah. So the online ad worked.”

Anthony looked at her sideways. “I thought we weren’t going to circulate flyers or put ads in the newspaper.”

Claudia grinned and shrugged. “I didn’t do those things. I used the Internet. We had a little money left over because Kurt provided the candles.” She touched his hand. “I just want you to succeed.”

“And I wanted to start slowly so you wouldn’t be overwhelmed.”

She sighed. “Maybe you were right. But Angie came to my rescue.”

“Angie? Our Angie?”

“Yup. Apparently she doesn’t like her job at the fancy-schmancy hotel, so I hired her on the spot. She’s happy. I’m happy. And I hope you’re happy.”

Anthony remembered having to mesmerize the bartender who almost cried wolf—or “werewolf,” as it were. It was the bar’s closest call to being outed as a paranormal meeting place, and what a disaster that would have been.

“I think she’ll work out great,” Claudia continued. “Whether it’s tea or beer, she has a steady hand. I’ve never seen her spill a drop of anything. Me, on the other hand…”

True. Time to change the subject again. “So, it looks like the crew is getting back together.”

She chuckled. “Seems that way.”

“And how did Sadie do?”

“I think she had a good day too. Some of the Red Hat Society ladies had their tea leaves read and said they’d tell their friends.”

Just then a shriek came from the tea room. Both Anthony and Claudia dashed out of the office to see what had happened.

The door was wide open and a furious Ruxandra stood on the stoop. She was trying to step inside, but her foot kept bouncing off an invisible barrier. She had just raised her fist, as if she was about to smash through it.

Bloody hell. Anthony strode out the door, grabbed Ruxandra’s arm, and dragged her a few feet down the sidewalk.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m trying to enter a public restaurant,” she spat.

Anthony crossed his arms. “And why do you think you can’t?”

“I don’t know, but I imagine you and your whore have something to do with it.” She pointed through the window at a shocked-looking Claudia. “What is she? A witch?”

Anthony dragged Ruxandra to the nearest side street and rounded the corner with her.

When they were out of sight of the evening crowd, he growled. “Why did you come? You promised you’d stay away.”

Ruxandra folded her arms and turned up her nose. “I found a loophole.”

“A what?”

“A loophole. You made me promise to stay away from your tea room. But as I see it, any restaurant that invites the public in is a public place. And I didn’t promise the public I’d stay away.”

“Unless the public signed the deed, it’s not the public’s tea room. It’s my tea room…and as I recall, you promised to stay away from my tea room.”

“Are you sure it doesn’t belong to you and your little whore?”

Anthony had to use every fiber of his inner strength to keep from grabbing her around the neck and ripping her head off. Through gritted teeth he said, “Do. Not. Call. Her. That.”

She whipped her hair over her shoulder. “Why not? You pay her, don’t you?”

“I pay her to manage my business.”

“And you set her up in a nice apartment in a building where, you admitted, your name is on the deed. What do you call her now?”

“A renter.” Shit. How did she know about that? Suddenly he was glad Claudia had insisted on paying rent, but dammit, Ruxandra knows where she lives.

Rounding the corner, Kurt stopped and opened his eyes in surprise. “Ruxandra. I didn’t expect to see you here.” He took a step back and eyed her appreciatively. “Wow. You look…stunning!”

She smiled and touched her hair a couple times. “Why, thank you, Kurt.” Then she turned her angry gaze on Anthony again. “See? Other men appreciate my beauty.”

Kurt laid a hand on her arm. “Oh, Ruxandra. You’re so much more than mere beauty.”

Careful, Kurt. Don’t lay it on too thick, or she’ll see right through our ploy.

But Ruxandra seemed to be eating up the compliments. “Really? What else do you like about me?”

“Well, for one thing, you’re loyal. To a Marine, that means everything.” He lifted his sleeve and exposed his tattoo. “See? Semper Fi.”

“Semper what?”

“Fi. Short for fidelis. It means always faithful.”

She narrowed her gaze on Anthony. “I wish everyone felt that ‘fi’ was important.”

“And I wish everyone kept their promises.” Anthony and Ruxandra stared each other down. At last, Anthony cleared his throat. “Well, I should be getting back to the shop.”

Ruxandra’s hand shot out and grabbed his arm. “Not so fast. You haven’t told me how you performed that little trick with the door.”

He yanked his sleeve out of her grasp. “And I don’t intend to. Consider it a warning. Stay away.” As he stormed off to make sure Claudia got home okay, he heard Kurt ask Ruxandra to a movie.

“Oh, go to hell,” she said.

Crap. So much for that plan.

Claudia paced across the office floor, wondering what, if anything, she could do about a jealous ex-girlfriend interfering with her new relationship. She stopped in the middle of the floor, sighed, and whispered the Serenity Prayer.

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change—Ruxandra; courage to change the things I can—um…” She hated to admit it, but about the only thing she had control over was dating or breaking up with Anthony. “And the wisdom to know the difference.” She slumped into the small chair beside the desk.

Giving him up was the last thing she wanted to do. They had already pushed their feelings aside and sacrificed five years of their lives. To surrender would hand Ruxandra the victory she wanted.

Claudia leaned over and dropped her head into her hands. After allowing herself a moment of self-pity, she straightened and said aloud, “I think it’s time to call my sponsor.”

She dialed Gaye’s number and waited through two rings. She was just about to chicken out when her sponsor answered.

“Claudia?”

“Hi, Gaye. How did you know it was me?”

“Caller ID showed your number.”

“You know my phone number?”

“I have a good memory for numbers.”

Claudia snorted. “I don’t have a good memory for anything these days. I feel like my mind has turned to mush.”

Gaye laughed. “That’s normal too. Hang in there. It’ll get better, I promise.”

“I hope so. I have a situation, and I can’t figure out how to handle it. Do you have a minute to talk?”

“I have as many minutes as you need.”

“Good.” Claudia already felt a little better. Less alone with her problem, at any rate. “I told you about my boyfriend, Anthony, right?”

“Uh-oh.”

Claudia’s spine stiffened. “Uh-oh? I haven’t even told you what’s bothering me yet.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. Tell me what’s going on.”

“It’s his jealous ex-girlfriend.”

Gaye groaned.

At that moment, Anthony entered the office, looking sad and defeated.

“Uh…I should go. Anthony’s here, and I should be talking about this with him, anyway.”

Anthony’s brows lifted.

“Fine. Just remember, your sobriety comes first. If anything threatens that, it’s gotta go.”

Claudia smiled. “Yes, ma’am.”

“I’m glad you called. Try me again later when you can talk.”

“I will.” Claudia hung up and faced Anthony. “Well?”

Anthony crossed his arms. “I don’t know what to tell you. Ruxandra promised to stay away, but obviously I can’t trust her to keep her word.”

As hard as it was for Claudia to bring up the only logical solution, she had to. “Maybe we should stop seeing each other.”

“No!” he roared.

Claudia took a step back. She had never seen Anthony lose his cool. Not once.

“I will not let a spoiled brat run my life. She’ll get over it. Meanwhile, I’ll need to keep you close at all times so I can protect you.”

Claudia set a hand on her hip. “At all times? What am I? Your prisoner? I have a life too. I need to go to meetings and—”

Anthony held up a hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean during the day. Just the evenings. She won’t bother you during the day.”

Claudia scrutinized him. “Anthony, I’ve never asked you what you do all day. I figured it was none of my business…until now.”

Anthony shifted from foot to foot and avoided eye contact.

“What is it? Are you reading to the blind? Shopping for new suits? Or does it have something to do with Ruxandra?”

His gaze snapped to hers. “It has nothing to do with Ruxandra.”

“Then you should be able to tell me about it.”

He scrubbed a hand over his face and paused so long that she began to doubt he planned to answer her at all.

“Look. I’ll take care of Ruxandra’s interference. I promise I don’t see her during the day, and I won’t see her in the evenings as soon as I can figure out how to get rid of her.”

“Get rid of her? What are you going to do?”

The alarm must have shown on her face. He said, “Don’t worry. I wasn’t planning to kill her.”

Claudia smirked. “Darn it.”

Anthony pulled her into a tight embrace and kissed her hard.

“What was that for?”

He stepped back and turned pale—or paler, if possible. “Did I hurt you?”

“No. I’m fine. But I still want to know what you do during the day.”

He turned toward the door and grasped the handle. “I’m going to check outside. Stay in the office until I’m sure it’s safe, and then I’ll escort you to your apartment. Promise you’ll stay inside tonight.”

“I’ll do no such thing. I need to go to an AA meeting—especially when things get nutty—and the way you’re acting is pretty nutty right now.”

“Look. I can’t help it. At some point, I’ll tell you about my days, but not now. There’s a right time and place for everything.”

“Maybe this isn’t the right time for us.”

She didn’t get a chance to say anything else. In a flash he was holding her and grasping her chin, staring into her eyes. “Don’t say that. I need you…to trust me, I mean.”