Heart of a Warrior by Theodora Lane Read Free Book Online Page B

of matching silverware. Carrying her finds, she went to the table just off the kitchen and laid everything out.
    She looked around. The house was old from what she’d seen of it on the outside. However, on the inside it had all the modern conveniences. His furniture was good too. The dining table was an antique, if she wasn’t mistaken. The chairs surrounding the table were mismatched and upholstered in various shades of brown.
    “So, you do this all the time?” Leaning against the counter, she checked out his ass.
    “Fix dinner?” He turned to face her. He looked incredibly cute, trying to look innocent. She wasn’t fooled.
    “No, kill vampires, smart-ass.”
    “Yeah, it’s what I do.” Nic turned the steaks. “Rare, medium, or well?”
    “Medium. All the time? Are there that many vampires around here?” She wasn’t sure if she believed him.
    “No, not around here, but all over. I travel a lot.”
    “This special interest group you work for…who are they?” She pulled out a bar stool and sat at the counter, a little more relaxed but still wary. Even if he was good-looking, she still needed to be on her guard. She’d learned early in her life that good-looking did not equal trustworthy.
    “Can’t tell you. Big secret.” He smiled at her, tossed two potatoes into the microwave, and set the timer. “Besides, if I told you, I’d have to kill you.” He looked at her; the grin was gone.
    “You’re serious, aren’t you?” Fiona sat up straight.
    He gave a shrug of his large shoulders and took another sip of the beer. “Sure you don’t want one?” He motioned with the bottle.
    “I don’t drink. Slows down my reflexes.”
    “And numbs the senses,” he muttered.
    She looked at his face; it had grown serious, his brows lowered and his full lips stretched thin. She wanted to ask why he needed to be numb, but the smell of the steaks was getting to her.
    “They’re ready, I think.” She pointed.
    “Right.” Nic turned back, stabbed the rib eyes with a grilling fork, and put them on a platter. The microwave dinged. He slipped his hand into an oven mitt, pulled the potatoes out, and carried them to the table.
    She sat across from him, and they filled their plates.
    “Don’t forget to leave me some, buddy.”
    Fiona looked up from cutting her steak. “Did you hear that?” Her brows furrowed.
    •
    The fork stopped halfway to Nic’s mouth. His gaze darted to Cho sitting on a branch of the tree watching them.
    “Hear what?” He put the steak in his mouth and chewed. No, couldn’t be. He was the only one that could hear that little pain in the ass.
    “A voice, I think.” She sounded unsure.
    Cho chuckled.
    “Now it’s laughing,” She put her fork down on her plate and looked around the room. “What’s going on?”
    “I’m not sure I know what you mean. Hey, I don’t even know your name.” He tried to divert her. “My name is Nic.”
    “I’m Fiona. Fiona Meadows. Nic, is that short for Nicholas?” She picked up her fork and dipped into the baked potato.
    “Tell her, I dare you.”
    “No, it’s short for Nicodemus.” He watched for her reaction.
    She looked interested and tilted her head. “That’s a Biblical name, isn’t it?”
    “See, she didn’t even laugh.”
    “Yeah, my folks were into old religions.” He looked down at his food. He really didn’t want to talk about his parents.
    “What’s it mean?”
    He stopped and looked at her. Wondered if she was the one who would understand and accept him, the one he’d told himself he’d never find, so don’t bother looking, boy.
    “Warrior of the people.”
    “And you are. Do you ever wonder if your parents knew?” She looked serious, not as if she was teasing him at all.
    He swallowed the food in his mouth and took his time washing it down with the beer before he answered her.
    “Sometimes, yeah.”
    “Nic what?”
    “Just Nic.” He cut her off. This was getting too close to home for him. He felt too relaxed, too