Sucker for Love by Kimberly Raye Read Free Book Online Page B

calling to thank me for introducing her to Michael Brandenberg.” Both were born vampires. High fertility rating for him. Impressive orgasm quotient for her. Both had a fondness for opera and the Mets. They’d danced all night and I’d even seen Michael licking Janice’s neck during a soulful rendition of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.”
    Sure, they’d left in separate cabs after he’d tried to bite her and she’d told him to put his commitment vial where his mouth was, but what’s love without a little tiff every now and then? Even one that involved bitch-slapping (boy, can Janice pack a punch) and crying (who knew a male vamp could wail in three different octaves?).
    “It’s your sister-in-law.”
    So much for optimism.
    “She sounds worked up,” Evie added.
    “Thanks.” I punched line one. “Mandy? Are you okay?”
    “I’m fine. I’m better than fine. I’m ecstatic. Jack and I are going to have a baby and it’s all because of your wonderful, supportive mother.”
    The words stumbled around in my brain for a split second. “Come again?”
    “Your mother is the greatest.”
    “ My mother?”
    “The sweetest.”
    “Jaqueline Marchette?”
    “The kindest.”
    “The Jaqueline Marchette, who lives in Fairfield, Connecticut?”
    “The most compassionate.”
    “The one who takes up two parking spaces? And butts her nose into everyone’s business? And gives away boxes of raisins at Halloween?”
    “Raisins are healthy.”
    “Exactly.” My mother was always thinking in selfish terms. Load up the kids with raisins. They grow to be healthy adults and a perfect food source should the blood bottlers go out of business. “Halloween is all about Hershey bars and Pixie Stix. Any self-respecting human knows that.”
    “All right, so she might need a little redirection when it comes to trick-or-treaters, but otherwise she’s the most wonderful female vampire in the entire universe.” Mandy drew an excited breath. “She’s promised to do everything in her power to help us have a baby.”
    “That’s too cool.” Or it would have been if we weren’t having a give and take that starred my mother. “I’m glad it all worked out.” I licked my lips and chose my next words carefully. “But I was sort of under the impression that she was a little concerned about the whole situation. Not because she doesn’t absolutely love you or because she thinks you guysnever should have tied the knot, or anything crazy like that.” I went for a laugh. “It’s just that it’s sort of an unusual situation and not very common. I mean, you are human.”
    “That’s exactly what your mother said. But when I explained that I’ve been doing research and there’s no reason that Jack and I can’t have a normal, healthy human baby, she was fine with it.”
    “She was?”
    I could practically hear Mandy nodding on the other end. “Thrilled, even. She and your dad even insisted on toasting us. They brought a bottle of champagne just for the occa—”
    “Do not drink the champagne!”
    “I wouldn’t drink champagne, silly.”
    Relief rolled through me. Short-lived when she added, “I drank hot chocolate. Your mother brought it especially for me. She wouldn’t let Nina have even a sip.”
    “Nina and Rob were there?”
    “They didn’t want to miss the happy occasion. Anyhow, Nina asked for hot chocolate, but your mother insisted it was something special just for me. Said it was her own secret recipe.”
    This news sparked a big uh-oh for two very important reasons: 1) my mother didn’t have any special recipes, on account of she never cooked or whipped up stuff or did anything remotely domestic, and 2) she was a pretentious lunatic vampire who would sooner flay herself than do anything nice for a human.
    Hence, upon hearing the news I was this close to having a coronary.
    “You should have seen her,” Mandy went on, up-ping my heartbeat until I was nearing a full-blown code blue. “She was fussing