The Lady Is a Vamp by Lynsay Sands Read Free Book Online Page A

Louise said lightly, “Maybe your taste is changing. Everyone’s taste changes. Here, try this.” She took half her own sandwich and set it before the girl. “It’s ham and cheese. That’s my favorite and your dad put on just the right amount of mayonnaise. Not too much, not too little. It’s perfect.”
    When the child hesitated, Jeanne Louise slipped into her thoughts to encourage her and then stayed there, ensuring she took a bite, chewed, and actually enjoyed the bite. The child was all bone; she needed to eat to build up her strength. The turn was a rigorous attack on the body. Livy needed to be stronger to survive it . . . if she was turned.
    “Good?” Jeanne Louise asked when Livy swallowed, smiled, and took another bite.
    Livy nodded, too busy chewing to answer.
    “Thank God,” Paul murmured, the words a heartfelt sigh from his lips.
    Jeanne Louise merely smiled at him, her concentration on ensuring Livy continued to enjoy and eat her sandwich. When the child finished the first half, Jeanne Louise wordlessly passed her the second half and continued to make her eat.
    “Here.”
    Jeanne Louise glanced to Paul to see him holding out a second sandwich from the picnic basket he’d brought out earlier. It hadn’t taken him long to put the picnic together. Then he’d returned to the room and cautiously unchained her and led her outside to a little gazebo in the center of the backyard. He’d used two chains to shackle one ankle to a post of the gazebo. Paul had then covered her with a light blanket to hide the metal tethers. After a hesitation, he’d then assured her he’d be right back and headed for the house.
    Jeanne Louise hadn’t needed to read his mind to know he’d been worried that she might escape while he was gone. But she hadn’t even tried. She’d remained where she was, ignoring the way he kept glancing over his shoulder, and then peering out the kitchen window as he’d gathered the picnic basket and Livy before rushing back out.
    The relief on his face when he got back to find her sitting sedately where he’d left her had nearly made her grin, but she’d controlled herself and turned her attention to Livy as the girl had begun showing her pictures of her dear departed mother.
    “Thank you,” Jeanne Louise said quietly as she accepted his offering. She quickly unwrapped the sandwich and took an absent bite as she concentrated on Livy. But the burst of flavor in her mouth made her blink and her efforts on Livy stutter slightly.
    “Is something wrong?” Paul asked, pausing in unwrapping his own sandwich.
    “No,” she said quickly, returning her attention to Livy. “It’s good.”
    She caught his smile out of the corner of her eye and knew he wanted to point out that she’d told Livy the sandwich was perfect without even trying it first, but he held his tongue. Probably afraid the girl would stop eating, Jeanne Louise thought wryly as she encouraged Livy to finish the last of her sandwich.
    “I brought chips too,” Paul announced, setting his own sandwich aside to retrieve two bags of chips from the picnic basket—barbecue and sour cream and onion. “I’ve seen you eat both kinds, but wasn’t sure which was your favorite.”
    “Both are,” Jeanne Louise admitted with a faint smile. “Sometimes I prefer barbecue and sometimes the other. It just depends on my mood.”
    “And which would you prefer today?” he asked, arching one eyebrow.
    “Barbecue,” she decided.
    “And what mood does that mean you’re in?” Paul asked with interest.
    “In the mood for spicy?” Jeanne Louise suggested absently, her main concentration on Livy still.
    “Hmmm,” he murmured, and she heard the rustle as he opened the chips.
    Livy finished her last bite and Jeanne Louise kept ahold of her thoughts for another moment to ensure the child’s stomach wasn’t rebelling at being so full, and that all was well, then released her to turn her attention to her own food. Her eyes widened when