Okay, it always ended in sex, Holly acknowledged, but Dream Justin was charming and funny and sweet and an amazing lover, and Holly very much feared she was starting to confuse him with the real Justin. And that made her wonder why he was never around anymore when she was awake. It was unexpected, especially since he had said he was supposed to oversee her training. Instead of Justin being there, Dante and Tomasso had taken over her training the last couple of days . . . and she’d found herself missing Justin, wondering where he was, what he was doing, and why he wasn’t training her as he was supposed to be doing.
Holly was trying to figure out how to ask him that, when Justin pulled into the driveway of Jackie and Vincent’s house.
“You must be exhausted,” he commented as they pulled into the garage. Putting the car in park, he shut down the engine and opened his door, saying, “Go get some rest. Tonight we hit the nightclubs so you can practice controlling minds and feeding.”
With that he got out of the car and disappeared into the house. Holly stared at the door he closed behind him and then blew her breath out on a sigh as she got out as well. The man had just walked away. It was like he was avoiding her . . . and for some reason, that really bothered her.
“You are an idiot, Holly Bosley,” she muttered to herself as she entered the house. “A big stupid dummy of an idiot.”
“No, you’re not, piccola,” Gia’s voice drew her attention to where the woman sat at the kitchen table, a book in hand. “Why would you even say that?”
“No reason,” Holly said quickly as she closed the door to the garage. Noticing the way Gia was now focusing on her and recognizing that it meant the woman was reading her, she tried to distract her. “We’re going to the nightclub tonight to practice feeding. Are you coming?”
Gia hesitated, but then raised her eyebrows. “Have you even tried yet to control anyone?”
“No,” Holly admitted worriedly. “Isn’t it like reading minds?”
Gia clucked her tongue and stood to move to the phone.
“Who are you calling?” Holly asked curiously as she watched Gia run her finger down a list of numbers stuck to the side of the refrigerator and then begin punching numbers into the phone.
“I’m ordering pizza to be delivered,” Gia announced, placing the receiver to her ear. Grinning, she added, “The boys can eat the pizzas and you can eat the driver.”
“Er . . . I think you mean feed on the driver,” Holly said on a little laugh.
“Feed . . . eat . . .” Gia shrugged. “Is the same thing.”
Holly didn’t argue with her, but moved to the table to sit down while she waited. In the next moment the woman was giving her order to someone on the other end of the line.
“So . . .” she asked nervously as Gia hung up. “Is controlling someone like reading their mind? I mean, do I just slip into their thoughts and take control?”
“Si. Is easy,” Gia assured her moving to join her at the table. “Find the thoughts and then put yours in.”
Holly nodded, but was now biting her lips nervously.
“With the first delivery, we will just have you control them I think,” Gia announced, eyeing her consideringly. “Maybe make them do something they would not normally do, like clap their hands. You are too nervous for more than that.”
“The first delivery?” Holly asked uncertainly.
“Hmm.” She nodded. “We will order Chinese next and you can make that delivery person do something else.”
“Oh,” Holly said faintly.
“Relax, piccola,” Gia said, reaching out to squeeze her hand. “You will do fine. And I am here to make sure all is well, si?”
“Si,” Holly breathed, but it didn’t ease her nervousness much.
Justin opened his eyes and stared at the sunlight coming through his windows with confusion. The sun had been setting when he’d lain down to sleep after getting back from the mall. He’d set his alarm clock for nine that night, intending to get up and take Holly to a nightclub so she could practice controlling and feeding on mortals. Sunlight should not be coming through his windows.
Turning his head, he peered at the bedside clock and frowned. It read 6:30 A.M. Cursing, he tossed the sheets and blankets aside and leapt out of bed. He was wide awake now, completely rested for the first time in days, at least since he’d started having shared dreams with Holly. While the shared dreams were amazing and awesome, they weren’t exactly restful and he’d been waking up most days almost as tired as when he went to bed. Now, though, he wasn’t . . . because he’d slept a deep, dreamless sleep and for a good twelve hours, apparently.
“What the hell?” he muttered, crossing to the bedroom door and rushing out into the hall, nearly crashing into Gia.
“Whoa,” the petite woman said on a laugh, catching at his arms, either to steady herself or him. “Slow down. You will tumble down the stairs racing around like that.”
“Where’s Holly?” Justin asked as she released him and stepped back.
“She just went to her room to get ready for bed,” Gia told him, and then arched an eyebrow and pointed out, “It’s dawn.”
“Yes, I know,” he said with irritation.
“Holly said you were going to take her to a nightclub to test her ability to control and feed. She waited all night, but you never came down,” Gia said accusingly.
“I was napping,” he muttered, and then sighed and ran a hand through his sleep-ruffled hair. It was probably standing on end, he thought distractedly, and then noting Gia’s arched eyebrows, said quickly, “I set the alarm on my bedside table before I laid down, but my alarm didn’t go off.” Scowling now, he asked, “Why didn’t someone wake me up?”
“At first we were busy,” Gia said mildly. “And when we realized what time it was, it was too late to go to the clubs anyway, so . . .” She shrugged, apparently the Italian’s answer to everything. Moving around him, she added, “We can go to the clubs tonight so you can test her. Is busier on Fridays anyway.”
Justin turned to watch her walk to her door. Once there, she paused and glanced back with a smile. “She will do well. We were practicing most of the night.”
“Practicing?” he asked uncertainly.
“Si. At least until the pizza places closed,” she added, and then merely smiled at his confused expression, and said, “Buona notte, bello.”
“It’s morning now, not night,” Justin muttered, but she’d already slipped into her room and was closing the door.
Shaking his head, Justin turned and continued downstairs. He needed a drink. His mouth was as dry as a desert. Then he’d go back to bed and sleep and have those shared dreams with Holly that he’d expected to have when he’d lain down to nap. It was why he’d told her to rest. After an entire afternoon at the mall with her, feeling the heat of her body next to his, her delicate vanilla scent filling his head, but being unable to touch her or behave as he wanted to around her, all Justin had been able to think of was getting her back to the house. He’d planned for both of them to lie down for a nap so that they could have shared dreams. There at least, he could do all the things he’d been imagining as he’d sat across from her at the mall pointing out people for her to read.
Instead, she’d apparently stayed up with Gia while he’d actually slept. Some people might have been happy to get such a long and deep sleep after a week of exhausting dreams. He wasn’t. He’d looked forward to those dreams. They were the only thing that had kept him sane during the three days of not seeing her while she worked with Dante and Tomasso.