She meant certain death for a vampire, but despite the danger, he couldn’t stay away from her . . .

“Hey, it’s Trina, right?” he said slowly, keeping his distance. “I read your name tag the other night.”

She twirled around to face him so fast that he took a step back, but it wasn’t in time to stop her from pressing the end of her wooden stake against the side of his neck.

Trina glared at him through narrowed eyes, pinning him against the wall.

Doug leaned his head back, trying to keep the sharp, wooden point from piercing his skin, and said, “Whoa, calm down. I’m not going to hurt you.” No matter how he’d chosen to live his life, her choice of weapon would send him to the vampiric afterlife.

Trina’s dark eyes glistened in the dark as recognition washed over her. “You! I remember you.” She tightened her grip on his shoulder, pressing the stake a little closer to his throat. “You’re the guy from the store who’s into pink earphones. What’re you doing here?” The suspicion on her face was hard to miss.

“Mostly, I’m here for the entertainment,” he said, trying to keep his breathing shallow so he wouldn’t inhale a dangerous amount of her scent. She smelled so sweet and alluring. It would be so easy to give in to her, to follow her wherever she went like a lost puppy.

No, stop it! He tried to shake the intoxicating thoughts from his head. If he didn’t get a grip, she’d use that stake on him.

“So you saw what just happened?” she asked, suspiciously.

“I watched you let an old vampire get away.”

Trina dropped her grip on him and stepped back, but she didn’t pocket the stake. “So you’re the vigilante who’s running around trying to keep a lid on the vampire population."