Biting the Bride by Clare Willis Page B

you taking a cab as well?” He looked from Jacob to Sunni expectantly. Sunni felt herself blush as Jacob coughed quietly into his hand.
    “Um, we’re not all going to the same place,” Sunni said.
    “The night is still young,” Richard said. “There’s a wonderful jazz quartet at the Brazil Room downtown. Can I entice anyone to join me?” His smile beamed equally on Sunni and Isabel, but studiously avoided Jacob. The cab pulled up to the curb.
    Sunni glanced at Jacob. His facial expression never changed, but something in his eyes told her to stay put.
    “I’m awfully tired. Why don’t you two go?” Sunni said, taking a step backward and putting her hand on Isabel’s coat sleeve.
    “Is this okay?” Isabel whispered as Sunni helped her into the cab.
    “It’s fine, I’ll call you later,” Sunni whispered back. “You have fun!” she said more loudly.
    Richard climbed into the cab and it whisked them away. She turned around, half expecting Jacob to have disappeared into thin air like he did at the wedding, but he hadn’t moved.
    “So, what do we do now?” Sunni asked, and immediately regretted the question. She felt an unwelcome heat rise up in her body as she remembered all the times she had fantasized about Jacob making love to her. Just two days ago she’d used his image to get off when the twerp she’d picked up in the bar, Alex Petrie, had failed to arouse her sufficiently. She’d already given Jacob Eddington the edge in this new relationship.
    Luckily, Jacob was fixated on Richard and the taxi and seemed to have no idea what was going through Sunni’s mind. His jaw twitched.
    “We go to the Brazil Room,” he said briskly.

Chapter 7
    They climbed into a cab a few minutes after Isabel and Richard. Jacob had to shift his long legs sideways, which turned him slightly toward Sunni. Even in the dim light Jacob’s features were easily discernible. His pale skin gave off a faint glow, like some luminescent fish from the bottom of the sea. Or perhaps it was just Sunni’s excellent eyesight, since people, as a general rule, didn’t glow. The cabbie requested their destination and Jacob provided it. Sunni sighed deeply and leaned her head back against the seat. The taxi smelled of old leather, Chinese food, and the piney woods and fresh snow odor she now associated with Jacob.
    Jacob Eddington and I are on a date. She turned the idea around in her mind, testing it out. For all intents and purposes it looked like a date. They were in a cab together, going to a nightclub. There was some kind of tension between them, perhaps sexual attraction, although Jacob was certainly not making his intentions clear. But maybe tonight would clarify the situation. Sunni decided she was going to try to let her guard down and see where the evening took them.
    “Let’s talk about Richard Lazarus.” Jacob rubbed his hands together as if they were cold, although the cab driver was blasting the heat to keep the windshield clear.
    Sunni’s heart sank. “Of course,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, “let’s talk about Richard Lazarus. Because we certainly wouldn’t want to talk about ourselves.”
    “He is very dangerous.”
    “Dangerous to whom?”
    “To you.” Jacob turned to her, his mouth firm, eyes unblinking. “I need to take you away from San Francisco tonight.”
    “Is that a proposition?” Sunni was aiming for a light tone, but she didn’t think she was able to disguise the excitement and confusion she was feeling.
    He shook his head dismissively. “Obviously not. This is about your safety, nothing else.”
    “I see.” Disappointment was followed quickly by anger. “Shall we tell the cab to take us to the airport right away?”
    “Yes, that would be advisable.” Jacob leaned toward the cab driver.
    She laughed, although it wasn’t remotely funny, but when he tapped the driver’s shoulder she pulled his hand down.
    “Never mind,” she said to the driver, who shrugged and kept