My silence went on long enough that he glanced over again, as though to make sure I was still there.
“A date?” I managed at last.
“Sure,” Nicolas said, flipping on the turn signal this time. He even checked the mirror—something I hadn’t seen him do once since he’d gotten into the driver’s seat. He merged smoothly to the right.
“Thanks for looking,” I said softly before I could stop myself. “You might be okay in a car wreck, but I wouldn’t be.”
He flashed me a worried look. I had no trouble interpreting it:What on earth was that supposed to mean?
I fought the urge to smile. Apparently, he didn’t care for someone who acted cryptic and borderline insane either. I yawned instead.
“You’re welcome,” Nicolas replied dully at last.
“What’s your idea of a date?” I asked, feeling wary. “I feel like I need to know specifics.”
He hesitated for a long moment, and it was abruptly clear he hadn’t considered what would happen if I said yes—that he would actually have to plan one.
“Err… Disneyland.”
I stared at him in total disbelief. “Disneyland?”
It was the last thing I would have expected him to say. I didn’t know what I had been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t that.
“It’s the happiest place on Earth,” Nicolas said, nodding to himself. “You could use some cheering up.”
A sudden lump rose in my throat. He wasn’t wrong. I certainly could use some cheering up. I just—had he noticed? Was it that obvious I was unhappy?
“I wouldn’t mind seeing you smile,” he added seriously. “I’m told I can’t just tell you to smile, either. That’s a thing, apparently. According to the internet. So, I’ll have to settle for making sure it happens on its own.”
What was even happening right now?
And why couldn’t I bring myself to want to stay away from him?
He wasn’t human—though maybe I had imagined that, after all? He seemed pretty damn human as his hands tightened slightly on the wheel and he flashed me an anxious look, waiting for my reply.
Either way, he was probably mentally unbalanced, right?
And right then, I didn’t care. Yes, I had the absolute worst taste in men.
Even so, I still found myself saying, “Yeah. Disneyland sounds great.”
Nicolas beamed at me, his blue eyes crinkling at the edges. Seeing it did weird, stuttery things to my heart. “Excellent choice, Doctor! I’ll pick you up at six-thirty.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN || COLE
“Ineed your help,” I said, walking up to Harris’s desk two hours later. It was stacked with case files, paperwork, and fast-food napkins.
The detective wrenched his eyes away from the computer screen and looked at me as if I were an oncoming train and he was the helpless deer about to get mowed over.
“You can’t possibly be hungry again,” Harris hissed as I took the seat at his desk. “You just ate.”
“Speaking of which, how’s the blonde doing?”
“Traumatized,” Harris said. “Grateful to be alive. Hounded by the press, probably. She was almost murdered by a psychopath.”
“And she was saved by a handsome vampire.” I grinned. “You know what? They ought to make a movie about it. I’d play myself, obviously.”
His eyes narrowed. “Don’t you have even a shred of decency?”
