CHAPTEREIGHT
MERRY
The afternoon tookon a surreal quality.
I sat in Marcus' ugly kitchen and watched as he whipped up a frittata and a salad for our lunch. It was as good as something I would have gotten at a restaurant on South Congress or anywhere else.
He was quiet but not in an awkward way. He didn't smile a lot, but he didn't seem angry either.
I couldn't quite decide what I thought of him. My first instinct was to like him, but I wasn't sure if that was because I thought he was gorgeous or because I had a sex dream about him. Or because he was genuinely a nice guy.
I couldn't let myself like him. Because he was a vampire. He was dangerous to me. To any human.
With that tug-of-war going on inside me, I tried to relax and focus on the facts, the aspects of him I could plainly see. Things about him that were concrete rather than my beliefs based on my experience with Rhiannon and Caleb. I couldn't think of him the way I did them because he wasn't like them.
First, he hadn't hurt me the first time we met, even though he could. Though the same could be said for just about any man I met.
Second, he'd protected me from Marcel, even though he didn't know me. Not something every stranger would do for me.
Third, he offered me a safe place to stay. Indefinitely. That was kindness I wouldn't expect from many people who barely knew me.
If he was a human man, I'd still be cautious about how much I trusted him, but not as skittish as I was right now.
"Come to any conclusions?" Marcus asked.
"What?" I blinked and focused on him.
"You were thinking hard over there, so I wondered if you'd come to any conclusions," he repeated.
"Maybe," I answered. "I'm still examining the facts."
"Facts are important."
I studied him and wondered if he was making fun of me, but his eyes were kind.
"And are the facts in your possession helping you determine anything?"
"Yes," I answered, shoving my plate away.
He glanced down at it. "You didn't eat much."
"I'm stressed out," I admitted. "And when I'm stressed, I can't eat."
"I can make you something else."
"This was delicious," I said. "I wouldn't be able to eat anything else either."
"If you're sure."
"I am. Thanks, though."
He rose and took both of our plates to the sink.
I got to my feet as well. "I can do the dishes."
"I'll take you up on that another time," he said. "I think you should relax right now."
"I'm not sure what I can do to relax," I admitted.
