Why, Robert? Because you’re the first man in a very long time to rouse the butterflies in my stomach. Because your perfection is making it difficult to keep my thoughts straight and my tongue untangled. Because images of your gorgeous face and rock-hard body will keep me awake in bed as I toss and turn obsessing over you. Because everything about you is pulling me in like a magnet. Because I know that you’re a decent man under that cool exterior, even though it’s irrational to be convinced of such a thing after knowing you for so little time. Because I want to be next to you, and I want you to want me and be inside me, despite knowing that you’re capable of killing me with a single bite.
“I don’t know,” I said sensibly. “Because you seem interesting.”
“Right.” It was like he still didn’t believe me. He seemed genuinely dumbfounded that I’d want to get to know him better—was this vamp for real? How could I not? “So, where would you like to go?”
I thought for a moment. “It’s after ten, so I’m guessing coffee is out—not that you’d want any of that, anyway. You have any ideas?”
“I’m at a loss,” he admitted. I hoped we wouldn’t keep going back-and-forth like that until we both got so fed up that we decided to call it a night. “Like I mentioned earlier, I haven’t been out socially with a human female in quite some time, especially one so beautiful. I’ve gone to events with other Dignitary decoys, of course, but I’ve never left an event early to ‘talk’ with any of them.”
Did he just call me beautiful?Ireallyhoped I wasn’t being like Trampy McTramperson, misreading his signals and hearing only what I wanted to.
“If you want to call it a night, I’ll understand,” I said, giving him a way out. It would crush my spirit if he did, but I didn’t want him to feel obligated. While I may have been lonely, I wasn’t going to guilt a vampire into hanging out with me.
“No, not at all. I’m enjoying your company.” He said this like even he was surprised by it. I didn’t know if I should feel flattered or offended. “My only apprehension is that I may suggest a venue you won’t enjoy. What do humans your age do for fun? Nightclubs?”
I crinkled my nose, thinking of Shwilly Pete’s. “Some do, but I don’t really enjoy them.”And I’m Captain Titty!“Does that make me boring?”
He clutched a hand over his heart in a signal of relief. “I’m pleased to hear you say that. I find nightclubs to be ghastly affairs. And, no, Olivia, I don’t consider you boring. I suspect no man ever could.”
He dropped his hand and placed it over mine, giving it a little squeeze. The butterflies left my stomach and fluttered up to my heart, tickling it with their wings. I nearly whimpered when he took his hand away.
“I can think of one place,” I said, focusing to keep my voice steady. “Locomotive. It’s a quiet hole-in-the-wall diner just a few blocks from here, open twenty-four-seven. The waitresses are sometimes rude, but it has its charm. It’s really cool; the whole inside is made from parts of an old steam train, and the booths are made of passenger seats.”
He was astonished. “A diner?”
“If you’re sickened by the smell of food, or if you hate the idea, or if it’s not fancy enough . . .” He was right—adiner? What was I thinking? This was a man accustomed to the finer things in life, not local yokel greasy spoon steak and eggs.
“It sounds perfect, Olivia. I haven’t stepped into a diner in over fifty years, and never one located in a train that was not moving. This will be a treat for me.”
Fifty years! Funny as it was, I kept forgetting that he was . . . How old was he? He’d been alive to have his portrait painted in 1855. I knew that much.
He waited quietly while I gave Carl directions.
“I was only startled by your choice,” he said.
“Why?”
“As you are probably aware, I have a lot of money—more money than most humans earn a thousand lifetimes over.” He wasn’t bragging, only stating the obvious. “In the past, whenever I’ve asked a woman to recommend a location for us to spend time, the first venues she’d suggest were Michelin-starred restaurants and luxury department stores. Places where she could spendmymoney. You, however, have suggested a diner. I find that fascinating.”
“Oh.”
He curled his hand back over mine hesitantly, drinking me up with those hypnotic eyes of his. “And I findyoufascinating, Olivia.”
12
Every head in Locomotive turned when Robert and I walked through the door. For a moment, I was perplexed by their interest, attributing much of their attention on Robert’s jaw-dropping handsomeness. I didn’t understand until a little girl on her way out the door trained her eyes on me and asked her mother if I was a princess.
“I guess we’re a tad overdressed,” Robert smirked.
I snapped my fingers and gasped, “Oh shoot! Locomotive’s tuxedo and ball gown dress code is onSaturday, not Friday. Gosh, now I feel just plain silly.”
He flashed his eyes towards the ceiling, snorting at my corniness.
Hotandplayful.Swoon, how I loved me a man with a sense of humor.
The little girl continued watching me through the restaurant’s large windows as her parents scooped her up and buckled her down inside a large SUV with Oregon plates. A mishmash of suitcases, bikes, and boxes were strapped to the roof of the vehicle, which explained why a child her age was out at such a late hour. They were moving. Her eyes stayed on me as her dad started the car and backed out of the parking space.
I smiled at the girl and curtsied, like a princess. Her chubby hands clapped together, and she let out a happy squeal, which of course I couldn’t hear. As they drove off, I waved at her with small flicks of the wrist, the same way I’d seen Princess Diana do it on TV.
