“Hi Marge, we just came from a party, actually.”
Her eyes bugged. “Holy Toledo! Olivia, is that you? I didn’t recognize you from over there, or else I wouldn’t have kept you two waiting so long. Honey, you lookgorgeous! What are you, a movie star now?”
“No, she’s a princess,” Robert beamed from across the table.
Marge’s head nearly popped off her neck when she got a look at Robert. “Who’s the looker?” she asked deafeningly, with a hand cupped over her mouth, as if we were sharing a secret. Every diner in the restaurant looked our way.
Robert chuckled and took Marge’s hand into his. “Hello,” he twinkled. “I’m Olivia’s friend, Robert.”
Marge was appalled. “I’m sorry, did I hear this right, Olivia?Friend? Oh, honey, if you don’t want this hot hunk of a man, I’ll sure as hell take him.”
Robert opened his arms. “I’m all yours, Marge.”
I shook my head at Robert from behind Marge’s back. He had no idea the fire he was playing with. His eyes widened as she bent down and smacked her mouth against his forehead, leaving behind a waxy hot-pink imprint of lips. I sat back in stunned silence.
He was unperturbed. “Careful, Marge. I think Olivia is the jealous type.”
I swatted his arm from across the table.
“See what I mean?” he laughed.
Marge took our order and then sauntered away, her step a little lighter than when she’d first arrived. In front of the kitchen doors, she slowly turned around. “You two kids behave,” she pouted coquettishly.
“You’re a lot different than I expected.” I propped my chin up on my hand and watched as he dabbed lipstick from his skin using a paper napkin.
“How so?”
Erika said you were kind of an asshole, I didn’t say. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re a lot more easygoing than I expected when we first met. You’re a fun vampire.”
“You think so? I honestly can’t remember the last time anyone described me as fun.”
“Marge likes you, and she despises nearly everyone. And I like you, of course.” Probably more than I should.
“This may sound strange, given how little we’ve known each other, but I feel different around you. Relaxed, like I can be myself.”
“I feel the same.” I paused. “Do you have a hard time being yourself around vampires?”
“You ask a lot of questions,” he teased.
“I’m curious about you,” I said, immediately feeling my face grow warmer. It wasn’t like me to be so forward. Boldness was typically Liz’s department. My happiness dimmed as I remembered the fight we’d had, but I quickly brought myself back to the happier present.Muchhappier.
“How about this: I’ll answer your questions, but in exchange I get to ask more about you.”
I gulped. “Okay, but I’m warning you: my life is going to seem dull compared to yours.”
“I doubt that, Olivia. You and I probably have more in common than you think.”
Sure, billions of dollars, immortality, incomprehensible beauty, I thought, getting lost in his mesmerizing silver eyes. I cleared my throat. “You were telling me how you can’t be yourself around vampires—relaxed?”
“Really, it’s they who can’t relax aroundme. I’m rich even by immortal standards, so they forget how to behave like a normal vampire in my presence. They’re intimidated, or even incensed, by my wealth.” He shook his head, annoyed. “Which is ridiculous, because I treat everyone the same, whether they are a janitor at my company or another billionaire that I am doing business with.”
Though I suspected a lot of billionaires made similar claims, I believed Robert after witnessing the way he’s interacted with Carl. “And how about mortals? Are we easier to get along with?”
“Men or women?”
Of courseI wanted to know about his associations with human women first and foremost, but I couldn’t be too obvious. “How about both?”
“Most human men I know through work. There’s not a lot of we have in common beyond that. Besides, it’s not as if I could meet them for a few rounds of afternoon golf.”
