She dabbed the napkin to her lips and picked up the wine. It had tiny bubbles in the light golden liquid and as she took a sip she smiled.
"Sparkling wine. Dry with a touch of sweet."
"You struck me as a sparkling wine kind of woman."
"Do you typically drink deep red?"
"Because I'm a vampire?"
"I don't know why, but that's typically how vampires are written. That and bourbon."
That half smile lifted more than usual and it made her chest lift. His was a face of austere beauty. Straight, strong nose, high cheekbones, a full mouth capped by a neat mustache, and smooth forehead with a couple of faint lines making him appear in his forties, though how old he truly was had bounced around her mind often. Based on a perusal of his book collection she wouldn't put him in his forties.
"Do you want to ask me anything, Tilly?"
So many things.
But she was unsure.
He leaned forward resting his arms on the mahogany table, the delicate wine glass in his large hand.
"You will not offend me," he assured her.
And she realized that was the permission she needed.
"Do you drink from people?"
"No," he replied gently. "Blood bags and animals. And I don't need much as I'm not a young vampire."
Ah. "And how old are you? Because you give off antique."
A deep chuckle from him made her want to gather the sound and stuff it in her pockets. It was masculine and also soft. She loved it.
"I was born in 1712. Born to Quaker parents in Lewes. Delaware now. We relocated when I was fifteen seeking new lands and found ourselves in wild Texas. Lost an older brotherand my mother passed in childbirth on the journey which took months. It was my father, older brother, and two younger brothers who started a ranch and never left."
"And then you came here a few months ago? Why?" Three centuries in a place did not make for a random change.
He nodded, though something passed over his eyes. "Tired of the heat. I like the cooler air here. There's something about the northeast coast that feels healing to me. I like the winters."
There was more, but she sensed to leave it at that for now.
"I do too. I didn't used to." She smiled as she ate another bite of the pot pie and took a sip of water. "I love summer, the heat of it. I enjoy the way that the air thickens and becomes almost persistent. I did not grow up enjoying winter because it meant more time inside with my family. We weren't very close."
"I'm sorry." His voice was kind.
She smiled wide and shrugged her shoulders but winced at the pain. She looked down as her other hand ran over a bruise on her shoulder, fingertips brushing dried mud from where her skin had started to purple at the top to where it disappeared from her sight.
"What did you mean, upstairs? About my friend?" Too fresh was the memory of him holding her against the wall; she felt the pulse of it in her belly.
He sipped his wine with a smirk before he answered her. "Your friend said that I should kiss you."
Her mouth opened in shock. "What?" It came out as a squeak and she cleared her throat. "She, Jen said that?"
He nodded and she quickly looked away to drink from her glass, hoping the liquid would cool the heat blooming on her face. To move past images of him kissing her.
"How do you know Astra?"
He smiled knowingly. And graciously saved her further embarrassment.
