The laugh that burst out of him made her heart lift like a helium balloon. “Did we ever.”
She longed to know the rest of his story, the reason he flinched so hard at the sound of those words. But they had time, and despite claiming he was only “a little” tired, Tai was clearly exhausted, so instead she flicked a finger at his torn jacket.
“I think this tux is more totaled than the cars we moved tonight.”
“About that, if your dress doesn’t make it through dry-cleaning, let me know.”
“Um…why?”
He angled a patient look down at her. “Because you reallyshouldn’tdate me if you ruined your dress on our first date and I don’t have the courtesy to replace it. Also, less importantly, I don’t have to budget for it.”
Of course. Somehow she still managed for hours at a time to forget that Tai was more wealthy than she could fathom. Ryker had once alluded to an inheritance of some kind, but she knew no details; and seeing Tai in a tuxedo, Claire didn’t think of money. She thought of how comfortably he wore it, how effortlessly he looked like himself everywhere he went, regardless of his wardrobe. How he drew people into…
…his web.It was how she’d thought of him only days ago. Effortless magnetism, detached arrogance.
“Tai, do you…?”
No. She hadn’t earned the right to ask for more of his vulnerable places. Not yet. She had some earning to do. Some amends to make.
Tai didn’t lift his head, but his hand found hers, and he gave a gentle squeeze. “Do I what?”
“No, I—I’m doing it again. Tonight’s already been too much.”
“It’s okay, Claire. It’s just us here, and…and you’ve seen it. I haven’t been…” He shut his eyes tightly for a moment, then opened them to angle his gaze down at her again. “I haven’t been that bad in a long time, and you got me through it. You can ask.”
You’re so good with people, and you chose to work for an organization that helps people, but who helpsyou?Do you withhold the deepest parts of yourself from everyone, even Ryker?
Maybe she really could ask, but it didn’t feel right, at least not tonight. “I’m putting a pin in it. Tonight you get to keep your secrets.”
“Not all of them.” He clearly tried for snark, but instead the words were laced with melancholy.
Claire squeezed his hand. He was quiet a long time.
At last he whispered, “Do you have no secrets, Claire?”
She shut her eyes against the familiar image she created in the mirror every other Saturday night. Maybe by rights she owed him a secret in exchange for the one that had been hauled into the light tonight against his will. Maybe it wasn’t fair that she needed time to open up while Tai hadn’t been allowed any.
But she did need time. “Tonight is about you. How are you feeling now?”
“A thousand years ago, if a group of us found out they had a bloodfiend in their midst, the offending vampire was executed.”
With such a non-sequitur, he was trying to tell her something. She gentled her voice. “Well, thank goodness it’s ancient history and no one’s doing that anymore.”
She lay quietly for a minute, mulling, wondering, wanting to prove herself somehow. Prove he was safe here and pull his thoughts away from something so dark.
“It’s like I can hear your mind working,” he said with a faint laugh.
How had they meandered back into this tension? She had to steer them away from it. “If my gown is wrecked, I’ll let you know.”
“Ah. Good.”
“The tux isn’t negotiable, though. Definitely totaled.”
He shrugged without lifting his head. “It’s not the only one I own.”
“You ownmultipletuxedos?”
“Three. Well, two now. As often as I have to wear one, they’re a wardrobe investment.”
