“No, thank you,” he said after a moment. He turned to look at my small living room and chose to sit in my reading chair.
Once the cookies were in the oven, I poured him a cup of coffee and myself a cup of tea and carried them over.
“Thank you,” he said quietly. Ethan wore a different expression now. He seemed unnerved. His posture was rigid and he was looking around my living room with a haunted expression.
“Everything okay?”
“I—why is my scent all over your apartment?” He frowned. “Were we lovers?”
Before I could answer, he shook his head. “No. I’d never cheat on Sarah. The thought of taking a vampire lover…”
Ouch. Asshole. “We aren’t lovers,” I snapped.
“Did you steal some of my things? Is that why my scent is all over?”
The oven timer dinged. “Hold that thought.”
Focusing on something else other than his question would keep me from throat punching him.
I thrust a plate full of cookies under his nose and took mine back to the couch.
Ethan stared at the cookies and back at me. “Why are you being nice?”
“To answer your first question, no I haven’t stolen any of your clothing or any of your items. Second, I’m nice. That’s why. Eat your cookies.”
Ethan took a bite and chewed, watching me the entire time. If he wasn’t so weirded out, him watching me while he was eating might be sexy.
Under the circumstances, he was creeping me out.
Ethan closed his eyes.
Yep. Magic cookies. Wait until he tasted my Italian Cream Cake. It was his favorite, but Mom had wiped every trace of me away. So he got to try it all over like it was the first time. And I’d give a lot to forget I tried certain desserts before.
Ethan had the second in his hand before he realized it. “These are good.”
“Thank you.”
He released a heavy exhale. “You know me. Well, it seems.”
“And if I do?”
“I don’t remember you.” His jaw tightened. “Not the way it seems I should. Things are happening and I?—”
Ethan closed his eyes. “I shouldn’t be discussing this with you.”
“I’m the only one here, and I gave you cookies. Why not me?”
“Because you’re Evie’s friend.”
“And you’ve been really mean to Evie.”
His lips thinned. “She hasn’t exactly been nice to me, either.”
“Yes, well. You deserved it.”
Ethan took his third cookie. “Something isn’t right. I’m losing time. There are things I know I should remember, and I can’t. I think I must be going mad.”
Having him here in my apartment was dangerous. I wanted so badly to tell him everything. Keeping secrets from him had always been difficult. If he realized what was between us, this might be all over, and the body Evie had stashed somewhere would be a moot point.
