“With you?” I retort. “How do I know you’re not a psycho killer?”
“And how do I know you’re not?” His lips pull into another smirk and, dammit, he looks absolutely charming.
“I suppose you don’t, and after the day I’ve had, it probably wouldn’t take much for me to lose it and bludgeon someone to death. Though I need something to do the bludgeoning with.” I look around for something—anything—to use to defend myself with. The world swirls around me and my stomach churns. I really shouldn’t have had that last drink.
“Your shoe would work, and if you hit hard enough, you could do some stabbing with those heels.”
I look down and start to lose my balance again. The guy reaches out, fingers wrapping around my arm to steady me. His skin isn’t exactly warm, but it’s not cold either. I’ve heard people describe vampires as feeling cold, but really, they’d just be room temperature since their bodies don’t produce any heat.
“I’m Ethan,” he says and lets his fingers slide down my arm.
“Anora.”
“Is there anyone you can—” He cuts off abruptly, looking behind him. Something scurries in the dark parking lot of a bakery behind us. I blink and get a flash of that dog creature again. “You can call?” he finishes. “To take you home, I mean.”
“Yeah, I’m going to call an Uber.”
“I’ll wait with you,” he offers. “Or take you home.”
“I’m not getting in the car with a stranger.”
“Isn’t that exactly what you’re about to do with the Uber?”
I narrow my eyes. “It’s not the same. There’s proof I got in the car from the phone records.”
“Phone records?” He runs a hand over his head, ruffling his brown hair.
“Yeah, it gets recorded on the app that I requested an Uber and a certain driver responded. App records maybe? You know what I mean.” My eyes fall shut in a long blink as I wait for a wave of nausea to pass. Sitting sounds like a good idea right now. Inhaling, I look at the bench and start to walk forward when a dog barks, making me jump. Nerves prickling, I turn around and look in the empty parking lot with wide eyes.
Ethan, looking equally startled, steps forward. “There’s a café down the road that’s open. Let me buy you a cup of coffee.”
I know what café he’s talking about, and they’re notorious for their terrible coffee. I’m a I’ll take my creamer with a side of coffee type of person, and eating anything sounds terrible right now. Though if I do order food and Ethan doesn’t eat, then I’ll know he’s a vampire.
“Sure,” I say, eyes darting behind him again. Pulling my purse up over my shoulder, I fall into step with him as we go to the street corner. A man on a bike whizzes past us, sending an icy chill right down my spine. He’s a ghost, I’m able to sense it right away, and I’m too drunk to force my mental shields up. Turning my head down, I intently look at the cracks in the sidewalk with little bits of grass and weeds doing their best to grow. I don’t see it, but I hear the inevitable crash and feel a flash of pain as the guy on the bike gets hit by a truck.
“So you had a bad day?” Ethan asks. The light changes and we cross the street. I glance up at him and my insides respond on their own accord. He really is an attractive man.
“Very bad. It started with Bob and ended with Travis.”
“I’m not sure what to make of that, but I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” I wave my hand in the air. “Bob’s dead.”
“Oh, shit. I’m really sorry.”
“Nah, it’s fine. He’s been dead for a while.”
Ethan looks at me dubiously for a moment. “But Travis is alive?”
“Unfortunately. Well, I shouldn’t say that. I don’t wish him dead. An STD maybe—as long as he doesn’t go around spreading it.”
“This guy didn’t hurt you or anything, did he?”
I look back up at Ethan, wondering why he cares so much. “No. We knew each other in high school and ran into each other for the first time since graduation today. I overheard him tell his friend I was the most un-bangable girl in high school and I still am today.”
Ethan actually stops walking and slowly runs his eyes up and down my body, mentally stripping me down. Dammit, I like it. “You are un-bangable? Was that asshole blind?”
“It’s a long story. I’m weird.”
“But hot.” A cocky grin takes over his face. “That’s enough for me to say you are very bang-able.” His eyes meet mine and his tongue darts out, slowly wetting his lips. I suck in a breath, remembering how only a few hours ago, I vowed to have a one-night stand tonight. If I was going to go home with anyone, Ethan has my vote.
“Well, thanks.” A bit of color rushes to my cheeks and I tuck my hair behind my ear, forgetting about the scab on my forehead. My nails scrape over it and I wince. “Fuck.” Way to ruin the mood, Anora.
“You’re bleeding,” Ethan says, brows furrowing.
“Yeah, I, um, see that.” I bring my hand away from my face and look at the little bit of blood on my fingers. “I fell off my horse,” I say, feeling like I need to offer an explanation. I’m being overly chatty, really, which happens when I drink. “I’m fine.” I wipe my hand on my pants and keep walking. We’re almost to the café, thankfully, and once we’re there, I go right into the bathroom to clean myself up.
I’m not bleeding nearly as bad as before, since only a small part of the scab came off. I hold a paper towel over it to stop the bleeding, and then carefully position my hair to cover it up. When I come out of the bathroom, I find Ethan at a table. He took off his jacket, and the sight of his tattooed, muscular arms almost does me in. I’ve always been a sucker for some good arm porn. There’s one cup of coffee and a chocolate chip muffin on a plate in the spot across from him.
“I thought you could use this,” he says when I sit at the booth across from him, and slides the muffin over.
“You don’t want anything?” I ask carefully.
“I’m not hungry.”
I look at the muffin, which actually looks really damn good, and then back at Ethan. “Are you a vampire?”
“No,” he says, amusement on his face. “I’m not.”
“Prove it,” I say, leaning back and crossing my arms. He reaches forward, picking up the muffin, and taking a bite.
“That’s good,” he says with his mouthful and then takes another bite. “Enough proof for you or do you want to feel my—”
“Pig,” I shoot, wrinkling my nose. “But nice try.”
“I was going to say pulse,” he finishes and extends his arm, turning his wrist over. “Though you can see my veins.” I look at the blue lines of his veins under his skin. “Vampires don’t have the same type of blood flow humans do. You hardly ever see their veins like this.”
“You know a lot about vampires.”
“I know enough.” He shrugs.
“Aren’t you going to ask me if I’m a vampire?” I push my shoulders back.