Page 11 of My Blind Date is a Vampire

“Are you feeling okay?” Landon asked, a playful smile teasing at the edges of his full lips. He was backlit by the soft glow of light coming from the entrance of the French restaurant, but his amethyst gaze seemed to glow preternaturally from within.

“Of course. Why do you ask?” I hooked my arm through the one he held out for me, and before leading us to the waiting maître d’, he brushed his knuckles down my flaming cheeks, feeling my temperature with the back of his hand on my forehead. “You look feverish, and your body’s running a little warm. Of course, it could just be the late summer heat.” He winked.

“So…” I began after the waitress left us to look over the menu while she brought our drink orders. Landon had asked for a glass of scotch, and even though I knew it was a bad idea to drink when I had to wake up early for school, I ordered a glass of rosé. One glass wouldn’t hurt; I’d just have to make it last the entire night.

“Yes?” Landon prompted when I said nothing more and just stared expectantly at him. Feeling self-conscious, I toyed with the edge of the laminated menu, jabbing the fleshy pad of my index finger against the sharp corner to get myself to focus.

I skimmed over the menu, frowning when my mind wouldn’t focus long enough to actually make sense of what was written. “Sorry if I seem a little on edge. I haven’t been on a date for so long, not since— Well, never mind that. What I am trying to say is that I’m a little rusty. The fact that this is a blind date doesn’t help either; I don’t want to inadvertently offend one of Beverly’s friends,” I confessed.

“You know that old adage about bicycles and getting back on them? Bev obviously thinks you and I are compatible, so why don’t we just enjoy each other’s company without forming any expectations of what’s to come at the end of the night and beyond that, hmm?” Landon asked softly, tapping a finger on the table and showing off a custom Rolex watch.

“Sounds easy enough. So, how about you tell me about yourself. Beverly didn’t really tell me anything about you except to say that you run an art school and own a bunch of galleries.”

“That is all true. I have a deep appreciation for the arts. But sadly, I haven’t been blessed with any artistic talent, so I chose to help those with magic hands and imaginations nurture those gifts so they can grow as artists.”

I loved the low timbre of his voice and the tinge of nostalgia that crept through as he spoke. It was in the way his eyes took on a faraway look, as if he were a thousand miles away. The fond smile that softened his otherwise harsh features made me wonder what he was remembering that could put such a look on his face.

I wanted to keep him talking, but the waitress came back with our drinks and appetizers and asked if we were ready to order. “Uh…” I snatched up my menu and looked over their vegan and vegetarian options and ordered the first thing I saw. Landon ordered a steak, rare, and he caught the expression on my face before I could hide my wince of disgust.

“Don’t tell me you’re one of those vegetarians who think all meat-eaters belong in the last circle of hell. If that’s the case, then I think Beverly might have been wrong about us after all,” Landon joked with a swig of his scotch. Though the glint in his eyes as he looked at me over the rim of his glass was full of mirth, there was something dark and sinister slithering just beneath the surface.

“It’s not that,” I explained, taking a small bite of my appetizer and dabbing the side of my mouth with a napkin. “I have nothing against eating meat. In fact, I used to enjoy a good steak, and my breakfast was not complete without bacon until I decided to become a vegetarian over a year ago,” I explained, toying with the stem of my wine glass, debating how to explain my distaste in a way that didn’t sound rude to not only Landon but to all world-class chefs. I chose to go with a more diplomatic answer. “I just prefer my meat well-done, you know? Just the thought of eating raw meat or fish makes me nauseous. And what if you get salmonella or something? We’re not wild beasts; we know how to use fire.” I gave him a one-shoulder shrug.

“I believe that you just called me a wild beast, Miss Bryant. Not that you’re wrong to think of me that way. So, what made you switch to the dark side after a lifetime of enjoying the wonders of bacon? I confess, I still fail to understand how some humans are content on living off leaves and herbs as if they were goats.”

That startled a laugh out of me—a loud and inelegant sound that ended in a snort that had me slapping a hand over my mouth and sliding down my seat in a bid to hide from all the eyes looking our way. “Why do all non-vegetarians think all we eat are lettuce leaves and nibble on carrot sticks? There is a whole other world of gourmet dining you’re missing out on. Meat is not the be-all and end-all of fine dining.”

“I’ll take your word for it. So, will you tell me what prompted the lifestyle change? Or is that too personal a question for a first date?”

I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth. It was a question that had a personal answer and not something I wanted to tell him right now because who brought up their ex on a first date with someone?

“I wish I could say I did for something reasonable like health reasons or because I wanted to save the animals or something like that, but it was more for my own vanity than anything else. I went through a really tough break-up a while back. My ex left me for my best friend…my tall, thin best friend. Somehow, the knock to my already bruised ego put one and one together and got eleven because for the first few months after Toby left me, I got it into my head that it was because I was too curvy for his taste. I went on a rather crazy health kick—joined the gym instead of sticking to my usual Pilates and yoga classes, started cutting back on fast food and the like. I tried cutting out coffee, but that didn’t take. I can’t function without a dose of caffeine to wake me up in the morning,” I blabbered on with a rueful twist of my lips.

“Jess, my best—my former best friend, was a vegan, so I decided to give it a try. I snapped out of the slump I found myself in eventually, but I really do prefer being a vegetarian to eating meat.”

“I see. I’ve never met your ex-fiancé or your former best friend, nor do I ever want to, but I can say with the utmost confidence that he traded down,” Landon declared, reaching his hand across the table and giving mine a gentle squeeze. I was swallowed up by the sincere intensity in his eyes and didn’t realize that I’d pulled my hand from beneath his to lace our fingers together until I felt him squeeze my hand once more. For the second time that night, inky blackness bled from the center of his pupils and spread to the rest of his eyes.

“Landon—” I gasped just as the waitress returned with our main courses and briefly disrupted my line of view when she placed our dishes on the table. By the time she left to get Landon a refill on his scotch, his eyes were back to their normal color.

The chatter of all the people surrounding us, as well as the waitstaff and utensils clinking against each other, faded into the background as I tried to make sense of what I just saw. If it happened twice in the same night, I couldn’t have imagined it, right?

“Julia, you look pale all of a sudden. Are you sure you’re feeling well? If you want to cut this short so that we can get you to a doctor, just say the word.” The entire time Landon was talking, I waited for his eyes to turn dark again. The furrow between his eyebrows deepened when I remained silent and continued staring at him like a creep caught in a trance. Landon shifted uneasily in his seat and swallowed down hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. Realizing that I was making him uncomfortable, I shook myself out of my mystified stupor.

“It’s probably nothing, but I thought I saw your eyes go black for a second there. It might have just been a trick of the light, though.” I laughed it off and tucked into my meal.

“Yeah, it must have.” Landon’s mutter was barely audible, and he gave me a strained smile before looking down at his plate as if the food now disgusted him.

CHAPTER 12

The relaxed atmosphere we’d settled into a few moments ago was now eclipsed by an awkward tension that sat between us like a huge pink elephant. After my comment about the weird color change of his eyes, Landon retreated into his own little world. Our conversation became stilted and one-sided as he answered all of my questions with one-word replies until I gave up trying.

I couldn’t even enjoy my food, every bite landing like a block of cement in my gut. I hoped I had some antacid tablets in my medicine cabinet because I had a feeling I was going to have a bad case of indigestion when this was over. Landon was having the same problem; by my count, he’d taken two bites of his steak before pushing his food around his plate and downing his second glass of scotch. I was going to have to keep an eye on that. I didn’t know if driving a Lamborghini was any different from driving a non-luxury sports car, but if he decided that he was too drunk to drive us home, I would have to give it my best shot or fork out some cash for a cab ride. Ugh, that was going to be expensive! Why couldn’t he have just taken us to a restaurant in Mystic Cove?

Clearing my throat, I tried once more to save this date before calling it quits and heading home by myself. We hadn’t talked about much, but before the date went south, I was enjoying Landon’s company. Even if nothing romantic happened between us, I thought we could be good friends.

“How did you and Beverly come to be friends?” I asked him, laying my fork down and uncrossing my legs. Landon finally looked up from playing with his food, his expression a mask of confusion and another emotion I couldn’t quite describe. He looked like something was torturing him.

“Beg your pardon?”

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