Page 13 of By the Pint

The briefest smile ticked the corner of his mouth. “Lucky guess.”

I would have given the entire game away if I’d have ordered him a Mai Tai, which was what he secretly wanted.

“Let me make another guess,” I said. “You found my nude, and now you’ve come to assess how accurate the AI depiction is?”

Casey turned back to the bar, pulling up his mask of nonchalance, but a smile played across his face, and he thought,Damn. Perhaps forgetting that no matter how unfazed he seemed on the outside, my heightened vampire senses would give him away. His heartbeat was just about audible, even over the din of everyone fucking around us. His pulse beat in his delicious neck faster than a resting pulse should be. I could scent the sweat that gathered around his collar and on his palms, causing all sorts of Pavlovian responses in my own body.

Did I want to fuck him? Or eat him?

Or both?

It had been so long since I had been this tempted by either of those things.

Shit, did I let those thoughts slip through the barrier?

As if to answer, Casey pursed his lips together, hiding his smile, and took another sip of his drink. Then, in slow motion, his tongue popped out of his mouth to mop up the residual whiskey.

I laughed out loud. Damn, he was good at this game.

“Were you waiting for me?” he asked.

He knew I was. He’d had a lifetime of overhearing just how perfect everyone thought he was. How ninety-nine percent of people would sell their own nans if it meant spending another moment gazing at that flawless face of his. And even if they hated the person he embodied — the man who warranted the nickname ‘The Temper’ — they were all convinced they could change him. Fix him. I was no different. He didn’t need to see into my mind to know I’d want the same as everyone.

That wouldn’t stop me from having a little fun, though.

“I’m just enjoying the orgy,” I said. “Not waiting for anyone in particular.”

A bark of laughter escaped him.Bullshit, he said in his head, and then out loud, “Just enjoying the orgy. Right. Fully clothed, and facing away from all the action?”

I shrugged. “The dick wants what the dick wants.”

Gods, he’s actually funny.I tried not to preen at Casey’s thoughts.

“I’m not the only one fully dressed.” I brushed my fingers lightly over the sleeve of his jacket. So lightly he probably wouldn’t have even felt it, but he sucked in a breath, nonetheless. “No plans of joining in then?”

He tipped his glass in my direction and arched a brow. “I will if you will.”

I was making this so difficult to give him up, but I couldn’t seem to help myself. “Still thinking about my nude?”

Casey smiled, didn’t deny it, then looked me up and down as if he could figure out how accurate the image was with all my clothes on.

“It feels unfair that you’ve seen me naked and I’ve yet to see what you’re hiding under all that tailoring.”

Hey, dingbat,said a voice inside my head—my fucking voice.What happened to just say no?

“Is this what you say to everyone who buys a copy of your book?” He was outright flirting with me now. And enjoying himself, and he seemed … surprised to be having so much fun.

And why did Casey’s own astonishment at his joy make me feel so achy?

On the outside there was this big, strong ex-athlete. Who, not a few hours ago, yelled at the valet with a slew of impossible car-parking demands and threats should they not be met. Who would order whiskey sour because it was part of his carefully manicured image. Who didn’t laugh, ever. But on the inside, there was an ordinary human, enjoying the moment, wondering if his mind reading powers were broken, wonderingif I was some kind of hallucination or dream, but mostly feeling alive. For the first time in years.

“Yes, actually. I’m a certified hussy. But I should tell you I’ve only ever sold four copies of my book,” I said. In my head I added,But no one has been so tempting as you,letting it slip through my barriers.

Casey looked away, smiled, looked back at me, and looked away again.I’m supposed to be seducing him, he thought.

At that moment, someone — a human familiar — was slammed bodily onto the bar beside Casey, and two vampires climbed atop them.

“No, no. No spit-roasting on the bar. Come on folks, you know the rules,” the barmaid said, as she grabbed the long wooden handle of a … snow shovel? Wow. It’d been a long time since I’d been to a bloodbath, and even longer since I’d actively participated in one, but had things really resorted to snow shovelling revellers?

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