Page 18 of Phoenix Falling
“I—” Shaking away the thoughts crowding my head, I forced myself to focus. “I’m sorry. I was lost in thought.”
“Hmm.” He stood, staring at me for the longest moment, so intense my mouth went dry.
“What?”
This time he was the one who shook his head. “It’s good to see you.”
And then he smiled. The lines of his face gentled the slightest bit, and the tension I could read around his eyes relaxed. His grin was almost boyish, doing weird things to my heart. It was as if whatever worries he’d had turning the corner of the street, they’d all fallen away when he saw me sitting here. Which was ridiculous. This was a practically immortal being. Who knew how many women he’d slept with, how many he’d drunk from. I was just Rissa, not someone important. I needed to remember that.
Yet I couldn’t help grinning back. “It’s good to see you too, Sun.”
“Good.”
We seemed to freeze, me sitting, him standing. I had no idea why Sun just stared at me, but I for one was scrambling for something—anything—to say. Typical first date, right?
This is not a date.
Oh, isn’t it?
Remembering his expression when he’d appeared at the corner, I asked, “Everything okay?”
“It is now.”
Was he soaking me in? I knew I was soaking him in.
That’s it, I was officially putty in his hands, damn it. I had to get myself together. The edge of the wrought-iron bench dug into my gripping fingers. Suddenly I blurted out, “Um…would you like to get something to eat?”
Yes, I was just that awkward, but suddenly I was starving. I’d been patrolling when Sun texted me, after going through my nightly review of city surveillance and the list of women I checked on regularly. I hadn’t yet taken the time to think about food.
Did vampires eat? I knew they drank, since Cale had joined me for a drink at a club more than once, but food wasn’t a question I’d ever had occasion to answer.
Sun held out a hand, demanding I give him mine. “I’d love to.”
My palm met his, and an electric zing shot up my arm. Sun’s eyes flashed silver for the briefest moment, almost too brief for me to catch. Had he felt that too?
He tugged me up from the bench. “Let’s go.”
As if we’d done so a thousand times, he tucked me beneath his arm and walked in sync with me down the sidewalk. I didn’t feel short next to his foot-taller frame—I felt cuddled, protected. Wanted. Butterflies took flight in my belly.
A couple of blocks down, Sun turned into a dark alleyway. Were it not for the hours I’d spent exploring this city, I might have been afraid, but instead excitement sparked—I knew exactly where he was taking me. “The Diner?” I asked.
“Where else?”
A little hop in my step surprised me. “Awesome!”
Sun chuckled but didn’t say anything else as we navigated the back way to the greasy spoon known for being open—and packed—all night long. My absolute favorite place to eat after hours of patrolling. I’d never have guessed a vampire would like it too. In fact, I kind of expected him to sit at the table and watch me eat, but the moment the waitress led us to our red-vinyled booth and handed us plastic-covered menus, he began eagerly looking it over. Guess that answered the question of whether or not blood was the only thing vampires ate.
“Come here often?”
Sun glanced up from the menu, and I swore his look was almost sheepish. “Not nearly often enough.”
Something about the normalcy of eating together and the familiarity of the Diner allowed my nerves to fade a little. “Me too. I’ve been eating here for years.”
A waitress approached our table, her blonde bouffant bigger than her boobs, fake eyelashes batting in Sun’s direction. “What can I get you to drink, sugar?”
She’d asked him, but Sun looked to me first.
“Sweet tea, please.”
