Page 14 of A Vampire in a Pear Tree
The blush hit me hard and fast.As someone with jet-black hair and dark tan skin inherited from my Egyptian mother, I don’t show blushes very well, but I was afraid he could feel the heat radiating from my face.“I’d apologize about that, but I believe everyone is entitled to their own thoughts.However, if it makes you feel uncomfortable, I will try to refrain from thinking about your lip when you’re nearby.”My voice sounded stilted as hell, but I was dying of embarrassment inside.
“I agree,” he said, glancing around the interior of the restaurant, obviously one of those people who scopes out exits when entering a new place.For some reason, I felt itchy, as if I could feel his emotion of heightened awareness of my surroundings.
“You do?About what?”I couldn’t help but ask.
“You have the right to privacy with your thoughts.I will not mention your obsession with my lip and jaw again.Hello.Yes, two of us.Could we sit somewhere away from mortals?”The last was spoken to a woman who approached with a couple of menus.
She smiled at us both.“Our doors are warded to prohibit entrance to mortals who are not familiar with the Otherworld.This way, please.”
I seethed to myself over the fact that he’d somehow overheard my thoughts about his jaw, as well as his lip, and I caught myself wondering if he knew about my desire to run my hands through his hair before I clamped down on that desire, too, watching him closely for signs he was actively reading my thoughts.
One side of his mouth twitched, but I doubted if it meant anything.“Be back in a minute.I need to use the restroom.Er ...”
“Left at door,” the waitress said, pointing to the other side of the restaurant.
I murmured my thanks, and feeling moderately guilty—but mindful of the oath I’d taken when I was accepted as a thief taker—I quickly texted to Jericho the fact that I’d found her son, he was not harmed in any way, and we were going to spend a little time at a dragon restaurant.
“It’s my job,” I told myself as I returned to the far end of the restaurant, pushing down the guilt that rose at the sight of Owain.
Dammit, I couldn’t fall for someone I’d just met.He was the focus of my job, that’s all.I had to remember what was important: my nascent career, and not a handsome, troubled man who seemed to have a connection to me that I couldn’t quite pinpoint ...and I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
Sometimes, ignorance really is bliss.
FIVE
BERRY
“Iam happy to pay foryour lunch,” Owain said, nodding toward the menu when I sat down opposite him.“You look hungry.”
“I don’t look anything of the sort,” I argued, despite the fact that I was near ravenous after having had only a yogurt for breakfast.My salary from the Committee wouldn’t hit my bank account for another few weeks, and Jericho wouldn’t pay me until I produced her son, which meant I was on an unavoidable diet.
He raised that damned eyebrow again, and I thought a great many rude things at the same time I consulted the menu.“Fine, I’m a bit peckish, but I do notlookhungry, although ...well, it is nice of you to offer to treat me.Thank you.Can you not eat food?”
“I can, but it doesn’t provide me with any nutrients.I must take in blood to survive.Why are you embarrassed about enjoying my lip and jaw and hair?I feel no such embarrassment looking at you.”
I sat up very straight, shooting him my best piercing glare, about to unleash my thoughts upon him when he stopped me dead in my tracks by placing his hand over mine, which was clutching the menu with fingers made white with anger.
