Page 40 of Enchant the Dawn

“Sure, honey. Don’t give it another thought.”

Honey. He had never called her that before. Why now? she wondered.

“I don’t suppose there’s any chance we could get together?” he asked quietly. “Maybe just as friends?”

“Friends?”

“Well, you made it pretty clear you weren’t interested in anything else.”

Silence stretched between them.

“I’m not doing anything tonight if you want to come over.”

Dominic smiled as hope unfurled within him. “What time?”

“Whenever,” she said, and wondered if she was making a mistake. Maybe it would be better to end it now. Still, she did owe him an apology. And she’d already invited him.

“I could bring a pizza and a bottle of wine.”

“Sounds good. I’ll make a salad.”

Resisting the urge to shout his happiness, he said, “See you around six.”

He had no sooner ended the call than Ava poked her head into the room. “I guess I won’t be able to convince you to go home now,” she said, her voice sour. And then she winked at him. “Good luck.”

He grinned as she closed the door. There was just no keeping secrets from his family.

* * *

Dominic stood in front of his closet. He tended to wear black most of the time because it made it easier to blend into the shadows, but he didn’t want to look like a vampire tonight. He chose a pair of khaki pants and a tan shirt, stepped into a pair of brown loafers, grabbed his keys, and left the house.

He picked up the pizza he had ordered before he left, stopped for a bottle of Merlot, and again at a florist for a bouquet of pink roses.

When he pulled up in front of Maddy’s, he switched off the engine, then took a deep breath, praying he wouldn’t do or say anything to spook her.

She answered the door before he rang the bell. “Hi.”

“Hi.” He handed her the flowers, accepted her thanks, and followed her into the kitchen.

“Please, sit.”

He set the pizza box on the counter, then pulled out a chair and made himself comfortable while Maddy found a vase for the roses. She handed him a corkscrew before placing a bowl of green salad in the middle of the table and dishing up the pizza. Glasses, napkins, and silverware were already on the cloth-covered table.

“Thank you again for the flowers,” she said, taking the chair across from his. “They’re lovely.”

“So are you.” He filled their glasses with wine, then lifted his. “To new beginnings?”

Smiling, she murmured, “To new beginnings.”

They ate in silence for a time. Dominic was searching for a safe topic of conversation when she said, “How long have you been a vampire?”

He’d known the subject was bound to come up sooner or later. “Since I was thirteen.”

Her brows shot up. “Someone turned you into a vampire when you were still a teenager?”

“No,” he said, chuckling. “My kind are human for the first few years. The change takes place gradually once we reach puberty. As we grow older, our need for food grows less and our need for blood grows stronger. By the time I was eighteen or nineteen, the change was complete. When we turn thirty, we stop aging physically.”

“Wow, that must be nice.” No gray hair, she thought. No wrinkles or age spots. No menopause.

---