Page 34 of Bad Luck Vampire

“Hmm?” Sophie glanced at him in question, and then noted where his gaze was fixed, seemed to realize what she was doing and flushed, then pulled her hand away from her mouth.

“Sorry,” she muttered as she cleaned her fingers in the bowl of lemon water provided. “Mrs. Tomlinson did her best to drum table manners into me, but three years in the group home...” She shrugged. “Manners weren’t a priority there. Meals were mostly an ‘eat as quickly as you could so no one got the chance to steal your food’ situation.”

Alasdair nodded in understanding, but his gaze was fixed on her mouth as she spoke, the memory of her sucking on each finger still strong in his mind so that when she suddenly fell silent, he blurted, “Dinner.”

“Dinner?” Sophie eyed him with confusion as she dried her hands on the napkin.

“Tonight. You and me,” he managed, and knew he sounded like the caveman she’d accused him of being, but couldn’t help it just then. While he’d just been thinking they were doing fine and life mate passion wasn’t an issue, now he had a raging hard-on just from watching her, and his brain seemed to be suffering for it. He could only think that all the blood in his body had rushed down to fill his cock, leaving none to supply oxygen to his brain.

Several expressions flashed across Sophie’s face at his words. Surprise, pleasant surprise in fact, which was followed by an excitement that made him quite sure she would say yes. But then uncertainty and finally a small concerned frown started him worrying. “I’d really like that, but you need to sleep,” she said gently, “and I’m trying to make up for leaving work early yesterday. My plan was to work through lunch and my breaks and work until eight thirty tonight to make up for it, but now that I took off lunch to eat with you, I’ll have to make that up tonight and work an hour even later than I’d planned.”

“You have to eat,” he pointed out.

“And you have to sleep,” she argued. “I can order something in and eat at my desk.”

Alasdair was shaking his head before she finished speaking. He repeated, “You have to eat. I could pick up something... a pizza,” he added after a brief moment to think of something Bricker and the rest of the mated and eating hunters liked. Pizza seemed popular with the men. “I could bring pizza by at say... seven?” he suggested, and when she hesitated, he urged, “You can stop for half an hour. You do need to eat dinner.”

“That’s true,” she said slowly, obviously swaying toward agreeing.

“And then I’ll leave you alone to finish work and maybe we could meet up for coffee and dessert after you’re done and before I head off to work myself.” He was very satisfied with that plan. It meant he would work in three full dates today. The dessert would be the third and then... His slowly deflating erection perked up at the “and then” and Alasdair grimaced and turned his mind firmly from the “and then” to the now as Sophie groaned, “I’m so weak.”

“Weak?” he asked uncertainly. She didn’t seem weak to him. The woman had been through a lot in her life, yet seemed self-confident, smart, and mostly undamaged by it all.

“Yes, weak,” Sophie said with amusement. “You’re tempting, and I’m weak enough to give in to temptation and say yes.”

“Yes, to dinner?” he clarified.

“Yes, to a half hour dinner break of pizza with you,” she said, mapping out her boundaries on the situation. She pursed her lips before adding, “If that is acceptable. Otherwise—”

“It is acceptable,” Alasdair interrupted, not wanting to hear what the “otherwise” might lead to.

Sophie nodded and then glanced at her wristwatch and muttered, “Oh shoot.”

“What?” he asked, and glanced at his own watch to see that it was nearly one o’clock. Her lunch hour was almost up.

“I have to get back to the office,” she murmured, and glanced at her still half-full plate, then raised her head and looked around for their waitress. Fortunately, the older woman who was their waitress had apparently been watching, because she rushed up almost at once with a Styrofoam container.

“For your leftovers?” the woman asked with a grin.

“You rock, Alice,” Sophie said with appreciation as she took the container and quickly shifted her food into it.

She obviously knew the waitress, Alasdair thought as he held his hand out for the bill the waitress held. The woman hesitated, her gaze sliding from him to Sophie and back, but then she handed it over and held up a portable credit card reader in question.

“It’s fine,” Alasdair said, waving away the need for the machine with one hand as he pulled out his wallet with the other. He quickly counted out the cash needed, added a sizeable tip, and handed over the money, saying, “Thank you. The meal was delicious.”

Smiling, Alice accepted the cash and compliment, and wished them a good day before hurrying off.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Sophie said when he turned back to her. “I’m happy to pay for my lunch. Can I reimburse you for—?”

“No,” Alasdair interrupted when she reached to pull her wallet out of her purse. “I invited you out so it’s my treat.”

She eyed him briefly, but then simply nodded and slid her wallet back into her purse, gathered the container holding the remainder of her lunch, and stood up. “Well, then, thanks for lunch and I guess I’ll see you around seven.”

Alasdair nodded, and slid out of the booth to join her. “I’ll walk you back.”

It was a short walk back to the insurance company, which was no doubt part of the reason Sophie had chosen Swiss Chalet for lunch. Neither of them spoke on the way, but the silence wasn’t an uncomfortable one, more a companionable one. It was nice, he decided.

Once they reached the parking lot, Sophie asked, “Did you drive here or take the subway?”

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