A Vampire's Promise Read Online Free PDF Page A

head, I narrowed my eyes and stared at him, seeing him in a different context.
    I tried to imagine what Laycee would tell me to do. It wasn’t much of a stretch. I could almost hear her whispering in my ear to check if he’d had a tonsillectomy—with my tongue. Her words about playing it safe and my empty bed rolled around inside my head.
    My very own pinup uncrossed his arms and slipped his hands into the front pockets of his jeans, waiting for me to give him an answer. The easy grin had vanished; his face was serious as he waited for me to speak. I looked up and caught the unnatural shade of blue of his eyes. No one had eyes that color, which meant he was wearing contacts and, strangely, that made me feel better. He wasn’t so perfect after all.
    And there was something else. He still might turn out to be a jerk—I didn’t have enough evidence one way or the other to be sure—but for whatever reason, he really did seem to be interested in me. At least he was giving off all the right vibes. If he’d actually come over himself instead of sending Miss Juicy, I might have had some first-impression nerves, worried that I had lipstick smeared on my teeth or something, but I would have invited him to sit down and join us. Yeah, life is full of moments labeled woulda, shoulda, coulda.
    I sighed and looked at him, feeling my stomach do a lazy, really good kind of roll. Apparently my body had some very definite ideas what my answer should be, and that in itself disturbed me. My physical reaction to him was unnerving. He was unnerving.
    â€œWhy?” I finally managed to blurt out.
    â€œWell, not only did you refuse my drink, you’re also the only woman who made a point of avoiding me when you went to the bathroom.”
    I laughed again. Not quite the moronic sound I’d made before but still steeped in anxiety.
    â€œSorry, maybe another time,” I told him.

CHAPTER 4
    O kay, so I wasn’t expecting him to be crushed by this second rejection of mine, but he could have faked being disappointed. It would have been the polite thing to do. He didn’t. Instead he tilted his head slightly as if he hadn’t been expecting me to say anything else. And then it was his turn to look at me, narrowing his eyes as if, on a purely academic level, he was mentally listing my reasons for saying no. I imagine it didn’t happen very often.
    â€œThen may I walk you to your car?” The look he gave me this time didn’t make me think we had met before. It made my thigh muscles jump. My body was more than happy to accept a consolation prize.
    None of this made any sense. If I wasn’t going to let him buy me a drink, why would I allow him to potentially trap me between parked cars in a poorly lit parking lot? What did he think I was? Desperate, easy, or stupid? Turning his head, he looked out over the sea of vehicles.
    We were standing close enough that anyone passing would know we were talking, but far enough apart that we weren’t together, if you know what I mean. I stared at his hands. They were large, the fingers long and well-manicured, and it didn’t look as if he made his living with them. Unless he was a surgeon or something. And then I thought about Laycee’s current beau, and checked for a wedding band or a telltale tan line. I saw neither.
    â€œI’m sorry?” I said, suddenly aware he’d been talking and I hadn’t heard a word.
    As he turned back toward me, his hair fell over his shoulder like a white waterfall. It reached the middle of his chest, and with his pale blond features, he really did remind me of a Viking from a storybook. All that was missing was the horned helmet and sword, although I remember reading somewhere that horned helmets were usually saved for religious ceremonies, not for battle.
    â€œA parking lot isn’t always the safest place,” he said, “especially when the lighting isn’t good.”
    He was