chance,” he interrupted. “I eat this all the time. It’s delicious.”
As Sarah gaped at him in astonishment, he grabbed a goat cheese– and vegetable-laden slice and practically swallowed it whole.
Ho-ly crap! This man might very well be perfect!
He was handsome, kind, brave as hell, loyal to his friends, fought bad guys for a living,
and
ate natural?
If he didn’t ask her out when the danger was over, she wasdamn well going to find a way to overcome her shyness long enough to ask him!
A second piece of pizza disappeared as quickly as the first.
“You know, I have another one of these in the freezer,” she said, trying not to laugh. “Would you like me to heat it up, too?”
“Yes, please,” he said as eagerly as a boy who had just been offered a piece of double-decker chocolate fudge cake.
Sarah gladly popped another pizza into the oven, then seated herself beside Roland again and, having eaten nothing since dinner the previous evening, dove into pizza heaven herself.
Roland, she soon learned, was even a sweetheart when he ate.
“Here, take this one,” he said as she finished her first piece. “It’s the cheesiest.”
He ate the pieces with crust that was a little too brown himself and saved the best pieces for her. Whenever the level of tea in her glass dipped, he refilled it. And he was fun to talk to. Now that they’d discovered they had something in common beyond the fact that both their lives had been in danger a few hours earlier, they chatted like old friends.
“Have you tried the baked waffle fries?” she asked him.
“Not only have I tried them, I am addicted to them.”
“What about soy ice cream?”
“There are three flavors in my freezer right now.”
“Tofurky?”
“Poor tofurky. It’s gotten such a bad rap.”
They both laughed.
Sarah even liked that about him. The deep rumble rolled up from his chest and seemed to catch him off-guard as if he didn’t laugh very often and was surprised to be doing so now.
It wasn’t long before both pizzas were gone, the pitcher of tea was empty, and the two of them were slumped against the back of the futon, shoulders touching, sleepy and sated.
* * *
Roland watched Sarah hide a yawn behind a small, bandaged hand. She looked as exhausted as he felt and, with a full belly, was probably as close to conking out as he was.
This all seemed so surreal … almost like a dream induced by eating a heavy meal right before bedtime. He hadn’t hurt this much physically since he had been transformed; yet he had actually enjoyed the past hour, laughing and talking with a beautiful woman, sharing a meal and a warm camaraderie with her as if they weren’t an immortal and a mortal.
As if he weren’t 937 years old to her, perhaps, twenty-eight or thirty.
As if he were still capable of trust. Of friendship. Or more.
In his mortal life, before he had been transformed, he had treasured moments like this. Sharing a trencher with his wife at the high table in the great hall. Offering her the choicest morsels. Winning her smiles and tinkling laughter.
But, if that treacherous bitch had accomplished nothing else, she had taught him that things weren’t always what they seemed.
“I think I’ll call Marcus now, if that’s all right with you.”
“Sure.”
Sarah dug through the napkins and assorted litter that had collected on the coffee table until she found the tablet with Marcus’s number on it.
“Here you are.” She handed him the tablet and the phone.
“Thank you.”
Her smile broadened, then turned into another yawn. “Sorry. I didn’t sleep last night.”
Roland frowned. “Why?” Had the vampires who had lured him out there been terrorizing her before he arrived?
She grimaced. “The spring semester just ended and one of my spoiled Fundamentals students went whining to the department chair, claiming he got a D because I didn’t like him. I’ve only been teaching there for two semesters, so I wasn’t sure how the chair
As Sarah gaped at him in astonishment, he grabbed a goat cheese– and vegetable-laden slice and practically swallowed it whole.
Ho-ly crap! This man might very well be perfect!
He was handsome, kind, brave as hell, loyal to his friends, fought bad guys for a living,
and
ate natural?
If he didn’t ask her out when the danger was over, she wasdamn well going to find a way to overcome her shyness long enough to ask him!
A second piece of pizza disappeared as quickly as the first.
“You know, I have another one of these in the freezer,” she said, trying not to laugh. “Would you like me to heat it up, too?”
“Yes, please,” he said as eagerly as a boy who had just been offered a piece of double-decker chocolate fudge cake.
Sarah gladly popped another pizza into the oven, then seated herself beside Roland again and, having eaten nothing since dinner the previous evening, dove into pizza heaven herself.
Roland, she soon learned, was even a sweetheart when he ate.
“Here, take this one,” he said as she finished her first piece. “It’s the cheesiest.”
He ate the pieces with crust that was a little too brown himself and saved the best pieces for her. Whenever the level of tea in her glass dipped, he refilled it. And he was fun to talk to. Now that they’d discovered they had something in common beyond the fact that both their lives had been in danger a few hours earlier, they chatted like old friends.
“Have you tried the baked waffle fries?” she asked him.
“Not only have I tried them, I am addicted to them.”
“What about soy ice cream?”
“There are three flavors in my freezer right now.”
“Tofurky?”
“Poor tofurky. It’s gotten such a bad rap.”
They both laughed.
Sarah even liked that about him. The deep rumble rolled up from his chest and seemed to catch him off-guard as if he didn’t laugh very often and was surprised to be doing so now.
It wasn’t long before both pizzas were gone, the pitcher of tea was empty, and the two of them were slumped against the back of the futon, shoulders touching, sleepy and sated.
* * *
Roland watched Sarah hide a yawn behind a small, bandaged hand. She looked as exhausted as he felt and, with a full belly, was probably as close to conking out as he was.
This all seemed so surreal … almost like a dream induced by eating a heavy meal right before bedtime. He hadn’t hurt this much physically since he had been transformed; yet he had actually enjoyed the past hour, laughing and talking with a beautiful woman, sharing a meal and a warm camaraderie with her as if they weren’t an immortal and a mortal.
As if he weren’t 937 years old to her, perhaps, twenty-eight or thirty.
As if he were still capable of trust. Of friendship. Or more.
In his mortal life, before he had been transformed, he had treasured moments like this. Sharing a trencher with his wife at the high table in the great hall. Offering her the choicest morsels. Winning her smiles and tinkling laughter.
But, if that treacherous bitch had accomplished nothing else, she had taught him that things weren’t always what they seemed.
“I think I’ll call Marcus now, if that’s all right with you.”
“Sure.”
Sarah dug through the napkins and assorted litter that had collected on the coffee table until she found the tablet with Marcus’s number on it.
“Here you are.” She handed him the tablet and the phone.
“Thank you.”
Her smile broadened, then turned into another yawn. “Sorry. I didn’t sleep last night.”
Roland frowned. “Why?” Had the vampires who had lured him out there been terrorizing her before he arrived?
She grimaced. “The spring semester just ended and one of my spoiled Fundamentals students went whining to the department chair, claiming he got a D because I didn’t like him. I’ve only been teaching there for two semesters, so I wasn’t sure how the chair
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