Chapter 8 Sam
Sam
His words sent a quiver of excitement right to my core. He was going to take me out? And I was hungry enough his reasons didn’t even matter.
“Uhh…” I hesitated for no good reason at all. The answer was clearly fuck, yes.
I could tick off the main reason right away, and it should have been all I needed to say, yes. Esmé had told us to make it look real, right? Well, a date would do that.
But I wanted this date for more than the reason Esmé had provided, so I stayed quiet a moment longer. This was dangerous. But my stomach leaped in and cursed me, gurgling on cue, a rare indicator of a hunger that visited me infrequently these days.
But somehow, being around Kyle made everything so much more… normal.
Normal. Exactly the way Mom thinks my life is going. Maybe I could even… But did I dare?
No, best to not even think about it. Only… Mom would sure love to meet him. Okay, so maybe not meet Kyle. But meet a guy I took home to her. Just one time.
Before it was too late.
Kyle sat back and I watched him in the rearview mirror, trying to ignore the stream of words flowing through my head.
“You got anything you like to eat?” I tried to sound casual, and I nearly made it. I even added a small shoulder lift, as if I didn’t care what he answered and I wasn’t about to hang on his every word.
He grimaced. “You choose.” Then he looked out of the window, and it was clear the conversation was over.
My excitement that he’d actually answered almost made me giddy, and the desire to word vomit my thanks was strong, but I pressed my lips closed as I also avoided happy dancing in the seat.
Holy crap, Manny’s, here we come. For sure, Manny’s. There was nowhere else I wanted to eat. If this turned out to be my actual last meal, I’d die very happy. I could almost taste the burgers and curly fries, feel the grease on my lips. I might have broken the speed limit a little getting there.
It was a proper retro burger joint out of an old train carriage, and I squealed my tires as I pulled into the parking lot.
“In a hurry?”
I hadn’t expected Kyle to speak, and heat spread across my cheeks. I’d almost forgotten the huge, silent man was sitting behind me in the car. “Oh, uhh…” More unnecessary hesitation. I shook my head at myself. “Just that these burgers are great. The best in town.”
He didn’t say anything else and climbed out quickly when I parked. I followed a moment later and almost speed-walked to the hostess stand.
She arched an expectant eyebrow. “Table for two?”
That strange heat filled my cheeks again as I nodded.
Table for two. Two of us. Almost a date.
A date for everyone who needed to see to see.
Shit. Maybe even my first real date with a guy.
First in God knew how long, anyway. Had I dated?
Like, properly? I could barely remember.
The venom addiction sometimes fucked with my memory.
“Yes.” Kyle’s voice raised goosebumps on my skin, and I rubbed my upper arms to ward them off.
My mind moved straight from the idea of a date to tangled sheets in an oversized bed. So many things I’d never have now. So many things I’d never have, but I wanted. Holy shit. I wanted.
I looked at the menu after we were seated, and my mouth almost watered.
I hadn’t eaten a bacon cheeseburger in forever.
I hadn’t wanted to eat one in a long time.
But now that I was here, with the scent of the food teasing me, and watching everyone else eating their food, I couldn’t imagine anything I’d rather do than eat.
Well.
I glanced at Kyle’s lips. Eating maybe came a close second to kissing. I wanted a proper kiss. Even a fake proper kiss sounded good.
Kyle’s nostrils flared, and I squirmed in my seat, pressing my thighs together as I slapped my menu back on the table to distract myself from my thoughts. There was no point in studying the food list when I already knew it from memory, and when there was only one choice I was about to make.
“You already know?” He lifted an eyebrow, and I took the small change in expression as a victory that I had his attention.
“Yep.” I couldn’t hide my grin this time.
His expression never seemed to give away his thoughts, though, but maybe that was a vampire thing they developed as they aged. I had no idea how old he was, after all. None of them ever went around announcing it.
The server approached our table. “Coffee?” She extended the pot.
“No, thanks.” I covered my coffee cup with my palm, and Kyle’s lips quirked, but that might have been a trick of my mind, because this guy never smiled.
I probably looked very strange, given I’d just made myself a coffee at the house and now I was acting like I was allergic to it. “I’d like a malt shake, please.” I sounded almost giddy, like a child. But a malt shake… It was the stuff of dreams right now.
This whole place was. I looked around again and sighed with happiness. Hell, awe.
The server sighed, but it was not a sound of happiness or awe. She set her pot down on the table before swiping wispy gray hair from her forehead and reached for her notepad and pencil from her apron pocket. “You got the rest of an order to go with that?”
I was too happy to care about her attitude. “You bet.” I glanced down at the menu, but it was only for showmanship. I didn’t need to look at anything at all. “I’d like the bacon cheeseburger, please, but hold the dill pickle, and replace the skin-on fries with curly fries.”
“Yep.” She wrote it down with the barest of scratches of her pencil and looked at Kyle. “And for you?”
I hesitated. He hadn’t so much as looked at the menu, and the vamps I knew didn’t really eat.
“I’ll have what she’s having.” His reply was so smooth, I had no doubt he’d said those exact same words many times before.
But something about them sent a shiver up my back. I’ll have what she’s having. Tonight, I was his she.
The waitress nodded. “Good, now what kind of malt shake?” She turned her beady gaze on me again.
“Chocolate, please.” She still couldn’t kill my buzz, even as she tutted under her breath as she finished writing on her pad and turned and walked away to put our order through the till.
“Well.” I put my menu back in the holder and rested my hands flat on the table surface, but Kyle didn’t reply as we sat and waited.
Our food arrived quickly, and I opened my mouth to take a huge bite immediately as the server retreated.
Then I looked across the table at Kyle and made my mouth small enough to be dainty about it instead.
I hadn’t been out to eat in so long, and this was nothing like eating at Mom’s house, where I wasn’t expected to be ladylike or impress anyone.
This was a guy. Okay, so he was still a vampire guy, but still…
A guy and I were having dinner. I kind of wanted to impress him and look delicate and dainty.
Hell, I just needed to look like I knew how to eat in public without stuffing myself with food.
If I hadn’t let Esmé feed from me when she’d been attacked, if I hadn’t given my life for hers, I would’ve had a boyfriend by now. We might have done stuff like this.
This and a whole lot more.
So.
Much.
More.
I looked down at my plate and selected a fry. This wasn’t a direction I wanted my thoughts wandering. More. The word wouldn’t leave me alone.
“What did you think of your first day?” I asked to distract myself. I’d resorted to tearing bite-sized pieces of my burger with my fingers and popping them into my mouth. I narrowly avoided moaning after each one.
He nodded but glanced at the door. If this guy didn’t have food in front of him, he’d be a runner, so I had no idea why he’d even suggested it.
“Well?” I prompted him for shits and giggles, mostly, kind of curious at what point he’d respond.
But part of me genuinely wanted to know. And another part just wanted to hear this man speak. He had such a nice voice and he so rarely used it. I wanted goosebumps again.
I looked at him expectantly.
He mumbled a reply so quick he could have passed a comment on the weather or asked about the health of my mother. I was no wiser about his day.
“What did you think of…” I glanced around and lowered my voice. “Brock?”
Kyle grimaced, the expression fleeting on his face. But he didn’t comment. Instead, he picked up a curly fry and bit the end off, his movements slow and very deliberate.
His malt shake sat untouched at his side and he nudged it toward me. “You’ll need your strength.”
So, he wouldn’t talk about his reasons for needing to be here in New Orleans and infiltrating the Blackbloods, although I could imagine most of them and where his loyalties lay.
I never got much information directly from Esmé.
But I’d driven her to enough sleazy bars in the middle of nowhere to meet a man who seemed to live in the shadows to know that she’d lose her head if Brock ever found out about her activities.
They called that guy Temple, but I didn’t know his connection with Kyle.
I’d gotten the impression Temple was connected with everyone, though… if he wanted to be. And he was working with the Duponts here in New Orleans. They were probably lucky to have him on their side, now that I thought about it.
He’d gotten Kyle in, and I could only think it was to bring Brock down.
That thought sent both a dart of excitement and a spike of fear through me. If Brock was gone, that would be amazing. But I had no idea what it meant for me.
Still, if Kyle hoped to bring Brock down, it lent weight to the idea he could help me. If my charm didn’t work out.
“Where did you come from?” The curious question spilled from my lips before I could consider the wisdom of asking it.
His eyes widened just a fraction. “Baton Rouge.” The words seemed to have just popped out because he grimaced. “Dammit. I mean… Some place out in the Midwest.”