Enraptured by Brenda K. Davies Page B

control again.
    “Thank you,” she murmured as he walked back
over to the bar. Pulling the bloody towel from his hand, he wiped
away the last of his blood and threw it in the trashcan. “Is your
hand ok?”
    He held the cleaned and healed palm up for
her to see. “Fine.”
    Her mouth fell open before she could stop
it. She’d known vampires healed fast, but holy cow that was insane ! Trying to distract herself from the disconcerting
healing properties of the living dead, she decided on a change of
topic. “For all you know, a gumdrop could be sour. It’s not like
human food is your thing.”
    Ian grinned as he leaned on the bar,
relieved to see she’d regained her antagonistic demeanor after the
shock of seeing his hand. “I may have been born a vampire, but I
have tried a gumdrop before in my time.”
    “Really? Why?”
    “Why not? Just as I suppose you’re curious
about some vampire things, I was also curious about human things.
I’ve tried most human foods and often ate at college in order to
keep up appearances.”
    She’d never really considered that he would
have to do human things in order to fit in, but he’d successfully
pulled off the charade his whole life. “What did you think of
it?”
    “Not bad. Not something that satisfies me,
or appeals to me more than blood does, but I did enjoy fudge.”
    “Fudge?” she asked in disbelief.
    “Preferably peanut butter.”
    She laughed as she shook her head and stared
into the liquid in her glass. “You’re so strange.”
    “So I’ve been told, mostly by my
siblings.”
    “I don’t have any siblings.”
    “What of your parents?”
    “Dead.” Not entirely a lie, but she wasn’t
about to get into her screwed up family history with him. She
swallowed the rest of her Scotch, made a face, and handed the glass
out to him. “Another please.”
    He took the glass from her. “I’m sorry to
hear that. Do you mind if I asked what happened?”
    Her eyes darkened. “My mom died four years
ago.”
    “And your father?”
    Paige turned to look at the flames leaping
in the fireplace as memories danced through her mind. She didn’t
shy away from them, they’d haunted her every day of the last four
years; there was nowhere for her to hide from them. No, she met
them head on and let them fuel her in every thing she did. They
drove her through every action of her life. Taking a deep breath,
she turned toward Ian.
    “I’m not sure when he died.” Again, not
entirely a lie, but it was all she was going to say on the
matter.
    Ian paused in the act of refilling her drink
and lifted his head to look at her. Her eyes unwaveringly held his,
but the haunted look in her gaze made him realize there was more to
that statement. “Did you know him well?”
    “No, but far more than I would have liked.”
A muscle twitched in her cheek. Her full lips pressed so firmly
together they became a thin line. Ian walked over and handed her
the glass. She clasped it between both of her hands and downed more
than half of it in one swallow. “It’s been months since I drank,”
she murmured.
    “It doesn’t hurt to relax every once in a
while.”
    She chuckled and shook her head. “I don’t
know the meaning of the word.”
    “No, you don’t seem to.”
    “All you do is relax. You were always having
fun at the bar.”
    Ian stared at her, tempted to push her
further about her father, but a smile was actually playing at the
corners of her mouth. He couldn’t bring himself to upset her again,
something the subject of her father obviously did. “I have my
moments of seriousness,” he assured her.
    “I doubt that.”
    “We all have our crosses to bear.”
    “And what is yours?”
    “That’s a boring story dear Paige.” She
thrust out her empty glass again. “I’m going to assume you do get drunk, probably rather easily judging by the size of
you.”
    “I can handle myself,” she assured him and
waved the glass at him.
    “I’m not holding your hair back if