Falling From Eternity (A Paranormal Love Story) by Megan Duncan Page B

you
don’t deserve me,” I said without emotion. I risked a glance at her
face, only to find she was shaken by my words. “I meant that you
don’t deserve something like me. You should be with a movie star,
or…or a prince!” I truly believed she should. She might have been
stunning on the outside, but it was the beauty I found inside her
that genuinely won me over.
    A tiny snort interrupted the silence,
and she slapped her hand to her lips as a fit of titters fluttered
out her. I sat up, looking at her with surprise, seeing the
amusement and embarrassment reddening her face.
    “ Did you just snort?” I
repeated her earlier question, feeling the warmth of coming
laughter building inside me.
    “ No.” She smiled through
her obvious humiliation. Despite my earlier protests, I lifted her
hand and clasped it in mine. I’d forgotten what I’d come to ask her
today. I had let myself get distracted thinking I should stay away,
that I didn’t deserve her. And I was certain I still didn’t deserve her, but she
was with me now, and I wanted to enjoy that while it lasted. In a
hundred years from now, when I was alone and wondering what my
purpose was, I could look back on these moments with her and know
that I had found happiness once.
    “ So, tell me, William,”
she said, sinking back into her seat with a mischievous look on her
face, “what’s got you so nervous?”
    Suddenly, I realized
I was nervous.
Not about asking her to dinner, but about what that meant. The more
time I spent with her, the more chance there was that she would
discover the truth. Did I really want to bring that nightmare into
her world? Was I really so selfish that I was willing to risk her
safety so I could have just another moment with her? I was a
vampire, so of course I was that selfish. Maybe it was just dinner…maybe
nothing would come of it.
    “ You do realize I’m not
going to let you get away with not telling me, right?” she
announced, with authority.
    “ I wanted to ask you to
dinner tonight,” I answered in one quick breath.
    “ Really?” she eyed me with
amusement, crossing her legs as she swallowed the rest of her
lemonade. I waited anxiously for some other reply. I’d never been
refused by any woman, in fact, I had to refuse them. But, with Autumn, I was
uncertain.
    “ I’d love to,” she said
sweetly, a tiny twinkle in her eye revealing that she had enjoyed
making me wait for the answer. Perhaps it was a test to see how
badly I wanted her to go. If that were true she’d never know how
much.
    “ Wonderful!” A sigh of
relief blew out of me, and a weight lifted off my shoulders. I
could feel my nerves unwinding, my monstrous nature subsiding;
crawling back under the rock where I buried it.
    “ Where are we going?” she
questioned, picking up her canvas and setting it back on the
table.
    “ Um…well, I know you like
seafood so I was thinking we could go to The Anchor,” I replied,
hoping I’d picked a good spot.
    “ Sounds good.” She twirled
her hair back up into a bun, poking two brushes through it before
carefully pulling her apron back on. “So, is this like a
date?”
    “ Uh…” Was it date? It was
Valentine’s Day, so… “Yeah, I was hoping so. Is that okay with
you?” I asked tentatively, like I was venturing through new
territory. I guess I kinda was. I’d never wooed a woman before; at
least not in my entire vampire existence. It was new, scary, and
exciting.
    “ Yeah, that’s okay,” she
answered, trying to play it off that she didn’t care either way,
but it was impossible not to see the blossoming grin on her sweet
face.
    “ Alright. I’ll pick you up
at eight?” I asked, standing up, knowing I was well past my lunch
break.
    “ It’s a date,” she
replied, winking at me.
    ~

 
    8
    Lovely
     

    It took me nearly every second I had
available to get ready and figure out what I should wear. It was
difficult to decide between a full-blown suit, and a pair of dress
slacks with a