"Okay,” she said agreeably and pulled out the long, brown coat. He took it from her, holding it while she slipped it on, sliding it up over her shoulders. He let himself run his hands down her arms ending with a light brush of fingertips, but resisted the urge to bury his face in the warm gold of her hair.
Jesus, Raj, you're in trouble.
She looked up at him over her shoulder. “So you're taking me to dinner? Are you hungry?” she asked innocently.
"Are you offering?” he couldn't help retorting.
She snorted delicately. “In your dreams, bud."
He leaned down to murmur directly in her ear, “Or maybe in yours, sweetheart."
She shivered and he smiled in satisfaction. He might not have any intention of taking her, but he didn't want her completely immune to him either.
Sarah pulled the door open, but he stepped in front of her, his attention directed next door where someone was watching once again. “Your neighbor pays a lot of attention to who comes and goes here."
"That's just Mrs. M.,” she said blithely, walking around him and out onto the porch. She gave him a warning look. “She keeps on eye on me."
"You get a lot of male visitors?"
"Not at all,” she said, patting his arm, as if he needed reassurance. “Mrs. M.'s just a bit overprotective."
Good, he thought. But he kept it to himself. “Lock your door,” he instructed her.
"Yessir, Mr. Raj, sir."
He walked ahead of her down the stairs. It was going to be a long night.
Sarah watched Raj out of the corner of her eye as he maneuvered through the Friday night traffic. He seemed different tonight, still friendly and overprotective, but cooler somehow, except for that one slip about being hungry, which had been a pretty stupid thing for her to say. She hadn't meant it as a come-on. Had she? She had to admit she was attracted to him. Who wouldn't be? He had that whole tall, dark and handsome vibe going, except he was blond and blue-eyed, of course. His hair was thick, brushed straight back to his collar, just long enough that she wondered what it would look like if he let it grow even longer, maybe past his shoulders. And with those gorgeous blue eyes, kind of an icy blue, except for when they burned with an undeniable heat. She shivered inside her warm coat. Yeah. She was definitely attracted to him. And sometimes she was sure he was attracted to her too, but then it was like he threw a switch and disappeared behind that all-business exterior.
"You're different from the others,” she said suddenly.
In spite of the busy traffic, he turned to stare at her, his eyes practically glowing in the dim light. “Others?” he asked, his voice so low and deep it was nearly a growl.
Sarah licked her lips nervously. “The other vampires here in Buffalo."
"You've met other vampires here in Buffalo?"
There was something about the way he said it, the way he was looking at her, that suddenly made her aware she was trapped in a car with a vampire. A very big, dangerous vampire. She was sorry she'd brought the whole thing up now, but he was waiting for an explanation, so she said, “Sort of. I mean, I didn't actually meet anyone, but there was a University reception last year. It was supposed to be a showcase of local Buffalo talent. Manhattan's gotten so expensive that some people are actually moving back to Buffalo to live. Not many, of course, but someone decided it couldn't hurt to remind people that there is a major university here, with a medical center and lots of eggheads and artists. It's not Manhattan, but it's not Outer Mongolia either."
Raj gave her a skeptical look. “The vampires?” he reminded her.
"Right. Well, I'm just a historian, and a junior one at that, but my friend Linda—you met her the other night—her husband's kind of a star in the art department."
He nodded, and Sarah thought it was possible she'd told him about it last night and didn't remember. “Well,” she continued, “they invited me to go with them to the reception. All the local bigwigs were there including your boss, Krystof Sapieha."
"He's not my boss,” Raj snapped.
Sarah frowned in confusion. “But I thought he was the local vampire lord, and that—"
"It's complicated. Go on with your story,” he commanded.
She gave him a dirty look—he really was going to have to stop giving her orders. “Anyway, Sapieha was only there for maybe an hour or so with a couple of other vamps—bodyguards, I guess—although I wasn't too impressed."
"No?” Raj gave her a quick, amused glance before switching his gaze back to the road to stop at a red light. “What did you expect?"
"Giant eunuchs. You know, gold earrings and stuff."
He laughed. “I'm sure they were quite capable, despite their absence of gold and gelding, and there were probably others in the crowd you didn't know about. Krystof is very aware of his own safety."