The Reluctant Vampire Page 0,27

he had turned back and was holding out his hand.

Smiling, she clasped his fingers and li ed one booted leg and then the other out to the sidewalk, trying not to panic as she felt her skirt slide up her legs. That concern was forgo en, however, as she felt the slippery surface of the sidewalk under her boot. Holding her breath, she stood up, relieved when her feet stayed under her, and she didn't do anything as unglamorous as fall on her butt on the icy concrete. Harper ushered her a step away from the door, and then turned back to close it. The moment he'd turned away, she gave her skirt a quick tug to put it back where it belonged. By the me he turned back, she had finished and was smiling calmly.

He ushered her inside, and Drina glanced around as he spoke to the maitre d', no ng the low ligh ng, the crisp white linen, blood red candles, and what she would bet was real silver on the tables. Almost all of which seemed occupied. Then Harper was taking her coat and handing it along with his own over to a smiling young man in a black tux who whisked them away as another young man, similarly ou i ed, led them through the quiet restaurant to one of the few unoccupied tables she could see.

"Thank you," Drina murmured, accep ng the menu offered to her. She then glanced around again as the fellow le . The restaurant was busy, but the atmosphere subdued, so music playing unobtrusively in the background and the dinner guests speaking in so tones. A far cry from the restaurant where they'd had their lunch that day. There the music playing had been some form of rock or pop, played loudly enough that people had to speak up to be heard over it. This was nicer, Drina decided, and smiled faintly as she turned her attention to her menu.

"So," Harper said moments later, as their waiter le with their orders. "You know about my li le business. How about you? Have you always been a hunter?"

Drina smiled wryly at the "li le business" bit. She doubted men with li le businesses had helicopters, BMWs, and diamond-encrusted watches like the one Harper was wearing this evening. But she didn't comment on any of that, and merely said, "No."

Harper raised an eyebrow. "No?" he asked with disbelief. "That's it?"

"No, Harper?" she suggested mildly, but knew her eyes were twinkling with amusement and gave up teasing him. "Okay. Let's see . . ." She considered her past, and then smiled wryly and shook her head.

"Well, I was a perfume maker, Amazone, concubine, a duchess, a pirate, a madam, and then a hunter."

Harper's eyebrows had slid up his forehead as she ra led off her resume. Now he cleared his throat and said, "Right, let's start at the beginning. I believe that was a perfume maker?"

Drina chuckled and nodded. "My father first se led in Egypt, my mother was Egyp an. It's where I was born. Women had a lot more freedom there. We were actually considered equal to men, well mostly anyway. Certainly more equal than in other cultures," she added dryly. "We could own businesses, sign contracts, and actually work and make a living rather than be a burden to our fathers or male relatives."

"And you grew up to be a perfume maker," Harper murmured.

"My mother wanted me to be a seshet, a scribe," she explained with a grimace. "But I was fascinated by scent, how the blending of them could create another wholly different aroma and so on." She smiled, and added, "It turns out I was very good at it. The rich came from far and wide to buy my scents. I made a very good living, owned my own large home and servants and all without having to have a man at my side. It was the good life," she said with a grin that faded quickly. Heaving a sigh, she then added, "But the Romans arrived and ruined everything. Those bloody idiots invaded everywhere and brought their more archaic laws with them. Women were not equal in Roman society." She scowled, and then a smile began to tug at her lips again. "I couldn't run a business under their rule, but I could fight. I became a female gladiator. Amazones they called us."

"After the Amazons I suppose?"

Drina nodded, and said dryly, "The Romans were as lacking in imagination