nod in Shirley’s direction, Saintcrow left the house.
Shirley looked at Micah. “What was that all about?”
He shook his head. “Beats the hell out of me.” Micah tossed the key to the Corvette in the air, and caught it in his hand. “How’d you like to go for a drive?”
Shirley stared at him. “Are you serious?”
“Sure. It’s a beautiful night. What do you say?”
“How do I know you won’t . . . you know?”
“You don’t think I’d do anything to make Saintcrow mad at me, do you?”
“I hope not.”
“Come on,” he said, and smiled at her.
His smile was her undoing. The dimples in his cheeks gave him an innocent, boyish look that was somehow irresistible.
Moments later, she was sitting beside him in Saintcrow’s Corvette, holding on for dear life as he sped down the highway. At any other time, she would have been scared to death, but with Micah, she wasn’t afraid.
For the first time since she had wandered into Morgan Creek, she felt young and carefree. Laughter bubbled up inside her and she let it out, not caring that Micah looked at her as if she was slightly insane.
“Anyplace in particular you’d like to go?”
“Why are you doing this?” she asked.
“Doing what?”
“Spending time with me? I’m old enough to be your mother.”
“Really? You don’t look that old. Besides, it’s just a date. We aren’t getting married.”
Shirley laughed again, liking him even more. “I’d like to go somewhere for an ice cream sundae . . . Oh, never mind. I forgot you can’t eat anything.”
“Well, maybe you’ll let me have a taste of you later, and I can taste it that way.”
“You’re kidding! You can taste what I eat?”
Now it was his turn to laugh. “No, but that would be great, wouldn’t it?”
“I guess so.”
For a time, they rode in silence. Shirley kept glancing at him, unable to believe this gorgeous vampire wanted to spend time with her. In spite of Micah’s words to the contrary, she was forty-five and she looked it even though she still felt like a teenager. She recalled a conversation the women had had one night. It seemed, no matter what their age, from forty to sixty, they all felt young on the inside. They’d all laughed when Donna said she sometimes looked in the mirror and found herself wondering who that old lady was staring back at her. Shirley knew the feeling.
A short time later, Micah pulled up in front of a Baskin-Robbins where Shirley ordered a hot fudge sundae with extra whipped cream and extra fudge.
“It doesn’t bother you, watching me eat?” she asked when they were seated at one of the tables.
“A little. I haven’t been a vampire very long. I can still remember what food tasted like.”
“What do you miss the most?”
“Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,” he said, grinning. “And beer.”
“Did you have a family, before?”
“Well, sure. Mom, dad, sisters, brothers.”
“Do they know what you are?”
“No. I haven’t seen them since I was turned. As far as they know, I’m working in Cody.”
How awful, she thought, to have been turned against your will. “Are you going to tell them?”
“I don’t know. Probably not. My dad’s not in the best of health. Something like this could kill him.”
“Did you have a sweetheart?”
“Several,” he admitted.
She wasn’t surprised. With his dimples, sexy smile, and beautiful dark brown eyes, he had probably charmed every girl he met.
“What about you?” he asked. “Were you married?”
“No.”
“Why didn’t you leave with the others?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I didn’t really have anything to go back to.” She took several bites of ice cream. “Have you . . . Never mind.”
“You can ask me anything,” Micah said.
“No, it was nothing.”
“You wanted to know if I’ve killed anyone,” he said quietly.
“It’s none of my business.”
“I have,” he said, not meeting her eyes. “I didn’t mean to. I didn’t want to, but . . .” He shook his head. “I couldn’t stop.” He’d never forget how it had felt, draining the life out of that old derelict. He’d probably saved the man from a slow, lingering death on the streets, but that didn’t ease his guilt.
“I don’t know a lot about vampires,” Shirley said, “but I know it takes time to control the hunger.” She took a last bite of her sundae. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah.” He was subdued on the ride back to Morgan Creek.
Shirley found herself watching him surreptitiously as he drove, admiring his profile, the confident way he handled the Corvette.