A Whisper of Eternity - By Amanda Ashley Page 0,62
she was smitten with an idea.A strange idea, to be sure. What if she pretended to be a vampire for a week or two? She wouldn't drink blood, of course. Instead, she would drink some kind of liquid protein and pretend it was blood. She wouldn't eat or drink anything else. She grinned. She would wear nothing but black. She would sleep days - in a bed, not a coffin, thank you. She would paint, shop, and clean house at night.
She frowned. How did vampires go to the post office? She could buy stamps at the market, but what about mailing packages? If she were truly a vampire, how would she mail her paintings to Mr. Petersen? How had Dominic managed it?
She wouldn't worry about that now. She could get by for one week. It was only pretend, after all.
As she put the dishes in the cupboard, she wondered what Dominic would think when she told him.
Chapter 19
"You are going to do what?" Dominic stared at her as if she had lost her mind.
"I'm going to live as a vampire for one week,"Tracy replied."Starting tonight."
He grunted softly. "Shall I find you a coffin?"
"No!" She grimaced. "Do you really sleep in one?"
"It is only a box, after all."
She stared at him. "I don't think I could sleep in one."
"It is not required."
"Well, that's a relief. But you have one. I saw it."
"It is quite comfortable, I assure you. If you wish, you can try it out."
"No, thank you!"
He laughed softly, amused by her decision to "live as a vampire" for the next seven nights.
His gaze moved over her. She wore a black tank top, black jeans, and black boots."A new fashion statement to go with your new lifestyle?"
"I thought black was the color of choice for vampires."
"Wedo seem to wear it quite a lot, do we not?"
"I've hardly seen you in anything else.Except that night inMaine . Oh, and that night we walked on the beach."
"I guess I should expand my wardrobe."
"You think?"
"Come on," he said, grabbing her by the hand. "Let us go shopping."
She thought he was kidding, but the next thing she knew, they were in the city and he was pulling into the mall parking lot. Feeling suddenly light-hearted,Tracy let him lead her into the first mens -wear store they came to.
To her surprise, she discovered that Dominic had quite a sense of humor. He held up several gaudy Hawaiian shirts for her approval, grinned when she shook her head.
He held up golf shirts, baggy camouflage shorts, argyle socks.
Her sides were aching from laughing so hard by the time they left the store. Taking him by the hand, she led him into an exclusive men's shop.
She picked out several shirts for him. Much to her surprise, they were all in dark colors - indigo, a deep wine red, a rich chocolate brown, charcoal gray, black. And one white shirt with long sleeves that reminded her of the kind of shirt pirates once wore.
He looked at her, one brow arched. "I thought you were going to brighten my wardrobe."
Tracyshrugged. "I was wrong. These colors suit you."
With a nod of agreement, Dominic paid for the shirts and they left the store.
Hand in hand, they walked through the mall.
Tracy's mouth watered as they passed by the food court.Mrs. Field's Cookies.Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream. McDonald's French fries. Starbucks Coffee.A popcorn stand.Corn dogs.A candy store.Frozen lemonade.
Dominic looked over at her, a wry grin twitching his lips.
Tracypunched him in the arm. "Don't say a word!"
"You can always start your new life tomorrow."
It was tempting, so tempting. What had she been thinking? She should have had one last pig-out party before giving up the good things of life.
She shook her head. "No. I said I was going to start tonight, and I will."
Dominic nodded. There were so many different kinds of food these days, things unheard of back in the days when he had been a mortal man - things like ice cream, cotton candy, hot dogs, coffee that came in myriad flavors.So many new tastes in food and drink. He had savored some of them onTracy 's lips. But any desire he'd had to indulge in solid food had been thoroughly eliminated the night before. It had been foolish of him to think he could eat solid food. He was no longer human. His body could no longer tolerate such things. He was a vampire and blood was his only source of sustenance.