Page 9 of Nyctophilia

His gaze met mine. “Dinner.”

I frowned, my question unanswered. “I’m sorry, what?”

His eyes darkened. “You heard me. Dinner. You have questions, and I’ll do my best to answer them if you have dinner with me.”

Jasper was asking me out to dinner. I weighed my options. Getting answers to the weird things happening to me, and possibly (okay, definitely) making a fool out of myself in the processandgetting to have dinner with a man hot enough to be a model to boot, or eating leftovers again with Betty. It seemed like an easy choice, even with the high probability of embarrassment. My only confusion was what he was getting out of the bargain. But before I could respond, Jasper was already speaking.

“Vincenzo’s. Tonight. Seven o’clock.”

Vincenzo’s was the nicest restaurant in town. Mollie was going to freak. I wasn’t even sure how I could explain all of this to her. I responded with the only word I seemed capable of saying. “Okay.”

Jasper seemed pleased with my response and we exchanged numbers. He busied himself with locking his door, and when he looked up at me again his eyes seemed to get even darker. “Green.”

I couldn’t move. Forget icebergs, that look was melting me to my core. “Yeah?”

He leaned into me, his breath touching my ear. “Next time I invite you into my room, I hope you won’t say no.”

Chapter 4

“Okay, who are you and what have you done with my best friend?” Mollie’s voice rang out over my cell phone. She had called me on her dinner break, and I finally filled her in on everything that had been happening the past few days. Understandably upset at first, she also was used to my need to process things myself first. I had to grovel, but eventually she forgave me, turning her energy towards my dinner plans instead.

“Mollie, it’s not a big deal. I’m sure he has dinner with lots of girls.” I was driving home, since working at the coffee shop was an impossibility with dinner taking over any available space in my mind. I would have to focus hard tonight to make sure I got my questions answered. But I couldn’t help but wonder what he would be wearing.

“He might have dinner with a lot of girls, but you definitely do not have dinner with a lot of guys. And his idea of dessert probably involves a lot more nudity than yours.”

I started to choke and tried to cough to cover it up. I hadn’t considered that. While I wasn’t a virgin by any means, my sexual history was, well, limited. And awkward. The guys I had dated in college were usually sweet and geeky, and equally as uncomfortable in the bedroom as I was. I was fairly certain Jasper had no such difficulties in this respect. His hair was probably perpetually tousled from all the sex he had. Women probably took one look at his dangerous smile and automatically found themselves undressed. But none of that mattered because I had questions Jasper needed to answer. And that wouldn’t happen if I was ogling his butt in his tight pants.

“What are you going to wear?” Mollie asked impatiently. It was probably killing her that she was stuck at work until seven and wouldn’t be able to help me choose an outfit in person.

“I don’t know. My navy blue dress pants?” Clothes were not the first thing on my mind. Although to be fair, neither was my concern about what I had seen in the woods last night.

Mollie was aghast. “Dress pants? You have a date with the hottest guy in town and you want to wear dress pants?”

I knew a losing battle when I saw one and I was quick to forfeit. “Okay. What do you recommend?”

“Let’s see.” The line went quiet while she mentally ran through my closet in her head. “Your black dress?”

“The one I wear to funerals?”

I heard Mollie’s laugh on the other end of the phone. “Okay, maybe not. What about your pink dress? The backless one.”

Of course that’s the one she would choose. “I haven’t worn that dress since college. I doubt it even still fits. I’m sure I have a skirt or something I could wear.”

I heard Mollie’s name being called across the phone and I knew her dinner break was coming to an end. Sure enough, she came back on. “Hey, sorry, Ava but I have to go. But call me when you get home so I can hear the whole story about your hot date. And keep your phone charged!”

She hung up as I pulled into my unit’s parking lot. I looked out into the woods before I got out of my car, cautiously searching for anything out of the ordinary. Just in case. Nothing seemed out of place, but I was realizing this meant nothing. I headed up to my apartment, chastising myself for being paranoid. With a quick pet for Betty, I began the process of trying to find something suitable to wear for my date/not-a-date. I wondered what Jasper thought it was. I started pulling different options out of my closet and trying outfits on.

Two hours later I stood in front of my mirror wearing the backless pink dress. While it definitely wasn’t too formal, it was safe to say it didn’t exactly spell out platonic friendship, either. The dusky rose colour always made me feel confident though. That was the reason I had bought this dress in the first place. But the hem seemed to hit a lot higher on the thighs than I remembered, and it felt like a lot more back was showing than the last time I had worn it. Unfortunately, it was either this or the navy dress pants, and I didn’t want to face the wrath of Mollie. I finger combed my hair until the unruly waves seemed deliberate and swiped some mascara on my lashes -- my extent of a beauty routine. I stood back to look at my reflection. I was nothing compared to the girls Jasper was probably used to, but I looked pretty damn good. Besides, this wasn’t a date.

I dropped some dinner in Betty’s dish and walked back out to my car. When I pulled up outside of Vincenzo’s, Jasper was already waiting out front. He was dressed to kill in tight black dress pants and a white button-up shirt with the edges of his tattoos peeking out under the rolled sleeves. He also wasn’t alone. Rose McDermott stood exceptionally close to him, running one manicured finger down his exposed forearm. I couldn’t make out what she was saying, but I had a feeling she wasn’t asking him for directions. What I had said before was true. I hadn’t ever been bothered by Rose’s status. Until now. A new feeling in me awakened, eager to prove something to myself. I straightened my dress and made my way over to where they stood. My mind was telling me to run in the other direction, but I forced myself to stand tall.

Don’t trip, don’t trip, don’t trip,was the mantra running through my head. I had to admit, they were a good match for one another. But things were so comfortable with Jasper I was jealous. As I got closer, I felt rather than saw when Jasper noticed me. He spotted me with barely concealed desire, and I gave myself a pat on the back for pulling the dress off. It was worth all the effort it had taken me not to trip. Rose also looked me up and down, obviously wondering what I was doing here. Her look of superiority turned to one of shock when I approached the two of them.

“Hope you weren’t waiting too long.”Take that, Rose.

Jasper carefully removed himself from Rose’s clutches. He ran an appreciative gaze down my body before offering his hand, his tattooed knuckles curling softly around my fingers. “Not long at all. Rose, it was nice to talk to you.” Rose merely nodded, her jaw still on the ground. I knew I looked good, but his intense scrutiny seemed more than the dress warranted. Why was he staring at me like that? A nagging thought pinged in the back of my head.Didn’t you say at the club you felt like you had known him for ages?Maybe he felt the same way. But that was crazy. You weren’t supposed to feel like this about someone you just met. Jasper Knight was turning down Rose’s charms to go for dinner with me? Maybe thiswasa date.

I twined my fingers with his and immediately relished the electricity flowing from his warm skin to mine. We left Rose gawking at us as we walked into the restaurant and quietly waited together until a host seated us at a secluded booth in the back.

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