Page 34 of Dear Mr. Vampire

“I appreciate you coming, driving me up here.” I corrected.

“I missed a lot of time with you when you were dodging me. I’m trying to make up for lost time.” He jokingly added.

“Are you going to keep reminding me about that?”

“I am. You hurt my feelings.”

“I did not.” I half joked.

“I was broken. I thought my sex game was awful. My ego was crushed into a trillion pieces, self-worth crashing fast. I was on the verge of a deep depression.”

“Ha, right. I doubt it. You have women lined up to be with you.”

“I don’t have any women currently. I don’t want them. I want you.” Zand took his closest hand off the steering wheel to grasp hold of my hand. His touch warmed my heart. His touch made me feel better in any situation. This guy was different.

My mind wandered with the possibilities. Maybe he had feelings for me. Could this be turning into something real? We held hands for at least a mile. I did something I’d never done before. I raised his hand, kissed it, and put it back on the steering wheel. I wasn’t being rude. I’d just had a flash of Morgan’s boyfriend. He was in a car crash and my mind took me to that place. I hated how random thoughts would creep into me and take away my bliss.

We stopped for gas and a quick bite to eat at Wendy’s before we got back on the road.

“You never told me why you moved to Chicago.”

I paused briefly to think of my response. “No, I didn’t.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to talk about it. It’s embarrassing.”

“I doubt you have anything to be embarrassed about.” He tilted his head and flashed a closed-mouth smile at me.

“Ha, yeah. Stupid decisions that affect your life, my life.”

“We all make poor decisions. I’ve made more than my share.”

I couldn’t imagine Zand making bad decisions. Maybe he accidentally wore a colorful shirt one day. I shouldn’t be making jokes, but he seemed to have what he wanted in life. He also seemed to be living the life that he wanted, if there was any difference between the two.

“I sort of ran away from a huge problem.” I confessed.

“I’ve done that before.”

Was he being honest or just agreeing with me?“I ran away from an extremely toxic relationship.”

“Sounds like a familiar story.”

“You have a similar story? Spill it.”

“Why do you think I came to Chicago from L.A.?”

Was it really a nasty breakup?“Seriously? Tell me why?” I was intrigued. I wanted to know more. I wanted to know all there was to know about Alexander Valentine. His story had to be fascinating. He was a mysterious character without even trying to be. “Did you break up with someone?”

“Yes, it was a breakup. We were broken, severely. My ex did some things I couldn’t forgive. I bolted, left as fast as I could. I wanted to start over in a new place.”

“Your ex-girlfriend, you were in a relationship?”

His lips formed a grin. “Yes, I was in a committed relationship. I see you have judged me. You see me with one random woman and now I’m a full-time gigolo. I have been in relationships before.”

“Gigolo? Where did that old word come from?”

“What’s the word they use today? Man whore.”

---