Page 50 of Dear Mr. Vampire

“Uh, I’m just drinking blood.”

I chuckled into the phone. “Funny. No, seriously.”

“I’m looking over payroll. I want to take you out to dinner later tonight.”

“You don’t have to be at the club?”

“We can drop by the club for a few minutes, then go to dinner. You love seafood and I’ve heard of this five-star restaurant on Michigan Avenue. I made reservations for ten. I know it’s a little late to eat. But you can come home and take a nap if you need one. I want to take you out. You’ve made a full week back at work without a single complaint. You deserve a good, fancy meal. We can have a few drinks and come back to my place. You’re off the painkillers and you can drink as much as you like.”

“I could go for a drink.”

“I’m driving and I promise to drink responsibly. Are you up for it?”

“Yes, I would love to have dinner with you.” I would love to have the dessert he was packing in his pants afterwards.

“Just dress up and I will be there at nine-thirty to pick you up and show you a good time.”

“I can’t wait to get out of this office and out of these scrubs.”

“You’ll be ready on time?” He asked.

“I will be ready. I promise.”

“Babe, I know I just saw you this morning, but I miss you.”

“I miss you too.”

“I have never felt this way. No, no, we can talk about it at dinner.”

“I look forward to our date.” I smiled into my cell phone.

“See you later, Daywalker.”

“You can just use your key to get into my apartment.” At first, it was weird knowing Zand was my landlord, and he had a key to my apartment all along. Now I didn’t feel any way about it. “My doorbell needs batteries.”

“I should have some. I will bring them tonight. I’m going to the club to sign a few contracts and I will see you later. Call me if you need me for anything.”

“I’m good.” I said because for the first time in a long time I was good.

“Okay, later babe.”

“Bye.” I waited for the phone to go dead. My face was grinning so hard. Any sudden movements and it would crack. To go from a hardened criminal to Zand was a godsend. My cheeks were ballooned out as I thought about what dress I could wear to dinner. It needed to be something he’s never seen before. Would I have time to go to the mall and treat myself to something brand new? I could get my nails done and still have time to come home and lay down for about an hour.

I picked up my cell and placed a call. It rang a few times and when I was about to hang up; she answered.

“Hey girl.”

“Morgan, you sleep?”

“No, I left my phone in the kitchen. It’s your lunchtime?”

“Yeah, I’m eating. I ran into Shawn today.”

“Oh, how did that go?”

“I was okay. I could tell he can’t stand me. But I kept it classy and cute.”

“That’s all you can do, girl.”