Page 30 of Fanged Temptation

I gestured to the second chair, breath catching in my lungs at the sight of her. “Well, since you hate fancy restaurants, I figured we could bring the fancy restaurant here.”

She blinked, her eyes darting between the table, the loaded plates, the wine, and the city lights twinkling over the harbor. “You… did all this?”

“I did.”

“You cancook?” Her incredulous look was certainly uncalled for, but I couldn’t fault her for being skeptical.

“More or less.” I shrugged, handing her the glass of wine as she slowly sank into her seat. “You deserve a night off. A real night off, with nice food and nice clothes, minus all the stuffy crowds.”

Leah accepted the glass, taking in the scene with wide, incredulous eyes.

I cleared my throat and lifted my own glass, suddenly bashful when she fixed her gaze on me. “I know I’ve basically been freeloading for the past few weeks. So, this is me saying thank you, and… that I care about you, I guess.”

“You guess?”

“Ido– care about you.” I stammered out the words, shaking my head with a nervous laugh. “Look, can we just get this toast out of the way so you can get on with praising my culinary skills?”

Leah’s lips curved into a smile that started shy and grew more confident with each passing second. The breeze played gently with her hair and the city lights twinkled on the water like a thousand falling stars.

She lifted her glass, her voice warm and buttery to my ears. “A toast then, to freeloading.”

“Here, here.” I clinked my glass against hers. “To letting me invade your life – and your boat.”

“And cheers to you, Maxine. For sticking around this time.” She paused, eyes dipping for a moment before she glanced back at me, a wistful smile tugging at her lips. “You didn’t have to, but I’m glad you did.”

14

Leah

“So, this salmon…” I speared a piece and waved my fork around to catch Maxine’s attention. “Are we sure it’s not laced with something? Because I swear I’m addicted now.”

Maxine chuckled, sipping her wine. “I assure you, it’s just salt, pepper, and a little bit of lemon juice. Nothing suspicious here.” She tapped the rim of her plate with her fork and I pretended not to notice that she hadn’t taken a single bite.Right. Vampire.I tried not to let my internal alarm show on my face.

In all our time together, I’d never seen her eat anything. But then again, we’d never sat down for a meal together so it was fairly easy to overlook until now.

She was clever about it, pushing her food around her plate. She’d spear a piece of roasted vegetable now and then, move it around while she talked, bring it to her mouth, and set it down again to ask me a question. Then do it all over again. The perfect illusion.

My gaze flicked to her glass of wine, and I wondered what was really in there. The thought slid through my mind before Icould stop it, a chill snaking down my spine. Of course, I knew Maxine was a vampire. I’d known for a while now. But in all the time she’d been living on my boat I hadn’t paused to consider what that really meant.

She was just so… human. It was easy to forget, easy to brush it off like it wasn’t a big deal.

I pushed the thought from my head, glancing up at the paper lanterns she’d strung up in the canopy. “You really outdid yourself tonight. The food, the decor, the dress.” I set my fork down, meeting her eye. “Thank you. This – all of this… just, thank you.”

Maxine’s cheeks warmed, and she twirled the neck of her glass absentmindedly. “I just wanted you to feel special.” She glanced down, and when she looked up again, her eyes held genuine sincerity. “You work so hard and you tolerate me like a champ. You deserve a little pampering.”

Her sincerity tugged at my heart. She’d done all this for me – someone she didn’t even realize had been… well,conspiringagainst her. Guilt curdled the food in my stomach as I forced a nod of appreciation, swallowing the confession that threatened to tear free.

“Flattery will get you everywhere,” I teased, though my chest tightened somewhat. “But for real, thank you. It’s… nice to have an evening that isn’t all algae swabs and lab reports.”

Maxine flashed a fleeting smile, then went silent for a long moment, pushing a piece of broccoli around her plate. I could see tension coiling in her posture, like she was bracing for something. Eventually, she cleared her throat.

“Leah, I –” she faltered, lifted her glass, set it down again. “I know I’ve kept a lot of secrets from you, and… I know you might not fully trust me because of it–”

“I trust you.” I spoke abruptly, cutting her off. “I know I gave you hell for how you handled things but… I trust you, Max.”

“Oh.” She stared at me, suddenly at a loss for words, before shaking her head. “Well – Look there’s so much I want to share with you, so much you deserve to know. About me, about my – my family…”

She trailed off and I watched her, my heart lodged in my throat. Was this an attempt at a confession?

---