Page 11 of A Vampire Bewitched
Nik glanced over at the salt and pepper shakers, which had started to vibrate on the table.
“What reason would I have to lie?” she continued, completely oblivious to what she was doing. “You come waltzing in here, someone I’ve never even met, wanting me to give up all these supposed secrets you think I have, and when I don’t say what you want to hear, you accuse me of lying?!” As Emma’s voice got louder and louder, the shakers started bouncing into each other.
“I know you’re lying, Emma,” he admitted, distracted by the dancing tableware. “You totally suck at it.”
She started sputtering, and he waved a hand at her. “Don’t go puffing up at me and getting your feathers all ruffled. You do. You suck. You’re a terrible liar. First of all, you couldn’t look me in the eye when you told me that well-rehearsed crap you’ve probably been telling the authorities for years. Second, you’re getting waaaay too defensive. Only liars get so defensive. And third—” With this he leaned across the booth until his face was inches from hers. “I can hear your heart. You’d fail a polygraph miserably, Em.”
Emma frowned at him. Leaning back against the seat and putting some distance between them, she inquired sarcastically,“You canhearmy heart beat?” At his nod, she said, “So youarea dog.” Then she shook her head in mock regret. “The hot ones always are.”
Instead of being offended, Nik cocked his head to the side and gave her a charming smile. “You think I’m hot?”
“I amsoout of here.” Emma slammed down the remainder of her drink, grabbed her bag and stood up. “Don’t contact me again.” And with that, she turned and marched toward the door.
The salt and pepper flew at his head as she marched past. Nik caught them in mid-air, set them down, and slid out of the booth and followed her out. He pointed at old Ned and shook his head at him in warning that he’d better keep his happy ass right where it was.
Although he didn’t look thrilled about it, the old bartender decided to be smart this time.
Outside in the parking lot, Nik ordered, “Emma! Dammit, STOP!”
“Go to hell!” Keys already in hand, she beeped her car open while still a few feet away. Wrenching the door open, she started to get in. But instead of the empty space she expected between her and her seat, she slammed into over six feet of hard-ass muscle that was suddenly between her and her escape.
Emma let out a little shriek, jumped back, and hit the inside of the car door with her hip.
“Ow!” Rubbing the sore spot, she glared up at Nik’s unsmiling face. “How the hell did you do that? I didn’t even hear you coming…” She snapped her mouth shut. “Know what? I don’t want to know. Get out of the way, Nik.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Emma.” Putting his left hand against the door window, he caged her in. “Look, can we go back to your house?”
“What? NO! We most certainly can NOT go back to my house! I don’t evenlikeyou! Now get out of my way before I scream. I want to go home! ALONE!”
“I’m not trying to get in your pants, Emma.” His eyes roamed down over her breasts before he’d even finished the sentence, and she huffed with indignation. “Not that it hasn’t crossed my mind,” he clarified. “But trust me, if I wanted to fuck you, you’d already be flat on your back and screaming my name.”
Blood rushed to her face, and her skin flushed pink. She opened her mouth, then shut it again with an audible click.
Nik grinned, his ability to make her speechless impressing even him.
Clenching her jaw together so hard he could see the muscles jumping in her cheeks, she gave him one last, hateful look, then ducked under his arm, shoving her keys back into her bag as she stomped away again.
He closed her car door, then jogged across the pavement to catch up to her. “Emma, I’m sorry.”
She kept walking, turned left on the main road and headed toward her house.
He tried again to get her to stop and listen to him. “Really, I am sorry. I don’t know what gets into me sometimes.”
She increased her pace.
“Hey, how about we stop all this silly bickering, and go back to your house so we can talk privately? I swear I’ll behave myself.”
Nik heaved a sigh as he watched her walk away. She was proving to be more of a challenge than he’d anticipated. Somehow, he’d let himself get the impression she was but a meek little thing. Unfortunately, for her, that only piqued his interest more.
He set out after her again, the enticing sway of her hips a lure he couldn’t resist, making him hard all over again. What the hell was wrong with him? He hadn’t been this intrigued by a human female since Eliana.
Eliana.
God, he’d loved her all those years ago. But, it hadn’t been enough to keep him from killing her, had it?
Nik stopped walking again, pain washing over him at the memory.
What would Emma think of him if she knew?
