The Heart's Ashes
Page 10

“Well, boxing’s fun. Maybe I could teach you a few moves sometime?” He sank back a little and a soft, almost shy half-smile masked the confidence in his eyes. “...If you want.”
I nodded. “Maybe.”
“So, what do you do for a living, Eric?” Emily asked, leaning on her elbow.
He flipped his chin toward the waitress and waved her over with his hand, then looked at Emily. “I work in a bike shop by day, and at night, play in a band.”
“No way!” Emily’s eyes widened. “That’s so cool. What instrument do you play?”
“Uh—” Eric smiled widely, looking sideways at me. “I’m the lead-singer-slash-guitarist.”
Okay, this just got more interesting. “What sort of music do you play?” I asked.
“Mostly?” He placed the wine glass the waitress handed him on the table and shifted in the chair so he fully faced me. “We play covers. Um, a bit of rock, love the alternative stuff like Muse, Thirty Seconds to Mars...”
“Oh, that’s good,” Emily jumped in, “Ara loves that stuff.”
Eric looked at me and smiled. “Well, maybe you should come watch us one night.”
“Maybe.” I washed my grin down with a sip of cola.
“Maybe?” Eric’s smile faded. “Don’t you like live music?”
“Are you kidding,” Emily said as I took a breath. “She’s a pianist. She loves music.”
“A pianist, hey?” Eric asked with a leading edge to his tone.
“Yeah. I’m teaching music right now, but eventually, when I get a piano, I wanna make a demo of my songs.”
“Well—” Eric nodded softly, “—I’d really like to hear them sometime.”
My shoulders lifted around my ears slightly and I reached for my drink again. Something about Eric was incredibly unsettling. He was so pleasant and easy going that he made me want to get to know him, tell him all my secrets, and yet, run away at the same time.
When the waiter placed our food on the table, Eric slid mine across to me, keeping his eyes on my face for a second too long. I quickly grabbed the salt that I had no intention of using and bit my teeth together when Emily and Spence exchanged those annoying we-know-what-she’s-thinking-glances. They don’t know anything. He’s nice, but dinner is as far as nice will go. I mean, sure, I like him, even though I only just met him, but he’s a guy, which means I’ll only hurt him.
“So, do you have any family, Ara?” Eric asked.
“Doesn’t everyone?”
“No.” He left his food untouched, focusing on our conversation completely.
“Ur, well, yes, I do.” I looked at Emily.
“And you live alone?” Eric asked.
“I live with Emily.”
Eric looked at Emily, then, seeming to remember we weren’t alone, took a sip from his wine glass.
“Why do you ask?”
He let a breath out in a laugh and shook his head as he sipped his wine again. “No reason.”
The shudder that smile created in me was not met with the kind of caution it should have been; I merely brushed my common-sense mind aside and let my knee fall against his. He smiled down, then dropped his hand under the table and rested it on my leg. I didn’t move for the rest of the night, and added very little to the dinner banter.
“Well.” Emily stood up and shuffled out of the booth. “Must go to the little girl’s room.”
“Ur, yeah.” Spence looked at Emily. “Me too.”
“Uh, I’ll come with you.” I went to stand, but Emily spun back around and barred me, under no uncertain terms, with a wide-eyed stare of warning.
While I stood, feeling like an idiot, I could see Eric’s glare fall all over the curves of my waist and my shoulder blades. I sat back down and leaned on my hand, keeping my eyes forward, but could still see Eric’s grin.
God, he’s so cute and he knows it. I just want to crawl under the table and bite my nails.
“You know—” he shuffled closer, “—you can talk to me. I promise I won’t bite.”
As his arm touched mine and the cool yet warm sensation—like play-doh warmed in the palm of your hand—started my heart, I froze and held my breath. I knew that feeling too well. Mix it with the eerie, skin-crawling tingle and... I stole a sideways glance at his forearm; his veins, they were clear! My eyes widened as I turned fully to make sure I saw it properly.
He followed my gaze, then looked back at my face with a tight pull across his brow. “No one’s...ever noticed that before.”
A small smile lifted my cheeks. He’s a vampire! “You might say I have previous experience.”
He glanced at my arm then; I shook my head. A silent exchange was occurring between us. I was sure he couldn’t read minds, but we both knew exactly what the other was implying. I rolled my neck to the side, prompted by his obvious confusion, and tilted my scarf.
His eyes widened slightly. “Do Spence and Em know?”
My head moved to say no as he softly ran his fingertip over the scar—the one Jason left. I covered it again. “They know about the scar, but not exactly what caused it.”
“Well—” Eric rested his curled fist beside his smile and leaned back, “I must say—”
“You two seem to be getting along.” Emily sat back down, smiling wildly.
“Yes.” Eric winked at me. “It seems we have quite a bit in common.”
“Oh, well, that’s great.” She raised her eyebrows in her ‘told you so’ fashion.
“Yeah, sure is.” I warmed to Eric like a rock to sun then, feeling so much more comfortable around him than before.
“In fact, I think we might have to spend a little more time together.” Eric stared at me, his mischievous smile totally disarming me. “If you like?”
I nodded. “I...yeah. I’d like that.” I totally avoided looking at Emily, not wanting to see that smug smile again.
Eric wandered beside me wearing a bashful smile, his leather jacket over his forearm. “Well, I certainly had an entertaining evening with you, Ara.”
I leaned my butt on my car and toyed with the hem of my dress. “Yeah, um. Me too.”
“I hope to see you again.” He smiled sincerely.