Eternal (Shadow Falls: After Dark #2)(91)

He arched one eyebrow. “Have you said ‘when’ before?”

That was it. The feeling of being flattered crashed at her feet and flabbergasted took over in first gear. Had he actually asked her that? She punched him in the gut.

“Ouch.” He grabbed his abs and stared at her. “That was not nice.”

She glared at him. “I know. A guy’s not supposed to ask that. You’re lucky I didn’t go for your balls.”

He took a step back, and now he looked befuddled. “Guys are supposed to ask that. A guy who cares needs to know. You don’t have to tell me now, but before we … go there, we should talk.”

Embarrassment started making her feel uncomfortable in her own skin. “First, who said we’re going to go there?”

“I … well, you kind of hinted that you thought I was going to take it there. And we’re bonded, so odds are we’re going there eventually.”

She stared at him, not believing his nerve. Then she felt her face flush like when she’d had her nose buried in his crotch.

He studied her. “If you haven’t gone there yet, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“I’m not embarrassed,” she lied, and then she felt pissed that he made her feel that way. “You’re the one who’s dancing around the word ‘sex.’ I’m not a virgin, I just don’t think it’s any of your business.”

“Okay,” he said, now looking uncomfortable. “I was trying to be polite.”

She cut her eyes up to him. “Are you a virgin?”

He laughed.

She wanted to punch him again. Really hard.

“No … I’m not.”

“Then why are you laughing? Is it because you’ve got a ton of notches on your belt and you’re proud of them?”

“No,” he said seriously. And he seemed to grasp for words before he finally said, “I guess I’m a little embarrassed, too. I was trying to deal with this like an adult. But I guess I screwed it up. Give a guy a break.”

“You’ve asked that once. And you never told me what you wanted broken. But I have a few ideas.”

He chuckled. “You aren’t going to make anything easy, are you?”

“If you want easy, you’re climbing down the wrong foxhole.”

“No, you’re the right one, even if you’re difficult.” He took a step closer.

She took a step back, remembering her meeting with Burnett. “I wouldn’t count on it.” Then, realizing how much time had passed, she said, “We should probably get going.”

“I just have to ask one other thing,” he said.

“What?”

“This.” And then she was in his arms. And he was kissing her again. And it felt good. Too good. His palms moved up under her shirt to her back. The sweet touch brought back the memory of his hand on her breast and made her want to say “when.”

Instead, she pulled back and looked up at him. With some effort, she repeated herself. “We should go.”

“Yeah,” he said and then he touched her nose. “Let’s go introduce you to the council. They are in for a treat.”

*   *   *

Ten minutes later—ten minutes that she’d worked feverishly to come up with different scenarios of how to approach the subject of her uncle—Chase pulled into a Benny’s parking lot.

She stared at the family diner, which was almost like the one her father took them to most Sunday mornings. Or had taken them to … that treat had been dropped since she went to Shadow Falls.

“Are you kidding me?” Della asked.

“What?”

She’d envisioned several different types of meeting places with the Vampire Council, but never a family diner that was mostly a hangout of the over-sixty crowd. “Benny’s? I’m meeting the Vampire Council at a family diner where you can get eggs and raisin toast for a buck ninety-nine?”

“I personally like their pancakes,” Chase said.

She continued to stare. “Really?”

“They’re good pancakes.”

She tightened her eyes at him, knowing he was toying with her.

Chase pushed his glasses up on top of his head. “There’s a room in the back that the restaurant rents out.”

“And they rented it to meet me?” she asked.

He nodded as if he didn’t see her problem. And maybe it was nerves making her see it as a problem, but she couldn’t seem to let it go. “But this isn’t like their office?”

“No,” he said.

“But they have an office?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“So, they don’t trust me enough to bring me there.”

His brow crinkled. “You work for the FRU. Just meeting you is a big step.”

“Burnett took you to the FRU office.”

“That’s different,” he said.

“How?”

“The FRU is listed in the phone book under federal businesses.”

“I see,” she said. “Because the FRU is a legit, aboveboard type of organization, but the Vampire Council isn’t.”

He frowned. “Oh, so the FRU has more merit because they hide themselves as a human organization behind the guise of a government identity?”