“This is where you live?” I asked, ignoring the request as I continued to catalog my concerns. The list was growing longer by the minute.
“It’s an expensive city.”
“You need to move. This isn’t a safe place for a woman to live.” I couldn’t leave her here. Not in this part of town.
“I’m fine,” she said, “and I don’t live alone. I have roommates.”
“Roommates?” I eyed her.
“Olivia and Tanner,” she said, beginning to walk toward the dimly lit entrance.
I followed her, taking stock of the broken exterior light. “Is Tanner a man?”
“Yes,” she said dryly. “Does it matter?”
“Are you...two…”
“Mr. Rousseaux,” she said, feigning shock, “are you jealous?”
“Curious,” I said, knowing that was a fucking lie. She lived with a man. Never mind the fact that her apartment was one step above a crack den in terms of comfort and safety. A man lived with her. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“You didn’t ask a question. You insinuated.” She smiled up at me.
“You know what I meant.” Thea was wrong. I didn’t hate her. I didn’t dislike her. But she could really get on my nerves.
“Tanner is just my roommate,” she said. “I’m not...I don’t...date.”
“At all?” I couldn’t hide my surprise. Thea was pretty by vampire standards, making her beautiful by human standards. Surely, men must have noticed her. She’d already caught the attention of two vampires.
“I don’t have time to date.” A yawn overtook her.
I checked my watch to find it was nearly midnight. I’d been in no rush to decide what to do with Thea. It hadn’t occurred to me that she might be tired.
“My cello?” She yawned again.
“I need to repair it,” I said. “I’ll return it to you tomorrow.”
“Fine.” Her shoulders slumped, and she dug a key out of her bag. “Well, you know where I live.”
“Yes,” I grimaced and looked up at the building again. Something needed to be done about that, too.
She unlocked the door and turned to me, “Good n–”
But I was already inside, my hand catching hers and dragging her into the darkened hall.
“I’ll see you to the door,” I told her.
She studied me for a moment, an internal war flashing in her tired eyes, but then she led me up the stairs to the second floor. It was a minor improvement to find she wasn’t on the ground floor, but it hardly looked any safer. She paused in front of a door marked with an iron letter C and turned.
“You aren’t going to make me forget, are you?” she asked, her keys still in her hand.
“I should bring you your cello first. Don’t you think?” I said smoothly.
She raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying my excuse. It was even flimsy to me.
“And I think you should consider my offer.” I stepped closer to her, backing her slightly against the door.
“To date you?” she repeated. “I’m not sure I could handle your mood swings.”
“About that.” I paused to consider if I was making a mistake by telling her the truth. “There was another vampire in the diner. He showed up right before we left.”
Her eyes widened into saucers, but after a second, she gathered herself back together.
“There are probably lots of vampires in San Francisco.”
“A fair few,” I admitted. The older the city, the more vampires there tended to be. And by American standards, San Francisco was very old. More than a few of my kind had come during the gold rush, eager to fill their already bursting bank accounts with new wealth. Plus, the incessant fog made for easy hunting.
“Then it was a coincidence.”
“Maybe.” But it didn’t feel like that. Until I was sure if that vampire had been sent after her or me, I needed to keep an eye on Thea.
“So that’s why you were being so weird?” she asked. “Is that why you asked about a date?”
“Being under my protection would only afford you–”
“I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time,” she stopped me, but sadness colored her words.
Without thinking, I slipped my arm around her waist. “Maybe you shouldn’t have to.”
