Bride's eyes teared up at his words and what they meant. "You asked someone how to date me?"
He let out a sigh and glanced down at his clenched hands. "Great. Now I've made you sad again. I'm sorry. This was a really bad idea. I'll just take you home and you can forget that you ever laid eyes on me."
She reached out and took his hand into hers. "Okay, since we're being honest with each other. I don't know what I'm doing, either. A week ago, I knew what I wanted. I was a fairly successful business owner, dating a guy I stupidly thought I loved and one I planned on marrying someday."
"In one afternoon, my entire life shattered and then all of a sudden this great guy comes along like some mythical knight in shining armor. He's gorgeous, loaded, and says all the right things to me. He makes me feel like I can fly, and every time he shows up, he makes everything better. I'm not used to this, okay? And I'm not used to being with a guy who is so incredibly sexy that he makes me feel like the booby prize."
"I think you're beautiful, Bride."
"See!" she said, gesturing toward him. "There you go being perfect again. I think you need your head examined."
He looked extremely offended by that.
Bride pulled back and sat up straight. "Okay, let's try this again." She held her hand out to him. "Hi, I'm Bride McTierney. Pleased to meet you."
His expression said he thought she was the one who needed her head examined. He took her hand into his. "Hi, I'm Vane Kattalakis and I'm starving. Would you like to have dinner with me, Bride?"
"Yes, Vane. I would."
He smiled at her. "Okay, so now is this the part where we share sex stories?"
Bride burst out laughing—so loudly that several people nearby turned to stare at her. Covering her mouth, she looked at him. "What?"
"That's what Nick said you should do to get to know a woman."
"Nick?" she asked in disbelief. "The tacky-shirt-wearing, I-can't-drive-my-way-out-of-a-paper-sack Nick?"
Vane's eyes turned dark. Dangerous. "Did he offend you when he picked you up? Say the word and I'll kill him."
"No, but if I were you, I don't think I'd take dating advice from him."
"Why? He gets women all the time."
"Yeah, but does he ever keep any of them?"
"Well… no."
"Then don't take his advice."
"Okay." Vane motioned for the waiters who were waiting nearby. "You want to share the Chateaubriand Bouquetière with me? Since it's supposed to serve two they get kind of scared when I wolf it down by myself."
She bit back a smile at his words. "I would love it."
Vane looked up as Bernie returned. "We'll start with two Crepes Barbaras for appetizers, then the Chateaubriand Bouquetière."
"Very good, Mr. Kattalakis. Very good."
Vane handed them the menus, then leaned forward. "And make sure to save room for the dessert."
"I don't know if I can hold it, but I'll try. If you want a woman who can eat all that, you need to date my friend Tabitha."
He took her hand into his again and massaged it as if it were unspeakably precious. "I don't want to date Tabitha," he said, laying her hand against his smooth cheek. "I only want to be with you."
Bride had never felt like this in her whole life. She felt so desirable around him. So feminine.
He somehow even managed to make her feel petite.
"So how is it a guy like you has never had a date before?"
Vane took a drink of wine as he thought about how to answer her question. He didn't want to lie to her, but he couldn't exactly tell her that he was a wolf who had grown up living in the woods, sleeping in dens with other wolves.
That might scare her a bit.
"I grew up in a commune of sorts."
She seemed nervous now and reminded him of a cornered rabbit. "What kind of commune? You're not one of those religious nuts who's going to kidnap and brainwash me for my money, are you?"
Vane shook his head. This woman got the strangest ideas. "No. Definitely not. I just grew up in a way most people don't. What about you?"
"I grew up here. Both my parents are vets. They met in grad school and got married when they graduated. There's really not much to tell. I had a very normal, average life."
Vane tried to imagine such a thing. In his world, where they could command magic, the elements, and even time itself, normal didn't really factor in. In a way, he envied Bride her human world where the impossible wasn't reality. "That must have been nice."
"It was." She took a sip of her water. "So what do your parents do?"
"Think up creative ways to kill each other." Vane cringed as that flew out of his mouth. He was so used to saying it that he didn't think about it until he'd heard himself say it.