The Accidental Vampire(32)

Larger though it was, it was still cramped once Vincent climbed in and pulled the door

closed. These men were big. She still felt a little like a sardine in a can.

Sensing that Alessandro was peering at her, she turned a questioning gaze his way.

"Déjà vu, eh?" he said with a grin, pulling his door closed.

Despite her impatience to get to the grocery store, Elvi found herself grinning in

response.

"I am Alessandro Cipriano," he introduced himself, holding out his hand. Once she'd

shook it, he gestured to the blond now climbing into the front passenger seat, "And

this is Harpernus Stoyan."

"Call me Harper." The man turned to offer his hand as well, in a quick shake, then

reached for his seat belt.

"And I am Edward Kenric," their driver announced as he finished with his own seat belt

and shifted into reverse.

"I suppose Victor introduced himself properly while you were tending his injury,"

Harper said, shifting to sit sideways in his seat so he could see her.

"No." Elvi glanced sideways at the man whose lap she was nearly seated on. Dear Lord,

all of these men were big. She'd think it was a result of being vampires, but she hadn't

suddenly shot up to six feet tall, and gained bigger boobs, so supposed it was purely

the result of their gene pool.

"Victor Argeneau," Harper introduced him properly.

Elvi and Victor exchanged a nod.

"And you are, I hope, Elvi Black?" Harper said.

"Yes." She blushed, suddenly recalling that all these men were here to court her. She

wanted to blurt that she hadn't posted the ad, but feared they might not believe her.

"Where are we going?" Edward asked.

"Turn left," Elvi instructed, realizing that he'd backed up and turned around and was

now paused at the mouth of the driveway unsure which way to go. "We're going to

A&P."

"A&P," Edward murmured as he came to a halt at the red light on the corner. "What is

the emergency exactly?"

"Cheesecake," Alessandro answered, then shrugged when the British man turned

sharp eyes on him. "It's what she said when I asked."

"Turn right here," Elvi muttered with embarrassment. The light was still red, but there

was no traffic coming from the sides.

Edward shifted back to face the road and turned as instructed.

"It's straight up this road several blocks," she said. "It's on the left side. I'll warn you

when we get close."

Elvi then sat back and tried not to tap her fingers on her knee as Edward Kenric drove

up the street at a ridiculously slow speed.

"The speed limit here is fifty kilometers an hour," she informed him when she couldn't

stand it any longer.

Kenric cut his eyes to hers in the rearview mirror. He didn't spit out the sharp words

she sensed he wanted to, but did pick up speed… a little. Elvi could have wept with

frustration. She was sure he was only going thirty. She could have run there faster than

this… carrying one of the men.

Aware that the silence in the car wasn't only her own, Elvi glanced curiously around at

the men. All of them but Edward seemed to be staring at her, though even Edward

kept glancing at her in the rearview mirror.

She shifted uncomfortably, then sighed and said, "I didn't put the ad in the paper.

Mabel did. I didn't even know what she was up to until tonight."

"We know," Harper informed her gently. "We found that out tonight at the

restaurant."

"Oh." She shifted. They were still staring at her, but she hadn't a clue what to say to

make them stop… short of telling them to, and that seemed rude when they were all

rushing to get her to the A&P and cheesecake. Well, all but Edward. He seemed to be a

Sunday driver. Why the damned man hadn't just moved his stupid car and let Harper

drive, she didn't know. Obviously a control freak, she decided. Good‐looking, but he

had issues. And he wasn't too bright either. A smart man wouldn't stand between a

woman and cheesecake.

A choking sound drew her eyes to the back of Edward's head with alarm. If he had

some sort of seizure and delayed her getting to the grocery store… Honestly!

A chuckle from the Italian made her glance his way and she frowned slightly. "What?"

"Nothing," he said quickly, and then asked, "What do you think of me so far?"

"I don't know you," Elvi said, bewildered by the question.

"No, of course not," he murmured, but watched her almost expectantly.

Shaking her head, Elvi glanced out the front window again to see how far away they

were, but now that the man had asked the question, she couldn't seem to help but

think about it. What did she think of him?