“Are you afraid of me?” he whispered.
He’d noticed.
She shook her head, then gulped some of her Diet Coke. Afraid wasn’t the right word. Unnerved. Freaked. But strangely attracted. Curious. Sex on the ceiling? And she was a bit . . . miffed, to be honest. She didn’t like the mental picture of him kissing Pru on the dance floor. Prunella Culpepper, who could leave a lover dead on the side of the road and take off with his murderer. Gregori deserved better than that.
“You look upset.” He peered closely at her. “Did those women say something to disturb you?”
“No, no, I’m fine.” Her gaze lowered to his mouth, and Pru’s words taunted her. By George, that man can kiss. She scooted down the booth a little.
“Your father wanted us to get better acquainted. Can you tell me what sort of project he has in mind?”
“I’d rather not say just yet.” She drank some more soda. How on earth could she travel with this man? He was too . . . alluring. Too dangerous. Too damned sexy.
He moved a little closer. “Do you have any questions you’d like to ask me?”
“Yes. Ah . . .” Do you really worship and pleasure a woman all night long? On the ceiling? She mentally shook herself. There were more important issues she needed to address. “What happens to you during the day?”
“I sleep.”
“That’s . . . all?”
The corner of his mouth curled up. “I don’t snore.”
She looked away from the power of his dimple. “What kind of psychic abilities do you have?”
He sat back, then moved his glass closer. “Are you going to report whatever I say to the CIA?”
“I don’t mean to cause you any trouble, Mr. Holstein, but I need to know if it’s safe for me to be with you.”
“I would never hurt you.” He paused, then added wryly, “Miss Tucker.”
Was he mocking her for trying to keep some distance between them? “If you’ll answer my questions honestly, then I won’t repeat whatever you tell me.”
He nodded. “Deal.”
“Did you make that man break his camera?”
“It seemed the best recourse at the time. I didn’t want my photo in a paper.” He glanced at her. “And I figured you didn’t want the publicity, either.”
That was true. But she wasn’t going to thank him. “So you admit that you can mess with our minds.”
His mouth thinned. “We have the right to protect ourselves. How do you think we managed to keep our existence secret?”
She snorted. “You’ve never been secret. There have been horror stories about your kind for centuries.”
“That just means we didn’t mess with your minds enough. We allowed too many memories to stay intact.”
She winced. “You can erase a mortal’s memory?”
He shifted on the padded booth, turning to face her. “Vampires survived for centuries on human blood. The usual procedure was to feed, then wipe the memory. It kept the vampire safe, and it protected the mortal from any bad memories.”
“How thoughtful of you,” she said wryly.
He arched a brow. “You don’t think vampires have the right to survive or protect themselves?”
“You don’t have the right to screw with our minds.”
His mouth curled up. “How about your bodies?”
She scoffed and inched down the booth. “Did you make Madison’s dog fall asleep?”
“Self-defense, Miss Tucker. It was about to gnaw on my leg.”
“Can you do the same to a human?”
“I could.” He inched closer. “If you’re planning to gnaw on my leg.”
Her face warmed with a blush. “I don’t gnaw on people. That’s your specialty.”
His mouth twitched. “I don’t gnaw on people, either, Miss Tucker. I’m a young Vamp. I take my meals from bottles.”
“You’ve never bitten anyone?”
“I’ve never bitten a mortal. And I’ve never bitten for food, so you can relax. You’re completely safe.”
Instead of feeling reassured, she quickly analyzed his answer. “So you’ve bitten vampires for . . . other reasons?”
He looked surprised, then adjusted his tie. “You’re a smart one, aren’t you?”
“Then I’m right? You’ve bitten vampires?”
“Only women.” He looked away, frowning. “In the right situation it can be a pleasurable thing.”
A frisson of heat sizzled through her. “How?”
“You’ll have to trust me on that.” He glanced at her, and his eyes turned a more brilliant green. “Unless you’d like a demonstration?”