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“Evgeny Kissin. ” Ronan’s subdued voice broke into my thoughts. “That’s the name of the pianist. It’s my favorite recording. ”
“Number fourteen,” I said. “That’s the Moonlight Sonata. ” Some fundamental tension, a knot that’d been clenched deep in my chest, unspooled. Even the throbbing along my belly subsided. I let my head sink back and sighed a blissful sigh. I loved lots of bands and musicians—Foo Fighters, Cat Power, Nick Cave—but before them all there’d been Beethoven, and I loved him maybe most of all. “How’d you know?”
“How’d I know what?” Ronan asked. I opened my eyes to peer at him, and his questioning gaze was waiting for me. “How did I know that the girl who’d risked her life just so she could smuggle her iPod onto this island might like to listen to a spot of music?”
His humor lightened the mood, yet somehow that only made the moment more serious. More meaningful.
I didn’t take my eyes from him as I asked, “Does this mean I’m to add intuition to the list of your many gifts and abilities?” I quirked an affectionate smile, feeling it in that newly unwound place in my chest.
He laughed then, and the free sound of it was a warm rush along my skin. “Aye, I’m a regular superhero. ”
The tape quality was miserable, all raspy and fuzzy, but even so, I leaned back again, letting the music wash over me. “I love Beethoven. ” I’d shut my eyes to savor it, but then shot them open again. “Wait. Isn’t this illegal?”
His probing look added some other layer of meaning to my question.
I felt myself blush as I added, “The tape, I mean. Is it allowed?”
“Are you going to tell on me?” He took his eyes from the road to give me a slow smile.
Another smile? Another light comment? The guy was slaying me. We’d never had this. Never done this before. What did it mean, this easy banter with Ronan? Was he flirting?
“We’ll see,” I replied, attempting to sound just as flirtatious. “Maybe if you’re good, I won’t tell. ” I blushed furiously—that hadn’t come out right. “I mean, if you’re good with me in the water. For our class,” I quickly added. “As a teacher. ” My cheeks were really flaming now, and I turned to watch out the window, letting the leather headrest cool my skin.
Crap…I couldn’t flirt if I tried.
But the little exchange had clearly made him uncomfortable, too, because when he spoke again, it was stilted. “Recordings like this aren’t illegal,” he informed me, answering my question with a formality that, at that moment, I appreciated. “For instructors, at least. We’re allowed to listen to music. As long as it’s classical. ”
“No Led Zeppelin?”
“I said classical, not classic. ” The look he shot me—once more relaxed around the eyes—said he was beginning to loosen up again. “Definitely no Led Zeppelin. I imagine even Debussy is too gauche for the undead. ”
It was my turn to laugh. “Ronan,” I exclaimed. “Was that another joke?”
“Mm. ” He nodded, looking pleased with himself. “Terribly clever of me. ”
I laughed again, and like that, the tension was gone. It was a place I never thought we’d go—one of easy comfort, where we joked like friends. It made me feel safe enough to ask something that’d been nagging me.
“So…can I ask you a question?”
He smirked. “I’d be shocked if you didn’t. ”
“The vampires on this island…” I took a steadying breath. Formulating the words in my mind, I realized how ridiculous it was.
“The vampires?” he prompted.
“They don’t, you know”—another breath, slower this time, exhaled through the teeth—“they’re not the kind who turn into bats, are they?”
A raucous laugh exploded from him, reverberating through the car. “Bats? Now you’re the one to joke. ”
I crossed my arms at my chest. “You don’t have to laugh at me. ”
“Aye. ” He dabbed tears from his eyes. “I really do. ” One last hee escaped him—was that a guy giggle?—and he asked, “What on earth made you ask that?”
“I saw a bat is all,” I mumbled.
“You what?”
“Bat,” I snapped. “I saw a bat. ”
