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“The fact that he’s a vampire?”

Toni nodded.

“That, my friend, is what they like to call the icing on the cake.”

There was no mistaking the devious smile on her face. Her explanations of the erotic nature of sex with a vampire had taken on an all new meaning since Lawrence.

“Ready?”

Why was she so nervous? Toni had been hanging around Lawrence all summer. But tonight, of course, was different.

“Yep,” she lied, heading toward the front porch, where the two women had sat for countless hours talking about their hopes and dreams. And, of course, men.

It was a typical Pennsylvania summer night, still warm but not stiflingly so. Toni always felt more unsure of herself in these in-between hours between light and dark. During the day, she was the niece of the shop’s owners, greeting customers with a smile, guiding them to the perfect prank gift or souvenir. At night, she was the bartender who never made any customer wait, local or tourist, who worked her ass off because giving her all was the only thing she knew how to do.

But she didn’t know who she was in between those Tonis. She didn’t know what future she was saving for. What special something she was waiting for. She couldn’t say for certain who she was. What she really wanted.

Unless Lawrence qualified.

“I’m taking off,” Alessandra said as they walked out onto the porch. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t.” Her wink was purely unnecessary.

Which was precisely when Toni remembered that vampires could hear quite a bit better than humans. Lawrence didn’t appear until a few minutes after Alessandra left, but his knowing grin was the first thing she noticed as he walked up the sidewalk.

OK, maybe the second thing.

Wearing long khaki shorts and a white long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled, Lawrence looked like he’d stepped off a yacht. She’d never met a man so comfortable in his confidence that it oozed out from his every pore.

Toni rarely thought of him as anything but human. Tonight, however, even though nothing about his appearance hinted at a seven-hundred-year-old secret, the aura of power around him refused to allow her to forget this was one of the most dangerous men in the world.

“What precisely does she believe you’ll do, Miss O’Neill?” he asked, confirming he had indeed heard Alessandra’s comment.

She couldn’t resist smiling back.

“That’s for me alone to know, Mr. Derrickson. You weren’t supposed to have heard that.”

“A vision, as always,” he said, offering his arm. She took it, murmuring her thanks.

“So where are we heading?”

Not that it mattered. Honestly, if she could keep herself wrapped around his forearm, Toni didn’t care if they walked in circles for the next two hours.

“It’s a surprise.”

Toni loved surprises. Not one Christmas had ever gone by without her knowing where her presents had been hidden, but she’d never even taken a peek. Not ever once.

Give her the unexpected any day.

They walked for two blocks until she blurted out, “I feel like I’m being courted.”

His arm didn’t budge, and neither did her grip.

“Be thankful we aren’t in Pembrokeshire,” he said playfully. “I might leave a shoulder of mutton under your pillow if we were truly courting.”

She stared at him. “You can’t be serious.”

Lawrence winked.

“Tease.”