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Or her Richart had said he wouldn’t pursue anything alad she had an actual bed in case so developed between them later

Butterflies flocked to her stomach She hadn’t had a date in

Hmm She drew a blank on that one

Debbie had set her up on a blind date a couple of years ago that had gone rather well, Jenna thought, until she had o to medical school Her date had apparentlyto shell out a couple hundred thousand dollars in educational fees for a son asn’t his and had run, not walked, in the opposite direction

Dating wasn’t easy for singleher head at herself, she answered "Hello?"

"Hello"

Her heart began to pound at the sound of Richart’s deep, silky voice "Hi"

"How are you feeling?"

"Much better, thank you" Wella little better, anyway Though her stomach remained unsettled, she felt somewhat confident that she would be able to eat whateverit on hiht I would run some dinner ideas by you and see what you think would be the htful "Okay What did you have in an to list entrées he could prepare for her Clearly the man could cook

Jenna didn’t kno half of the dishes he mentioned were prepared or if she even had the pots and pans needed to do it, so she ith the safest option "How about the light salad and fettuccine Alfredo?"

"As you wish," he responded cheerfully "I shall see you tonight"

When Jenna opened her door shortly after sunset, Richart sa pants and tank tops The soft gray pants hugged full hips and slender thighs before falling in straight lines to a pair of sneakers A white tank top clung to a narrow ribcage, ht would fit perfectly in the palhtened around the handles of the shopping bags he carried

"I took you at your word and stayed inback andfor him to enter

"I like your co her sweet scent as he strode past into the s room Jenna plus a hint of the chocolate-raspberry soap she used A delectable combination

She had even worn her hair down At work she usually pulled it back with clasps or ties or put it up in a ponytail Tonight it fell freely in shining waves as red as the sky at sunset, tuers through it

No touching, he adht lead toShe’s ill and you’re immortal and haven’t told her Nor do you plan to tell her So, what the hell are you actually doing here?

Giving in to weakness

He hadn’t felt this drawn to a woet the dark violence that was such a large part of his existence andso each day, eager to see her again

"How are you feeling?" Richart asked as she closed the door

"Both hungry and nauseated at the sa all day because ht But I think the Alfredo is ave hi s It’s justI’ve never talked about vorinned "More ro it was a possibility, then spewing your dinner all over your cohed "Thank you for being such a good sport about it"

"Thank you for letting s down on the counter and started reredients he’d purchased on the way there "I should probably warn you that I haven’t been on a date in quite a while, so I’m a little rusty"

Her eyebrows flew up as she transferred the cold foods to her refrigerator "How long has it been?"

"Longer than I care to ad difficult"

She nodded "Being a single ht shift does, too I haven’t dated in a while either"

"Excellent Then, if neither of us reood to ainst it, crossing her aret-the-truth-out-there-so-when-it-coal, so there’s soood

She hesitated "You know I’ht?"

Richart stared down at her and forced hih at the irony He may be over two hundred years old, but he looked as if he were in his late twenties, thirty at thethirty-seven would be a problem?

"Honestly, I could not care less how old you are, Jenna," he assured her, all the while calling hi she had provided and broaching the topic of who and what he was She valued truth If he continued to keep it from her

A hint of insecurity entered her features "I don’t uy once--very briefly--who said the sa until his friends found out and started to razz him about it I’m thirty-seven Are you sure that isn’t a problem?"

"I don’t knohy his friends would tease hi you unless they were envious You look like you’re in your twenties, Jenna Not much older than your son, in fact And, if you looked like you were in your forties, guess what I would be just as interested"