“So is that your boyfriend?”<i>Steve</i>, that is. He knew that it wasn't; no man worth anything would simply let another man lead<b>his </b>woman away like James led Lane away. In fact, if it was<b>his </b>woman in question, no man would be allowed close enough to even get a good whiff of her hair, let alone lay hands on her. “Or just a boy who wished he had a pair of balls that dropped low and heavy enough to stop me from whisking you out from under his nose?” Elegant, James.<br/><br/><br/>“Or he could just be your brother who respects you as an independent, modern woman in today's modern era of ball-busting feminists and conceptualized notions that a man is no longer allowed to be a<i>gentleman</i>, because you can get your own damn door, thank you very much,” he continued on once they were out the door – and he had even opened the door for them both.<br/><br/><br/>The grin on his face he hid off to the side until they had rounded a corner, where he shifted his gait to study her face. Don't think he hadn't noticed her attempt at an exasperated expression. He just wasn't commenting on it just yet. Olive green twinkled their own dark merriment when she proved his point with her begrudging acceptance of his dinner offer. “Ms. Barnes, it would be my pleasure to buy you dinner this evening.” Regardless of the sardonic edge in his voice, the man smiled a smile of self-triumph as he tucked her in closer to them even as he allowed her to lead the way down the road. “And I have no idea what you mean by 'all this.' Do you mean being a happenstance customer in a small town, who happened to see a pretty girl that works there, then asked her out to dinner?” The smile was still there. Ignore it, please. “You said yes.” No take backs.<br/><br/><br/>“I knew Adella Torkelson,” he confirmed eventually once she had asked the question. His spine stiffened as the name rolled off the tip of his tongue, making it impossible for him to hide the fact that he favored his right leg more than his left, creating a slight limp. He stifled it well, because his pride insisted that he fight the mental battle against the pain that blazed a red-hot trail through his leg to spike through his head. For the most part, his expression remained coached against it. “I can tell right off the bat that you're like her, too, strange as that sounds.”<br/><br/><br/>He hid the sentiment in his voice by raising his brows to leer down at her. “So maybe I'm just trying to keep it in the family. What do you think? Is it against some sacred rule that if I kissed an ancestor of yours, that I can't kiss you as well?”<br/><br/><br/>The flirtatious turn of his words quickly turned as she accused him of being a vampire. Laughter rolled out of his mouth instead of words this time. He was still shaking his head when he shifted them both suddenly. The arm twined with her arm he used as leverage to turn her as he stopped them dead. His free hand laced through her pale hair to cup the nape of her neck before he pushed her back against the wall of a building.<br/><br/><br/>“I might be a vampire..” he mused, though his eyes had fallen heavy on her own. They now wandered down over the column of her throat, but wound up inching a little upwards to rest on her mouth. His clamped fingers released the nape of her neck to trail across her throat now, leaving a<i>snap, crackle, pop </i>of electricity in their wake. “I do sparkle sometimes.”<br/><br/><br/>He lifted his eyes back to her own, now flaked with golden sparks that imploded on themselves to create a subtle starburst effect. Heat began to rise up from his skin, radiating around them. And the weather was already on the muggy side. “And I can't deny that there are times when the bloodlust gets out of hand.”<br/><br/><br/>His fingers stroked her throat once more before pressing against her chin to tilt it up, further exposing her neck to him. He loomed down, his breath hot as it teased the side of her neck. His lips never made contact, however. Instead, his words hummed against her skin. “And your neck.. is especially appetizing, Ms. Barnes.”<br/><br/><br/>He shook himself visibly before he pulled himself away. There was a small smirk on his face that replaced the heated intensity that had been there just moments prior. Tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear, the man guided her away from the building by the arm he hadn't once released.<br/><br/><br/>“Fortunately for you, I really am just a man, so your Steve and your Vivienne don't have to worry about a dead body in the bay.”<br/><br/><br/>Oh, look. He thought he could see the sandwich shop up ahead.