"I just want to smell it." She glanced up.

He was leaning toward her, his face close to hers. "Okay."

She inhaled deeply, then closed her eyes to concentrate on her other senses. The yeasty smell of beer and metallic scent of blood. And the warmth of his hand on hers.

She opened her eyes and found him studying her face. Her heartbeat screamed into overdrive. She set the glass down and pulled her hand away. "So you need blood to stay alive? You are alive, aren't you?"

He nodded. "At the moment, yes. My heart is beating just like yours." His mouth curled up, making his dimples show. "But not quite as fast."

Her face grew warm. So he could actually hear her heartbeat. She motioned toward Josh, who was standing two booths down and talking quietly on his cell phone. "Can you hear him?"

Gregori tilted his head as he focused on Josh. "Sparkle's still on the dance floor." He turned to her with a questioning look.

"We all have code names. Madison is Sparkle."

He smiled. "It suits her." He leaned close to Abigail, his eyes twinkling. "So what's your code name?"

She shrugged. "Not important."

"That's a lousy code name."

"That's not my - "

He chuckled. "Let me guess. Your sister is Sparkle, so you're . . . Brilliant."

"No." Her cheeks grew hotter.

"But you are brilliant."

Unfortunately, her face probably was a brilliant red.

"Well, if you refuse to talk, I have other ways of finding out." He glanced at Josh, who had put away his cell phone and was now murmuring to Charles on his wrist communicator. "Sailor? Who's that?"

"My dad."

Gregori's eyebrows lifted. "He didn't want to be an Admiral?"

"All of our names start with s. And Dad likes being Sailor. He's a Navy man, and he thinks it makes him sound humble."

Gregori gave her a dubious look.

"I know. He doesn't always appear very humble. But it's hard to look modest when you're trying to show a lot of confidence and competence as a leader." She ran a finger around the rim of her glass. "He's different when he's with us. Especially when he's with my mom. He loves her so much. When you're watching someone you love slowly die, and there's nothing you can do to stop it, it's very humbling."

Her hand stilled. What on earth was she doing? Opening up to a vampire? She glanced at Gregori. His eyes had a faraway look to them, a look of remembrance and pain.

She sipped some of her Diet Coke. He remained silent, and she wondered what sad place he had drifted off to.

She reached out to touch him, but changed her mind and lowered her hand to the table. "I'm sorry if I made you sad. I didn't mean to - "

"It's all right." He smiled, but the sadness lingered in his eyes. "I'm really sorry about your mother."

She blinked when tears threatened. It had been a long time since she'd talked to anyone about her mom. She usually kept her fears and anxieties bottled up. And when she was with her mom, she always tried to be cheerful. "Her code name is Serenity."

"That's an excellent name for her."

"Yes." Abigail clenched her fists, determined to keep her emotions in check.

Gregori rested his hand on top of hers. "It'll be all right."

She froze. His hand felt perfectly warm and human. And his touch was light and . . . tender. Her gaze darted to Josh, who was standing two booths to the right, and then Charles, two booths to the left. "I - "

"Sorry." Gregori lifted his hand. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

Uncomfortable? She was tempted to hold hands with him under the table. There was a kindness to him that she hadn't expected. It made him even harder to resist.

"You're a sneaky one." He eyed her with an obviously fake suspicion. "You never did tell me your code name." He eased closer. "Is that it? Sneaky?"

She shook her head, smiling. This was more of his kindness. He was teasing her out of her moment of sadness. And making her like him even more.

"I know! It's Secret, because you live a secret life."

She shook her head again. "It's not anything very exciting."

"Hmm." He studied her closely. "Sweet? Sugar? Spicy?"

She grinned.

"Sex Kitten?"

She laughed. "Are you crazy?"

"It sounds right to me."

She shook her head, ignoring the heat of her blush. "They based it on my . . . brain."

"Ah." He gave her a wide-eyed innocent look. "Simpleton?"

"What?" She swatted his shoulder. "How dare you?"

He laughed. "I'd rather have you attacking me than scooting away. We've moved halfway around the booth."

She pressed a hand against her hot face. "I'm sorry."

"It's all right." He leaned closer. "So your code name is . . . Scientist? Super Brain? Smarty Pants?"

She laughed. "I'm Scholar."

"Scholar?"

"I warned you. It's not very exciting."

"Oh, but it is." He tugged at one of her curls, then let it go. "I can't imagine anything more exciting than a . . . scholarly pursuit."

She gulped. Was he making a pass at her? A part of her leaped with joy that such a handsome, charming, mysterious man could desire her. But another part warned her he was impossible. Completely, irreparably impossible. She couldn't allow herself to fall for a vampire.

Besides, Pru and Constanza were probably right. Why would he be interested in a mortal when so many Undead women wanted him? She had to seem boring compared to vampire women who could have sex on the ceiling.

A terrible thought weaseled into her mind. What if he was just pretending to like her for political reasons? He might be charming her to ingratiate himself and his kind with her father. A playboy would be an expert at charming women.

She groaned inwardly. It was foolish, wishful thinking to believe Gregori was attracted to her. The guys who usually gravitated toward her were the geeky type - lanky build, nerdy glasses, and totally immersed in science. She'd dated a few like that in college and grad school. The relationships had been . . . comfortable.

But they were not the men she dreamed about. After years of listening to her mother's audio books, she'd found herself wanting more than comfortable. She wanted heat and passion. Desperate desire. She wanted to long for a man who would long for her. She wanted a man who believed she should be worshipped and pleasured to her heart's content. All night long.

She'd feared such men existed only in fiction.

Now she feared they were all too real.

She couldn't let herself fall for a vampire. Or a playboy. A vampire expected sex on the ceiling. A playboy would find her sister attractive. Not her.

She sighed. "I know about you."

His green eyes widened. "What do you know?"

"You're a playboy."

Chapter Twelve

Shit. Gregori sat back and adjusted his cuff links. There was no mistaking the censure in Abigail's voice, which meant there were now two points against him: vampire and playboy. No wonder she kept scooting down the booth. She expected him to either bite her or ravish her.

He'd figured Pru and her friend were up to no good. They had their own agenda, obviously, and that included scaring Abigail away from him. He'd heard them talking as he'd approached the table.

He took a sip of Bleer and set the glass down. "Just for the record, I've never had sex on the ceiling."

Abigail stiffened and her cheeks turned pink. "It's none of my business." She ventured a glance his way. "Is that true?"

"Yes. Did those ladies claim that I slept with them?"

"No." She shook her head, and her blush deepened. "But they want to. Along with hundreds of others."

"Hundreds?" He tried not to laugh. "I'm not much of a playboy, am I, if I've neglected to sleep with hundreds of willing victims?"

She tilted her head, considering. "That would depend on how large a pool of volunteers you started off with."

He lifted his eyebrows. Did she think he was operating in the thousands? "Well, thank God I'm with a scholar. I'm sure you can devise a formula for determining the correct number."

She frowned at him. "It's none of my business."

"No, it's not." He gulped down the last of his Bleer.

She drank some of her soda.

So he hadn't been a saint. She had no right to judge him. He clunked his empty glass onto the table. "After about five thousand or so, I stopped counting."

She gasped. "Fivethousand?"

He glowered at her. "I was kidding."

"It's not amusing."

"I'm not laughing." He leaned toward her. "Why are you so prickly all of a sudden? Are you jealous?"

She snorted. "Jealous of what?"

"Five thousand make-believe lovers."

She lifted her chin. "If you must know why I'm upset, it's because I have serious doubts you can be trusted. I don't want to be left abandoned in the middle of China while you take off chasing women."

"China? Is that where we're going?"

"We aren't going anywhere. I'll have to report to my father that you're not suitable."

Shit. He loosened his tie. The personal insult was bad enough, but he had too many Vamps depending on him to make sure the alliance with the president went through.

He twisted to face Abigail, resting one arm across the back of the booth and the other along the table. "You judge me guilty without a trial? Where's your evidence? How many women here have I slept with?"

She shrugged.

"The answer is none," he continued before she could answer. "If you don't believe me, call them over and ask them yourself."

"You would have slept with Prunella Culpepper if you had more time."

"How do you know that?"

"You told her the sun was setting in thirty minutes, and you needed the entire night to worship and pleasure someone as beautiful as her."

He snorted. "That was a rejection line. I turned her down."

"Because you only had thirty minutes."

"I'd take thirty minutes with you!" He froze. What the hell was he saying? She looked equally shocked, her pretty eyes wide and her soft lips parted. It had been so long since he'd kissed a mortal. Her lips would be warmer than a Vamp's. Sweeter.

"Well, don't you two look cozy?" an amused voice asked.

Gregori shifted to face front and gave Phineas an annoyed look. Abigail attempted to scoot farther away from him, but since his arm was stretched along the back of the booth, he grabbed on to her shoulder and blocked her movement. She nudged him in the side with her elbow.

"I'm having a great time!" Madison grinned as she sat down. "Dr. Phang is a wonderful dancer."

"You're pretty hot yourself." Phineas winked at her. "You make the other chicks look half dead."

Madison laughed, then beamed a smile at her sister and Gregori. "I'm glad you two are getting along. Dad will be so relieved."

"Be sure and tell him that," Gregori said with a smile that only wavered slightly when Abigail nudged him harder in the ribs.

"I'm going to get something to drink," Phineas said. "Anybody want something from the bar?"

"I'm fine, thank you," Abigail murmured.

"Me too." Madison took a long drink from her martini.

"I'll take another Bleer," Gregori said.

Phineas nodded and strode toward the bar.

Madison set her martini glass down and gave him a confused look. "Did you say beer?"

"Bleer. Half blood, half beer," Gregori explained. "It's part of Vampire Fusion Cuisine. We call it VFC for short."

"VFC?" Madison's eyes lit up. "Oh my gosh, that's like KFC, but for vampires." She giggled. "You guys are so funny."

Gregori smiled. "We aim to please."

Abigail turned toward him an inquisitive look. "Is there a lab that comes up with this stuff?"

He nodded. "Romatech Industries."

Her eyes widened. "The lab that invented synthetic blood?"

"Yes. That's where I work."

She blinked. "You have a job?"

He gritted his teeth and lowered his voice. "You think I spend my entire life partying?"

"So are all the Vamps here drinking Bleer?" Madison asked as she peered around the room.

"They could be drinking a number of things," Gregori explained. "Straight synthetic blood in their favorite blood type or something like Chocolood, chocolate-flavored synthetic blood."

Madison grinned. "Oooh. If I was a vampire, that's what I would drink."

Gregori smiled. "It's very popular among the ladies. And for those who overindulge, we can help them shed a few pounds with Blood Lite."

Madison laughed. "You guys are so cute." She gulped down the rest of her martini.

"Dietetic blood?" Abigail asked.

He nodded. "It has an extremely low blood sugar and cholesterol count. And then there's Bubbly Blood: half blood, half champagne, for those special vampire occasions."

Madison laughed. Even Abigail looked amused.

"And there's a new one, a favorite among the Scottish vampires - Blissky. Half blood, half - "