Chasing Midnight (Dark of Night Book 2) Read Online Free

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    “What?” I asked nervously.
    “I was just thinking the same thing. This actually brings me to the purpose behind this meeting.”
    Part of my brain cheered . See, it wasn’t a date at al l .
    “I knew it would take some kind of business to lure you to go out with me,” he said, still smiling.
    I laid my menu on the table. “Well, I admit the flowers have been nice. They make the office smell great. But seriously, you don’t have to do that. I mean, you are probably single-handedly keeping the Charleston floral industry in business.”
    He waved over a server, who’d been discreetly waiting somewhere behind me. “I do my part,” he said with a wink as a young male vampire made his way over to us.
    We ordered and the waiter departed with a bow.
    “I really am glad you came,” Xavier said, filling my glass from the bottle the waiter had left behind. “I have discovered a new talent. A young woman from Georgia. I was able to steal her away from a low-rent place outside of Atlanta. She has the voice of an angel.”
    I smiled. “I’m looking forward to it. Now, about that job you mentioned…”
    “Yes, yes. I’ll get to that. But first, would you dance with me?” He held out his hand, which I gaped at.
    I wanted to say no, I really did, but when I looked up at him, I saw something that surprised me. He expected me to say no. His smile was soft around the edges, almost sad. He looked so… vulnerable. Before I could form a coherent thought, my hand was in his and he was leading me down to the dance floor. The main act wasn’t there yet, but at some point, the curtain on the stage had opened and a small band was playing. I recognized the tune; it was Beyond the Sea. My mom was a huge Bobby Darin fan and she used to listen to it over and over on nights when Dad was on stakeout. Long after she’d put us down for bed, she’d sit on the couch, listen to this song, and wait. I fell asleep to the tune more than once.
    Xavier took me by the hand, snaked his other around my waist, pulled me in close, and started swaying. For a few minutes, I was lost in that memory, in the lull of the song, and in the feeling of his hand on the small of my back. He was wearing cologne, I was sure. No one could smell that much like fresh cotton and sunshine, especially a vampire. I breathed it in. We were so close, almost cheek to cheek. Without warning, I felt my pulse speed up. My breath hitched in my throat. I pulled back just a little, just enough that I could look in his eyes. His pupils were like pinpoints, making the green part of his eyes look huge.
    I blushed and the warmth of it crawled up my neck and burned my cheeks. I slid my hand from his shoulder until it rested on the back of his neck. “So why did you name this place The Inferno?” I asked, trying to ease the tension that was weighing down on me.
    “You are familiar with the Divine Comedy?”
    “Vaguely.”
    “Well, in the Inferno, Dante writes about the nine circles of hell. Many people believe they represent a sort of divine revenge on the wicked. I find it a brilliant reminder that a man is punished because of his choices and not his destiny.”
    “That’s kind of beautiful. Disturbing, but beautiful.”
    “It is a good thing to remember, especially for my kind, that to do nothing is to be damned. We, more than most, have a very long time on this earth, and we must choose how we act upon it.”
    I shuddered. My family had never been overly religious, but I’d always believed in God. When my mother whined about Shane being soulless, it never occurred to me that she might be right. I never considered that even vampires might fear for their souls. But that was exactly what Xavier was really talking about.
    “Do you worry about it? I mean, about your soul. About what happens next?”
    He pulled me closer. “At this moment, I am finding it difficult to think about much, except how lovely you look when you are taken aback. It’s something I will strive