Page 53 of Sweeter than Honey

I look over at her office door. The last time she drank blood was when we were in the elevator together, two weeks ago. Typically she drinks once a week. I wonder why she canceled last week. Was it really because she was busy and needed the extra time for the vendor meeting? Was it because my blood was so tasty she didn’t have to drink again? I don’t know if that’s a thing, but I like to think maybe that’s why.

No, what a stupid thing to think. I’m sure blood is all the same to vampires. She probably doesn’t even remember it, she’s so busy. I bet she’s drank the blood of like,thousandsof people. She said she was two hundred years old, which seems impossible to believe.

I wonder if she ever…didmorethan just drink from someone. Whenshe bent down over me on the elevator bench, I got wetter than I’ve ever been. Downthere, you know. I didn’t think I would ever be into something like that, but I kept imagining what it would be like if she…

There’s anotherding, and a follow-up email arrives. It’s the donor again, asking if I could let him know before sunrise if he’ll be needed the following night. It’s a bit impatient, but I suppose he knows I’m currently working, and I guess it’s fair that he needs to coordinate his schedule.

I rise from my desk. Icouldjust ask Renata over the phone, but I’ve been sitting all night, and it’s good to stretch my legs.

Who am I kidding? I want to see her.

My knuckles rap on the mahogany door twice.

“Come in,” she says, her voice perfect and smooth.

I press my fingerprint on the scanner and open the office door. It’s dark. She likes to keep the lights off at night when nobody else is in the office. Usually I turn them on when I enter, but tonight, I keep them off. I take in the gorgeous view of the lake. The moon forms a perfect crescent in the sky, surrounded by dozens of twinkling stars.

“Yes?” Renata asks, her face lit up by the bright screen of her laptop.

“The donor emailed,” I tell her. “He asked if you need him for tomorrow night. I just wanted to check in with you first, because you asked to cancel last week.”

She pauses for a moment, her lips slightly pursed as she thinks. “No, you can tell him I can go another week without him.”

“Are you sure?” I ask with a furrowed brow. “Will you be all right, without blood for so long?”

“I’ll be fine.” She waves her hand. “I’m much too busy right now. I can go several weeks without drinking. How long has it been?”

I blush. I’m glad the room is dark, although I don’t know if her vampire vision can still see the flush across my cheeks. “It’s been…since we were trapped in the elevator.”

She tilts her head slightly, just a quarter-inch to the right. I never used to be able to see those tiny changes in her movement, they were so subtle. But ever since I drank her blood on the holding floor, I’ve become tuned into the little things she gives away. I was worried it would fade with time, but luckily it hasn’t.

“That’s right,” she says.

I’m suddenlyvery aware that it’s only the two of us in the office tonight. I take a step toward her desk. She doesn’t tell me to go. I don’t know what I’m doing, but the words escape my lips anyway. If I don’t say anything now, I might never work up the nerve again. “Is…is it because of my blood?”

She frowns. “Is what because of your blood?”

“The reason that you haven’t had another donor,” I explain. I swallow nervously. Perhaps this was a stupid idea. It sounds so silly when I say it out loud. “I…sorry, forget it. It was a stupid question. I just thought, that maybe blood is different, from different people, or something. I thought that maybe, when you were drinking from me…youlikedit.”

I feel like such an idiot, standing before her with my face as hot as a radiator. Meanwhile, she’s cool and collected as always, surveying me with those gorgeous brown eyes. A full minute passes this way, as she watches me.

Finally, she replies, “Yes, blooddoestaste different, depending on the person it comes from.” Then she pauses again, looking uncharacteristically uncertain. “Lily…have you been thinking about that night? When we were in the elevator?”

I’m too far gone now, and I can’t go back. And there’s a wonderful relief in telling her, breathlessly, “Yes. It’s just…I’ve never experienced anything like that.”

She nods. “That’s understandable. And I apologize again, Lily, for putting you in such a situation…”

“No, no, it’s not your fault.” My heart is hammering. Her eyes drop to my chest, then quickly back up. I know she can hear it. I wonder what else she senses. If she knows the shiver that goes down my spine when she looks at me. If she knows about the warm, throbbing ache in my core. “I know you would never take advantage of me. Since we’ve worked together, Renata, I’ve…I’ve come to admire you so much.Morethan admire you, I…” I inhale deeply. The words spill out. “It’s more than just the elevator. I’ve been thinking about you constantly, the whole time I’ve worked for you. I…I didn’t want to say it, but…I just can’t help myself. You’re so amazing, Ms. Espina…I mean, Renata…and when we were in the elevator, I thought for a moment that…that maybe you felt the same way…”

I catch myself before I unravel any further. The entire time I’ve beenstuttering incoherently, she hasn’t moved an inch. She watches me like a statue, giving nothing away. And now the full weight of my words hits me.

Of courseshe doesn’t feel the same way about me. She’s a gorgeous, two-hundred-year old, perfect vampire CEO, and I’m just a twenty-seven-year old single mother with a coffee stain on my twenty dollar blouse.

Abruptly, she stands up from her desk. Without a word or a glance at me, she moves to the office door.

Panic seizes me. Did I upset her? Is she so offended, that she can’t stand to be in the same room with me any longer? Is she going to HR to fire me immediately? I’m so stupid! I can’tbelieveI told her how I feel…

Then I hear a sharpclick.It’s the bolt that locks the office from the inside, so that nobody else can get in.