Seven
Maron
Sterling was kind of an asshole. Wait. Not kind of. He wasdefinitelyan asshole. He was the kind of asshole you dreamed about in high school of getting revenge on. And not a tiny revenge, more like a gymnasium full of people to witness it kind of revenge. I honestly had no idea what Portia had been thinking when she set me up with this tool. I was the kind of person who had a lot of patience. I rarely lost my temper, even when someone was being an idiot. Thus the reason I'd walked out on my last two dates with little incident. But this freaking guy? He was a kettle boiling over with arrogance.
I could tell I flummoxed him. That was good. I didn't want him getting any ideas about a second date.
There was no way in hell this guy was getting anywhere near my lady goodies. I wanted a nice man. A sweet man. Someone who opened doors and whispered poetry to me when I woke up from nightmares.
Not this grade A asshat.
We were staring at each other uncomfortably.
"So what is it about blondes you like so much?" I asked him.
Sterling sipped the wine the waitress had finally brought him. "For one thing, they're quiet."
Heat crept up my cheeks.
"Oh? Is that so you can keep talking about all of your manly virtues and fill the silence caused by her empty brain?"
Something sparked in his eyes. Whether it was amusement or anger, I couldn't tell.
"For the record, I have yet to bring up any of my manly virtues. Though, when I do, I'll make sure to have a blonde around so she can feel my pecs when I have a moment of self-doubt. It wouldn't do to have a red head around."
"And why is that?" I asked him.
"Everyone knows you're soulless."
I felt rage pour into every cell of my being. I don't know why that comment always made me so mad, but it did. It was the one thing vamps always struggled with and to be redheaded on top of it? I wanted to smack this jerk right back into next week.
Sterling
Point Scored.Maron went scarlet in the face.
Maron blinked at me. "Soulless?"
I nodded, amused to have finally gotten a point in. "It's well known that red hair is rare, especially in this town and with paranormals in general. So it only goes to prove that you must be soulless."
"Did you pick that up from Harvard or YouTube?" she asked, glaring at me over the top of her wine glass.
"Neither. Book reading. Lots of book reading."
Maron scoffed. "I can't imagine you ever reading anything. Otherwise you'd be a lot better of a dinner companion."
Ouch. "I'll have you know I read every single night."
"Mad Magazinedoesn't count."
A bark of laughter came from me. Her dimple peeked out again and my breath caught.
"Neither does your uncle's porn stash," she continued.
My laughs turned into guffaws and it took me a minute to get myself under control. "I'll have you know, I've always thought sharing porn was weird."
"Good to know you aren't a complete savage," she said, "though I can only guess your porn stash must be formidable since your personality is so terrible."
"Do your parents know you're this awful?" I questioned, though I still couldn't shake the amusement of her comments.
