Free ETHAN’S MATE (Book One: The Vampire Coalition) by J. S. Scott

him.
Grabbing a clean fork, he scooped up a bite of the irresistible
confection, reached over the table and held it to her mouth. She
opened automatically and he dropped it gently between her lips.
    Callie closed her eyes as the silky chocolate slid
over her taste buds. She nearly groaned. It was perfection. She
opened her eyes to see him holding out another bite. She slid her
chair back. “No, Rory. I can’t.”
    He looked perplexed. “Why?”
    Callie was getting pissed. Did she need to spell it
out for him? “In case you didn’t notice, I can’t afford the
calories.”
    Rory sat back in his chair, dropping the fork back
onto the plate. “I didn’t notice. You look fine to me.”
    If I looked so fine, you would be asking me for my
phone number. You would ask me to dance. Why did you have to say
that with nothing but confusion and detached interest?
    It wasn’t his fault. He just wasn’t interested.
Callie couldn’t even blame it on the fact that he was attached.
Brianna had said all of the brothers were single and unattached.
Rory just didn’t want her.
    She grabbed the plate of cake and pulled it in front
of her. What the hell! She would be careful tomorrow.
    Rory picked up a clean flute glass and filled it with
champagne, saluting her before he raised it to his mouth. He didn’t
quite smile, but his lips were twitching.
    God, he was irresistible. Rory may not be interested,
but he was sweet. Her instincts were telling her he was completely
genuine and he was certainly unusual. She could see a certain
insecurity in him that spoke to her and she knew what that was
like. It didn’t matter that he was outrageously attractive,
charming, genuinely kind. He just didn’t believe he was anything
special.
    “Rory?” She queried softly between her luscious bites
of cake.
    “Yes,” he answered in a low voice as he refilled his
champagne and topped off hers.
    She leaned slightly across the table, as if she were
about to give away a huge secret. He leaned in slightly.
    “You are the best looking of all the Hale
brothers,” she whispered softly, just loud enough for him to
hear.
    His smile started with his lips and moved to his
eyes. His whole face lit up and his eyes sparkled mischievously as
he leaned over and she leaned in to hear his secret.
    “Callie…you don’t need to lose weight. You are the
most ravishingly beautiful woman here.” Still no interest, but his
voice was sincere. He might have said it matter-of-factly, but he
truly meant it. He hadn’t said it in a suave, artificial way that
she would have doubted. He stared her directly in the eye, his gaze
almost bashful, but straightforward.
    She blushed and tried to look another direction,
embarrassed that she was flushing like an adolescent teenager.
    When her face cooled down, she sneaked a look in his
direction. He was watching her. Rory lifted his champagne flute and
she raised her glass to his in an unspoken salute, a silent
agreement.
    With the clink of the glasses, a tentative friendship
was born.