I noticed he only picked at the food and watched me consume more than my share. “Why aren’t you eating?” I asked in between bites.
He sat back in his chair, and the soft glow of torchlights danced off the red amulet hanging on the black leather cord around his neck. It pleased me to see him show it off with his shirt unbuttoned rather than hiding it.
“I take great joy in seeing you indulge yourself,” Luke said. “Much more pleasure than if I were to join you.”
I put my piece of bruschetta on my plate. “It’s weirding me out a little. You’ve eaten when you’ve been in my family home.”
“Because that’s the polite thing to do. You know I don’t have to eat. I usually do it to keep everyone around me from noticing my differences,” he explained. “But here, I appreciate being able to just be myself. Especially with you.”
“Oh.” My cheeks heated with the compliment. Much like my choice to wear my sundress, my fiancé was choosing to do something that made him more comfortable, too. “Then I guess there will be more for me.”
“Don’t worry,” he said, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “My desire to take a bite doesn’t go away.”
“Who are we biting?” Amara asked. The carpet over the gravel kept us from hearing her approach.
I forced the groan in my throat down with a large swallow of wine. “Good evening,” I managed without sounding too annoyed.
“Why, Luca,” she said, ignoring me. “What a pleasant surprise to find you here on this fine evening. It is too bad that you are in want of good company.”
“Amara, must you insist on playing childish games?” Luke replied with a sigh. “Do not disparage Ruby Mae in my presence.”
The spiteful woman turned to face me and jumped back with dramatic flair as if I were a danger to her. “Oh, I did not see you sitting there.”
“Then, bless your unbeating heart, you must be deaf as well as blind, sweetie,” I uttered with a smile as sweet as iced tea and a voice as honeyed as butter on cornbread.
She narrowed her eyes at me. “I do not understand your American accent well. Perhaps you meant to address me by my title, Baronessa. Not…sweetie.”
Cassio joined our awkward threesome, and tonight’s score for my date dropped down to a five at best. “Amara, if the de Rossis do not demand the use of honorifics, then no one should. Plus, your mother is not dead, so you have not inherited the title.”
“Yet,” Amara clarified.
I had no problem imagining her arranging her mother’s demise to rise up in vampire nobility. She already acted like a cat in heat when around my fiancé, and I wondered if she had true unrequited feelings for him or if she wanted to use him to rise up in the ranks.
“You can clearly see this dinner is meant to be a romantic gesture. Leave Luke and Ruby alone, Amara,” Cassio insisted, trying to lead her away by the arm.
She yanked out of his grip. “Do not presume to touch me.”
The server stood behind the two interlopers, waiting to serve me the next course. Amara whipped the plate from his hands. She held it out to me with a widening smile. “Allow me to apologize for my behavior. Here. This is for you.”
I took it from her, suspicious of her complete change in behavior. “Thank you. I’m surprised you didn’t try to give it to Luke since you’ve been either ignoring me or insulting me since you crashed our date.”
The hateful wench sputtered in protest. “Well…but…of course, the food would be for you. We vampires do not require that kind of sustenance.”
I kept my eyes trained on hers, willing to match her in a staring contest if she dared. She held my gaze for an extra minute before clicking her tongue and looking at her nails.
“I find their company tedious. Come, Cassio. Let us go out and find some fun of our own.” She stomped away like a bratty toddler who’d had her toy taken away.
Cassio shook his head. “She really is insufferable.”
“Thank you for saving us, old friend,” Luke said.
His childhood companion bowed with his hand over his heart. “My pleasure. Enjoy your evening.”
The pasta dish smelled incredible, and I noticed how similar it appeared to the one Fiametta had made for me at her house. Perhaps she’d been a part of cooking tonight’s meal and thought I’d enjoy eating it again.
“I love mushrooms,” I declared. “I wonder if these are that one kind that can be found in the wild. Caesar’s mushrooms, although I think there’s a fancier name for them.”
Luke gazed at me in wonder. “I didn’t know you were acquainted with the favorite pastime of hunting fungi.”
I shot him a playful wink. “I’m a smart cookie who likes to learn.”
My fiancé laughed. “I’d be happy to take you out while we’re here so we could look for other varieties that are good in pasta. Like porcini.”
Isabella’s ring flared to life, and I squeezed my fingers shut to shake off the sensation. The tingles crawled over my hand and down my wrist. Without warning, my fist slammed down on the table next to the plate, jostling the silverware and dishes.
“What are you doing?” Luke asked.
“I wish I knew,” I said, trying to gain control of my own body. “It happened before.” But I wished with everything I had that Luke’s sister could wait for a better time to connect with me.
The scene I caused must have made me look like I was a lunatic. One hand acted on its own while my I contorted my body, struggling to regain control. My glass of Prosecco was lost in the battle and spilled all over my lap.
“Grits and ghosts, why are you doing this now?” I yelled, frustrated at my lack of control.
My left hand knocked the bottle of wine over as
