Music of Souls

He sidled up behind her as she ordered a drink. "Glenfiddich, neat."

Oooh, a scotch drinker. You don't see that too often in women her age. BONUS. "Make that two, and put it on my tab."

She barely turned to acknowledge him. "I can buy my own drink, thank you."

"I'm sure you can, but please allow a gentleman the gesture." Nothing! No response whatsoever. If he didn't know better, he would have thought her a vampire, but she didn't smell like one. She smelled human, real human, almost beyond human. It hit him so hard, he guessed, because she had no cover-up scent on. These days, humans sprayed and bathed in all kinds of crap to mask their odor. Between the shampoo, perfume, body wash and all the other scents, a vampire could barely get a whiff of the earthy delicious smell that was natural. Sometimes he wanted to hose his victims down before feeding. This one didn't even seem to have deodorant on. He had to resist the urge to bury his nose in her hair right then. "My name's Jackson, Jackson Parrish."

"Thank you for the drink, Mr. Parrish."

"You're welcome. Please, call me Jackson. And you are?"

She didn't hesitate a second here, "Not interested."

Christ, who is this woman? "Well, that's an unusual name. Your parents must not have liked you much." He heard an almost imperceptible chuckle. She really had her guard up, causing him to wonder if some moron had just dumped her.

Turning to face him, she said, "Look, Mr. Parrish," and stopped in mid-sentence as their eyes met.

Jackson felt a jolt go straight through to his core, leaving him breathless. She had the most beautiful eyes. They were a soft, sable brown with specs of black that seemed to swirl in motion around her pupils like two tiny solar systems. She broke the gaze first as he asked, "Did you feel that?"

"No."

She had to have. How could she not, and if she really didn't, she wouldn't have said, 'No'. She would have said, 'feel what;? This was crazy. He should be controlling this situation by now; not sitting here trying to figure out what the hell was happening. He thought about giving up and going back to Freckles, however, he felt much too intrigued with Gams.

She took a breath. "As I started to say, I would like to be left alone. Why don't you turn your attention back to Lucy there? I'm sure you'll have luck with her."

It dawned on him that she must have been watching while he appraised the redhead. This would take some damage control. Jackson decided if things didn't turn soon he would have to influence her. He was becoming both frustrated and hungry, and couldn't remember ever wanting a woman so fiercely. "She's not my type. Jealous, are we?"