Fork in the Road

Chapter Sixteen

Sarah answered the door nervously wiping her sweaty palms on her black jeans before opening it.

Demetrio stood in the doorway looking at her. He was even sexier than she remembered. "Hi," he said with a smile that nearly had her melting into the floor.

"Hi, Demetrio," she said nervously.

"Can I come in?" he asked gesturing to the apartment. Not that he hadn't ever been in there before, as a human, but it was nice to be asked. By carrying him in as a pup she had in essence "invited him in". Vampires had to be asked in otherwise they couldn't physically enter a house or building unless they were really old and/or really powerful. Powerful meaning, either they had supernatural powers at a high level such as his, or stronger, like Salvatore.

Regular vampires could be asked in by anyone, including any other vamp, as long as such vamp either lived or owned said establishment. An invitation could be anything as subtle as a gesture, even if it wasn't necessarily intentional, but if one was made it was an open invitation that could not be taken back. Invitations meant a lot to a vampire. Especially, if the one offering it knew they were doing so to a vampire. It showed trust. And among vampires there wasn't much of it going around. Of course, public establishments were fair game and vampires didn't need an invitation unless for some reason a witch had set a seriously heavy protection spell over it.

"Of course, come on in," she said holding the door wide for him to enter.

He stepped in looking around trying to make it look like he was seeing it for the first time. "Nice place."

She shrugged. "It's ok," she said watching him look over her things. He was in black jeans like her and again a black tee-shirt with this time a black leather jacket over it. He wore black boots like he had at the club the night before. She wondered if he owned any other color than black. She, on the other hand, was wearing a flowing white poet's blouse and even though he said no heels, she had on black strappy sandals with a slight heel.

"You look nice," he said taking her in.

"Thanks," she said blushing.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Uh, yeah. Is it chilly out?" she asked looking at his jacket.

He shrugged. He never felt the cold or the heat. He had seen a few people out with jackets so he put one on to keep up appearances. "A little."

"Ok," she said and went to the hall closet. She pulled out a black leather jacket. Not to match him but to match her jeans as it was the only black jacket she had.

"My kind of girl," he said stepping behind her to help her put it on. "It's not Italian though," he said feeling the collar between his fingers.

"I can't afford it on my budget," she said zipping it up. "So, where to?" she said avoiding the subject knowing from the bartender that he was pretty wealthy.

"Nope. It's a surprise. Well, at least, I hope you will be," he said taking her hand and led her to the door.

"Wait! Trey. My dog, Trey. I have to make sure he's okay before we go."

"I'm sure he's fine," Trey said trying to sound not concerned that she was going to find her precious puppy missing and therefore ruining their date. He could just imagine them spending the rest of the night searching the city for the missing pooch.

"It'll just be a minute. I saw him go under the bed awhile ago."

Trey nodded and leaned on the door. He watched her walk down the hall. "Damn," he muttered. He hated this part.