Seduced by the Night (21 page)

"Congratulations Bethany!"

It's beautiful," she whispered past the constriction of her throat.

She felt Dirk's hand at the small of her back and allowed him to guide her to the table.

"I know you'd rather be at the big dinner and celebration, getting your award in person."

She stood before the table, letting her finger trail over the linen cloth, overwhelmed. "I think this is the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me." She turned to him, willing him to see the sincerity in her eyes. "T
hank
you."

His gaze softened and the corners of his lips lifted slightly. "You're welcome."

"Where'd you get all the candles? And the music?"

"I am not without resources," he said jokingly.

Her eyes fell on the orchid at the center of the table. "Oh! A
cattleya
. My favorite."

He laughed. "Yeah, who would have guessed?" he said sarcastically. At her questioning look, he went on. "Let's see. Your mouse pad has the picture of a
cattleya
on it; you have a small ceramic one on your desk; your screen saver is a picture of orchids; you have an orchid lapel pin stuck to your lab coat," he paused. "Shall I go on?"

"Well," she said with a laugh, "when you put it like that…"

"Yeah. A person would have to be blind
and
stupid not to know." He moved over to one of the chairs and pulled it out for her. "Now let's eat. The food is getting cold."

She moved forward, but then stopped, feeling worried. "What if the vampires attack tonight?"

"That's not very likely. They've tried twice and failed. Besides, Mac is outside patrolling." He pulled out his cell phone and laid it on the table. "If he sees anything, he'll call."

Bethany tried to take comfort from that and this time, when Dirk held out her chair, she sat down. "What's for dinner?" She felt almost like a child, excitement starting to build inside her, and stared at the plate expectantly as he placed his hand on the cover and prepared to pull it off.

"It's a special night and so I wanted to get something equally special to celebrate." His tone was very serious. "And knowing how fond you are of fondue"—he whipped off the cover—"I couldn't do that again, sorry."

She clapped her hands together as she caught a whiff of grilled mesquite. "Burgers and fries!"

"It's not fancy," he started to apologize.

"It's perfect. This is terrific, Dirk. T
hank
you so much." She waited until he sat down and uncovered his food.

He smiled. "Dig in."

Looking at everything, she saw that he'd even remembered to provide a linen napkin. Draping it across her lap, she picked up her sandwich.

"Oh," she said after swallowing her first bite. "I think I died and went to heaven. This is wonderful." Suddenly she was so hungry, she could hardly stand it. She focused on eating, savoring each and every bite. Dirk must have been hungry, too, because neither spoke for the longest time.

After a while, Dirk reached over and pulled out the bottle sitting in the ice bucket. Running his hand across the surface, he wiped off the excess moisture and then peeled the foil from around the top. Angling the bottle away from them, he popped the cork, preventing any of the contents from spilling.

"Champagne?" He didn't wait for her answer, but poured her a glass and held it out to her. When she'd taken it, he poured a glass for himself and then put the bottle back in the bucket. Turning to her, he held his glass aloft. "A toast—to you, Bethany. You are an amazing woman."

She smiled as they touched glasses and then took a tentative sip. Surprised at how good it tasted, she took another, larger swallow. When she felt Dirk watching her, she looked up but couldn't read the expression on his face. "What?"

"I'm impressed, that's all."

The statement confused her even as it sent a tiny thrill through her. "T
hank
you."

"Your folks must be proud of you."

"Hmm, this is good," she said around a mouthful of food, trying to change the subject.

Dirk was too sharp for that. "You did tell your folks, didn't you?"

 His direct gaze made her squirm in her seat. "No, I sort of—forgot."

"No, you didn't. Why didn't you tell them?"

"My folks are divorced and all they ever do is bitch about one another. I don't talk to them much anymore. Now my grandmother—she would have been thrilled."

"You were close to her?"

"Yeah. She always had time for me and was constantly urging me to pursue my dreams." The image of the well-loved face sprang to mind, followed quickly by the pain of losing the one memento she'd had of her grandmother—the small clown doll. It had still been in her purse when the vampires attacked and in their ransacking of the lab, they'd found her purse and taken it.

She felt Dirk's gaze on her and his sympathetic expression made her wonder if he'd had someone he'd been close to growing up. "What about you?" she asked, setting down her glass. "Are you close to your parents?"

She knew the minute she saw his clouded expression that she'd said something wrong.

"Not exactly," he said, his tone void of emotion. "When I was five, my father shot himself."

"Oh, Dirk. That's horrible. Why?" She immediately felt chagrined. "I'm sorry. That was rude. It's none of my business."

He shrugged. "It was a long time ago. I guess he couldn't handle the responsibilities of a job, marriage, and one small child."

"What about your mother?"

His laugh held no humor. "There's another winner. After my father's death, she started drinking. Six months later, she died of alcohol poisoning."

Bethany couldn't stop herself from reaching out and placing her hand on Dirk's arm. She found his revelation shocking and her heart cried out for the small abandoned boy he had been; for the small lonely boy she sensed still lay deep inside him. "I'm so sorry." She felt ungrateful for belittling her parents. Compared to his life, she'd been blessed.

He raised his glass, effectively breaking her contact with him. "It was a harsh life lesson, but one I learned well." He threw back the contents of his drink as if it were whiskey, not champagne, then lowered his empty glass to the table and stared off into the room, no doubt seeing a past she couldn't. "After my mother died, I lived in a series of foster homes, never staying in one place for any length of time. I was angry with the world and no one seemed to know what to do with me."

"Didn't you have any other family you could stay with?"

"I used to long for a grandparent, or an aunt or uncle, to come for me, but if either of my parents had living relatives, they never stepped forward to claim me. After a few years, I gave up wishing for something that was never going to happen."

"That's so sad."

"By the time I was eighteen, I had been in so much trouble with the law, it was just a matter of time before I ended up in jail." A humorless laugh escaped him. "When the inevitable happened, the judge gave me a choice: jail or enlist. I chose the Navy and it was the best thing that ever happened to me."

At that moment, Bethany heard the distant drone of the buzzer in the lab, but she made no move to get up from the table.

"Doesn't that mean your tests are done?" Dirk asked.

"Yes, but they can wait." If there was anything else Dirk wanted to share with her, she wanted to be here for him. But he didn't. Instead, he pushed away from the table and stood. "Come on. I'll walk you to the lab, then I'll come back and clean up while you finish."

She stood up as well. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

She fought a rush of disappointment Dirk had finally opened up to her and shared a side of him she doubted many others had seen. She hated to have that interrupted.

They left the candles burning and as they walked, Dirk pulled out his cell phone and placed a call. After a moment, she heard him say, "We're done. T
hank
s."

Bethany was amazed. He'd gone to so much trouble to make this night special for her. She tried to remember when anyone had done that much for her—without wanting something in return.

When they reached the lab, Dirk did a quick check of the lab. "All clear. I'll be back in a minute."

She nodded and then impulsively put a hand on his arm as she stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. "T
hank
you, Dirk, for making the evening so special."

He nodded his head once. "You're welcome." Then he turned and walked down the hall, leaving her to go back into the lab and finish her work.

It was almost one in the morning when Dirk and Bethany returned to the mansion. She was feeling especially good. Not only had dinner with Dirk been special, but in rerunning an earlier test, she'd discovered an error that Stuart had made in recording the earlier results. Having the correct data shed new light on the project and she felt that, finally, she was close to being done with her analysis. Miles wouldn't like her conclusions, but she'd deal with that later.

Right now, though, she was tired and relaxing in the living room, talking with Dirk and the others, sounded good.

"There you are,"
Lanie
greeted them with a smile when they walked through the door. "How was your evening?"

Bethany smiled. "It was special."

Lanie
seemed pleased. "I'm glad." She glanced back to the living room. "You have a visitor."

"I do?'

At that moment Miles walked out. In one hand he carried a bouquet of roses and in the other a plaque that had to be her award. "Bethany, my dear, I wish you could have been there." He came up to her and kissed her cheek before holding out the roses. Then he seemed to notice the orchid she already held. A slight frown creased his brow and he shot an accusing glance at Dirk.

Not wanting any trouble between the two, she balanced the orchid pot in one hand as she took the bouquet of roses from Miles. "T
hank
you, Miles. They're lovely."

Behind her, she heard Dirk mutter something. She couldn't make out the words, but decided that might be for the best.