Jake didn't know why he'd gotten it into his head that Abbie could get him. Why she liked his photography stuff. Why Jake liked her. He was more likely to find things in common with a seedy vamp. That time he'd had to catch her after her aerial accident, he'd obviously hit his head a lot harder than he'd thought.
He heard what Elise was saying, but he shook his head. “Yeah. We should change the subject.” On the beach under the stars was the last place they should be talking about what dust storm was swirling around in Abbie Knight's head. Who knew where all those mixed signals were coming from, but even if she wasn't engaged, Jake didn't date. He especially didn't date local girls. He definitely wouldn't date Abbie Knight.
The Knights were a founding family. You didn't get more local than that.
He took another drink and stared up at the stars while he tried not to think about Abbie's mid-marriage crisis. This trip was about Jake and Elise. They were getting her away from Killfiger. Jake was showing her an amazing place. Maybe they'd never leave.
His head turned toward her when Elise broke the quiet between them and the stars with her secret. Jake listened. They didn't talk about Elise's feelings about being a vampire very often. “Hey,” he said. “You made some lemonade. Doesn't change that some guy pelted you in the face with lemons.” She should enjoy the perks.
“I get it,” Jake said. He understood how Elise felt. To answer her question, Jake shook his head.
“When you're born a shifter, there's this hypothetical question everybody thinks about. Like, if you had to choose, would you pick human or would you pick panther? My secret is that I've always known I'd pick panther.”
“Not that I don't like being human or wouldn't miss everything. I mean either way I'm losing an entire half of myself. Which is unfathomably awful no matter what way you look at it. I wouldn't be me anymore. I'd just be half of me. It's a devastating tragedy and hopefully a position I'm never in. But I know that the panther me would find a way to move forward. The human me would never really be able to get over what was lost. Even if it was for the right reason, I'd always know I made the wrong choice.”
He looked at her. “I wouldn't worry about being average again though. Even if someone cured you, I'd offer you the bite. All the strength and health pros. None of the undead bloodsucking cons.”