Frederick straightened, then gave me a self-possessed smile that stole the breath from my lungs.
“So I’ve been told,” he said.
FOURTEEN
Lord and Lady James Jameson XXIII
and Mrs. Edwina Fitzwilliam
Do Hereby Request the Honor of Your Presence at the Wedding of Their Children
miss esmeralda jameson
and
mr. frederick j. fitzwilliam
Date and Time to Be Determined
The Ballroom, Castle Jameson
New York, New York
Light refreshments and bloodletting will be provided
The couple is registered at Crate & Feral
“Answer me this,” I said, staring at Frederick. “For someone who claims to be clueless about modern society, how did you pick up on how to dress so well from one measly little trip to Nordstrom?”
Frederick seemed genuinely surprised by my comment. “Do I know how to dress well?”
I huffed a laugh. If I didn’t know better, I’d have accused him of false modesty. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a light blue button-down over which he’d pulled a deep burgundy sweater—none of which we’d purchased at the mall the previous week.
Even if I hadn’t kissed him the other night—for science and comparison purposes, of course—it would have been all I could do to keep my hands off him. I was almost afraid to take him to Sam’s party looking like this. I didn’t know Sam’s or Scott’s friends well enough to know how they might respond to Frederick walking into this party like the world’s most oblivious sex on a stick.
“You do know how to dress well,” I confirmed. “You look like you just walked out of a J. Crew photo shoot.”
He raised an eyebrow at me. “What is a J. Crew photo shoot?”
I waved my hands. “You know what I mean. How could you possibly not know exactly what you’re doing, dressing like that?”
He paused, considering my question.
“Maybe when a person turns into a vampire, they acquire an encyclopedic and instantly updated understanding of how best to dress for purposes of blending into modern society and attracting victims.” He gestured to himself, giving me a broad, dazzling smile. His eyes twinkled with amusement. “What you see before you is the result of millennia of vampiric genetic evolution, Cassie. Nothing more.”
I raised a skeptical eyebrow at him and folded my arms across my chest. “Spare me,” I said, though I was on the verge of laughing. “There is no such thing as vampire osmosis or I wouldn’t be here. And we didn’t buy you those clothes at the mall.”
He gave me another smile, more bashful this time. “Fine, fine. You’ve got me.” He pointed at the television. “I’ve been watching subtitled Korean dramas on Netflix.”
A pause. “Korean dramas?”
“Yes,” he confirmed. “Did you know that about a decade ago, South Korea’s government began investing massive sums in its entertainment industry? It’s an entertainment powerhouse now. It has made a science of dressing its actors and actresses attractively. Between our trip to the mall and Crash Landing on You, I’ve learned an incredible amount.”
I hadn’t seen any Korean television before. But if Frederick had learned how to dress by watching it, I wasn’t about to complain.
“Crash Landing on You?” I asked. “Is it good?”
“If vampires were capable of producing tears I would have cried my eyes out.” Then he glanced at his new wristwatch—something else we definitely didn’t buy together. He’d gotten alarmingly good at online shopping—especially for someone who’d originally been so dead set against connecting to the internet. “It’s time for us to leave for your friend’s party. Shall we go?”
I nodded and grabbed my purse, trying hard to tamp down the irrational wave of possessiveness that suddenly came over me at the idea of sharing Frederick for an evening with Sam and his friends.
“Oh, before I forget—I want to reassure you that I have given some thought to possible conversation topics for this evening.”
“Oh?” This was good news. I’d hoped tonight would be an opportunity for him to practice interacting with people in a relaxed setting. If he’d thought things through a bit, so much the better.
“Yes. I spent four hours on the internet after you went to sleep last night, researching topics of most interest to people between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-five. I noted my findings on a scrap of paper.” He patted the front pocket of his jeans nodding proudly. “I am bringing the list with me in case there is time on the train for me to study before we arrive.”