Vacation with a Vampire & Other Immortals by Maureen Child, MAGGIE SHAYNE

Gnawing her lower lip and trying to compose a rational argument in her mind, she began walking through the warm sand, back toward the log where he’d suggested they sit. “I have a confession to make,” she said softly, hoping to work her way up to what she really wanted to talk about.
    “And what’s that?”
    She reached the log, curled her toes in the sand, then turned and sat down, getting comfortable and eyeing the horizon for the promised moonrise. Nothing in sight just yet, though. “I’m afraid I was a little nosy today. I kind of…looked around the house a little.”
    He nodded. “I know. You didn’t go into my bedroom, however.”
    She felt her eyes widen. “How did you know?”
    He shrugged. “Why didn’t you go into my bedroom, Anna?”
    She blinked, still blown away that he had known. “It would have been out of line,” she said softly. “An invasion of your privacy. I just… It was outside my comfort zone, I guess.”
    “But looking around the rest of the place wasn’t?”
    “No.” She lowered her eyes. “Maybe a little bit.”
    “So why did you?”
    “I was curious. About you.”
    “I see. And did your explorations sate that curiosity?”
    “No, not at all. If anything, they only sharpened it. The cornerstone of the cottage says 1965. How can that be, if you built it yourself?” She tipped her head to one side, waiting, expecting him to at least try to formulate an answer that made sense. But that wasn’t what he did at all.
    “I’m a very private man, Anna. That’s probably obvious to you.”
    She blinked. “Well, yes. I mean, you live all alone on a deserted island. Can’t get much more private than that. But…why? What made you want to live this way?”
    He looked away. “I can’t help but wonder what part of the word private you don’t understand?”
    “You’re being mean now.”
    He looked back at her. “Sorry.”
    “It was a woman, wasn’t it?”
    He rolled his eyes and walked closer, but passed her to bend down near the log. He pulled out a bottle of wine and two glasses, then filled one to the brim and handed it to her.
    “Nice,” she said. “Aren’t you having any?”
    “Of course,” he said. And then he filled his own glass, sank into the sand beside her, leaned back against the log and pointed. “Look, here it comes.”
    She fell silent, though her questions were still screaming in her mind. She shut her lips tightly, determined to enjoy this night to the fullest. Relaxing there, she sipped the wine, which was delicious, and leaned back and watched the moon climb into the sky, lopsided and a bit less than half-formed, rising slowly above the water and sending a long beam outward, like a glowing arrow pointing straight from the moon to this very stretch of beach. Pointing right at her. At them.
    “That’s amazing. So beautiful,” she said.
    “I agree.”
    His words were soft and his eyes, she found when she looked his way, were on her. Not the moon.
    “Diego,” she whispered. “I won’t be here very long.”
    “I know.”
    “And I won’t snoop anymore.”
    “That’s good to hear.”
    “But I want…” She got lost in his eyes. There was a passion in them that was beyond anything she’d seen before. A desire she’d never seen focused on her. “I want you,” she whispered, even though it wasn’t what she had intended to say at all.
    “That would be a mistake,” he told her.
    She smiled broadly. “How could it be? I’ve got nothing to lose, Diego. I’m dying. And my guardian angel told me to do exactly what I wanted to do with the time I had left. And what I want to do right now is kiss you. And so I’m going to.”
    She leaned up, and he didn’t pull away. Her lips moved close to his, then, boldly, pressed against them. He remained motionless as she slid her hands over his shoulders and around to the back of his neck, then threaded her fingers into his hair and held him to her so she could press harder, kiss deeper.
    She felt him