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The policeman’s heavy hand rapped on the window.

Bill turned on the motor, hit the button that lowered the window. But he was silent, and I realized his fangs had not retracted. If he opened his mouth, it would be really obvious he was a vampire.

“Hello, officer,” I said.

“Good evening,” the man said, politely enough. He bent to look in the window. “You two know all the shops here are closed, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Now, I can tell you been messing around a little, and I got nothing against that, but you two need to go home and do this kind of thing.”

“We will.” I nodded eagerly, and Bill managed a stiff inclination of his head.

“We’re raiding a bar a few blocks back,” the patrolman said casually. I could see only a little of his face, but he seemed burly and middle-aged. “You two coming from there, by any chance?”

“No,” I said.

“Vampire bar,” the cop remarked.

“Nope. Not us.”

“Let me just shine this light on your neck, miss, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.”

And by golly, he shone that old flashlight on my neck and then on Bill’s.

“Okay, just checking. You two move on now.”

“Yes, we will.”

Bill’s nod was even more curt. While the patrolman waited, I slid back over to my side and clipped my seat belt, and Bill put the car in gear and backed up.

Bill was just infuriated. All the way home he kept a sullen (I guess) silence, whereas I was inclined to view the whole thing as funny.

I was cheerful at finding Bill wasn’t indifferent to my personal attractions, such as they were. I began to hope that someday he would want to kiss me again, maybe longer and harder, and maybe even—we could go further? I was trying not to get my hopes up. Actually, there was a thing or two that Bill didn’t know about me, that no one knew, and I was very careful to try to keep my expectations modest.

When he got me back to Gran’s, he came around and opened my door, which made me raise my eyebrows; but I am not one to stop a courteous act. I assumed Bill did realize I had functioning arms and the mental ability to figure out the door-opening mechanism. When I stepped out, he backed up.

I was hurt. He didn’t want to kiss me again; he was regretting our earlier episode. Probably pining after that damn Pam. Or maybe even Long Shadow. I was beginning to see that the ability to have sex for several centuries leaves room for lots of experimentation. Would a telepath be so bad to add to his list?

I kind of hunched my shoulders together and wrapped my arms across my chest.

“Are you cold?” Bill asked instantly, putting his arm around me. But it was the physical equivalent of a coat, he seemed to be trying to stay as far away from me as the arm made possible.

“I am sorry I have pestered you. I won’t ask you for any more,” I said, keeping my voice even. Even as I spoke I realized that Gran hadn’t set up a date for Bill to speak to the Descendants, but she and Bill would just have to work that out.

He stood still. Finally he said, “You—are—incredibly—naive.” And he didn’t even add that codicil about shrewdness, like he had earlier.

“Well,” I said blankly. “I am?”

“Or maybe one of God’s fools,” he said, and that sounded a lot less pleasant, like Quasimodo or something.

“I guess,” I said tartly, “you’ll just have to find out.”

“It had better be me that finds out,” he said darkly, which I didn’t understand at all. He walked me up to the door, and I was sure hoping for another kiss, but he gave me a little peck on the forehead. “Good night, Sookie,” he whispered.

I rested my cheek against his for a moment. “Thanks for taking me,” I said, and moved away quickly before he thought I was asking for something else. “I’m not calling you again.” And before I could lose my determination, I slipped into the dark house and shut the door in Bill’s face.

Chapter 5

I CERTAINLY HAD a lot to think about the next couple of days. For someone who was always hoarding new things to keep from being bored, I’d stored enough up to last me for weeks. The people