Mick and Beth walked down the hallway of her apartment building towards her door. They had spent the evening together just having fun and enjoying some time for themselves. They had been to dinner and it was such a beautiful clear night they had decided to take a walk down at the beach. Feeling light hearted Beth had dragged Mick into a games parlour on the pier that had old fashioned pin ball machines. She had challenged him to play and made him promise not to use his vampire abilities. Beth was confident that she could beat him but Mick was just as confident. They had been popular in his era after all and he had been pretty good at it if he did say so himself.

"Mick just admit it. I beat you fair and square." Beth couldn't help but laugh at the put out look on his face that said he was not about to admit defeat. She opened the front door and they entered her apartment. She turned around to face him and gave him a beaming smile.

"No, you cheated," he grumbled. "Where did you learn to play pinball like that anyway?" He helped her take off her jacket. When she turned to face him again her smile had disappeared.

"My Dad loved them. We always had a couple at home in the garage. I used to watch him and he taught me how to play. It was like our special time together," she said wistfully remembering the many hours after school that they spent there, just the two of them, waiting for her mom to get home from work.

"Come on Beth, if you had undone any more buttons on your shirt you may as well have taken it off. I bet your father never taught you that. Every guy in the place couldn't take their eyes off you."

"You call it cheating I call it tactics. It worked huh?" Beth raised her eyebrows at him her smile returned.

"Oh yeah." Mick put his hands around her waist and pulled her close kissing her softly on the lips then found his way to her neck, getting lost in her scent.

Beth closed her eyes for a moment and sighed "Besides, it was pay back for the restaurant." She moved away from him and went and sat down on the couch.

"The restaurant?" Mick questioned as he followed her and sat down next to her.

"Pleeeease, don't pretend that you didn't hear that table of women behind us going on and on about how hot you are." She wasn't mad in fact she had found it quite amusing how uncomfortable it had made him.

"You don't miss much do you?"

"Nope."

"Okay so I heard them but how did you? They weren't sitting that close to us." His eyes narrowed as he looked over at her.

"I overheard them in the ladies room."

"Ahhh..." Mick's chin dropped to his chest as he groaned. He looked up at her and wondered if she was jealous. No she was just making fun of him.

"Let me see, something about drop dead gorgeous, so tall, so sexy, so hot, such beautiful eyes and glorious long eyelashes." She had used her best blonde bimbo voice and was trying hard to keep a straight face. She screwed up her nose at him in that cute way she had. He leaned over to kiss her but she moved away from him just as their lips were about to touch.

"They got the dead part right," she mumbled under her breath. "If only they knew how old you really are."

"Ouch. I'm undead not dead and my age doesn't seem to bother you." Mick pulled Beth into his lap, playfully fluttering his eyelashes against her cheek. He knew that woman had always found his expressive eyes and long eyelashes attractive. A devastating smile slowly spread across his face that was just for her and she couldn't have looked away if she wanted to.

"Anyway, I can't help it." His voice was smooth like melted chocolate.

Beth pointed her finger at him then poked him in the chest "Mmmm….exactly." She kissed him quickly then got up and walked over to the kitchen and started to make herself some tea.

"Mmmm …well I guess that explains the kiss as we were leaving huh," he called after her then sighed heavily. "Here I was thinking that you wanted me so badly that you couldn't wait till we were alone."

As they were leaving the restaurant she had noticed that the women were watching his every move. At the door she spontaneously grabbed him and kissed him thoroughly in full view of everyone in the candlelit room. When she started to break away he had pulled her back for another scorching kiss. The discrete coughs and whispered suggestions that they get a room bought them back to reality and she blushed deeply as they left hand in hand.

Beth smiled to herself thinking that the man sure was a great kisser. She had felt an overwhelming need to let those women and anyone else know that he was taken. She didn't notice that he had joined her in the kitchen until she felt his arms wrap around her holding her to him.

"Don't you have to get going?" Mick had told her when he came to pick her up for their date that he had to go and see Josef later on. He wouldn't be staying with her tonight.

Mick turned her around in his arms and said between kisses "Yes but I'd much rather stay here with you." Beth wriggled trying to get away from him but it only made him hold on to her more tightly. They had been flirting with each other all night. It was like they were just a normal couple out laughing and enjoying themselves on a date on a Friday night. He didn't want it to end yet.

Mick's hands found their way under her shirt and he slowly moved them over bare skin. His phone rang but he made no move to answer the call. Still locked in his embrace, Beth fished his phone from the front pocket of his jeans making sure that her fingers lightly brushed over the button fly of his jeans him making him groan loudly.

"It's Josef..."

"Of course it is." Mick grumbled but still didn't make any effort to stop what he was doing.

Beth laughed, after letting it ring a couple more times she pressed the required button and held the phone up to Mick's ear so he could talk.

"Josef..." Still holding on to Beth, his hand brushed the spot on her side that tickled and always made her squirm. She tried to stifle a giggle. Mick smiled down at her looking into her eyes forgetting all about Josef momentarily.

"Mick! Did you hear me?" Josef yelled into the phone.

"What?" Mick mumbled back before regaining some sort of focus on the conversation.

"Where are you?" Josef was all business. Mick wasn't sure what Josef wanted to see him about but judging by the mood he was in it couldn't be good.

Still holding on to Beth he answered. "I'm just dropping Beth at her place then heading over to your office. Relax man."

"Yeah, well say goodnight and get over here, now, we're waiting for you." Josef abruptly ended the call.

Beth returned the phone to his pocket and tried to step back from him.

"Beth…" he almost pleaded. He still didn't want to let her go. She was so warm, so soft and she smelled so good. Her body had been calling to him all evening, the flirting, the kisses at the restaurant, making out at the beach. It wasn't just her body he was craving; it was also her blood. Not in the way that a vampire normally craves blood. He craved the way she made him feel when they made love. Her love and trust, the connection they shared was there for him in her eyes. The bite, the blood, made him feel it more intensely. That famous restraint that he had always relied on when it came to his Beth sure was in short supply tonight.

"I know me too." Her hand caressed his chest. "You can always come back later." she whispered in his ear. She kissed him longingly showing him that she felt the same way then pushed his arms away breaking their embrace. This time he let her go.

"Okay, Okay, later then." Mick kissed her goodbye wanting to get this thing with Josef, whatever it was, over with so he could get back to her.

They headed for the door and after he opened it Mick turned around and said, "Thanks"

"For the date? It was fun."

"Yeah it was but that's not what I meant. Thanks for not asking me about what's going on with Josef. I know that you want to."

"Well, you asked me to trust you so that's what I'm doing. I know that you will tell me about it when you can."

Mick nodded his head smiling down at her. "I will, I promise." He bent down to steal one last kiss. He took a couple of steps down the hall then turned around and walked the rest of the way backwards giving her a big smile.

She watched him knowing that this was how their life together was going to be. He had a responsibility to the vampire community. She knew that and she accepted it. He was also a private investigator so there would always be something that needed his attention. He had his job and she had hers. It made the time they did have together even more precious.

Beth closed the door already counting down the hours until she saw him again.