Tessa lifted her beer. “To success.”

They clinked glasses and drank.

He swallowed and tipped his head to one side. “What if she Googles you?”

Tessa shrugged. “What if she does?”

“Is she going to find anything about you online that says you live elsewhere? I apologize, I don’t recall where you moved from.”

“Ohio, and no, I doubt she’ll find anything. I used to run the Northeast Ohio Library’s Facebook page, but my name wasn’t on it, just the head librarian’s.”

“You’re not listed on the library’s main website, then?”

“Hah. Like Mrs. Unger would approve that.” Tessa rolled her eyes. “Nope, not listed on the website either.”

“Very good. I take it Mrs. Unger is your former boss?”

“Yes.” She wrinkled her nose.

“And not someone you’re fond of.”

“No.” Tessa sipped her beer. “I think she felt challenged by me. She’d been the head librarian for years and then I get hired right out of school with all these new ideas and…” Tessa’s brows lifted. “You know how it is.”

“Hmm. I guess I do, but I believe I might be Mrs. Unger in that scenario.”

Tessa grinned. “Why? Do you hate change?”

He nodded, reluctantly. “It’s not my favorite thing, no.”

“Why’s that?”

He leaned back, slowly turning his glass of whiskey. “If things are working the way they are, why change them?”

“What if there’s a better way to do something?”

“I don’t know if I believe that’s enough reason. And better by whose definition?”

“So if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”

“Exactly.”

She stared at him over the rim of her glass. “Is that why you’ve never gotten officially divorced from Evangeline? That seems like a broken situation that would have been fixed by changing it, don’t you think? Plus, you’re not a bad-looking guy. You could have found someone else to be with.”

He took a small amount of pleasure in her compliment, but didn’t dwell on it. Vanity was a weakness. “No.” The word came out sharper than he’d intended, but bloody hell, she was asking questions she had no right to.

Her brows went higher. “Forget I asked.”

He sighed. And lowered his voice. “I never pursued any sort of official separation from her because I couldn’t.” For several reasons, not the least of which was the promise he’d made. He’d always hoped she’d come back. It would have made his life easier, that was for certain.

“Why couldn’t you?”

“For a sire to divorce the spouse they’ve turned, it requires either the signature of the spouse, something Evangeline wouldn’t have given me, or proof of infidelity.”

“That sounds like something you could have managed.”

He stared at the table. “Yes, I can. I choose not to.”

“Because?”

The tablecloth blurred in front of his eyes. “Because I am an old-fashioned fool. I don’t want to ruin her. Or be the one to end things so distinctly.”

She peered at him. “So you ended up paying the price for her sins. I can’t imagine in all those years of being alone you never once thought about being with someone else.”

He kept his gaze on the table. “What I thought about and what I wanted were two different things. Evangeline was always foremost on my mind.” Then he picked his head up. “Some might think my loyalty a respectable quality. Especially in this day and age.”

“I’m not judging you. Just curious. You must have had some kind of amazing marriage to hold out like that. To still be holding out.”

Except that wasn’t really how he was feeling these days. He frowned. “Our marriage was arranged. Most marriages back then were, especially for those of wealth and position.”

“Then I get the loyalty, which is definitely admirable, but letting her go at this point would be completely understandable. No one expects you to keep the vows you made three hundred years ago.”

“Almost four, actually.”

“Maybe you could talk to this council. Explain things. They might make an exception.”

He thought about it. No one had ever really questioned him about this before. His brothers had tried, but he’d always shut them down as soon as they started. Eventually they knew the topic of Evangeline was off-limits and stopped bringing her up. “And yes, maybe they would make an exception, but that’s not who I am. I am a man of my word. And I value the bond we had.”

Tessa swallowed a mouthful of beer. “Does she? I’m guessing not if she left you like that.”

“She was young and impetus. Becoming…” He lowered his voice. “Becoming a vampire was an enormous change. She had wild oats to sow. And she did. Now she’s done. Ready to be my wife again.”

Or so she claimed. Was he reading too much into Evangeline’s return? Perhaps. But he knew her better than anyone. She had been a good wife. Adept at the social aspects anyway. She had never been particularly warm or affectionate toward him, but he’d always chalked that up to them getting to know each other as husband and wife.

Tessa looked unconvinced. “I just don’t get it. What on earth is holding you to her?”

The truth was on the tip of his tongue, but before he could speak, a body shoved into the seat beside him.