The snow was still coming down hard, but plows had cleared the streets of the prior accumulation. Easily getting to the coffeehouse just a few hundred feet away, they ordered their drinks and jumped right into introductions.

It turned out Gabe was a freelance journalist who'd just moved back to the DC area after working in Philadelphia. Reine also took the opportunity to clarify the reason behind her unusual name: it was from the French for queen and not the little brown bird.

Everything was going smoothly until she added a spoonful of honey into her tea.

"You wear a band on your left ring finger." Gabe suddenly noticed what had always been there. "Are you married?"

"Yes. I mean no," she stammered, taking a slow sip of the scorching hot liquid to gather her thoughts.

He cocked his head at her contradiction. "Well, now I'm really intrigued."

Placing the mug back on the table, she kept a firm grip on it with both hands. If only she could tell him the truth. She had no one to share it with, and for some reason she just wanted to tell Gabe everything.

She sighed. Of course she couldn't.

Saying she was older than she looked would have been an understatement. She also couldn't tell him she'd been married over a dozen times. Admitting that none of it was for love, but merely for survival would have made it even worse. Yet, it was the truth.

Some of her husbands were actually bearable; a few she even liked. There was only one man who could have probably made her happy. Unfortunately, she never got the chance to find out. The missed opportunity wasn't her choice, nor was it Timothy Cooper's. The thirty-something London solicitor seemed just as ready to commit to her as she'd been to him, but an unexpected intervention stopped him from doing so.

Reine had often wondered about what could have been, so it was no surprise to her that even after more than one hundred years, she thought of him now. Although he was physically the polar opposite of her current companion – Cooper had dark hair and deep, chocolate brown eyes – he had a similarly magnetic personality as Gabe. They both made her feel at ease, almost to a dangerous level.

Reine had to be cognizant of her words and actions, lest she reveal too much about herself. So although there was a somewhat logical reason she continued to often pretend to have a husband, it was still unnerving that Gabe was silently waiting for the explanation.

She cleared her throat. "No, I'm not married. I wear the ring to discourage unwanted suitors."

"Unwanted suitors." He repeated her words before taking a long drink of his coffee. It was his turn to take the extra time to ponder something. "So, does that mean some suitors could potentially be wanted?"

While his phrasing was adorably awkward, she needed to stop the conversation before it went further. She may have been open to something without commitment, but she'd hate to have to deny him if he decided to ask her out.

"I'm really not into the whole dinner and a movie thing." She swept a wavy, auburn lock – still wet from the snow – from her forehead.

He nodded. "Fair enough."

It was impossible to tell how he had interpreted her answer, but she needed to start a new topic before things got really uncomfortable. "Enough about me. All you've told me is your name, so it's your turn."

He smiled. "All right. What do you want to know?"

"So, you're a journalist. What kind of stuff do you write?"

"Well, I was doing mostly political op-eds and that sort of thing in Philly. But I was offered this more regular position, which is better for paying bills. So I'm putting my journalistic integrity on the line for the travel and leisure section." He frowned.

She straightened up in her chair. "Why do you make that sound as if it were punishment? Seeing the world and the amazing art and culture that have been created by civilizations is a privilege few people get to experience firsthand. And the opportunity to share it with thousands of readers on a weekly basis should make you proud to be a journalist."

"You're probably right." He shrugged. "I imagine you're quite passionate about what you do. I mean about art and stuff."

"I like to think so. But tell me, where was the last place you visited?" The conversation was turning toward her again, but perhaps he wouldn't find her attempt at deflection too passé.

Fortunately, he took the cue. "I was in Dubai over the holidays, but it wasn't for work."

"Really? Why Dubai?"

"My parents are stationed in the Gulf. They're with the State Department, and I hadn't seen them in over a year. It was nice to get away. It really is a totally different world over there."

"Yeah, I know. I actually learned how to drive in Egypt, if you can believe that." The admission escaped her lips before she could stop it. Mentally scolding herself for over-sharing, his subtle smirk before taking a sip of coffee caught her attention.

"What?"

He put down his mug. "I didn't say a word."

"You implied something. I'll have you know I'm an excellent driver." She pouted. "If you can drive in Cairo, you can drive anywhere."

He nodded. "I'm sure you are, and that you can."

Reine gritted her teeth. His calm demeanor highlighted her own overreaction, but there wasn't much she could do to backtrack. "All right, then."

Luckily, he continued the previous conversation without missing a beat. "You're turning out to be more and more interesting by the minute. So, you've been all over?"

"I've seen my fair share of the world, yes. But I haven't done much traveling recently." She drew an imaginary circle on the tabletop with her fingertip. "I love learning about different people and places, but I've been on the move for much too long. I now prefer to stay at home."

He leaned back in his chair. "I wasn't too thrilled about that thirteen hour flight to the Emirates, either!"

She smiled. "Well, I'm sure being with your family made up for that slight inconvenience."

"Definitely. But I have to agree with you. Dorothy was right. There's no place like home. Being a Foreign Service brat, we moved around every two years when I was a kid. I was lucky I got to come back for high school, and I've tried to stay rooted since."

She sighed. He was so fortunate compared to her. She had no choice, but to regularly relocate if she wanted to avoid suspicions about her identity. And while ten years would be a long time to a normal person, it was much too short for her frame of reference.

"So were your holidays enjoyable?" He broke the new lull in the conversation.

She finished her now cooled tea before responding. "Just boring academic stuff."

"Like preparing for this conference? Heck of a way to start your new year." He grinned.

She just smiled and nodded. He didn't need to know she was just there to fill in for her advisor who'd been kept out of town by the snow.

"Tell me more about Dubai." She pushed her empty mug away and scooted back in her chair.

This was enough to get him started on describing his recent trip to the Middle East, which eventually led to a heated discussion first about Islam, and then continued into the dependence on foreign oil, the use of alternative fuels, and finally, US domestic policies in general. Reine hadn't experienced such stimulating personal interaction in a very long time, and she was relishing every minute of it.

"I'm not saying you'd have to give up your unnecessarily large, gas-guzzling SUV, but I do think the government should impose levies on automobile manufacturers for producing inefficient and wasteful vehicles. The money could then be funneled back into research and production of alternate fuels," she argued.

He crossed his arms. "You honestly trust the government to do that?"

The question was probably meant to be rhetorical, but she answered anyway. "It has to start somewhere, and most people are just too preoccupied by the details of their own lives to even think about the greater good."

"Wow." He pursed his lips. "You've really spent time thinking about this. I admire your optimism and I hope you're right, but let's agree to disagree on the details, okay?"

"Deal," she replied before looking at her watch. "Is it really almost eleven? I should be getting back to the hotel. I'm in the first session tomorrow."

"Yup, I guess I should be heading back, too." He nodded. "The movers are delivering my stuff, and I need to be coherent enough to notice what they've broken."