Burned (Beautiful Mess) (9 page)

“You know how I got the ‘Huntress’ title?” Vicky crossed her arms. “I have the instinct to sense hot guys just like a hunter can sense their prey. I don’t have to spy. I can just radar the sexiness in the air. And you, Dana, got a very sexy guy on you.”

I sat down on my chair. I was so exhausted I couldn’t stand anymore. “You are right about the very sexy part at least. I was tangling the whole ‘sexiness in the air’ the entire night,” I quoted the air with my hands. The room was getting humid. I needed a fan.

“Oh wow, what did you do with him? Did you make out with him?” Vicky came closer to me. “Was he a good kisser? Was that your first kiss? Did you go to second base?” She shot the questions like one of those automatic tennis firing machines.

“No kiss happened, okay? No actions on the second base. Well, he did kiss my hand,” I could still remember how that gentle contact caused a stir to my nerve endings. “And…I was…sort of…turned on, I think.”

“Hmm.
Did your purity delayed or something?” Vicky teased. “I was just worried you guys get to second base. I forgot to warn you about the pads,” she cleared her throat. “This guy has some self-control. You are wearing those pads and he didn’t get his hands on you?”

“The guy is in law school. He should have some self-control,” I mumbled. But he did say he would have me undone in less than ten minutes when we were playing chess. He could almost accomplish that just using his eyes. Darn it.

“Law school?” Vicky looked like she just remembered something important. “And you said his name was Ethan?”

“Yeah?”
I looked at her, puzzled.

“Ethan who?”
Vicky looked concerned.

“Ethan Lancaster,” I said. “Don’t tell me he is one of you exes!” I stared at her with wide eyes. The realization made my stomach rustled.

“Really? You are dating Ethan Lancaster?” Vicky’s eyes grew wider than mine. “No, even I don’t have access to a VIP like him. Well, maybe I do, but that’s not the point. You are dating Ethan Lancaster?!” She asked again, rising her pitch.  

“What do you mean VIP?” I felt like an idiot. Did everyone know something about Ethan Lancaster and I didn’t? And I was supposed to be his girlfriend. What in the world…

“Ethan Lancaster. The only son of the billionaire family. His father is the global chairman of the Lancaster multinational law firm,” Vicky announced Ethan’s titles like those of European monarchs. “How could you not know?” 

“I am a history major, not a mass media major,” I shrugged. I was cracking silly jokes again. My brain wasn’t quite comprehensive right now.

Vicky sighed heavily. “You are hopeless, Dana,” She shook her head. “I heard he was also a playboy. He’s always seen with different woman. And he’s never been in a relationship.”

“Yeah, thanks for the information. That’s very encouraging,” I said sarcastically. I rubbed my temples as a headache just stormed my head. Then I heard Vicky typing on the keyboard.

“Look at this website of his father’s law firm,” she pointed at her laptop.

I scanned the webpage. “One of the largest law firms in the world with offices located in more than 75 countries…” I almost dropped my jaw on the floor. I clicked on the leadership page and saw the name “John Lancaster” under the title global chairman. He looked almost like a copy of Ethan with a few more wrinkles, or, should I say, Ethan looked just like a clone of his father. I stared at the John Lancaster’s professional portrait on his intro page. This powerful man oversaw the operation of his law firms across continents. And I was supposed to meet him at a ballet performance. I was also supposed to be his only son’s girlfriend. How did that even happen? This was not what I signed up for.

“This is the Lancaster you are dating right?” Vicky poked me on the shoulder.

“I think so?” I mumbled. “But how did you know about the
Lancasters?” I still couldn’t believe I was so ignorant about Ethan, given his background. I feared that if a mosquito of the size of a mountain flew in front of my face, I could still miss it.  

“Shame on you, history major,” Vicky stuck out her tongue. “John Lancaster is a well-respected alumnus of our university. He donated a large sum for the new library on south campus this year as his son started law school here. They are going to name the whole building after him or something. Read the school newspaper,” Vicky poked my shoulder again. “And of course, the newspaper didn’t mention his son is a
hottie. But the gossip spread soon enough.”

“So if I read the newspaper, I would at least know who Ethan is,” I narrowed my eyes, analyzing. Would I really know more about him if I knew who his father was? Or did I actually get to know more about him without the assumption of his family background. But everything made more sense now. At least I understood why Ethan had all the resources to travel and afford those luxuries most students couldn’t. But why would someone like him even want to date me? He was out of my league when I first saw him and he was even more out of my league now.

“He is a playboy, Dana,” Vicky sounded serious. “That is the first thing you need to know. Don’t be so naïve,” she talked to me like I was little girl. “If you are looking for that ideal committed relationship with a nice boyfriend, he is not your guy. You need to be careful.”

“I am careful…”I started. Ethan’s words about me being cautious at the chess game flashed through my mind. He said I might regret what could have happen if I didn’t take the risk. Was he referring to this? He must be aware that I didn’t know about who he was and intended to not mentioning it. What exactly was he doing? Although our chess game was over but I still felt like our match was still continuing.

“You know guys like him chase girls like hunting sport, right?” Vicky poked my shoulder again, making her point.

The mentioning of the word “sport” made me twitchy. I snapped. “Can you please stop poking me, Vicky,” I frowned at her.

“Okay, okay, sorry!” She put her hands up. “I am going to stop poking the bear,” she looked away from me. I instantly felt sorry about getting annoyed. Vicky was just trying to help after all. I had enough problems in my plate and now my brain was just overwhelmed.

“Sorry,” I said in a low voice. “I am so tired. I just need some rest, okay?” I look at Vicky and hoped my face was apologetic enough for her to forgive me.

“All right,” Vicky nodded. She still looked concerned. “I am going out. You get your rest,” she paused as if she was going to say more. But she shook her head and left the room.

I quickly changed into my pajamas and buried myself in the comforters. I wanted my brain to shut down for a while. I was just tired, I told myself. Tomorrow I would feel better and process what was going on. I closed my eyes and thought about Ethan’s handsome face getting really close. I could almost count his eye leashes.

End of Book 1

Book 2 of
Burned
romance series will be released on March 1st 2014.

Thank you very much for reading. We hope you enjoyed this book.

If you enjoyed this series, please leave a review, and recommend it to your friends.

To be notified when the new books are released, please join
S.C.Rosemary & S.N. Hawk Mailing List
.

We love to hear from our readers, please find
S.C.Rosemary & S.N. Hawk on Facebook
. Or visit our
Blog
.