The Touch Series: Initiation (7 page)

              “Well I plan to eventually leave. Hopefully I can get out and go to college somewhere far away and much more busier.” I didn't really know why I was explaining myself to Jacob and feeling the need to get his approval. It was actually annoying.

              Artie piped in. “New York City and London are awesome choices.”

              I nodded in agreement. They were definitely places that I had considered moving to. I looked at Josef and bravely asked, “Did you ever go to college, Mr. Constane?”

              He shook his head. “No.”

              “Oh, so you're just naturally smart and skilled?” I looked out towards the garden. He was wealthy and powerful. But he never went to school. He was lucky.

              “I was lucky enough to be brought up by a father who was a skilled business man.” I turned to look at him. He was smiling. “I learned from him.”

              Artie beamed. “We all did. He was a great guy.” Then his face went dark after a second. He cleared his throat, “He was. Once.”

              Josef and Jacob both looked tense. I wondered what that was about.

              Artie smiled to change the mood and clapped his hands together. “Okay! Let's all go back inside. Shall we?”

              Jacob and Artie started to walk back inside. Janel grabbed her bag and looked at me, “I'm gonna grab something to eat. Want to go?”

              I shook my head. “No. I'll stay out here for a little bit longer. But I'll join you soon.”

              “Okay.” She came off the ledge and walked back inside the club.

              Josef came up to where Janel sat with his back turned to the ledge and his arms crossed against his chest. “Look who made a friend,” he whispered sarcastically.

              I couldn't help but smile as I playfully responded, “Believe it or not, I can be friendly, Sir.”

              He looked at me sideways with a corner of a lip raised. “Did Artie tell you to call me 'Sir'?”

              “No, I just prefer it to 'Mr. Constane'. Which is too long for me to say and a waste a breathe,” I said as a matter-of-factly.

              He licked his lips and nodded once. “Okay.”

              I pursed my lips to stop me from grinning like a fool. “You look very handsome tonight, by the way.” He always did. For one, he filled out his shirts well. His sandy-blonde hair went well against his melting chocolate eyes. But it was his confident and dominant presence that rounded out it his drool-worthy aura.

              He was taken a back by the comment. But quickly smiled though slightly embarrassed, “Thank you.”

              “Have you had it with tonight?” I gestured towards the club.

              “It's not something I enjoy. Artie usually plans stuff like this and I just go along.”

              “It's not really my scene either.”

              He looked at me mockingly, “You don't say?”

              I shook my head and looked over the garden again.

              “What is your scene?” He looked genuinely interested.

              I shrugged. “I don't know. I don't really have one, I guess. We never left Richmond and there's not much to do here.” I eyed him, trying to figure out if I can tease him without stepping over boundaries. “But generally, I like to stay home, read, and cuddle in bed.”

              “Sounds exciting.” His eyes were bright with amusement. “Especially the cuddling part.” He ran a hand through his hair which made me extremely jealous; I would have liked to do it for him.“Sorry about the book recommendation, by the way.” He was trying not to laugh.

              I shook my head, pretending to scold him. “You're not sorry. And it was very inappropriate.”

              “Blame it on the topic of the assignment. Sex in British literature can be quite kinky.”

              I rolled my eyes and looked down. He was right but I didn't let him have the benefit of the doubt. He cleared his throat loudly and I looked up immediately. But now I was irritated. “You can't expect me to break a habit so easily. And you certainly can't expect me to always look at you. Maybe there is something I don't want you to see.” I knew vampires could read minds and I was always cautious about looking right at them. The general rule humans lived by was to never look vampires straight in the eye for a long period of time; it's their access to read you. To be honest, I never fully trusted Artie either.

              His look was indifferent with his lips pressed tight. He turned with his front towards me and his side leaning on the ledge. He slowly uncrossed his arms and put his hands in his front pant pockets. “You think I don't want to see your cheeks turn rosy because something made you nervous?”

              “Wow. Nothing gets passed you, huh?” I laughed sarcastically, though inside I felt sick.

              He studied my face for a while before he began to speak again, “you find fault in something that is quite beautiful and different.” He shook his head in disbelief. “This generation is filled with over-confident women who always put on a facade when they are in front of men. It can be quite a turn off. Trust me, it's quite nice to see someone natural and still capable of being affected...” He looked like he was going to continue speaking. But instead, he turned and placed his hands on the ledge as he looked at the garden.

              I wanted to know what he meant so I pressed on, “Affected?... by what?”

              He didn't look at me but I could see him smirk. “By charms and just a man's presence.”

              He was certifiably cocky, which was a quality I never really liked in a guy but I liked it on him. Somehow, it made him more attractive. 

              “Haha.” I never really had a man's attention before like I had his, which persuaded me to go on and tease him further. “Mr. Constane, if you look away one more time I 'll be very angry. I would like to see your face.”

              He slowly turned his head towards me with his mouth agape. “Very nice, Miss Turner. I applaud  you.”

              Here we go again with the “Miss. Turner” nonsense. It disappointed me. I wanted him to call me by my first name even if I couldn't call him by his. The disappointment was apparent in my voice as I addressed him, “Why can't you call me 'Quinn'?”

              He looked at me somewhat confused. “I'm sorry. It's just a matter of respect. I grew up during times of tradition when women were not addressed by their first names by those other than their husbands or direct family. And quite frankly, I prefer it.”

              “Is that why we can't call you by your first name? Out of respect?”

              “Would you prefer to call me by my first name?” he responded quickly with his voice softer than before.

              I slowly smiled and pulled my hair behind my ears. “Yes and you can blame it on the fact that I grew up in a non-traditional society. So, yes I would. If that would be okay with you?”

              “That's fine.”

              Did I hear right? Was he allowing me to break one of the rules and so quickly too? “Really? Are you sure?”

              He was amused at my shock. “Don't make me change my mind.”

              “Okay.” I felt my heart beat faster than I ever thought possible.

              After a few seconds, he looked at me seriously, “that doesn't apply to the others so you can only call me 'Josef' when we are alone but not around the others. I need to be fair. Understood?”

              I nodded quickly. Hopefully, I'll never forget and slip up. I didn't want to lose this privilege.

              “Were you really mad at me for being late?”

              “I wasn't mad. I was worried.”

              “Oh, well, thanks. But I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself.”

              He gave me a quick stern look. “You are a vulnerable human girl who lives among vampires. And not all vampires are good. They're not all
Arties
.”

              “You're good.”

              Something in his demeanor changed; he became more stiff and his pupils appeared to have dilated. Was he thirsty? Was my scent finally effecting him?

              “I've made mistakes. And I've seen what other vampires are capable of and they don't flinch. Just do me a favor and call Artie if you need a ride or something. Anything.”

              His phone buzzed and he looked at it. “Now it's time to call it a night. It's getting late.” His stance and eyes returned to their normal appearance. But what set him off in the first place?...

              “Why do I have to call Artie all the time? Can I call you instead?”

              “What for?” he asked in a puzzled  manner.

              Okay, wrong move on my part. My over-confidence had taken a step too far and I was feeling that I was going to regret it.

              He broke into a smile. He had been teasing me. “I don't really exchange my numbers with any of the girls I hire. I'm not interested in being woken up in the middle of the night to some drunken phone call or nude texts. It's happened before.”

              “Ha. Yeah, that would definitely suck. It happens to me too – but with guys... obviously!”

              “Wow. Really?”

              “Oh, yeah. All the time.”

              “I see. So, I assume I'll have some competition while your with me?”

              Competition with you? No one could ever come close. Unless Ryan Gosling somehow found his poor self stranded in this town that sometimes didn't even make the map. But even then, you wouldn't have anything to worry about.

              “No. I was lying. There's no one right now.”  It's true. There was no one who was interested in me or that I was interested in. There hadn't been in a while. And being known as one of the town's good girls didn't really help. Guys actually want the opposite of that, which came to be known as a fact to me when I first entered high school. “Guys don't see me like that.”

              He titled his head back and looked at the sky above him. “Damn it. We really need to work on your self-esteem.” He looked back down at me. “Frustrating. Absolutely frustrating. I'm going to have some work breaking you in.”

              “Breaking me in?”

              “That's for me to know and for you to find out. Now let's go.”

              I shrugged and started to follow him back into the Club. I wished we could have stayed out here for longer. Heck, I would have stayed all night.  Before we reached the door he turned to me, “Did I keep you up today from doing homework or studying?”

              “No, it's totally fine. But if you're ever interested in coming over, I can totally use a tutor.”

              He looked up and grinned as he touched the door knob and pulled open the door. “I'm not much of a tutor, though I'm sure I could teach you a few things.”

              I raised an eyebrow as I stepped into the club in front of him. “Really? I'm intrigued.”

              “Well, don't come tardy anymore and you might get a visit from me sometime.”

              “Yes, Sir.” Though his lips were in a line, his eyes smiled and that was enough for me. He pointed towards the other girls who were now huddled right outside of the club's entryway. I did as I was supposed to do but I didn't leave without slightly tripping on my way there on the slippery dance floor as I lost balance with my heels. After I straightened up, I turned back to give  a reassuring smile to Josef who shook his head in a mix of exasperation and amusement.

              I found Janel near the front door and she was shaking her head at me, too. “Oh, honey. This is our first night out and you already have your head over your Prada's.”

              “They're actually Target. And I don't know what you're talking about.” I looked at her like I really had no clue what she was talking about. But there was no getting around her, she knew I liked him more than I should.

              “Okay, sure. Whatever you say.” She winked at me before she  changed the subject when Josef was approaching us. “We are all getting separate cabs. So, I guess this is it. Goodnight and I'll see you next time.”

              “Goodnight.”

              Josef and Artie said goodnight to each girl as they walked out of the hotel and went into their cabs. When my cab approached, Artie put his arm around by shoulder and walked me to mine. I wished it had been Josef...

              When I came close to the cab door, I realized I didn't say “goodnight” to Josef. I quickly spun around, which prompted Artie to put his arm down. Josef was right behind us with his eyes on Artie. He didn't look happy. I suppose this would be breaking the “no flirting with other guys” rule. Shit.

              “Goodnight, Artie.”

              Artie gave me a high five before walking away.

              Josef opened my door for me.

              “Goodnight... Josef.” I whispered his name so no one around could hear.