He reached out and grabbed the book out of her hand that she was about to place on the shelf. She took another book from the box, and he grabbed that book too. "Sebastian," she started, but he didn't let her finish.
"You've been ignoring me," he said, setting the books down. "And I don't like it."
"I don't know what you're talking about," she whispered.
"Look at me," he demanded.
Jane's eyes slowly met his. He took her hand in his, and she felt that familiar electric charge between them. He literally made her weak in the knees. Not being able to think of anything else to say, she uttered, "I'm sorry."
"Nothing to be sorry about." He tipped her chin up so that her eyes met his. "Why do you pretend not to like me?"
She tried to look away from him, but he kept his finger under her chin. "I--I don' t know," she managed.
"Yes, you do. Tell me."
His minty breath was on her lips. She swallowed hard. "To keep myself safe."
"You think I will hurt you?"
"No." She paused. "Yes." She closed her eyes. "I don't know."
He leaned in close to her. "I will never hurt you, Jane," he whispered in her ear. His fingers glided against hers as he continued to touch her hand. "Do you feel the connection between us?" he asked.
"Yes," she whispered, breathlessly. "I feel it every time you touch me."
He grinned. "As do I."
The bell above the door rang. Sebastian frowned and stepped back from her.
"Jane?" asked a voice.
Jane quickly composed herself and walked around the side of the bookcase to see Matt. He was in his police uniform. "Matt," she said surprised.
"I thought I'd drop by and see what you're up to today."
Sebastian rounded the corner, and Matt looked at him. "I didn't realize you had a customer," Matt said.
"This is my neighbor, Sebastian. Sebastian, this is Matt."
"Nice to meet you," Sebastian said.
"Same here."
"Well, I really must be going," Sebastian said. He gave her one last look as he said, "Bye, Jane."
Matt watched him leave. Then he said, "They've been working us like crazy with a lot of overtime. I'm sorry that I haven't called."
Jane still felt awkward around him. She had tried to let it go and chalk it up to drinking excessively, but her mind wouldn't stop bringing the incident to the surface. "No biggie," she said.
"Mom keeps asking when we're going to have another weekend at the lake house. She really enjoys the time up there with everyone. I think she gets lonely living by herself."
Jane nodded. She completely understood about the loneliness. "Well, you'll have to tell her whenever she wants to go up to call me."
He smiled and checked his watch. "I have to get back to work. I'll make sure to tell her that." He gave her a quick hug. "Bye, Jane."
"Bye, Matt," she said.
When he left, Jane went back to stocking the bookshelf. She thought back to the conversation between her and Sebastian and smiled. He was feeling the same thing she was. It wasn't her imagination after all.
She didn't know much about him and wanted to get to know him better, so an idea occurred to her — invite him over for dinner. She decided to stop at the grocery store on the way home and pick up a few things for dinner. She had heard the way to a man's heart was through his stomach. Besides, what's wrong with dinner between friends, she thought to herself.
CHAPTER 22
JANE KNOCKED ON Sebastian's door. Within a few minutes, he opened it. "Hello, Jane," he said.
"Would you like to come over for dinner tonight?"
He hesitated.
"I know it's last minute, so if you're busy —"
"No, I'm not busy," he interrupted quickly. Then he said, "I'd love to come over."
"Great," she said with a smile. "Come over around six then?"
"I'll be there."
Jane went home and prepared a meal of baked chicken with rosemary potatoes. In her bedroom, she changed into a deep violet dress that flattered her figure. She smoothed the sides of the dress and stared into the mirror. Her wedding ring glimmered in the reflection, and she stopped and stared at it for a long time.
Sighing, she thought that maybe it was time to let go. Jack wasn't coming back, and she knew deep down that he wouldn't have wanted her to be depressed and not living her life. He wasn't selfish like that.
Carefully, she removed the ring and placed it in a drawer of her jewelry box. It felt weird not to have the ring on her finger, but she also felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She felt as if she could try to find love again, and she was anxious to see where things were going to go with Sebastian Alexander.
Jane walked downstairs and set the table. Just as she had finished, the doorbell rang.
She answered the door. Sebastian was dressed in a light blue button up shirt and dark blue jeans. "Just in time," she commented.
He smiled. "I brought wine."
"Great." She shuffled through a cabinet drawer until she found a corkscrew. "Would you mind?"
"Not at all."
While he popped the cork, she retrieved two wine glasses from the cupboard and set them on the table. Sebastian poured the wine.
While they ate, the radio played softly in the background. Jane took a sip of wine, and she glanced across the table at Sebastian. He had barely touched his food. She frowned. "I know I'm not the best cook in the world," she muttered.
He looked up at her. "It's not that at all." He quickly took a small bite of the food. His face didn't show any sign of whether he liked the taste or not. He remained impassive.
Jane nervously set her wine glass down and picked at the food on her own plate. She had suddenly lost her appetite. "I should have ordered out."
"Jane," Sebastian said sternly, causing her eyes to snap up to meet his. "I promise it's great. I'm just not used to solid foods. I try to stick to a strict liquid diet."
She wondered why he would have agreed to dinner if he were on a diet. She stared down at her plate. "Oh. I'm sorry. If I had known —."
"You couldn't have known." He took another bite. "It's delicious. I really should try real food more often."
"I wouldn't peg you as the protein shake kind of guy." She cringed as the words flowed out of her mouth. "Not that you aren't healthy and muscular." She bit her lower lip, forcing herself to shut up.
He chuckled. "It's okay. It's just a lifestyle I've come accustomed to."
She looked up and saw him staring at her lower lip as her teeth bit into it. She quickly released her lip and took another drink of wine.
When they finished eating, Sebastian helped her clear the dishes from the table. Jane piled the plates in the sink, planning to load the dishwasher after Sebastian left. As she turned, she crushed up against Sebastian. He caught her in his arms.
"At Last" by Etta James played over the radio, and Sebastian smiled and asked, "Will you dance with me?"
She nodded as he took her hand and led her into the living room. Still holding her hand, he wrapped his other arm around her waist and drew her in close. She inhaled sharply as she could feel the electric current running through her from his touch.
They danced around the living room. He was an excellent dancer, and she felt like she was effortlessly gliding in his arms.
Suddenly, he shifted and dipped her down low. Jane was breathless in his arms as she gazed into his eyes. He leaned down to her and pulled her up towards him until their faces were only an inch apart. She could feel his breath on her lips. She knew he was going to kiss her, and she wanted him to kiss her.
The doorbell rang, echoing through the house and snapping them out of the trance. He pulled Jane upright, and she pulled away from him and went to the door.
Matt was standing on the porch. "Matt," she said surprised. He rarely popped in without calling first.
"Hi, Jane. I thought maybe you'd want to watch a movie on TV or something tonight."
She quickly thought of something to tell him. She kept her voice low and said, "Ashley is actually here. She had a bad break up with her boyfriend, and I'm kind of comforting her." Jane couldn't believe how easily she could lie to him. She had never felt the need to lie to Matt before.
His face fell. "Oh. Okay. No problem." His eyes strayed up to her hand holding the door. "You took your ring off," he said with an astonished tone. "I hope that our weekend together had something to do with that," he said, expectantly.
She bit her lower lip nervously. Matt actually had nothing to do with her taking the ring off, but she didn't want to hurt his feelings. He had done so much for her over the past year, and she was thankful to have him in her life. So she just nodded and smiled.
A big grin appeared on his face. "I won't keep you any longer from your girl time. I'll talk to you tomorrow, Jane."
"Okay. Goodnight, Matt."
"Goodnight, Jane."
Jane closed the door, breathing a sigh of relief. She didn't know why she felt the need to keep Sebastian a secret, but she knew how jealous Matt could get.
* * *
While Jane was at the door trying to get rid of Matt, Sebastian glanced at the photographs perched on the mantle. Jane looked happy in all of the photos. Then he stared at the man beside her in the pictures who was making her happy. It was hard to tell if the pictures were new or old and which twin was in the pictures. "Is that Matt?" he asked when she entered the room.
"No. That is Jack, Matt's twin brother."
"Ah." He nodded. He stared at the wedding picture in the center of the mantle, and he felt his heart constrict. She looked so happy and so in love. He closed his eyes a moment and tightened his hands into fists. He should have been there for her at the hospital. He had already lost precious years with her, but he vowed not to miss any more time.
Jane moved to the couch and sat down. "Could I ask you some questions? I feel like I know nothing about you," she confessed.
He turned to her and said, "Sure." He was eager to get close to her once again. And if she needed to get to know him better, he was all for it. "What do you want to know?" he asked.
"Something. Anything." She thought for a moment. "Where do you work?"
"You could say I'm an entrepreneur." He had amassed his fortune over the past couple of centuries. Money wasn't something he would ever have too little of.
"Where are you from?"
He considered the question. "I grew up in New York City, but that was a long time ago." Lifetimes ago, he silently thought. "I have traveled all over the world."
"How old are you?"
He could never tell her his true age, so he gave her the age he was when he was created. "Twenty-eight. How old are you?" he asked.
Jane stared down at her hands in her lap. "I don't know."
He could sense her sadness, and it made him sad. "You mentioned before that you had severe brain trauma and that was the reason for your fainting spell. Is that why you don't know how old you are?"
"It's why I don't know a lot of things." She hesitated. "It's why I don't know anything really," she corrected. "I don't even know my real name. My name was Jane Doe before I became Mrs. Jane Walker."
He sat down beside her on the couch. "So you don't remember anything about your past?"
She shook her head. "No. I woke up in a hospital bed two years ago, and I remembered absolutely nothing before that day. They said that I was basically left for dead in the woods. I went through a lot of therapy and a lot of pain to be where I'm at today."
His heart ached for her. She had been through all of that alone, and he hadn't been able to help her. He reached over and took her hands into his. "I'm sorry that you had to go through that," he said sincerely.
She stared into his eyes. Her thoughts echoed into his mind. She was thinking of him kissing her.
He stared at her full lips, and his eyes drifted down to her neck. Her jugular vein throbbed as the blood coursed through her veins. It had been a while since he had fed, and his instincts were telling him to rip open her neck and feed on her. And soon the sound of her blood was the only thing he could hear. Sebastian closed his eyes quickly and stood. "I'm sorry. I have to go. I forgot I have an early appointment in the morning."
"Oh," she said with disappointment dripping from her tone. "Well, thank you for coming over."
He walked to the door, unable to look at her. "Thank you for inviting me."
"Bye," Jane said as he walked out the door.
Sebastian crossed the yard swiftly. His head pounded with such intensity, he feared it would explode. It was hard for him to control himself around her. It was in his nature to crave her blood, and the craving was like a toothache that wouldn't stop throbbing.
His mouth watered as he remembered the taste of her blood from years ago. She had such a unique taste that he would never forget. He forced his legs to keep walking and not turn around.
Once inside his own house, it only took an instant for him to unlock the basement door and run down the stairs. He flung open the refrigerator and pulled out a bag of blood. With his fangs bared, he tore into the plastic and drank the red substance hastily. His hunger for Jane slowly subsided with every swallow of somebody else's B positive blood.
When the bag was completely empty, he tossed it into the garbage. He would have to be careful with Jane and not allow his hunger to take over. He had never hurt her in the past, and he would never think of hurting her in the future.
CHAPTER 23
JANE TRUDGED THROUGH the day at work. She had been disappointed to see Sebastian's car in front of his house that morning. So much for the early appointment, she thought as she cleaned the front windows of the store.
The dinner replayed over and over in her head. They were having a great time, or so she thought. They were talking. They were dancing. And then suddenly he just left. Perhaps it was the visit from Matt in the middle of the evening that spoiled the mood.
She sprayed some more Windex and vigorously scrubbed the windows. Cleaning was her stress reliever, and she felt like she was under a lot of stress lately. "Maybe he just doesn't like me," she decided.
Ashley had been listening to the replay of the date all morning. She looked up from the front counter and said, "Maybe he just doesn't like girls."
Jane furrowed her brows. That thought hadn't crossed her mind. "You really think so?"
"Well, he didn't come on to me. That's a big sign," Ashley joked.
Jane rolled her eyes. "Very funny, Ash!"
"Maybe he just wants to take things slow," she offered.
"Yeah. Maybe," Jane said, but she wasn't so sure.
* * *
Jane walked home. Her conversation with Ashley didn't help with the numerous doubts already in her mind. When she grew closer to the housing development, she could see Matt's police car parked near the curb in front of Sebastian's home.
Panic ran through her, and she picked up her pace and followed Sebastian's voice coming from the back patio. Fearing the worst, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Matt and Sebastian sitting on the patio chairs. Matt looked up and smiled. "Hey, Jane."
"Hi. I saw your car and thought maybe something was wrong."
He shook his head. "No, there's nothing wrong. Just a friendly chat. Trying to get to know your neighbor a little better."
Jane glanced at Sebastian. He seemed less than amused by the so-called friendly chat.
"I'm glad you're here," Matt said to Jane. "I'm having an intimate dinner affair at my home tomorrow. It's sort of a housewarming party now that I'm completely moved in. Please say you'll be there."
Matt had been transitioning into the foreclosed house for the past few months, and she was anxious to see it. Jane nodded. "Sure."
Then Matt turned to Sebastian. "I would love for you to join us." Jane noted how Matt had said the word us like it implied they were a couple.
Sebastian smiled, but the smile didn't touch his eyes. "Wouldn't miss it," he
said, glancing at Jane.
Jane fidgeted, uncomfortably. The two men in her life in the same room for a few hours would be even more awkward than a chat on the back patio, and she dreaded the idea of it.
Matt stood. "I can pick you up around four, Jane."
Sebastian cut in quickly by saying, "I could bring Jane since we will both be going."
Matt looked to Jane. "Would that be all right?"
She hesitated because she had a feeling Matt wanted her to say no, but she found herself saying, "Yes."
"All right. Well, I will see you two tomorrow evening then. Say around five o'clock." Matt gave Jane one last look before he walked towards his police car.
When his car pulled away, Sebastian asked, "Would you like a glass of wine?"
Jane nodded. After that tension-filled conversation, she needed a drink; and she couldn't turn down his extremely expensive and vintage wine.
A few minutes later, Sebastian returned from the kitchen with two glasses of wine. Jane took one glass and took a sip. It tasted divine. "You are a connoisseur when it comes to wine," she said.
Sebastian took a seat and motioned for her to sit, which she did. "Nah," he said. "I just know the older it is, the better it is." He gave her a wink.
Jane laughed. "Well, that is a great technique to use."
"I think so."
They chatted until the sun began to set. Reluctantly, Jane said, "I guess I should go home."
He stood from his chair. "I'll see you tomorrow evening, Jane."
She smiled. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
* * *
Sebastian watched Jane walk across the lawn to her house. Once she was safely inside, he scooped up the wine glasses and walked into his kitchen. The little meeting with Matt had left a bitter taste in his mouth. Matt had asked way too many questions, and the chat seemed more like an interrogation.
He set one of the glasses down and held the other up near his face. He stared at the lipstick marks on the side of Jane's glass. He closed his eyes as he could remember the way her lips had tasted those many years ago. He so desperately wanted to tell her the truth, to tell her…everything.
His hand tightened around the glass as he thought about the dinner party invitation to Matt's house. Sebastian had been reading his mind, and Matt had not expected nor wanted Sebastian to say yes to the invitation. But knowing Matt's true intent, there was no way he wouldn't have accepted the invite. Matt was planning a surprise for Jane — a surprise Sebastian didn't know if she would like.
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