ROMANCE: Paranormal Romance: The Valley (Book One) (Fun, Sexy, Mature Young Adult Vampire Shape Shifter Romance)

by Charlotte Swanpol

  “You look gorgeous this morning,” he murmured, kissing her neck. “Who’d you get all gussied up for?”

  “Who do you think?” she laughed. “You, of course! Ever since you put this ring on my finger, I’ve been feeling so beautiful, and I decided I wanted to look it, too!”

  “You always look beautiful, but I’m glad you feel like it, at last!”

  She spun to kiss him. “I was thinking, maybe we could go for lunch today! There’s a great sushi place just around the corner from the hospital.”

  “Isn’t that your lunch sitting on the counter?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” she smiled. “But it can wait until tomorrow if I’ve got a hot lunch date today.”

  “I’d better not, babe,” he confessed. “I’ve got three back-to-back lectures today and have that essay due on Thursday. But maybe next week?”

  Disheartened, she barely smiled when he kissed the tip of her nose. He strode into the bathroom as she gathered her knapsack and her leftover lunch, and with her hand on the doorknob, she paused.

  “Okay, bye! Have a great day!” she called.

  A muffled, “You, too!” was the reply.

  I refuse to let him kill my buzz, she thought triumphantly, and she marched to the bus stop.

  ***

  In what she was sure was the first time in history, Jade was the first to arrive that morning. Not even the sun had beaten her that day, adopting her usual lethargy. Unsure of what else to do, she went about the office, turning on the lights and booting up the computers. After starting the fax machine, she took her place at the desk to log into the databases. With twelve minutes to spare before the clinic opened, she really hoped someone else would show up soon, even Alexa; as confident as she was in her abilities, she was definitely not ready to go it alone on her second day.

  Two minutes before the doors opened, Alexa sauntered in, a Frappuccino in both hands, and plopped down into her chair.

  “Here,” she muttered, thrusting one of the frozen drinks at Jade. “Susan went into early labor this morning, so it’s just you and – OH MY GOD!”

  Alexa all but spat out her Frappuccino as she snatched up Jade’s hand to inspect the ring.

  “You got engaged?! When? OH MY GOD!!”

  The girl hit decibels Jade didn’t even know existed. Despite herself, a smug smile crept to her lips.

  “Yeah, Lewis proposed to me last night after work.”

  “Oh my god, no way! How did he do it?”

  So Jade told her the story of how Lewis asked her to marry him. She spared the details of what happened immediately after, and skipped to the midnight smorgasbord of chicken parmesan.

  “And I brought the rest for lunch today,” she finished.

  “Wow, he sounds amazing! How long have you two been together?” Alexa gushed.

  “Three years,” Jade answered, blushing. The more she thought about it, the further she realized that she and Lewis had been together for quite some time. Sure, three years didn’t seem like a whole lot in the grand scheme of things, but the amount of stuff they’d been through in that three years made it feel like a lifetime.

  A slow trickle of patients ended their idle chatter, the first few having had appointments, but the waiting room soon filled with walk-ins and Jade struggled to keep up. The morning of her second day flew by. It was clear that Alexa’s warm welcome ended with that morning’s Frappuccino when she announced that she was hungry, and was taking her lunch break. Jade didn’t mind, however, since she had brought her lunch with her. She sat at the desk, eating and working, and idly playing solitaire when a low ahem caught her attention.

  When she looked up, she was caught by such surprise that a rogue linguine noodle escaped her fork and landed on her maroon scrub top. Considering her from above an outstretched napkin was none other than Dr. Owen Azevedo.

  “Oh my god,” she stammered, wiping the her top clean of marinara – at least, on maroon, it wouldn’t stain too badly.

  “If it makes you feel any better, it’s barely noticeable,” he consoled. “I’m Doctor Azevedo.”

  She blushed, taking his offered hand and shaking it.

  “Jade Evans,” she replied. “It’s nice to meet you. I --”

  What was she going to say? I’m sorry for staring at you yesterday, Dr. Owen. I’m sorry you caught me creeping on you, Dr. Owen. I’m sorry I thought about you while I made love to my fiancé, Dr. Owen. No, she thought. I’m not sorry about that.

  “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable, yesterday,” she began. “I didn’t mean to stare.”

  His eyebrows raised in surprise, a smirk brushed his gorgeous lips.

  “Not at all, Miss Evans. If anything, I’m flattered.”

  With the color in her cheeks, a silence rose, and Jade scrambled for something to say. Anything to say.

  “Alexa tells me you’re a terrific surgeon; you must have worked very hard to become so renowned so young.” Nailed it.

  A wide, bright smile spread across his face and crinkled his eyes. Jade thought she might combust.

  “I did work very hard, yes. But hard work pays off. Susan tells me you’re a nursing student. That is very admirable; a demanding profession, as well.”

  Jade nodded, taking a deep breath. “I was studying nursing, yes, before my mom got sick. Now I’m just taking a few distance courses to slowly chip away at my degree.”

  “I’m very sorry to hear that your mom is ill,” Dr. Azevedo offered. “I wish her a speedy recovery.”

  “I appreciate the sentiment, but she died six months ago.” Jade bit her cheek, and peered up at him.

  His eyes softened, studying her. Locked on hers, his glorious emeralds swam as another silence approached crescendo.

  “Surprise!” came an announcement from behind Owen. Dr. Azevedo.

  Lewis approached the reception desk, a brown paper bag clutched in his hand.

  “I felt bad about how things ended this morning, so I thought I’d swing by and eat my lunch with you --” he stopped when he got to the desk.

  Standing right next to Owen, Lewis really did pale in comparison. Not as much in physical looks, Lewis was definitely an attractive man, if not so ruggedly handsome as Owen, but quite literally; next to the glow of Dr. Azevedo’s tan, Lewis could have been a ghost.

  The light of recognition lit a fire in Lewis’ eyes as he looked at the tall, handsome doctor he was certain was the cause of the fight the night before.

  “Hi, I’m Lewis,” he forced through a tight smile. “Jade’s fiancé.”

  As they shook hands, both men turned to look at her, one in surprise, and the other with a victorious smirk. Unconsciously, she fingered her ring, rotating it with her thumb. She smiled up at them, nodding.

  “Yes, Lewis proposed to me last night, after work,” Jade started.

  “And she said ‘Yes!’” Lewis finished, striding around the desk to plant a big, wet kiss on his fiancée.

  “Honey, you can’t be back here,” Jade cautioned.

  “It’s all right,” Alexa beamed. “I’m back from lunch, so you’re free to go canoodle in the lunch room!”

  She sat daintily on her office chair, adjusting her scrubs slightly and gazed up at Owen.

  “Good afternoon, Dr. Azevedo,” she crooned, batting her eyes.

  “Good afternoon, Alexa,” he returned. “Well, I’d better be getting back to the O.R. It was nice to meet you, Jade.”

  And as the handsome doctor strode away, Lewis pulled Jade up from her chair, and threw his arm around her.

  “That was fun. Shall we go eat lunch?”

  Owen

  Owen checked himself as he marched to the change room. He couldn’t believe how angry he was; he credited his sensibility to his exhaustion. He had been correct in thinking that Karla would stay out all night; at least she’d had the decency to go home and change her clothes before coming to pick up the kids. He had also been correct in thinking that Marcelo and Marta would wake early and bring with them the st
art to Owen’s day.

  Waking up half an hour earlier than normal wasn’t the issue. On any given morning, he’d get up and be out the door for his run before the sun had begun its lazy ascent; waking up half an hour earlier to a screaming four-year-old and wailing eight-month-old – that was out of his realm of experience. In his carefully perfected routine, he would wake, stretch, run, and return, all without so much as speaking a syllable. This morning, he had been dragged into not just speaking, but placating a screeching infant who had been antagonized by her brother. Throw in the fact that Karla had been late picking them up, causing him to miss his morning run; he was very out of sorts, indeed.

  But his morning had picked up when he’d taken a quick lunch break between coronary angioplasties and, on a whim, decided to introduce himself to the woman that had consumed his dreams. On any other day, he wouldn’t have been so inclined to do so, but as he reminded himself, this was no ordinary day. And then that guy.

  Owen had barely had any time to speak to Miss Evans – Jade – to get to know her before that Lewis guy showed up. Her fiancé. He must have a serious inferiority complex to speak the way he did; to loom over her like her owner. And that kiss! Owen stopped himself from making a face.

  How could she agree to marry a guy like that? he pondered. I just met him, and already I can tell he’s an insecure, possessive asshole. She is so sweet; she deserves someone who will treat her properly. Someone like –

  “Like who, you?” he asked, aloud. He shook his head; he was being ridiculous. He was just overtired, that’s all.

  But when he climbed into the shower, he found his mind wandering again. The kids had woken him from such a pleasant dream that Owen was actually angry with Marcelo, however briefly. She’d been sitting on a wrought iron chair in a sunny, cobblestone square, her hair spilling down her shoulders in shimmering waves. The sundress she wore hugged all the right places, flattered her curves; she smiled up at him beneath big, dark sunglasses. All he could see was her, but he knew they were in Europe. Portugal. He’d always wanted to go. He reached his right arm forward, he wanted to touch her, and she raised her left to meet it. She wore a ring in the dream though, in retrospect, it was much grander than the one she wore in real life.

  A wave of sadness washed over him like the shower of water he stood beneath. His dream, and his feelings, confused him. It had to be the mystery of it, of her. He noticed his erection and willed it to subside. Not this, again.

  He dried himself off and dressed in fresh scrubs, swimming in thoughts. As he walked through the doors to the operating room, two things were on his mind: the upcoming osteotomy, and the pretty, tragic smile of one Jade Evans.

  ***

  In the following months, Owen found himself feeling lost a good deal of the time; he was doing things out of character for him. He’d wake up and go through his normal routine, but stop and get a coffee on the way, delaying his arrival ever so slightly, and happen to run into Jade as they both walked through the hospital doors.

  He found himself leaving the hospital for lunch more frequently, casually glancing at the reception desk to catch a glimpse of two grey-blue eyes above a quiet smile.

  He found himself bumping into her in the copy room, exchanging quick sentences before carrying on with their day.

  He found himself disappointed if he went the whole day without seeing her.

  Until one day in December, he had been called in for an emergency heart transplantation surgery, wrought with complications. He’d walked out of the operating room in a daze, took his shower, and headed straight to the cafeteria. He didn’t even know what time it was.

  After going through the queue and filling his tray, he turned to see a familiar face smiling and waving him over to join her. He felt a flutter in his stomach as he walked to her table.

  “Hey stranger,” she laughed, covering her mouth to hide the meatloaf inside. “I’ve been seeing a lot of you lately. How are you?”

  He sat across from her, setting his tray on the table, and looked around.

  “I’ve been doing really well. Surgery today was very stressful. How come you’re eating by yourself?”

  “Oh, I don’t mind eating alone. It gives me to time to sift through bridal magazines.” She gestured to the pile beside her. “Why was surgery so stressful?”

  Ignoring the tightness in his chest at the sight of the magazines, he answered.

  “Well, I was called in early for an emergency procedure – heart transplant – and the patient had already received a new heart three weeks ago, but his body had begun to reject it. By some miracle, we found a new donor, and I successfully did the transplant, but he slipped into a coma immediately afterward. It’s a waiting game, now,” he sighed. Suddenly, he was ravenous.

  He dove into his lasagna and Caesar salad, devouring them in what felt like seconds. He peered up at Jade above a wedge of garlic bread, abashed, but she just smiled.

  They continued talking about all sorts of things. Music, art, history, medicine; he was astounded at the ease with which he spoke to her. Surprised at how funny she was, and by how much he enjoyed her hearty laugh. His cheeks hadn’t hurt so much from laughing in a very long time.

  She talked about Lewis, and the wedding, and he did his best to screw on his smile; to feign interest, and hide an overwhelming wave of jealousy. The image of her, sitting in a sundress, floated in his memory.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked. “You look like you’re lost in a dream or something.”

  He smiled and answered, “Yes, I’m fine. Just remembered something I have to do.”

  “Well, what is it? Share it with the class!” she giggled.

  “Doctor Azevedo?” a heavy male nurse interjected. “Sorry to disturb you, but we need you in the O.R. There’s another emergency – we’ve been paging you --”

  “Oh, Alvin, I’m so sorry! I didn’t hear it,” Owen exclaimed, astonished. “Jade --”

  “No, no, go! Go save lives! I should be getting back, anyway – Alexa is going to be furious I took such a long lunch.”

  As he was rushed away to the operating room, a pang of regret hit him in the gut; he didn’t want to leave. Cold realization stabbed through him like an icicle, and he resolved steal a glance. When he turned, he found her staring back, smiling, but something lay hiding behind her contented grin. Something clouded her stormy blue eyes, and he needed to know what it was. It took everything he had to keep walking.

  Jade

  Jade collapsed into her chair, her mind swimming in the warm tide that was her lunch hour. It felt so good to be engulfed in it; she wanted to stay there forever, though she knew it threatened to drag her out to sea. To very treacherous waters.

  She’d seen him the moment he wandered into the cafeteria, eyes focused on some distant thought. How could she not notice him? Everyone and their dead grandmother noticed him. She had been so nervous to wave him down, but they’d been interacting much more frequently the last few months, building a rapport – she had been nervous, yes, but she knew she’d regret it until her dying day if she didn’t.

  What was surprising to her, though, was how well they got along. Normally men as handsome as him were jerks that knew how attractive they were. He seemed somewhere between humble and confident, and a little uncertain. Talking to him was like unwrapping the biggest present under the Christmas tree; she felt like the luckiest girl in the lunchroom. She knew all eyes were on them, knew all eyes would see her ring and judge, but she didn’t care. She’d felt more alive in that sixty-four minutes than she had since she’d gotten engaged.

  Jade frowned at the thought. Since the day they’d gotten engaged, since the day he met Dr. Azevedo especially, Lewis had been – different. He’d become much more possessive than ever before, and much more easily agitated. He’d start fights over nothing, and once she was riled up, would brush them off and tell her she was overreacting. Then, when she had finally cooled down and they’d moved on to the making-up, he’d be so rough with
her she could barely enjoy it. Not that it was all bad; she enjoyed the spanking and the scratching, but sometimes he’d just take it a smidgen too far.

  He seemed distant, and disinterested – in her, and the wedding. Any time she spoke to him about plans or arrangements, he’d suddenly had an early morning the next day, or would suddenly remember a paper he had that was due. She’d tried to stifle her suspicions, convinced he was avoiding her. He wouldn’t have proposed if he didn’t love her; she reminded herself of the roses and the candles, and the chicken parmesan.

  One night she started to confront him about it, asked him what was wrong, and he played it off as though he had just been tired. That he was stressed out about school. After that, everything seemed normal – he even made love to her like before – but the next morning, it was back to the silent treatment.

  So when she tried to feel guilty about her unbelievable lunch, she couldn’t. It was innocent. Nothing happened beyond her getting to know her coworker better.

  “That was quite the lengthy lunch,” Alexa smiled. “Was it – stimulating?”

  “So you know I was sitting with Dr. Azevedo, then,” Jade said.

  “Oh my god, yes, how was it?” she squealed. “What did you talk about?”

  “We talked about all kinds of things,” she laughed. “So, wait, you’re not mad?”

  “Jealous, yes. Mad, no,” Alexa grinned.

  So Jade told her everything. Every syllable uttered, every nuance and every lilt. She was adamant about leaving out how any of this made her feel. By the end, Alexa was swooning.

  “So you’re going to the Christmas party tomorrow, right?” Alexa demanded. “It’s only the most amazing party of the year! Black-tie and everything!”

  “I was thinking about it, but I don’t know if Lewis would want to come,” Jade sighed.

  “Have you even asked him?” Alexa asked. She made a good point.

  “No, I guess I just assumed he wouldn’t want to go. He’s been acting really strangely the last couple of months.” She frowned again. I guess it couldn’t hurt to ask.