Cursed (Book 1, The Watchers; Young Adult Paranormal Romance)

by S. J. West

“But they’re not why I’m here today,” he continued, easily capturing me with his eyes. “I’m here to learn more about you and hopefully tell you a little about me so you feel comfortable enough to go out on a proper date.”

  It was then I realized I hadn’t grabbed anything to eat for lunch. I dug around in my small shoulder bag to find some change for the vending machine.

  “What are you doing?” Brand asked watching me with an eyebrow lifted, clearly curious about my scrounging for coins.

  “I totally forgot to grab something to eat on the way in.”

  Brand reached over and quieted my hands. “Do you really think I would ask you to lunch and not provide for you?”

  “Oh,” I said slightly confused, looking at the empty table. “Did you want to go back in and get something?”

  “No, that won’t be necessary,” Brand made a hand motion to someone behind me.

  Apparently the other couple on the balcony was situated there for a reason. The man pulled out a picnic basket from underneath their table while the woman unfolded a table cloth and produced two wine glasses and a bottle of sparkling apple cider from a cooler. In a matter of moments, we had a table set for two with roasted chicken, pesto pasta, salad and buttered French bread. There was even a small floral arrangement of daisies and pink roses placed in the center of it all.

  “Thank you, Rose Marie and Carl,” Brand told the couple. “Now if you wouldn’t mind standing by the door to ensure our privacy. I would appreciate it.”

  “Of course, Mr. Cole,” Rose Marie replied with a slight bow of her head in Brand’s direction. Before she left the table side, I saw her shoot me a glance filled with loathing which made me instantly nervous. What had I done to deserve such a look from a total stranger? Regardless of what her feelings were towards me, she and the man did exactly as Brand asked.

  “Do they work for you?” I whispered.

  “Yes,” he whispered back, a grin playing at the corners of his mouth. “Why are we whispering about it? I think they know this already.”

  I couldn’t help but smile sheepishly at him. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t expect this,” I said looking down at the table. “Are you rich or something?”

  “Yes, filthy. Does that bother you?”

  “No,” I said hesitantly.

  “You don’t sound so sure,” he gently prodded.

  “It’s just that you’re the first rich person I’ve ever met.”

  He smiled at me like I’d said something funny and I couldn’t help but smile back.

  “I hope my having money isn’t going to be a negative against me.”

  “Rich, poor. It really doesn’t matter to me.”

  He looked at me for a moment as if contemplating my answer, “No, I guess it doesn’t.”

  “You sound surprised by that.”

  He leaned back in his seat and looked at me for a moment before responding. “Most girls like to know a guy can afford to take them out and buy them things. It’s just rare to find someone who truly doesn’t care one way or the other.”

  “Oh, I don’t think I’m that unusual. I’ve known a lot of girls who don’t care about how much money a guy has.”

  “Some women may say that and want to mean it, but deep down most of them want the reassurance of being provided for.”

  “And how would you know that?” I asked, thinking I was the expert at the table on how other women thought.

  “I guess you could say I have a built in lie detector,” he grinned and tapped his head with an index finger. “I always know if someone is telling me a lie or the truth.”

  “Really?” I asked thinking he was teasing me. “And it’s never failed?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Well, I don’t usually lie anyway. I’m terrible at it. My mom says you can read what I’m thinking just by my facial expressions.”

  “What does your mother do for a living?”

  “Varies,” I shrugged. “She’s never been someone to stay at one job very long. She’s worked in retail mostly but she’s also taught some Yoga classes at the Y, cleaned houses, things like that. What about you? What do your parents do?”

  “They’re dead.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry.” I lowered my eyes to the plate in front of me hoping I hadn’t inadvertently ruined our first lunch together.

  “It’s nothing for you to be sorry about,” he reassured. “It’s just something that happened. Why don’t you try the chicken? Rose Marie is a wonderful cook.”

  While we ate our lunch, I learned Brand had lived all over the world in his short life.

  “Why on earth would you settle down in Lakewood?” I asked. It was unimaginable to me why someone who had lived in Paris and London would want to stay in a small inconsequential town like Lakewood.

  Brand shrugged. “I was passing through and thought it seemed like a nice place to live.”

  I got the feeling he wasn’t telling the whole truth but I didn’t know him well enough to call him out on it.

  “So you just stayed and decided to go to college here?”

  “Yes. I bought a house on Lake Serenity.”

  “You bought a house?”

  Was he serious? Just how much money did he have? I knew the lake houses started at half a million dollars, easy.

  “I’d love for you to see it one day, when you’re more comfortable being alone with me.” He smiled. How could someone have a smile like that? Charming, disarming, totally irresistible.

  “Will you be in physics lab tonight?” I asked him.

  Our first physics lab started at 5pm and lasted until we got through with our work. At first I wasn’t completely thrilled with the idea of having a night lab, but now that I knew it would present another opportunity to see Brand, I wasn’t complaining at all.

  “Yes. Do you have a lab partner yet?”

  My heart sank a little. Even though I would rather have Brand as my partner, I knew I had already promised Michelle I would be hers.

  “Michelle and I are supposed to be partners.”

  “Oh,” there was a definite note of disappointment in his voice. “I was hoping to get the smartest girl in class all to myself.”

  “You give me a lot of credit for being smart. For all you know, I could be a complete idiot.”

  He chuckled softly at my self-defacing statement, looking at me with his beautiful laughing eyes. “I seriously doubt it. I’m usually right about things.”

  “Well, it must be nice to know everything,” I teased.

  Normally, I would have been more sarcastic in my statement but he seemed so sincere. I didn’t want to tease him too hard. I didn’t know him well enough to be my snarky self around him yet.

  “It’s just as well,” he sighed in resignation over his loss. “If you were my partner I’m not sure how much work we would actually get done.”

  How could he do that? Just say something and make me feel like I was melting inside. And it wasn’t just the accent, though that didn’t help matters much. The only other person who had ever affected me like this was Will.

  Will. Darn it, why did his name have to enter my head at just that moment? Hadn’t I pined and cried over him enough the last couple of years? It was obvious he was never going to have the same feelings for me that I had for him. I needed to move on and Brand seemed to be a willing candidate to help me repair my broken heart and pride.

  “Do you have a class next?”

  His question brought me out of my reverie. I glanced at my watch and noticed I was ten minute late getting to work in Dr. Barry’s office and the building was completely on the other side of campus.

  “No, in fact I’m late for work.” I grabbed my books and purse ready to make a hasty departure.

  “Let me drive you over there.” Brand motioned to Rose Marie and Carl still standing guard by the door. “Would you mind cleaning this up for me? I appreciate you both coming out here for this.”

  “No problem at all, Mr. Cole,” Rose Marie said, making a poi
nt to not look at me. “Glad we could help.”

  Brand placed his hand on my elbow again and led me in the direction of his car. It was then I realized Brand was indeed filthy rich.

  His car was a brand new silver Porsche 911 Carrera Cabroilet convertible. It was the most beautiful car I had ever seen in my life. The top was down and I could see the sumptuous tan Italian leather interior seducing me inside to take a seat. It was a far cry from the ten year old Toyota Corolla I had purchased just before coming to college. I’d used some of the money my mom gave me and made up the difference with money I had saved since I was sixteen working in a convenience store.

  Brand opened the car door for me and when I sat in the passenger seat I knew heaven had to exist somewhere. The seat seemed to meld with my body enveloping me in complete comfort.

  Luckily for me, there wasn’t a lot of traffic on the university streets that afternoon. It only took us a few minutes to reach the science building.

  Without even asking if I wanted him to, Brand got out of the car and escorted me to Dr. Barry’s office.

  “Well, I don’t want to make you any later than you already are,” he said when we stood outside her office door.

  Before I knew it he leaned down and kissed me on the forehead.

  “I’ll see you tonight, Lilly,” he promised, leaving before I was able to collect my senses and make a reply.

  It may have just been a kiss on the forehead, but it was like a match lighting every nerve in my body on fire. I tingled in places I didn’t even realize had nerve endings. Forcing myself to breath again, I walked into Dr. Barry’s office determined to find a way to make it until lab that evening.

  Chapter 2

  I didn’t get off work until 4pm so I had to dash back to the apartment to grab a bite to eat before lab. As I stood in front of the microwave waiting on my supper to cook, Tara walked in and pounced.

  “Girl, I think every female on this campus hates you,” she declared, throwing her backpack onto the futon my mother bought us for our apartment.

  “Why?” I asked glancing at her over my shoulder, waiting for my bowl of raviolis to finish heating up.

  “Why do you think? You have the most gorgeous guy in town panting after you like a dog who’s been given his first rib-eye steak.”

  “You’re over exaggerating. It’s not like that.” I tried to brush what she said off but deep down I secretly hoped she was right.

  “Honey, I was there in the Common’s today. That boy sat at that table ignorin’ all the talk around him, even though most of it was to get his attention. His eyes were on the door just waitin’ for you to come in. You’ve got that man hook, line and sinker.”

  “I didn’t even see you in there. If I had I would have introduced you to him.” I grabbed my bowl of ravioli’s out of the microwave and a bottle of water from the fridge before joining Tara on the futon. “What did you think of him?”

  “H-O-T, hot, girl! I thought Will was the cutest guy we knew, but Brand puts him to shame.”

  I knew what Tara was trying to do. She was trying to convince me that I needed to leave Will in my past and look to Brand for my future. It was the same thing I had been thinking that afternoon. But, she and I both knew as far as looks went, Will and Brand were pretty comparable. Yet, Brand did seem to have a stronger effect than Will on the females around him for some reason.

  I told Tara about our specially prepared private lunch, the car he drove and where his house was.

  “As sweet as honey and rich too?” She asked feigning jealousy. “Girl, if you don’t go out with this guy, I might just have to grab him for myself.”

  Physics lab went fairly smoothly. All we had to do was determine the density of some objects the teacher assistant gave us. I felt really sorry for Michelle though. It seemed like every time Brand turned around to ask us how things were going, she would freeze like a deer caught in headlights on a foggy country road. To say she had an obvious crush on Brand was the understatement of the year. The poor girl could barely breathe when he looked in her general vicinity.

  About an hour later we were through with the lab assignment. Brand asked me if I wanted to go get some frozen yogurt from the TCBY station in the Commons. I accepted figuring it was a pretty safe public place to go with him. Odds were we wouldn’t be the only ones there.

  As we walked out of class, he took hold of my hand so naturally you wouldn’t have known it was for the first time. His hand was a lot bigger than mine but the gentle way he laced our fingers together made me feel cared for, almost treasured. We walked hand in hand to where his car was parked. The convertible top was up this time, and I noticed it was jet black. It didn’t take long before we were parked by the Commons building. When we got to the TCBY counter, I ordered a couple of scoops of rocky road and Brand got a waffle cone with raspberry cheesecake. We sat down at the closest table available.

  Just as we sat down, another couple walked up to the counter to place an order. I didn’t see who it was since my back was to them, but I could hear the girl telling the server what she wanted and recognized the voice as belonging to Nora.

  “I’ll have a scoop of vanilla. What do you want, Will? Remember it’s my treat so order anything you want!”

  Involuntarily, my head snapped towards the counter.

  And there he was. After almost two years of purposely avoiding him, Will Kirkpatrick stood only a few feet away from me.

  “I’ll just have a scoop of rocky road.” He told the guy behind the counter.

  As if feeling my eyes on him, Will turned his head and looked directly at me.

  The hostility in the depths of his light blue eyes shocked me and tore at the stitches holding my broken heart together. I’d never seen him look so mad before. He turned back to the counter without saying a word or acknowledging my existence any further.

  “Do you know him?” Brand asked, obviously seeing the exchange.

  I looked back at Brand and tried to steady my breathing before answering. “Yes, we grew up together, but I haven’t seen him in a long time.”

  “I’d stay away from him if I were you,” Brand suggested roughly.

  His hostile tone took me completely by surprise.

  “Why would you say that? I mean Will’s no angel but he’s not dangerous either. I’ve known him all my life.”

  “He’s not who he appears to be,” Brand said keeping a watchful eye on Will and Nora as they made their way to a table on the other side of the room from us.

  “There’s no way you can make a snap judgment about him like that. You don’t even know him. You just moved here.”

  “I know his type,” Brand eyed Will with undisguised distrust. “He might pretend to be your friend, but he’ll stab you in the back the first time you come between him and what he really wants.”

  I don’t know why, but my temper flared in Will’s defense. Yes, he had been a complete jerk the past couple of years but that didn’t wipe away the familial bond we’d had since we were children and nobody talked badly about my family in front of me. How dare Brand judge someone he didn’t even know that well!

  “I’m sorry,” Brand said. Obviously my thoughts were written all over my face again. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

  I took a deep breath before trying to make a reply. “Listen, Will and I haven’t spoken much in the last couple of years so you don’t have to worry about him hurting me. I basically don’t exist in his world anymore.”

  Brand placed his free hand on top of mine. “Then he’s more of a fool than I thought. There’s absolutely no possibility I could ever not know you were in my world.”

  He smiled that disarming smile at me again. Good Lord, how was I supposed to stay mad at him while I was being assaulted with that?

  Just then I heard Nora laugh in the background. I looked over at their table and saw Nora leaned in towards Will with a paper napkin in her hand dabbing at a spot of ice cream on the corner of his mout
h. I quickly looked away.

  “Are they bothering you?” Brand asked.

  “It’s nothing,” I said with a shake of my head, trying my best to block out Nora’s incessant laughter by staring at my ice cream.

  Being so close to Will again had shocked me more than I thought it would. I knew I would have to endure his presence on campus, but I had hoped it would be a while before I was forced to be in the same room with him.

  “Would you like to leave?” Brand offered.

  I looked up from my ice cream and saw how worried Brand was over my welfare. “Would you mind if we did?”

  Without another word he took my hand, escorting me out of the Commons building and back to his car.

  Brand had just put the key in the ignition when he turned to me and asked, “Could I ask you a favor?”

  “Well, I guess it depends on what you want,” I said, trying to conceal my suspicion of his question.

  “There’s a book store close by that I’ve been dying to go to, but I hate going to places like that alone. Would you mind going with me?”

  “Now?”

  “Only if you don’t have anything better to do. It’s not a date.” He grinned at me and I completely lost track of why I should say no.

  “I can only stay for a little while. I really need to read the chapter Dr. Floyd assigned before class tomorrow.”

  The bookstore ended up being only a few minutes away. It was located a couple of streets south of campus.

  Apparently, someone had remodeled an old Victorian home into a bookstore/coffee shop. Brand took my hand like we had been dating forever and used to such contact as we walked through the stained glass front door.

  I’ve always loved the smell of bookstores, especially ones which sell coffee too. The mixed aroma’s of coffee and bound books always makes me feel right at home for some reason. There’s nothing like it in the world. Well, as far as my world extended anyway, which I had to admit wasn’t far. The most traveling I’d ever done was a couple of trips to Biloxi. I definitely wasn’t the world traveler Brand was.

  Brand let go of my hand so we could browse books of our own interest. I went directly to the sales rack to see what was there. Utha Mae had taught me from a young age you should never buy anything unless it’s on sale.