Ashley gasped and smiled a goofy grin. "I knew you two had chemistry the first day he walked in here. It was only a matter of time until you fell under his spell."
Jane chuckled. She did feel like she fell under some sort of spell with Sebastian. She was completely smitten.
"You have been so happy since he came into town. I was really starting to worry about you." She stared at the flowers. "They are gorgeous."
Jane beamed. "I know."
A service bell on the café side rang, and Ashley said, "I'll get it."
Jane smiled and stared at the card. Sebastian was thinking of her. Well, she could not stop thinking about him.
* * *
Jane stepped on Sebastian's porch and knocked on the door. She couldn't wait to see him and thank him for the beautiful flowers, which were now on her dining room table.
A few moments later, he opened the door. "Hey," he said, casually.
"Hi."
"Something up?" he asked.
Jane cocked a brow. He appeared nervous and standoffish — the complete opposite of how he had been just hours prior. "I got the roses." When he didn't say anything, she said, "Thank you."
"You're welcome," he muttered.
She could see his entire body tense as a female voice yelled, "Who is it?"
"My neighbor," he called back quickly.
Jane's eyes darted up to meet his as her heart sank. Just his neighbor, she thought. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you had company." She felt sick in her stomach. They had just slept together the night before and already he had another girl in his house.
"That's my sister Elizabeth. She's visiting me for a few days."
Jane felt herself instantly relax. "Oh. Okay." She caught a glimpse of a tall, leggy blonde walking down the stairs and into the kitchen. Jane glanced up at Sebastian's dark hair. They certainly didn't look like brother and sister, and she couldn't understand why he wouldn't introduce her to Elizabeth.
"Is there anything else you need?" Sebastian asked, anxiously.
Jane sensed that he was trying to get rid of her. "No. I'll see you around," she said before turning on her heel and leaving.
She heard the door close as she descended the porch steps. Tears pooled in her eyes and blurred her vision. Sebastian was exactly the kind of guy she feared he was. She felt completely used.
Jane ran to her house and closed the door. The girl could have been his sister, she thought. But that didn't excuse the manner in which he talked to her and dismissed her as if he didn't want to be bothered especially after they had slept together. Jane shook her head to clear her thoughts. She refused to spend one more second worrying about Sebastian or his so-called sister. Ashley was right — men are pigs.
A few seconds later, Matt's car pulled into the driveway. She quickly dashed the tears away from her eyes before she opened the door. Matt stepped out of his vehicle. "Jane, are you busy?" he asked.
She shook her head. Matt looked like he had a lot on his mind.
"Good," he said. He retrieved a stack of papers from the passenger's seat and walked onto the porch. "I have something I want to show you."
Jane stepped aside and followed him into the kitchen. Matt splayed out papers on the counter. "What is all of this?" she asked.
"When I was talking to your neighbor the other day, he acted really strange when I tried to get information out of him. So I did a little digging."
Jane sighed. "Matt, you didn't have to do that."
He looked at her with a serious look. "Yes. I did. I worry about who you are living next to." He pointed to the papers. "He paid cash for the house next door. I called the moving company, and they said they picked his stuff up from a storage unit. So who knows where he lived before then." He looked up at her. "He pays for everything he owns in cash so that he doesn't leave a paper trail."
Jane leafed through the pages. "It's as if he doesn't exist," she said aloud.
"Exactly."
"But that doesn't mean he's a criminal or anything."
"No," Matt said, "but it doesn't mean he's not either." He ran a hand through his hair. "I couldn't find a single record in the database of a Sebastian Alexander matching his description. He's good at laying low. I know that for a fact."
Jane frowned. Maybe Matt was right. Maybe Sebastian was hiding something.
CHAPTER 28
AFTER WORK, JANE walked home. It was a hot day and unseasonably warm for April. She was starting to sweat by the time she reached the mailbox, and she vowed to dress cooler for the rest of the week.
As she opened the mailbox, she glanced over at Sebastian's house. She hadn't seen or talked to him for a few days, and her anger toward him had been slowly bubbling to the surface. She grabbed the mail from the box and clenched it in her hands. He had used her, and she was dead set on giving him a piece of her mind. With all of the courage she could muster, she started across the yard.
Jane heard voices coming from his back patio, so she ventured towards them. Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks. The tall blonde that Sebastian had claimed was his sister climbed out of the swimming pool. The water glistened off of her perfect pale skin that was only covered by a tiny black bikini. Elizabeth smiled and walked over to Sebastian, who was watching her. She wrapped her wet arms around him and brought his face to hers for a long and passionate kiss.
Jane felt like her heart was breaking into a million pieces. Quickly and quietly, she made her way back to her house. Once inside, she huddled over the sink as the tears slowly trickled down her face. Sebastian had lied to her. Elizabeth wasn't his sister. And if he lied about that, then what else was he lying about?
* * *
Sebastian watched Elizabeth swimming in the pool. His blood boiled at the thought that she had found him again. He glanced at his watch. Jane was due home any minute. Then he glared at Elizabeth. "I don't want Jane seeing you here. If you're here all the time, she will start to get suspicious," he hissed.
Elizabeth continued her swim, ignoring him. After a few more laps, she swam to the recessed stairs and slowly climbed out of the water. The bikini barely held her breasts, and Sebastian quickly looked away.
"What's wrong, brother?" she asked sarcastically with a laugh. "I can't believe you told her I was your sister," she said with a wicked grin.
Sebastian glared at her. "What was I supposed to tell her?"
"The truth," she whispered as she walked over to him. She locked her arms around his back and drew him in for a deep kiss.
Elizabeth was older and stronger, and it took a while before Sebastian could finally struggle out of her grasp and push her away.
He heard the door to Jane's house shut. A panicked feeling crept over him. Did Jane see us? he thought, panicked.
Reading his mind, Elizabeth said, "Who cares if she did?"
He threw his hands up in the air, completely infuriated. "I care!" he yelled.
Elizabeth put her finger to his lips. "Hush! You don't want to draw more attention to us, do you?"
Sebastian turned away from her and walked into the house. "Don't you have any of your other vampires to torture?" he asked when Elizabeth entered the kitchen. She was a maker to numerous immortal beings.
"I do," she said, slowly undoing the tie of her bikini top. "But none of them are as fun to torture as you, Sebastian." She let the top fall to the floor and then slid out of the wet bottoms. "And none of them try to resist me like you do." Naked, she crossed the room and faced Sebastian. His eyes swept down her form, and then he screwed his eyes tight. Elizabeth laughed at his discomfort. "I remember a time when you couldn’t get enough of me, when you would do anything for me." She sighed loudly. "I miss the good old days, Sebastian."
He slowly opened his eyes. His gaze bore into her as he said, "You know how much I love her."
"I do," she said slowly. "But I don't care," she added. She leaned up on her tiptoes and whispered in his ear, “I want you, Sebastian. Make love to me.”
He pushed away from her. "N
o."
She pouted. "I could make you, you know."
A maker had a lot of control over his or her children, and he feared what she was capable of forcing him to do. Sebastian clenched his jaw and moved to the front door in a split second. He slammed the door shut behind him and jogged to his car. He hopped in behind the steering wheel and revved the engine. The car's tires squealed as he pulled away from the curb and sped off down the road. He needed to get as far away from Elizabeth as possible. His stomach sank at the realization that it also meant he had to be far away from Jane as well.
CHAPTER 29
THE NEXT SEVERAL days Jane took on the mission of steering clear of Sebastian. She found that task quite easy, because he had been gone for three days straight and then stayed holed up in his house for the rest of the week. Jane wasn't sure if Elizabeth was still there or not, but it was unlike Sebastian to go about ignoring her.
By Friday, Jane's depressed mood had worsened. Sebastian clearly wasn't the person she thought he was. And she hated feeling sad and depressed when he was clearly living it up with a hot blonde in his house.
Ashley, after finishing up with a customer on the café side, walked over. "Jane, you need to turn that frown upside down."
Jane sighed. "I can't."
"Come out with me tonight. There's a cover band playing at the bar down the street. It will be fun. We can drink and dance and meet hot guys that will make you forget all about what's-his-name." She grinned. "Did I mention there will be drinking?"
An idle smile played over Jane's lips. "Yeah, I think you did mention it."
"Say you'll go with me tonight."
"I don't know," Jane said, unsure.
Ashley clasped her hands together in front of her. "PPlleeaassee!" she begged, while doing her best sad puppy dog look with her bottom lip pouted.
Jane considered Ashley's invitation. It would be nice to get out and do something out of her normal routine, and anything that would take her mind off Sebastian sounded fantastic. "Okay. I guess it wouldn't hurt to go out and have a few drinks." Her and Ashley were definitely well overdue for a girls' night out.
Ashley jumped up and down. "Yes! You won't regret it. It will be such a great time. I promise!"
"What time does the band start?"
"I think at nine. Do you want to meet around eight?"
"Sure. Eight it is."
* * *
Jane sat at the bar with Ashley. Ashley was on her third drink compared to Jane's first. "What is this called again?" Jane asked, motioning towards the fruity mixed drinks in front of them.
"I forget, but I like to call it blackout."
Jane groaned. "I don't like the sound of that."
Ashley smiled. "Lighten up, Jane. After a few more of these, you'll love them. I promise!"
"Yeah, you keep making promises," Jane muttered.
"Hey, at least this is keeping your mind off of you-know-who."
She smiled. "Well, it was until you mentioned it."
Ashley scowled. "Keep drinking. That drink will make you forget what day of the week it is."
Jane glanced at the back of the bar where a band was getting set up and sound checking their equipment. "Is this band any good?" she asked.
Ashley nodded. "Yeah. They are really good. I think you'll like them."
Jane was nearly finished with her second drink when the lights in the bar dimmed and the band began to play. The first song was "1979" by The Smashing Pumpkins. Jane was pleasantly surprised how great the band was despite playing in a small bar. She looked at Ashley. "They are good," she commented.
Ashley grinned. "I told you." She leaned closer and said, "I'm just happy to see you having a good time. You have been so down the past few days." She stared at Jane's empty glass. "You ready for some shots?"
"No," Jane protested. "I don't think I'll be doing any of those tonight."
Ashley frowned. "Well, if you change your mind, let me know."
I won't, Jane thought. The bartender brought another drink, and she handed him money. She took a long drink from the straw. Ashley was right — they did taste better the more you drank.
Ashley turned toward Jane, but her eyes quickly shot to the entrance. "Oh my god," she said.
"What?" Jane asked, concerned.
Ashley leaned in so that Jane could hear her above the music. "Sebastian just walked in."
Jane followed Ashley's gaze towards the front door of the bar. Sebastian was dressed casually in faded, ripped jeans and a dark blue polo shirt. He looked hot, and Jane had to tear her gaze away from him before he saw her.
"Are you going to say hi to him?" Ashley asked.
Jane shook her head. "I'm not going to out of my way to talk to someone who ignores me," she muttered. She grasped her drink, pushed the straw aside and downed it quickly.
"Whoa!" Ashley gasped.
Jane motioned to the bartender. "Another, please."
Ashley eyed her scrupulously. "Are you okay?"
"I don't know," she whispered so that Ashley couldn't hear. "What did you say about shots?" she asked loudly.
Ashley smiled. "That's what I want to hear!" She motioned for the bartender and said, "Two shots of tequila." A few moments later, two shot glasses were sitting in front of them.
Jane grasped the shot glass and threw her head back as she chugged the strong liquid. The alcohol burned her throat, and she grimaced at the taste. "Another round," she said quickly to the bartender.
"Jane, maybe you should slow down," Ashley warned.
"I'm just getting started," Jane responded.
The bartender brought another round of shots, and Jane downed the next one. The more she drank, the better she felt. It was hard to not focus on Sebastian and everything going on with him, and she liked the fact that she could forget about him even if it was for only one night.
The band started to play "Everlong" by the Foo Fighters.
"I love this song," Ashley said. "Let's go dance!" she yelled over the loud music.
Jane stood up and wobbled on her heels. She gripped the bar for support.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Ashley asked, concerned.
Jane nodded. "I'm fine." Ashley grabbed Jane's hand and led her out onto the dance floor. The dance floor was illuminated by flashing white, green, red and blue lights.
The effects of the alcohol were slowly taking over her body as they danced. "Not that you care," Ashley said, "but Sebastian is sitting at a table in the corner of the bar, and he is totally staring at you."
Jane glanced at the direction Ashley had indicated. Sebastian was sitting at a small round table. His blue eyes bore into her as she stared at him. She quickly closed her eyes and turned back to her friend.
"I need another drink," Jane said to Ashley before retreating back to the bar. She sat down, and the bartender was quick to bring her another drink. She sipped the liquor.
The leader singer of the band said, "We're going to play a song by request. This is for Jane." The band started to play "Jane Says" by Jane's Addiction.
She looked out into the crowd, and Ashley gave her a wave and smiled. Jane rolled her eyes. She watched as a good-looking guy took Ashley's hand and led her into the middle of the dance floor. Jane smiled. Her eyes darted to the corner of the bar where Sebastian was, but he was no longer there.
"Hello, Jane," said a voice.
She turned in her seat to see Sebastian sitting next to her. A part of her wanted to turn and leave, but she stayed in her seat. "I didn't know you came to this bar," she said.
"I don't."
She stared at him. "Then what are you doing here?"
"I came here to see you," he confessed.
Jane wanted to tell him so many things, but nothing sounded right in her head. She took another swig of her drink instead. She placed a hand to her forehead. Her mind was so fuzzy, and it was hard for her to focus. She realized at that moment why Ashley liked to call the drink blackout.
"How much have you had to drink?" S
ebastian asked with a tone that suggested he was angry.
Jane looked at him. "Why do you care?"
She watched as he closed his eyes and clenched his strong jaw. "I'm sorry I've been so distant this past week," he said.
"Distant? You've been completely nonexistent," Jane snapped.
He nodded once in agreement. "You're right."
"Did your sister leave yet?" she asked, anxiously awaiting his response.
"Yes, she left today." He leaned in close to her. "My sister can be extremely overprotective and catty, and I didn't think you deserved to deal with that."
Jane stared at him in disbelief. He was blatantly lying to her face. She stood quickly.
"Where are you going?" he asked, standing as well.
"I'm leaving," she said. When she turned away, Sebastian grabbed her arm. She looked down at his grip. "Don't touch me!" she spat, shaking off his grasp.
Ashley was still dancing with the same guy, so Jane decided to just slip out without bothering her. With shaky legs, she made her way to the door. As she stepped out, she lost her balance and went crashing toward the pavement. But she didn't fall. Someone had caught her. Sebastian's strong hands gripped her waist. She looked up into his eyes. "What are you doing, Sebastian?" she asked, her words slurring.
"Saving you from eating concrete," he mumbled, angrily.
He was holding her close and staring at her with his intense eyes. She felt her anger start to falter, but she wanted to be angry with him. She didn't want to forgive him. Jane wriggled out of his grasp and walked away from him and in the direction of her house.
"Let me walk you home," he said, reaching for her.
"Don't," she said defensively, stepping away from him. "I don't need your help."
Sebastian ran a hand through his hair. "What is your problem?" he asked, the frustration thick in his voice.
She stared into blue eyes and struggled to not get lost in them. "I saw you kissing Elizabeth." She closed her eyes tightly, forcing herself not to cry. "I take it she isn't your sister."
Sebastian balled his hands at his sides. "Jane," he started.
She didn't let him finish. "You lied to me, Sebastian." She walked past him, brushing into his arm.
Vampire Next Door Page 13
