Page 19 of My Blind Date is a Vampire

After we had lunch, I convinced Landon to postpone the tour of his house in favor of watching the Harry Potter movies. He reluctantly agreed, complaining about anything and everything throughout the first half of The Sorcerer’s Stone. When he realized that he could not annoy me into turning the movie off, he switched tactics and started nibbling and kissing my neck. The movie was soon forgotten as we continued making out fervently, our moans and sighs drowning out the sounds of Harry duking it out with Voldemort on TV.

“My bed is more comfortable than the couch, and has more space too,” Landon groaned into my ear, his hand toying with the waistband of my pants.

“Lead the way,” I whispered, letting out a startled yelp when he picked me up like a sack of potatoes and jogged up the stairs like it was nothing.

CHAPTER 21

The weekend passed by in a blur, probably because Landon and I spent most of it in bed or outside exploring the woods in his backyard. Landon even took me on a ride around the quiet, highbrow neighborhood on his Harley. The entire time we were speeding down the empty roads, I was expecting a guard or the police to stop us in our tracks and charge us for making a nuisance of ourselves. That’s how quiet Westview was, but I didn’t spot a single soul out on the streets.

Landon explained that half of the properties were holiday homes, so most of their owners had gone back to their main homes, which struck me as odd because why build a mini-mall when people were only going to be around a month, maybe three months out of the year tops?

By the time Landon drove me back home late Sunday evening, my own home felt alien to me. The time Landon and I spent together, we were ensconced in our own little magical bubble, and it burst when reality intruded. Sometimes, adulting sucked. Scratch that, it sucked all the time, but somehow the world looked and felt more dull than usual and I missed Landon something fierce even though we’d made plans for dinner after I got off work the next day.

* * *

Things were finally looking up. My tragic heartbreak was firmly in the rear-view mirror. As much as I was stupidly happy, I was terrified as well, because what I felt for Landon was all-consuming and on a different level from what I’d felt for Toby. Landon had wormed his way into my heart and lodged himself firmly and precariously like a glass shard. If it were to be pulled out, I would bleed out within minutes. I tried to push away the nagging thought that everything was too perfect. I had a job that I loved—despite relations between West and I having frosted over to below freezing temperatures. I nearly got frostbite from the cold shoulder he gave me Monday morning in the staffroom.

I was making friends that I was coming to adore. Gentle, kind—or brash, in Rachel’s case—and dependable people whom I knew would grow to be as fiercely loyal to me as I would be to them the more we got to know each other. My house was feeling more like a home. I was steadily growing my roots in Mystic Cove, but I did not wholeheartedly believe in this happiness quite yet. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop and for me to come crashing back down to earth.

I’d expressed these niggling feelings to Beverly when I crossed paths with her at the drugstore, but she helped put my mind at ease.

“If you think that way, you’ll spend all your energy converting those negative thoughts into a self-fulfilling prophecy. So, keep your chin up, girly, and be grateful for all the good you’ve been blessed with. Stop twisting yourself up in knots thinking about what could go wrong and work on keeping everything going right. Get out of that pretty little head of yours and live in the moment, dear.”

With Beverly’s advice still ringing loud in my ears, Wednesday evening found me primping and preparing myself to make my official debut as Landon’s plus one in front of what Dane had told me was going to be at least half the town.

He’d arrived at my house a few minutes after I got home from work to deliver a gift Landon had bought for me—an emerald-green evening gown that probably cost what I made in a month or more.

It had taken a great amount of begging on Dane’s part to get me to accept such an extravagant gift, especially since I already had a dress picked out—though it was not as fancy as the Dolce and Gabbana Landon had picked out. When he’d had time to go shopping, I had no idea. Maybe he had a personal shopper. Evidently, he had an eye for women’s fashion and for judging what look would work for me. The gown made my fiery locks and sea-green eyes stand out. It was backless, with thin straps crisscrossing at the back, a plunging neckline, as well as a thigh-high slit. I thought it was too daring and revealing for a classy event like an auction fundraiser, but I loved how it made me look like a forest nymph or something equally as majestic and alluring.

Normally, I would have covered the freckles on my face and chest with a heavy-duty foundation, but I decided to go with a dewy, fresh-faced look, and I left my curls untamed in a half-up, half-down style.

Landon’s heated look could have incinerated me on the spot when I opened the door. He looked at me from head to toe from beneath hooded lashes. When his pink tongue darted out between his beautifully kissable lips, I almost did the same, stopping only because I did not want to reapply my lipstick. The man looked delectable in a tuxedo, his bowtie hanging loosely around his neck. His hair had been gelled back, save for a single rogue strand that hung over his eye.

“If I’d known this was how you’d look in this dress, I would have reconsidered. Who’s going to want to ogle paintings on the walls when the very personification of Botticelli’s Venus is walking among them? Perhaps we should just stay in for the night and let Dane handle everything,” he rasped, his voice low and husky. Each sweep of his gaze on my body felt as if he’d touched me directly and branded me. The invisible tug between us was pulsing incessantly, making it difficult to think of anything else but how much I wanted Landon.

“Flattery will get you everywhere, but I dare not compare myself to such an esteemed work of art. Perhaps I should strut around in nothing but my birthday suit if I am to compare with Venus. That would certainly draw in the big bucks, don’t you think?” I’d scarcely completed my sentence before Landon started growling like a feral beast.

“I would tear open the throats of any other men who’d dare to look upon you if you did. You are mine and mine alone. Anyone who so much as looks as you the wrong way deserves what he has coming to him.”

My mouth stretched in a wide smile as I tugged at the ends of his bowtie and knotted it for him. “Reel it in, caveman. Save all that pent-up frustration for tonight. I’ll probably regret it tomorrow, but I have plans to use your gorgeous body for my personal pleasure way into the wee hours of morning,” I whispered against his lips and gave him a teasing flick of the tongue, licking across the seam between his lips. Landon’s hand cradled the back of my head before I could pull away as he covered my mouth with his and deepened the kiss until we were both left breathless and wanting.

“Careful what you wish for, sweetheart, because I can’t guarantee that you’ll be in any condition to stand in front of a bunch of teeny boppers once I’m done with you.”

“Oh yeah? Is that a threat or a promise, Grayson?” I shot back. He hissed out a breath and attempted to push me back into the house, but I managed to dodge his sneaky hands and sashay my way to the waiting car, making sure to put in an extra sway to my hips as I strutted in my heels.

CHAPTER 22

Dane was not kidding when he said that more than half the town would be present for the auction. The gallery was packed with bodies, locals and out-of-towners alike. I’d even spotted a few students enjoying the event, some as guests, some as artists, and others as waiters serving the guests.

“Do you have your eye on any of the pieces?” I asked Landon, waving at a colleague of mine across the room and trying not to feel self-conscious about all the eyes that had zoomed in on us from the moment Landon stepped into the gallery hand in hand with me.

“I’m debating on getting one or two paintings; we’ll see how the night goes,” he murmured, looking over the top of my gaze and taking in all the patrons who had shown up. I hadn’t realized this beforehand, but the school next door had also been converted into a showroom to showcase more of the students’ works. I was yet to see them, but if I had any hope of snatching anything for myself, it would have to be one of the students’ works. I’d seen some of the bids on the bidding sheets provided for each piece on auction and I felt dizzy just thinking about all that money being spent on a single sculpture or painting. Besides, I wanted to support my students.

“Are you having fun?” Landon asked, leading me away from the crowded room and up to the mezzanine floor where there were fewer people. We hadn’t had much time to ourselves since the event started. Everyone and their mother wanted a word with Landon, or maybe the chance to ogle Landon’s new girl. His popularity came as a shock to me. After the way Rachel and West reacted to learning about me dating him, I was worried that the whole town might not like him. He was kind of anti-social. The one date we went out on, we went to another town. When we stayed in Mystic Cove, we went to his house. The more I thought about it, it did seem a little odd. But everyone who came up to him praised him for the event and his endeavors with the art school or just to make a bit of small talk. They seemed genuine and not just giving lip service, but I noticed that except for Beverly and Dane, Landon treated everyone else with detached and cool politeness that could come across as rude if you didn’t know him very well.

“I am, but my feet are killing me. If I don’t sit down soon, I fear I might make a fool of myself and trip over my own feet. These heels were not meant to be worn for standing for long intervals.” I sighed, kicking out my right foot to show him the molten gold strappy heels I was wearing and leaned on him for support.

“Should I carry you up the stairs? You and I can hide away in my office for the rest of the night and I’ll have a waiter bring us some canapes and a bottle of champagne. It’s a little loud down here, so if we were to have a little fun of our own on my couch, they’d be none the wiser,” Landon suggested, lowering his head and nibbling on my ear lobe.

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