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5

Jacque stepped into the Henry’s house and her nerves instantly began to jangle like an out of tune brass band. And when she locked eyes with Fane, standing at the bottom of the stairs, she felt a weird tingling sensation across the top of her shoulders and behind her neck. She reached up and placed her hand on her neck, tilting it a bit as if it were stiff. The sensation had not been a painful one, but it had been strange.

Jacque tried, unsuccessfully she was sure, to take in as many details of the boy as she could. He wore a dark grey short-sleeved T-shirt, jeans, and motorcycle boots, and the wallet in his back pocket was attached with a metal chain. He took the bad boy look to a whole new level.

The look on Fane’s face was one of curiosity. And could that be…nervousness as well? The thought surprised Jacque. He didn’t seem the nervous type.

In the few moments it took to make their introductions, Jacque became thoroughly smitten. Was she in love? Of course not, but she dared any hot-blooded female to stand in the presence of Fane Lupei and not drool. And if they could, well, then bully to them. They certainly must swing for the other team.

A voice suddenly rebounded off the walls of her mind as Fane held her hand to his lips. Deep, deep, way deep down, Jacque knew it was Fane doing the whole mind-talking mojo. But part of her just didn’t want to accept it. After all, how could anyone speak to another person through their thoughts? Not possible, right? And if they could…well…she’d seen the Shining. It didn’t turn out too good.

Jacque blinked a few times to clear her thoughts. What on earth could he possibly mean by “finally” meet me? Did this voice know it was waiting for me? Again, she chose to forgo the option that the voice she was indeed panicking over could be Fane’s. There was no reason to think he was a nut job until it was absolutely necessary and without doubt. Okay, time to go home.

Jacque needed to talk to Sally and Jen about Fane. And she had to decide whether or not to confide this secret to her mother, and, most importantly, she needed to have a good, cleansing, panic attack. Not necessarily in that order.

Jacque pulled her hand from Fane’s grasp, and he didn’t try to keep her from doing so. She turned to look at her mom, raised her eyebrows, and asked, “Okay, are you ready? Food delivered. Mission accomplished. I’m good to go,” Before her mom could respond, Jacque turned to her two friends. “Sally, Jen, y’all ready to go?”

“And leave this hunk of meat all alone? I couldn’t do that. It just wouldn’t be neighborly. Ow!” She yelped as Sally now slammed her foot down onto Jen’s toes. “What is with you two?”

“Jennifer,” said Sally through gritted teeth. She raised her eyebrows and twitched her head toward the door. “We really need to be going. We have that thing we don’t want to be late for.”

“What thing?”

“Another stomp from the redhead. “Ow, son of a bit—”

“The thing!” snapped Jacque. “At the place.” She reached down and grabbed Jen by the arm, jerking her up. Sally followed suit.

“Oh! That thing!” Jen’s face brightened. “Yes, terribly important. The thing. Can’t be late for it. So sorry, Fane.” Sally and Jacque both rolled their eyes and shook their heads.

Lilly looked at her daughter with narrowed eyes. After a moment, she nodded and rose from her seat. “Thank you, Sara, for having us over. Sorry, we have to leave so soon. It was nice to meet you, Fane. Don’t make yourself a stranger. You’re welcome at our house anytime.”

Fane bowed slightly, placing his hand over his heart, “As we say in my country when parting, Până data viitoare, luna vă poate lumina calea, which means, ‘Until next time, may the moon light your path.’”

Jen looked at Fane with a brow raised, and her lips quirked in a sexy smirk all her own. “How do we know you aren’t really saying, ‘Ladies, you have nice boo…”

Sally slapped her hand over Jen’s mouth. Jacque pushed the blonde, filter-less flirt while Sally kept her words from bursting forth.

“What she meant to say was ‘Back atcha’,” Sally called over her shoulder.

Jacque continued to push Jen toward the door, trying very hard not to look and see if Fane was watching her but somehow sensing he was. She could feel his blue eyes boring into her back, and Jacque hoped she didn’t have sweat stains. She lost the battle of self-dignity at the last moment and tentatively looked over her shoulder. Sure enough, Fane’s crystal blue eyes were glued to her. He had a knowing smile on his face, and his eyes were narrowed ever so slightly. Jacque felt as if Fane knew something she did not, and he found it highly amusing. That thought made her shudder for more reasons than she cared to consider at that moment.

“We’re going, Jacque. Good grief.” She heard Jen grunt. Jacque had started to push a little harder after having met the gaze of the male in question.

“Well, go a little quicker please!” Jacque whispered through tight lips.

“Calm down,” growled Jen. “And I’m going to kill you two for stomping my toes.”

“It was necessary,” said Jacque.

“Why?”

“I’ll explain later. Come on.”

The girls walked briskly down the walkway and across the street, not even bothering to see if Jacque’s mom was behind them. All Jacque could think was she needed to put some space between her and that hottie. Okay, so she still couldn’t help calling him hottie. “Well, crap, it’s true, so go jump in a lake already.” She grumbled to herself as the Texas heat bore down on her. The blacktop reflecting the sun only made it hotter, and Jacque found her feet moving quicker for more reasons than just a foreign exchange student that had her flustered.

Once inside the house, the three girls double-timed it up the stairs and into Jacque’s bedroom. Sally shut the door firmly and turned, pressing her back against it and pinning her eyes on Jacque. Sally’s lips were pinched tight, and her big brown eyes were narrowed like an eagle zeroing in on its prey.

“What the hell, Jac.” Jen huffed before Sally could speak what was so obviously plastered across her accusing face.

Okay, so maybe she had freaked out just a little there at the end, but what did they expect? She was hearing voices! Jacque took slow, deep breaths. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately. “First impressions?” Jacque prompted.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe something like OH MY, stutter, drool, FREAKING, pant, deep breath, GOSH,” Jen spat out.

Sally’s head nodded in true bobblehead fashion. “Yeah, what she said, but more panting and deep breathing from my completely and totally inappropriately turned-on body.”

“What about you?” Jen asked. “You didn’t seem as mesmerized as us. Why is that?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Jacque breathed out airily. “Maybe because I was, ya know, a little distracted by THE VOICE IN MY HEAD!” Jacque realized she was yelling. She ran her hands over her face and squeezed her eyes closed tightly. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t take my stress out on you two. I’m just, just … I don’t know … freaking out, I guess.” She wasn’t ready to discuss the fact that she was pretty sure the voice was Fane’s. That would just open a whole other can of worms, and she hadn’t even figured out what to do with the worms they were already dealing with.

“Have you tried talking back to the voice? You know, like answering it through your thoughts?” Sally asked tentatively.

Jacque shook her head. “I feel like if I do then I am just solidifying the fact that I’m losing it.”

“You’re NOT losing it. Something is definitely up with this Fane guy. No one, and I mean no one, can look that good, make you want to curl up and purr when he talks to you, and not have some sort of unearthly mojo magic. Something’s fishy, and it’s not your mom’s fried chicken,” Jen told her.

Jacque turned to her window and opened the blinds. She looked across the street at the Henrys’ house and wondered what to do about Fane Lu-whatever his last name was. Jacque heard her two best friends walk up beside her. They put their arms around her.

“I know I’ve said it before, and I will keep saying it until it sinks into that unruly, curly head of yours. It will be alright. You are not alone in this, okay?” Sally told her firmly.

“Yeah, chick, you got us no matter what,” Jen agreed. “Besides, we’re too nosy not to stick around and see what happens.”

Sally pulled a strand of Jen’s hair as if to scold her. “Ow! Crap, I’m just saying!” Jen scowled.

Jacque turned away from the window, wiped away the tears she hadn’t even realized were there, and hugged her friends. “Okay, I know you guys need to go home and assure your parents that you’re still alive and haven’t been abducted or anything. But do y’all think you can come back later?”

Both girls nodded.

“I will have to do laundry and pick up my room to pacify my mom, you know how it is, but then I can come back over and stay the night again if your mom is cool with it,” Jen explained.

Sally spoke up as well. “Yeah, I can be back around 7:00 tonight. I just need to take care of some chores as well.”

“Okay, that sounds good. I’ll let my mom know. I’m sure she won’t care.”

Jacque walked them downstairs to the front door and watched as they each walked to their cars. She stood in the doorway looking after them until she couldn’t see them any longer.

Jacque stood in the entryway looking at nothing. Her eyes had lost focus on the world around her, and her mind was running amok. She was trying to decipher the thoughts, but it was no use since she was tired, emotional, and beginning to realize that since she had walked out of the Henrys’ house and away from Fane, it was taking all she had in her not to turn around and run, not walk, but run like a cat with a firecracker tied to its tail, back to him. What the hell was wrong with her?

Jacque’s head snapped up when she heard her mom hollering from upstairs.

“Jacque? I need to go to the store for a little while. I have some new inventory I need to take care of, and since I was able to hire extra staff, I can finally catch up.” Her mom came to the top of the stairs and looked down at her. Tilting her head, she asked, “Are you okay, sweetie? You look a little frayed around the edges.”

“Naw, I’m good, just a little tired. I didn’t sleep well last night,” Jacque fibbed. Then she thought of how she had been feeling her mom’s emotions so strongly earlier and decided to say something. “What about you, Mom? You okay?”

“I’m fine, just have a lot on my mind, that’s all. Nothing to worry about. Why don’t you lie down for a little bit? Are you gonna be okay while I’m gone? Need me to get you anything while I’m out?”

“No, I’ll be fine. Thanks though. Oh, yeah, I did want to check and see if you are okay with Sally and Jen spending the night again tonight.”

“As long as their parents are okay with it. Y’all can order pizza if I’m not home by dinner,” she answered.

Jacque hugged her mom and told her goodbye before heading up to her room. She shut the door, turned off the lights, and put her Evanescence CD in her CD player oddly, the music calmed her. Then she lay down on her bed and closed her eyes.

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