Awakened (7 page)

Holy shit!

I grabbed my clutch and walked over to
the side of the roof. I looked over and you could see the entire
town; the traffic, the buildings and the people walking. It was
absolutely breathtaking. He walked over to me and placed his hand
on my lower back. I released my breath, but couldn’t form any
words.

“
What do you think?” He
looked around the rooftop.

“
Stefan…..this is….oh my
gosh! Is all this for me?” I knew I sounded crazy; I couldn’t
finish a sentence. My mind and my heart were going a million miles
a minute. Nobody had ever done all of this for me
before.

Stefan chuckled and grabbed my hand,
leading me to the table. “Who else would this be for?”

We sat down at the table and I put the
clutch in my lap. He poured us both champagne and held up his
glass, I followed.

“
To a great night of
getting to know each other and enjoying the beautiful scenery.” I
looked around admiring everything around me while he just stared at
me, a sexy smile on his face. We tapped our glasses and took a
drink, never losing eye contact.

As we set our glasses down, a woman
dressed all in white came to our table with two plates. She sat
them down in front of us. “Good evening Mr. Long and Miss. White.
Dinner is now served. Steaks, both cooked medium well with a side
salad and vinaigrette dressing. Is there anything else I can get
you this evening?”

I looked over at Stefan, I was still
in shock, and there was no way I was talking. Stefan picked up his
napkin and put it over his lap. “No thank you, this will do.” He
nodded and she turned on her heels, exiting the same way we came
up.

We both began eating our steaks and
salad. I looked up at Stefan who was staring at me,
smiling.

“
What?”

“
I’m just admiring the
view.” He took another bite of his steak.

“
Stefan, this is absolutely
amazing. This dinner is so good too! Why did you do all this for
our first date?”

“
I wanted to do something
special with you; you deserve it. Plus, I don’t really like going
out in the public. Too much worry.” He popped another bite in his
mouth.

I couldn’t blame him there; I wasn’t
too much of a social butterfly either.

“
Stefan, can I ask you
something?” There was so much I wanted to ask him.

“
You can ask me anything,
Jennifer.”

“
Earlier, you said that
when you almost died, you decided to get a security team. What
happened?” I took another bite of my salad. I had been wondering
about this since he dropped me off; the thought of something bad
happening to him hurt my heart.

“
About a year after I took
over the publishing company, I was in Spain on
vacation-“

“
You were in Spain?” I
almost chocked on my food.

Stefan chuckled. “Yes, I was on
vacation, a very much needed vacation. Anyway, I had been dating a
girl before my father died but we broke up. Before I went to Spain
she had been contacting me; I kept telling her I wanted nothing to
do with her, but she was relentless. She found me in Spain and held
me captive in my hotel room for 7 hours, had a gun pointed to my
head the entire time. She said that if she couldn’t have me, nobody
could. Eventually it became a ‘I will let you go for a specified
amount of money’ kidnapping. Finally, she simply broke down and
gave me the gun. I had her flown back to The United States,
somewhere safe where she could get the help she needed. After that,
I knew I needed a security team. That would’ve never happened with
Charles by my side.”

I smiled, glad that he wasn’t hurt or
injured. Even though that was way before I met him, my heart still
felt heavy.

We spent the whole evening talking and
staring at each other. Everything felt like a dream, like I wasn’t
even really there.

“
I think we should get you
home. You have classes tomorrow, don’t you?” Stefan looked over to
me and grabbed my hand.

“
Yes. From 10 am to 3pm.”
Man I really was beat.

Stefan helped me down the ladder and
out to the SUV. When I climbed inside I noticed the foggy glass was
still up. Stefan climbed in and sat beside me, taking my hand in
his and twisting our fingers around each other. I felt so
comfortable sitting next to him and I was sad that our night was
coming to an end.

I rested my head on his shoulder and
yawned, again. “I had a really nice time tonight. Thank you so much
for everything, it was the best first date ever.” I smiled and
looked up at him. He kissed my head. “I should be thanking you. You
made this night wonderful, Jennifer.” He leaned his head against my
head all while rubbing my fingers with his hand.

When we pulled up to the curb of my
house I didn’t want to say goodbye. Charles opened the door and
Stefan got out and then reached for me, helping me out of the
SUV.

“
Goodnight, Miss. White.”
Charles smiled and nodded at me.

“
Goodnight, Charles. Thank
you.” I smiled back. Stefan walked me up to the door and grabbed
both my hands. As he looked at me, I felt like he was staring into
my soul.

“
I had such a wonderful
time. Thank you for coming with me, Miss White.” He
smiled.

“
Thank you for having me,
Mr. Long.” He put his hands on either side of my face and leaned in
and pressed his lips against mine. His lips felt so soft and
sensual. He kissed me like he hadn’t kissed me for years, yet we
had just had a hardcore make out session a couple of hours
ago.

He let out a sigh and pulled his face
back from mine; he opened his eyes and looked at me. I was holding
my breath but relaxed after he took his hands off my
face.

“
Goodnight Jennifer.” He
turned to walk back down to his SUV.

I couldn’t say anything back. I was a
statue as he climbed into the car and it eventually took
off.

I finally opened the door and shut it
behind me. I felt like I was on cloud nine. I couldn’t stop
smiling. All I wanted was to be around him.

Kennedy wasn’t home; she was probably
out with Ayden. I was glad; I was in no mood to be answering her
questions.

I climbed the stairs and walked into
my bedroom. I slipped off my dress and heels and put on a tank top
and sweats. I grabbed my clutch and pulled my phone out of it. I
placed it on my night stand, turned off my light and lay down,
covering myself up. Maybe I could wipe this crazy smile off of my
face sometime soon. Suddenly my phone lit up. I quickly grabbed
it.

*Sweet dreams my dearest
Jennifer.

Please dream of me, as I
will dream

of you.

Goodnight*

My smile grew bigger. Was this
seriously happening? How did I get this lucky? I reminded myself to
thank Kennedy and Ayden for introducing us tomorrow. I didn’t text
back, but set my phone back on my night stand. No doubt I would be
dreaming of only one person tonight. It didn’t take long for me to
start drifting into a deep sleep. I kept imagining I was lying
there, Stefan beside me, holding me all night.

Chapter Five

The next couple of days flew by. I was
trying to pay attention in class and get in the swing of
everything. When I wasn’t in class, I was spending time with
Stefan. We had been out to dinner and hung out with Ayden and
Kennedy. Ayden was happy his cousin was actually dating someone
while Kennedy, on the other hand, wasn’t too impressed about Stefan
and I. I knew she was just worried for me and didn’t want anything
to happen. But what’s life without taking some chances?

Before I knew it, Friday was here and
I knew Stefan had to leave. Part of me was wondering if we could
even make it. As I sat day dreaming in my last class on Friday, I
felt my pocket vibrate. I reached into my pocket and looked at my
screen light up.

*Hi. How are
you?*

I loved getting texts from him. It
always made me smile.

*Just sitting in class,
thinking about you.

How are you?*

My phone quickly vibrated
back.

*Thinking about me? About
to

walk into a meeting. I’d
rather be with you.

Dinner
tonight?*

I quickly typed my response, a stupid
smile plastered on my face.

*Yes. Have fun
(;*

*I’ll try. Pick ya up at
7*

I quickly got butterflies in my
stomach thinking about dinner. I wasn’t quite sure how tonight
would go.

I met Kennedy at her car after class
was over. She seemed a little happier than normal.

“
What’s up with you?” I
smiled at her.

“
Oh, nothing! Can a girl
not just be happy?” She started giggling, looking over at me. I
knew she was hiding something from me and wondered if she had moved
her relationship to the next level with Ayden. I shot a glance over
at her, trying to give her ‘the look’ so she would fess
up!

“
Me and Ayden,” she paused,
taking a long breath. “We, well, kind of hooked up.”

“
Kennedy, you didn’t?” I
was shocked! Well part of me was shocked; the other part had always
been counting down the days. You could feel the chemistry between
them when they were together, I was glad they were finally
realizing this.

"J, you cannot say anything to Ayden
about it. It just happened...ya know?" She smiled and pulled out of
the parking lot. I looked out the window, smiling. I'd known her
long enough to know she would snap any moment and she would tell me
everything.

"We went out last night and we both
got super drunk, and I started dancing with another guy, and Ayden
got a little bit jealous, and came over there and grabbed me away
from....whatever his name was, and kissed me!" She looked at me for
a moment trying to read my reaction but I just smiled at
her.

"I didn’t push him away or anything. I
felt like I melted! He whispered in my ear that he was ready to
leave. I thought he was going to take me home, so I was kind of
bummed, but he drove me back to his place and we didn’t even get
inside before making out first. And bim, bam, I was waking up with
him sprawled over me, snoring. He was a much better sight the night
before."

She started laughing and I couldn't
help but laugh with her.

She was insane! I looked over at her
and smiled. She knew exactly how I had felt about Ayden. They were
perfect for each other.

"Kennedy, you two were made for each
other. Just give it up, and let him in. Stop pushing him
away."

We noticed Ayden's car was parked in
the drive way behind mine. I hoped this wasn't about to be
awkward.

“
Don’t say anything, I mean
it J.”

“
Lips are
sealed.”

Kennedy got out of the car and shut
her car door, Ayden walked up to it and grabbed her hand and kissed
her on the cheek.

"Would you two get a room?" I teased,
walking up to the door to go inside. I opened the door and punched
the alarm code in. The neighborhood had always been safe so we
hardly ever locked the front door, but the alarm was always set.
Ayden and Kennedy filed in behind me, deep in a conversation. I
rushed up to my room to get ready for my date with
Stefan.

I was almost finished getting ready
when Kennedy opened my door and stood in the door frame. “Hey I am
going over to Ayden’s house. Are you just hanging out at home?” She
looked breathtaking; I could see why Ayden adored her so much. She
had on coral color Juicy sweat pants and a black V neck shirt on
that showed her tan skin. Her blonde hair had been pulled up into a
high pony tail and she had on a little eye liner that make her blue
eyes pop. I had learned not to be jealous over her good looks, but
it had taken me some time.

"No, I have a date with Stefan
tonight; I forgot to tell you on the way home." I brushed my hand
through my hair waiting for a response.

"Just be careful. Text me if you need
anything. Love you!" She hollered, turning to walk down the steps.
I closed my door and turned on my music, time to make myself look
hot!

At 6:15, my phone vibrated. I grabbed
my phone and stared at it with disbelief.

*Jennifer, long times no
talk.

Why don't you call me when
you get a minute?

Maybe I can come to
Oklahoma and see you.

Dad*

I immediately felt
ill.
How in the hell did he know where I
was?
I sat down on the edge of my bed and
looked over to my mirror. My hair was down, with loose curls
running through it. I had on more make up than usual, just enough
to make me look classy and I had on a deep purple dress that hugged
my curves tightly tightly.

I looked up at my face again; it was
white as a ghost.