Shift (The Neturu Chronicles) (55 page)

               
“I’m glad she’s okay and you made it there safely.” Kayla yawns.  “Are you
going to sleep?”

               
“Yeah, though it won’t be as restful as when I sleep next to you.”

               
“Awww, miss you.”          

               
Damien hesitates before responding. “Are you sleeping with Jackson tonight?”

               
“No, I was so tired, I just went to bed.”

               
With a somewhat relieved tone, Damien says, “That makes me happy.  I only
want you safe, but I also don’t want you sleeping with another boy.”

               
Kayla laughs.  “Well, I’m alone, but I do want to go back to sleep, not to
rush you off the phone.”

               
“No, I need to get to bed.  I want to get up when Victoria is awake in the
morning.”

               
“All right, I’ll talk to you tomorrow then?”

               
Damien chuckles softly.  “Yes, I’ll call you in the morning, after I get
everything situated with Victoria.”

               
“Okay, get some sleep then.”

               
“I will, sweetie, you too.  You have a long drive ahead of you.”

               
She smiles. “But then I get to see you.”

               
“That you do.  I’m looking forward to you being here.  My family will
love you.  I know I adore you.”

               
Kayla
’
s smile grows.
 “That’s even nicer than your comment before.”

               
“I’m that kind of guy.  Okay, go to sleep and I’ll call you in the
morning.”

               
“Okay, good night.”

               
“Night, dear.”  Kayla starts to press end.  “Oh, and Kayla?” Damien
speaks up just before Kayla hangs up her phone.

               
“Yeah?”

               
“Miss you too, good night.”

               
When they hang up, Kayla buries her face into her pillow and then hears music
coming from outside her room.  She rolls over and looks at the clock: 2:30
a.m. Curious, Kayla gets out of bed to investigate.  She follows the music
and discovers it coming from Jackson’s room. She puts her ear against his door
and hears classical music. She knocks on the door.  “Jackson?”  When
he doesn’t answer, she knocks again.  “I can’t sleep with music,” Kayla
yells through the door.  He still doesn’t answer.  Taking a deep
breath, she cracks open the door to peer inside.

               
No one is in his bedroom. She hears the music coming from the direction of the
bathroom, so she follows the sound and notices the door to the secret room is
open.  Standing there, she doesn’t know what to do.  Taking a deep
breath, she lets her curiosity propel her forward. When she gets into the
secret room, she finds Jackson standing with his back to her.

               
Not knowing what to do, Kayla stands there and watches him.  Jackson
doesn’t seem to sense her at all, so she slowly walks over to him. 
Reaching out, she puts her hand on his shoulder.  He spins around,
grabbing his chest.  “Kayla, you scared the hell out of me.”

               
“Sorry, I heard the music,” she replies.  They stare at each other as
Jackson calms down.  After several minutes of awkward silence, Kayla asks,
“What are you doing?”

               
Jackson turns back to his painting.  She recognizes her face painted on
the canvas.  “Well,” he starts.  “I figured that would be obvious.”

               
“I didn’t mean to intrude,” Kayla quickly spits out.  “I really am
sorry.  I shouldn’t have come in here.”

               
He
’
s quiet for a
minute.  Setting down his paintbrush, Jackson murmurs, “No, it’s all
right.  I said you could come into my room whenever you wanted.  I
just don’t show my work to many people.”

               
“It’s wonderful,” Kayla says, walking over to some other paintings. 
“You’re really gifted.”

               
“I don’t know about that.” Jackson chuckles.  “It’s my therapy.”

               
Kayla smiles. “I think they’re great.”

               
He returns his focus to the painting of her. “This is the only embarrassing
part.”

               
“No, don’t be embarrassed.  It’s beautiful.  You make me look a lot
prettier than I really am.”

               
“You’re gorgeous, Kayla.  This painting is very accurate.”

               
“Thank you,” Kayla whispers, walking over to him.  She crosses her
arms.  “Do I get this when you’re done?”

               
 “Wouldn’t you want Damien to have it?” he asks.

               
“A painting of me?” Kayla giggles. “That’s a little bold.  Pictures are
fine, but a painting is a little much.”

               
“Well then, yes, you can have it.  It isn’t finished yet, but when it is,
you can hang it up wherever you want.”

               
She looks at him and grins.  “How about your room?”

               
His eyes drift up to her.  “Really? It isn’t okay for Damien, but it’s all
right for me.”

               
“Sure, then you can gaze upon it while you fantasize about me.”

               
“I’m not supposed to do that anymore,” Jackson reminds her, looking back at the
painting.  “You’re dating Damien and I’m trying to preserve the
boundaries.”

               
Kayla pushes him lightly. “Stop it.  You’re being silly.  I’m not
marrying the guy, just dating him.  You can pine away for me all you
want.”

               
Jackson chuckles. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

               
“Your painting is fantastic.  I do look very pretty in it.”

               
“It would be better if you actually sat for me,” Jackson replies. “But since
you didn’t, I had to go off my memory.”

               
Raising her eyebrows, Kayla notes, “You have a very good memory then.”

               
“Mmhmm,” Jackson hums.  “You should sit, so I can make this accurate.”

               
“Hell no.” Kayla laughs.  “If I’m going to sit, we have to make it crazy,
like all sultry.”

               
He gives her a weird look.  “Why?”

               
“Because portrait paintings are boring.” Kayla giggles.  “We need to make
it…interesting.”

               
“Like, you want to be nude?” Jackson asks, with a bewildered look.

               
She shakes her head. “No, like wrapped in a sheet.”

               
“You’re crazy,” he states, trying not smile.

               
“It was just an idea.  I thought it would be fun.”

               
He stares at her for a moment in silence.  “Go get wrapped up in a sheet
then.”

               
“What?  You really want me to do that?”

               
“Yeah, I don’t think you’ll do it.  I think you’re all talk.”

               
Kayla crosses her arms. “No I’m not.  I’ll do it.”

               
A devilish smirk passes over Jackson’s face.  “Really, you think so?”

               
“I know so,” Kayla snaps sharply.  “Wait here, don’t come out.”  She
turns and walks back into his room shutting the bathroom door behind her. 
Walking over to his bed, she yanks the comforter off. She strips off her pants
and shirt, leaving her underwear on.  Next, she tears the sheet off the
bed.  Wrapping it around her body so nothing shows, she walks back into
the painting room.  Jackson laughs at the sight of her.  “See, I’m
not a chicken.”

               
“I didn’t say you were.  I just can’t believe we’re doing this.”

               
She laughs. “Come on, it’ll be fantastic.  Neither my parents nor Damien
will ever be able to see it.  I’ll hide it somewhere, or you could put
this
up in your room.”

               
“I would so hang this painting up.  Oh dear Lord, yes.  Go sit on the
floor right there,
”
he
points,
“
with your legs
bent to the side next to you.”

               
She tries as gracefully as possible to sit down like he instructed. “What do
you want me to do?” she asks, spreading out the sheet around her.

               
“Drop the sheet,” Jackson answers, wiggling his eyebrows.  “Only
kidding.”  He bends down by her and situates the sheet.  “Hold it
together with this hand like this,” he instructs, moving her hands.  “Then
put the other one here.”  Jackson stands up and looks down at her.
“Perfect.”

               
Kayla laughs. “This is crazy.”

               
Jackson grabs a new canvas.  He puts it on the easel and takes out a
pencil.  “I’m just going to sketch you for now, and then I’ll paint
later.  I’ve
never
done a painting like this before; that’s for
sure.”

               
Kayla blushes. “I don’t know why I am doing this.”

               
“Because you want to harness your wild side,” Jackson retorts as he starts to
sketch.  “It’s just between us.  I’m not painting your naked body or
anything.”

               
“Like
on
my naked body?” Kayla giggles.

               
The corner of Jackson’s mouth twitches. “Now there’s an idea.”

               
They sit quietly as he sketches.  Kayla’s face grows warmer and
warmer.  She is full of different emotions: bashfulness, excitement,
nervousness, and bravery.  She watches Jackson concentrate.  She
smirks at the way he furrows his eyebrows while he sketches. 

               
As Jackson finishes sketching, he says, “Almost done.”

               
She fidgets with her hair. “This is probably a little crazy.”

               
“I can fix your hair so it’s not like bed head.” Jackson chuckles.  “It
will be perfect, I promise.  I’ll even bring this with us, so I can work
on it while you’re off with your boyfriend.”

               
“He’s not my boyfriend!”

               
Jackson doesn’t even look at her. “Sure he isn’t.”

               
“Anyway, he can’t see it.  He wouldn’t understand that it’s innocent.”

               
“Yes, well, once he becomes your boyfriend, you’re going to have to tell
him.  What if he comes across it someday?  That would be bad.”

               
She fidgets with the sheet. “I guess you’re right,” she whispers.

               
“Maybe you should give it to him.” Jackson sighs as he pulls away from the
canvas.  “It would make his day, hell, his year.”

               
“No, I want this.  It’s for me.  I’ll put it up in my college dorm.”

               
Jackson looks at her.  “The boys will beat down your door.  I’ll have
to go to college with you just to keep them in check.”

               
“Wouldn’t that be awesome?  It would be great if we went to the same
college.  I would be so pumped.”

               
With a thoughtful look, Jackson replies, “Don’t you want to try and get into
Yale with Damien?”

               
“Like I could afford Yale
or
even get into it.” Kayla snorts.  “I
don’t know.  It would be cool if we all went to the same college.  We
could drag Tracy along.  You would need to keep the boys in check with
her.  She is going to be crazy once we get there.”

               
“Tracy rocks.  Okay, I’m done sketching.  Painting will have to wait
for another day.  We need to get some sleep.  I have to wake up early
to make your brownies.”

               
“I’ll get up with you,” Kayla suggests.  “We can make them together.”

               
He laughs. “I don’t need as much sleep as you.  I’ll wake you up when I’m
done.  We can go to your house so you can pack anything else you need.”

               
“Okay,” Kayla replies.  She moves to try and get up.

               
“Here, let me help,” Jackson says as he walks over to her.  He grabs her
arm and lifts her up.  Kayla holds the sheet with one hand, but halfway
up, her foot gets caught in the folds, which makes the sheet yank down and out
of her hand.  At that same second, Jackson pulls her against him.  He
looks straight up at the ceiling.  “I’m not holding you against me because
I want to feel you up.  This way I can’t see anything.  I’m going to
close my eyes, so you can get the sheet.”  Kayla can’t even say anything;
shock prevents her mouth from moving. Her body is pressed up tight against him,
and she can barely catch her breath.  Finally, he says, “Are you listening
to me?”

               
Nodding her head, Kayla answers, “Yes, sorry.  Close your eyes and
don’t
look!”

               
Jackson closes his eyes and whispers, “I promise not to look.  Every part
of me wants to, but I promise to keep my eyes shut.”

               
Watching him carefully, Kayla pulls away from him and bends over, yanking the
sheet back up.  “There, I’m covered,” she says.