She pulled her lip between her teeth and bit down.
“I can’t believe you’re not into any of them.” Julie walked next to her. It was good to get out and to enjoy the beautiful, country surroundings.
Jenna sighed. “Oh well, it’s just one of those things. How are you doing? Are you interested in any of them? More importantly, are any interested in you back?” She and Julie quickly became friends after their arrival. It wasn’t difficult since Julie had a carefree smile, and an easy way about her. She wasn’t like a lot of the other women who were willing, it seemed, to do anything to snag themselves a vampire. Most importantly, she didn’t pry or try and get Jenna to talk about her past.
Julie ignored the question. “What about Lazarus?” She asked, her eyebrows raised. “You guys seem to spend a lot of time together.”
Jenna shrugged. “I like him…but only as a friend. It’s not like that. Not at all. He really is a nice guy.” She raised her brows at Julie.
“Oh, no.” Her friend shook her head. They continued to walk down a cobblestone path. “He so totally is not my type. Just too big and far too scary.”
“Like I said, he’s really nice.”
“He drank a glass of blood at dinner last night. He has so many knives strapped to his body that I’m surprised he can even walk despite his size. Also, I’ve never known a guy to growl so much, and what’s with the incoherent grunting?”
Jenna had to giggle. “He’s a vampire. Granted, Lazarus is probably a little more vampire than most but all those things you mentioned are vampire traits. If you’re not happy with the blood drinking then you’ve got yourself a little problem.”
Julie clenched her jaw for a few beats. “It doesn’t bother me really, it’s just that the person I like is not into me.”
“Oh my word!” Jenna gushed. “So you do have your eye on someone.”
Julie gave her a half smile. “I quite like Lance.” Her cheeks instantly turned a little rosy and her eyes darted to the lake where the swans glided effortlessly.
Jenna didn’t know what to say to that. She knew his type well. Good looking, arrogant although it would come across as confident, charming.
“What is it?” Julie asked.
Jenna shook her head. “I just think that there are a lot of nicer guys in the group.”
“I don’t think he’s as rough and tough as what he projects. I think that there is more to him.” Her eyes were clouded in thought. “It’s not like I have a shot with him or anything anyway. He seems to hang out with that girl Vanessa.”
“Yep, and I’ll bet you anything he doesn’t proceed to the next round with her. That he’s just using her for sex.”
Julie made a face. Jenna could see that she was trying to mask a hurt expression. “I would say that the using goes both ways. Vanessa is far from an innocent, sweetie pie.”
“Sweetie pie…” Jenna snorted at the concept. “Not by a long damned shot.” She instantly regretted speaking this way about another person. She knew firsthand how easy it was to misjudge someone and to be misjudged right back. She sighed. “Then again, what do we really know? Neither of us knows Lance or Vanessa well enough to make judgment.”
Julie spat out a noise that was somewhere between a laugh and snort. “I’m not saying it’s not possible, but I highly doubt we’re misjudging anything. Although, I still think that there may be more to Lance.” The other woman ran a hand through her shoulder length blond hair. “Anyways, I think we should just really enjoy ourselves while we’re here because I’m not sure that we’ll still be here in a couple of days.”
Some of the women would move on to round number two while the rest of them would be sent home. The vampires in the program were each allowed to pick one woman. The reality was that some of the guys might pick the same woman, while others - she suspected Lazarus would be one - weren’t going to pick anyone. At best, ten out of the twenty-five women in the program would go through to the next round. Jenna’s heart raced at the thought. Her hands turned a little clammy. Julie was right, neither of them stood much of a chance. Jenna had made zero effort with any of the guys. There was no way she was pretending to be interested in someone just for the sake of staying in the program though.
At least if she was forced to leave, she would get a small payment from the vampires. It would be enough to buy her a bus ticket and maybe cover her living expenses for a month, six weeks if she was really careful.
Though it would be a fresh start, it would also mean that she would lose any hope of getting back with Gideon. The thought was too painful to contemplate. She still had a few days to try and change his mind. She had been looking out for him, but she’d only seen him once or twice and he had continued to keep his distance. She knew that if she tried to reach out to him, in any way, it would draw attention that he wouldn’t want.