Trying to make myself presentable, I glanced in the mirror and ran my fingers through my reddish-blond wavy hair. I didn’t look like the same woman from six months ago. My light tan had faded and my skin was much paler and felt more supple and firm. My hair was glossier and my eyes had deepened to a deep, mossy green. It still boggled my mind that this same face, frozen forever at 28, would be staring back at me for the rest of my existence.
Ripping my eyes away from my mirror, I washed my hands and dried them, opening the door and heading towards my seat. Stefan watched my approach with covetous eyes and a satisfied smile that stretched from one side of his handsome face to the other. He raised a single blond eyebrow, inhaling deeply as I sat down.
“Just as I thought. You smell like sex. And me.” He placed a finger under my chin and raised my face to stare in my eyes, the look on his face was piercing and all-consuming. “I want to eat you alive.”
Pulling away from him, I grabbed his laptop and stuck the ear buds back in my ears.
“The kitchen is closed, Romeo.” I grinned and opened the lid. “What is the Swedish translation for ‘I’ve been cock blocked?’”
Chapter 7 - You Can’t Judge a Book by the Cover
Twenty plus hours in the air and one layover later, we finally landed at Denpasar International Airport in Bali. Stefan and I made our way through the airport, heading over to baggage claim to collect our suitcases.
“Wait here and I will get our things,” Stefan said, motioning to a bank of chairs. He swept across the room, turning heads as he stood with the group waiting for their belongings, his long arms crossed over his broad chest.
As he waited patiently for the luggage to make its way around to him, I just stood back and admired the view. He easily stood eight inches above the other men around him and his blond good looks set him apart in any crowd. To me, he would always be the most stunning creature I’d ever seen. My dream man.
When he found our luggage, he casually tossed the long strap over his broad shoulder, grinning widely as he swaggered towards me.
“I always seem to catch you staring. Are you eye fucking me, Josephine?” he mused and leaned to nip at my lips with his blunt teeth. “I love it.”
He reached for my hand and we walked together, dodging people as they darted through the airport. It wasn’t until I heard an excited, loud shriek that I realized how we were getting home.
“Josie!” Georgia squealed. She ran towards me, almost tackling me in her haste to hug me. She twirled me around and hugged me tightly. She released me from her freakishly strong grip and gave Stefan a slow once over flippantly, her nose crinkling as if she’d smelled something bad.
I could see they still had miles to go before they’d be friends. It was silly of me to hope that in their case, absence would make the heart grow fonder. Wrong. In the back of my mind, I suppose it didn’t really matter if they were friends. We were moving back to the US and I was leaving my so-called human life behind me, learning to live as an immortal hybrid. If I were to be completely honest, the thought of disappearing from Anna and Georgia’s lives broke my heart. There was just no other way around it. It would be a matter of time until they noticed Stefan and I were different. I thought back to Nikolaus words. We were unchanging anomalies.
“Georgia.” Stefan inclined his head and managed a forced smile. At least I could say he was trying to be civil.
Georgia chose to ignore him, instead focusing her attention back on me. A smile broke over her face, her blue eyes glowing, bouncing around with energy that could rival Lukas. “Anna was supposed to pick you up but she ended up getting stuck with a client. So she called me and here I am, at your service!”
“Lucky me. Remind me to pay Anna next time to take the day off of work if we need a ride from the airport.” Stefan was unusually sarcastic today. Even his mind voice was in a mood.
Nudging him in the side with my elbow, we continued walking. “Thanks, Georgia. It saved us from getting a taxi.”
She waved me off, flipping her dark hair over her shoulder. She flashed me a bright smile for a moment. Her smile slowly faded and she pulled on my arm, stopping us in the middle of the airport. Her hand dropped and she stared at me critically, as if she was trying to figure out the differences in my appearance. Her dark blue eyes flew over my hair and face, her eyes narrowing as she took in the minute differences.
“There’s something different about you, Josie. Don’t get me wrong, you look great. You just look… different.” She tapped her finger on her upper lip and her eyes moved to sweep over Stefan. I lowered my shields, focusing on her future to see where her mind was headed. She was going to compare the more prominent changes and similarities in my appearance to Stefan: the cooler, firmer skin that almost seemed to glow, the glossy hair, and the sparkling eyes. She was going to become her very curious as to why we appeared so similar. Georgia may be a pain in the ass but she was observant.