Page 137 of Holidating
“I beg your pardon.” She leans on the table, looming over him in a sweater that looks as soft as a cloud, and a body that does things to him. She meets his gaze with her bright blue eyes. “I will absolutely get a little snow in my hair to find out what your broody vampires have been up to since September.”
Damien sighs. The vampires aren’t all that inspiring. But he can’t say no to her. It’s just not a thing he can do. “Sit,” he says, sliding out of the booth. “It’ll be easier for me to find than you.”
She grins up at him triumphantly.
He trots outside, grabs the damn sketchbook out of the glovebox, and carries it back inside to hand it over.
“Don’t make that face,” she chirps, taking it from him. “I’ve been reading about voting demographics and French history for two weeks. I need a little vampire mischief. And last time you promised you’d make one of them look like me.”
He did, and that’s half the problem. The new character is calledSelene Nightshade, and she’sverypretty, with a perky bust and an impish smile. He wonders if Nicolette will take one look and see right into his horny mind.
Or maybe he’s got an inflated sense of his artistic skills. Either way, it’s embarrassing.
She opens the book and quickly shuffles to the new material, while he sips his Coke and questions all his choices.
It takes a few minutes, but she lets him know the instant she finds Selene by letting out a squeal. “Omigod, Damien! You made me a badass.”
“I tried.” He shrugs.
In the story, Selene is a daring vampire who runs an underground network of safe havens for vampires fleeing from vampire hunters. She just happens to do this brave work in lowcut tops and a ponytail.
“Can I have a copy of this panel? I want to put it on my wall at school.” She flips the book around and shows him a page where Selene is fighting off a burly human.
He squints at the drawing, seeing only its flaws. “I guess? Makes me worried for your decor, though.”
She laughs happily and closes the book. “The only reason your modesty isn’t super annoying is because it’s real. Who else have you shown this to?”
This question is also embarrassing, because literally nobody else has seen it. “Eh, it’s not done, you know?” There isn’t anyone else in his life who’s demanded to see it, except for his younger siblings, and it’s easier to say no to them. He’s been practicing for years.
A server turns up just then to slide their pizza onto the table. “Careful, it’smolten,” he says. “If you value your taste buds, I’d give it ten minutes.”
That’s really no problem for Damien. He’d happily sit here all weekend with Nicolette.
She pushes a lock of straw-colored hair behind her ear and peers at him. “Look. Maybe I’m being nosy, but did you ever think of going to school for this? Vermont is like the only place in the country with a school just for graphic novelists.”
He has, in fact, thought of this. The Center for Cartoon Studies is right across the river from where they’re sitting now. But they’re probably looking for a different sort of student. “I might not be their kind of guy,” he says gruffly.
She picks up the book, opens it to a page with an elaborate fight scene, and faces it toward him. “Really? If this isn’t their type of thing, then I’d like someone to explain to me what the hell they’re doing over there.”
“Well…” It won’t be easy for someone with a Duke pedigree to understand. “It’s not the art. It’s…the Rossi family doesn’t often darken the door of a college.”
She closes the book and puts it down. “College isn’t the only way to get ahead in the world, in spite of what my dad thinks. But itisthe best way I know to meet people who are interested in the same stuff as you. Doesn’t that appeal to you a little bit? Meeting a bunch of other people who just want to talk about this?” She taps the book with her finger.
“Well, sure,” he admits. “It’s not that I’m uninterested. I just can’t really imagine it. And I can’t really swing the expense.” He’s already looked at the cost, and it isn’t cheap.
“Wouldn’t there be financial aid?” she presses.
“Not much,” he says quietly. “It’s a tiny school. Besides, I work a lot, and my family needs my income right now.” It’s been a difficult year at home, with lots of unexpected expenses. The twins won’t graduate for another six months, and his mother needs to move into a better neighborhood.
Nicolette’s face falls. “God, I’m sorry to bring it up. It’s none of my business.”
“Don’t worry about it. I have time. And a few other ideas for paying for school. It’s just going to take me a little while to get started.”
“So what happens next in the story?” She reaches over the pizza to poke his arm.
And there’s that warmth again. Whenever she touches him, he feels it. “You tell me.”
“Because you don’t know? Or because you want to know if you’re sending the right signals?”
