Fateful 2-Fractured by Cheri Schmidt Page B

curtains are shut, and I guess we were
too involved in our conversation.”
    “Right, I guess so.”
     

Chapter 4
    Two Days
     
    Danielle spent more time with Brianna than
she had recently, and her cousin complained about their emotional
distance as she’d grown closer to Ethan. Brianna and William were
close of course, but their relationship wasn’t as intense as hers
seemed with Ethan. Ethan had a stronger pull on her, and their
feelings clearly ran deeper, or maybe it was longer. She considered
the connection their souls had—that feeling of knowing each other
before they ever actually met. Somehow Danielle doubted Brianna had
that with Will.
    Still, she really needed to stop obsessing
over Ethan and just deal normally with this time apart. At least
she didn’t feel like she had last time with that fearful
premonition plaguing her. It seemed like he would be safe this
time, and that helped.
    After chasing an almond on her plate,
Danielle scooped up a bite of her salad and mentally committed to
keeping her mind off Ethan. She could be independent of him for
just a couple of days.... This is why she was eating lunch with
Brianna at Little Betty’s, one of her cousin’s favorite
restaurants.
    “You’re really smitten with Ethan, aren’t
you?” Brianna asked.
    Ah, so eagerly her thoughts wandered right
back to him, she thought as the forkful of lettuce paused halfway
to her mouth. The change in momentum caused the almond to fall back
to her plate. She lowered it down the rest of the way because it
just wasn’t the same unless she had a nice mix of lettuce, Asian
dressing, mandarin orange and almond. She fished for the nut again
as she replied to the unexpected change in topic, “Very.” She may
as well admit defeat now, only a day after he left on his
mysterious little trip and she couldn’t stop thinking about
him.
    “Do you think you’ll get married?”
    Her eyes widened and shot to her cousin’s.
“Oh, Um…” Of course she secretly wanted that, but they hadn’t
actually discussed it. “I don’t know. He hasn’t asked, and my
parents wouldn’t like that at all.” And the realization of that
truth felt like a rock settling in her stomach.
    Brianna’s gaze shifted. It appeared as
though she was distracted from their conversation. “Who are those
men over there? They’ve been watching you,” she abruptly asked.
    Danielle turned, knowing exactly what she
was going to see—her bodyguards. It was Seth and Cedric, incognito
as two business men. They were seated at a table eating a lunch
they didn’t really need, while they remained vigilant in manning
their post for Danielle’s safety.
    Cedric winked when she looked at them, but
Seth elbowed him for it.
    “Did he just wink at you?” Brianna exclaimed
with an appalled tone to her youthful British accent.
    Danielle turned back to face her cousin, and
a moment of brilliance hit her. “I think he’s looking at you, not
me,” she replied, knowing it was a slightly devious thing to do.
But how else was she supposed to cover for the bodyguards who were
apparently not being elusive enough?
    “Really?” Brianna blushed. “He’s hot … but,
uh … I have Will, I’d better just ignore him,” she said, displaying
integrity.
    Danielle coughed to hide her snicker.
    They were almost finished with their meal
when an unfamiliar man walked up to them. Facing her, he said,
“Miss Darcey, I beg your pardon, could I please speak with you in
private for just a moment?” From the look of him and from the
eloquence that oozed from his old-world cadence—Danielle knew at
once—he was a vampire.
    She paused, and her lips parted with shock,
but Brianna cut in, “Danielle, who—?”
    “Um.” She had to think quickly. “Uh, this is
one of my professors,” she said, uncertain of how she should really
handle this.
    “Oh,” her expression brightened, “Do you
know my dad?”
    The man rudely ignored Brianna and
maintained his focus on Danielle. “Miss