Chapter 64

Tessa’s POV

It felt like we were only working in the library for an hour at most, but when I looked out the window, I saw that the sun was completely down. Which meant it’s been a few hours. Telling from the look the librarian was giving us, it was also closing time.

Joseph was in the middle of explaining something else he noticed with my blog.

“It seems you hold back a lot. Like you are afraid of upsetting your audience. Leave that mindset behind and don’t worry about what others think. The right ones will fall in line and love what you have to say—”

“I’m sorry, Professor,” the librarian said as she approached us. She was kind with warm brown eyes and long brown hair that she had tied in a low ponytail. “But I’m afraid I’m just about to close for the evening. But you can return tomorrow.”

“We were just finishing up,” Joseph said to her, returning her smile. “We won’t be much longer.”

She nodded and went back to her desk to finish her end-of-the-day paperwork.

I started to close my notebook and shuffled my papers into the folder before putting them into my backpack.

“It’s kind of late and I don’t really feel like cooking. Do you think we could get takeout?” I asked, peering over at him as he packed up his laptop.

“There’s a restaurant nearby my house. It’s quaint and not a lot of people know about it. We could always grab a bite to eat there.”

I rose my brows at him.

“Like sit down and eat??”

He looked over at me.

“A little more comfortable than standing and eating, yes,” he answered.

“I just mean, you wouldn’t rather grab the food to go and eat it at home?”

He shook his head.

“The food here is best fresh and plus I’m hungry and would like to eat sooner than later,” he explained. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a student there and plus, it’s quite far from the school. I think we will be fine.”

“What about the new vampires?” I asked, standing up with him. “Aren’t you afraid they will find us?”

“I can handle them if they do but I doubt they’d show up if I was there,” Joseph shrugged. “They are taking drastic measures to avoid me. Don’t worry, Tessa. You’ll be safe.”

I nodded and went with him to his car. It was late enough that he was able to drive. The sun wasn’t around to make him ill.

The parking lot was vacant. Brian’s car was gone thankfully. So, he wouldn’t see me getting into Joseph’s black Bentley. The last thing I needed was for his suspicions to be proved right. Even if they weren’t.

I shook the thought out of my head and slid into the passenger seat, shoving my backpack in between my legs, and gazing out the window as the school grew smaller.

We reached a small downtown area after about 30 minutes of driving and when we got out, I had no idea where Enzo was walking to. The streets were nearly empty. Only a few daring ones walked around at night. But since the animal attacks only happen at night, most wouldn’t risk it.

I shouldn’t have been risking it either considering it was me the vampires wanted. But Joseph didn’t seem worried.

He continued walking forward and I stayed closely behind him.

We finally reached a small restaurant on the strip. He wasn’t kidding when he said it was a quaint restaurant. I wouldn’t have seen it unless I was standing directly in front of it like I am right now.

I followed him inside and all I could smell was delicious food. There wasn’t anybody there except a middle-aged waitress with blonde curly hair tied up in a messy bun and a couple of pens stuck in her curly locks. She was round-waisted but had a thin torso with large breasts that could barely be hidden in the tight waitress uniform she was wearing.

She saw Joseph as soon as we walked inside, and she gave him a warm smile as she grabbed a notepad and took one of her pens out of her hair.

“Joseph, I didn’t think I’d be seeing you tonight. You haven’t been coming by to see me,” she said with a light Southern accent. “I thought I might have scared you off.”

“You could never scare me, Jolene,” Joseph said with a kind smile.

The waitress, Jolene, beamed at his words.

“I’ll take you to your usual table by the window,” she said, but just as she was about to turn away, he stopped her.

“Actually, can we grab a spot away from the window?”

She frowned.

“You always sit at the window…” she said, peering up at him questionably.

“Not tonight, Jolene,” he said.

She nodded once before going in a different direction.

She took us to a booth in the back of the restaurant. It was the furthest booth away from the window. Joseph motioned for me to sit down first, and I found my face warming. I sat down while Jolene handed us each a menu.

Joseph didn’t even look at his.

“Should I bring you both coffee?” Jolene asked.

“I’ll have a coffee, but none for her. She needs to sleep tonight,” Joseph said.

Jolene looked at me with sincerity in her eyes.

“What can I get you to drink?”

“Sprite would be fine,” I said, returning her kind smile.

She nodded and went to grab the drinks. Joseph was watching me as I gazed at the menu. I felt his eyes digging into me, causing my face to warm once again.

I looked up at him, meeting his curious eyes.

“So…” I said slowly. “Do you come here often?”

That was a lame attempt at small talk, and I wanted to smack myself in the forehead, but I was also curious as to how often he came here. From what I knew from him, he hasn’t been in town that long. Which meant he must come here a lot if she already knew him by name and his drink order.

Considering he hasn’t even bothered to look at the menu, I’m assuming she probably knows his entire meal order too.

“Before you moved in, I’ve come here to work most evenings,” he answered.

I was surprised by this. Joseph had so many rooms in his villa that he could work in. Including a big and glorious study.

Why would he come to this dusty restaurant to work?

“I find it easier to concentrate when I write away from home,” he continued, answering my unspoken question. “Plus, I like the food here.”

“And Jolene… she’s a friend of yours?” I asked hesitantly, looking back down at the menu to avert my eyes from his.

I could feel him frowning at me.

“She’s a waitress,” he answered. “She’s always here. I suppose she knows my order well, but calling her a friend is a little stretched. I don’t have any human friends anymore.”

I found myself relaxing for some reason, I don’t know why it would bother me that he had another female friend. Jolene was pretty, but she was much older than me and way more mature.

Joseph was a lot older than me too.

I glanced at the menu, and I spotted that they had burgers. I could go for a burger with bacon and a big order of French fries. My mouth watered just thinking about it.

Even while I was scanning the menu, I found myself glancing at the doorway frequently. I was just waiting for someone I knew to walk through those doors or even a vampire. The thought sent a cold tremble down my spine.

“You don’t have to worry, Tessa. Nobody is coming here,” Joseph reassured me. It was like he could read my mind.

Or my body.

Was that a thing vampires could do?

When I didn’t respond, he smirked.

“Watch,” he said.

I furrowed my brows together, about to question him, but then Jolene appeared with our drinks.

“Will you have the usual?” Jolene asked him.

“Yes, please, Jolene,” he answered, handing her his menu. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude, by the way. I never introduced you to Tessa.”

To my shock and complete horror, he reached across the table and grabbed hold of my hand.

Then, he continued.

“My girlfriend.”