Jesus, she had to get out of here, she decided as she forced herself to turn away from him.
Jill slipped her arm through Emma's and leaned against her side. "There will also be plenty more eye candy for us over the coming weeks."
Emma chuckled, but her thoughts remained on the man standing in the corner. She forced her eyes to remain ahead of her as they left the restaurant.
Ethan sensed the minute the woman left the bar; his head turned, and his nostrils flared as he inhaled her lingering scent. He spotted her standing outside the door with her friends. Ethan's gaze was riveted on her as she laughed and placed both her flip-flops into her right hand. There was something about her, something drawing him forward a step before Isabelle rested her hand on his shoulder to stop him.
"Would you like another drink?" she asked.
"Yeah," he answered absently as he watched the woman disappear.
He shook his head and turned back to his sister when she handed him a beer. The woman was a human, someone he should stay far away from, but he found his gaze going back to where she had been standing as he took a sip of beer. Around him, the sound of the beating hearts began to reach out to him. He thought he'd fed well enough on the blood bags from the house, but there was the craving for death again rearing its ugly head. Taking a deep breath, he focused on Isabelle and Stefan; he could control it, just like he always did. Just like he would be forced to do for eternity.
Chapter Three
Ethan stepped onto the sand and glanced around at the people gathered on the beach near the restaurant where they went last night. Isabelle carried a blanket in her arms, but he had possession of the cooler loaded with water and beer. Standing beside Isabelle, Stefan didn't look at all pleased with the idea of being on the beach, but he didn't offer any complaint. He did give a scathing glance at a few men lustfully eyeing Isabelle. The men bowed their heads and scurried away.
"Behave," Isabelle told him.
"They're still alive, aren't they?" Stefan retorted.
Ethan chuckled as they walked through the crowd toward an open piece of the sandy real estate. They could have used the private beach by the house, but he’d suggested coming here. Isabelle had looked as startled as he'd felt when the words left his mouth. He hadn't understood why he had the idea at first either, but as his gaze scanned the crowd, he found himself searching for one particular human. The grunts of a nearby volleyball game drew his attention. He focused on the tall woman with braids in her hair he'd seen with the object of his attention last night.
The woman with the braids dove forward, digging the ball out before it hit the sand. She sent it soaring back over to the other side. A few cheers drew his attention to the crowd gathered by the makeshift volleyball court. He searched for the woman, but although her other friend from last night was standing on the sidelines, the one he sought wasn't there.
The odd sense of disappointment he felt threw him off. It was a sensation he didn't like. He almost told Isabelle and Stefan he would prefer to go somewhere quieter, but Isabelle was already spreading the blanket out and settling onto it.
He'd look like an idiot if he said he wanted to leave now, and she might get suspicious as to his reasons. The last thing he needed was Isabelle becoming nosy. She would never let it go if she thought there was a girl he might be interested in or sensed he wasn't telling her something.
His gaze ran over the crowded beach as he set down the cooler. Grabbing his shirt, he pulled it over his head to let the hot sun beat down on his shoulders. "Whoa Casper, I think you just blinded me," Isabelle said and threw up her hands.
He scowled at her before glancing down at his chest. He spent a fair amount of time outdoors in Oregon, but compared to the deeply tanned bodies surrounding him, he was a little pale. He had no concerns about burning though; his body would heal itself faster than the sun could damage his skin.
"Some of us don't spend our days tanning," he retorted.
She pulled off her white cover-up and shot a pointed look at Stefan. "Believe me, that's not how I spend my days."
"Ugh," Ethan groaned.
Isabelle laughed as she dropped her cover-up on the blanket and stretched out her legs. "Like you haven't said or heard worse over the years from Ian and Aiden."
"I have," he agreed, he didn't want to hear it from her though.
Ethan stretched his shoulders as he continued to scan the beach. A glimpse of golden brown hair mixed with tendrils of honey blonde swirling through it caught his attention. The woman from last night had hair that color. She was also shorter than her friends, Ethan recalled, as the head bobbed well below most the heads of the beachgoers. He strained to see her more clearly, but her face remained hidden by the bodies surrounding her.
The head broke free of the crowd. Ethan's gaze latched onto the face that had intruded upon his dreams last night as she stepped next to her friend. The blonde in her hair gleamed in the sunshine; she'd pulled it into a ponytail, but the tips of it still hung to the middle of her back. A smile lit up her face and caused her eyes to sparkle as she cheered on the girl with the braids. Even from here, he could see the flecks of jade green
