Soul Control by C. Elizabeth

wouldn’t you just move to the city, instead of this one horse town?”
    He glanced out his window and shrugged. “Father simply liked the house and town.”
    The reaction was a little strange just from the way he said it. It was almost sad and there was definitely more to it. “Do Job and Joshua work with you, too?”
    Whatever touched him the second before was cleared away, and his mood lightened. “No, they’re glorified bums. They’ll help once in a while when they need cash, but otherwise, they don’t do too much.”
    “Oh...I’m sorry about Todd today.” I had no idea where it came from, but it was something that needed to be said.
    He grunted. “You don’t have to apologize for him.”
    “Well, I think I do. He is my friend and he wasn’t very nice...in more ways than one.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Well, I think Todd did something at your party with Norma, and if he did, I’m going to kill him. Norma’s had a crush on him for years, and if he took advantage of that, I’ll kill him.”
    “As for the Norma thing, I’ll see what I can find out. But I’m not sure I’ll tell you...I don’t think you would look good in prison garb,” he kidded and without giving me a chance to react, it changed to being serious. “Now back to Todd and you.”
    “There is no Todd and me!” The words burst out, inducing immediate regret for how defensive it sounded.
    There was nothing about him to indicate he noticed. “Nonetheless, Saydi. I don’t blame him for the way he acted today.”
    “Why not? I sure do. He was being a baby.”
    Licking his lips, he explained, “First of all, he’s had you all to himself for years and he’s madly in love with you, everyone can see that. Then some new guy comes along and takes you away.” He smirked. “At least that’s what I hope is happening.”
    It was getting to the point, and possibly already too late, not to fall for him. With every word he spoke, it was virtually impossible to resist the ease with which he managed to sneak into my heart. “It is,” I casually admitted.
    There was a shy smirk on his part. “Good. Anyway, I’m waiting for him to call me out back.”
    A little afraid for Todd, I said, “You wouldn’t take him up on the offer, would you?”
    “In a heartbeat.” He was serious.
    “Nathanael, he wouldn’t stand a chance!”
    “Saydi, it’s the golden rule. If you get called out, you fight.” A poisonous grin crossed his face when he shot a glance at me. “Especially when it comes to the honor of a lady, even to the death, if we must.”
    “You would not!” I wasn’t sure if he was kidding or not.
    His face cleared. “Well, let’s hope he doesn’t chance it.”
    “Let’s.” What could I say to that?
    When we pulled up to my house, he threw the car in park and turned a bit in his seat, draping his arm over the steering wheel. “You know what I like about you, Saydi?”
    I shook my head.
    “I can tell you have passion for your friends and the people around you. Not too many people have that anymore and it’s something I’d like to examine a little closer.”
    There he goes again, turning up the heat monitor in my face .
    Before he stepped out of the car, he tilted his head to one side, putting his chin to his chest. “I do love that color on you.”
    At first I didn’t want him to walk me to the door for fear Mom would come barging out and bust up our moment. But there was no need to worry. He again made me feel calm, and everything was right with the world.
    He looked at his watch and sighed. “Well, I have some work things to attend to before I go in tomorrow. Keeping up with Father is proving to be quite time consuming.”
    I rested my back against the door with my hands behind my back, gazing up at him.
    A puzzled look fixed on his face as he rubbed his chin. “Am I forgetting something?”
    Playfully, I fluttered my eyelashes.
    One of his arms crossed over his chest, the other rested on it while he continued to cup