Chapter 19: .•8.4•.

She felt her cheeks flush for some inexplicable reason, turning to notice Dan staring at the male approaching them with determination with what could only be described as utter shock and awe, seconds before he turned to stare at her.

"Oh my god, that's him?" He incredulously whisper/screeched at her in an almost comical manner, the girl letting out a small nod as she herself was so surprised to see him there and dressed like that.

What was going on? Was he coming here to tell them to stop?

But miss Nancy had said that they were allowed to do this and she really wanted to make this place look nice!

"Girl, if he's swinging for both sides, I am so stealing him from you," Dan so seriously vowed as he gave her a pointed look, the girl giving him a weird glance as she was just about to tell him that this male definitely wasn't hers when she suddenly felt his presence right next to them.

Oh god. She thickly swallowed.

"Need a hand?" Nicholas sweetly asked with a pearly white smile, both she and Dan slowly turning to blankly stare at the male right next to them like two dumbstruck idiots. And before any of them could even say anything Nicholas quickly bent forward and easily picked up the large ceramic vase at their feet with only one hand, making those sculptured muscles in his tattooed arm lightly flex.

"Yeah, okay," Dan commented with a straight face and his arms crossed over his chest, watching him swiftly move the vase out of their way and outside the greenhouse before returning to his initial position.

Diana stupidly stared between them for another moment as she clearly hadn't expected for this to happen, quickly recovering from her stupefied state as she noticed the awkward silence that soon fell upon them.

"Oh, right," She lightly shook her head as she felt a little bit embarrassed as well, mentally scolding herself for her lack of manners.

"Dan, this is Nicholas, my boss and the owner of this...estate,"

"Nicholas, this is Dan, my best friend and co-worker from my second job," She lastly made the introductions, blushing a little bit as she still felt a little uncomfortable.

"Nice to meet you," Nicholas politely smiled and stretched out one tattooed hand for the younger male to take, the latter seemingly awestruck by that amazing smile as he silently stared up at Nicholas for a second longer before he lastly recovered and shook his hand.

"D-definitely..."

"So, where should I start?" Nicholas quickly asked as he averted his attention towards Diana, the girl feeling yet again a little bit intimidated by those dark eyes watching her so closely as she fought to find her words and answer his question.

"You could take your shirt off, it's very hot in here," She suddenly heard Dan casually say from right next to her.

She audibly gasped, completely mortified at the boldness of her friend, Nicholas however choosing to only let out an amused laugh and brush it aside whilst Diana threw Dan a scolding glare.

"What? It really is!"

"Y-you could take t-those wood pieces out of here," She meekly suggested, ignoring her friend as she peered up at the male in front of her before turning to point towards a pile of heavy-looking wood pillars. He definitely looked like he could do it. So why not use the help?

"Right away, boss," He quickly complied with a lop-sided smile, her lips lightly parting in surprise as she casually noticed that dimple in his cheek, staring after him like a fool as he started doing his work.

"How dare you lie to me like that?" She heard Dan half-yell in her ear as soon as Nicholas had walked outside with the first pillar over his shoulder, the girl quickly turning to give her friend a puzzled look.

"You said that you hadn't noticed if he was hot or not! What are you blind or something? He's a fucking god!"

She let out a stifled laugh at the sight of her friend's highly annoyed expression, intending to actually tell him that she really hadn't noticed any of that before when Nicholas suddenly entered the greenhouse again, effectively making them both go silent again.

Nicholas curiously stared between them both for a short moment, the young scrawny male giving him a sweet smile while the girl shyly averted her eyes and quickly moved to start tending to the flower pots.

He bit back a smirk of his own as he had definitely heard everything they had said behind his back, lightly shaking his head in amusement before resuming to what he was previously doing. He was very much aware of his looks and his charming presence. It was one of the few perks his vampirism had graced him with.

Stealthily watching him take another two pillars from the pile, Diana bit her lip as she still wondered why he was here helping them. He really didn't strike her as the type to involve himself in activities such as this one.

Physical and dirty.

Her mind whispered as her eyes unintentionally watched the way that his heavily tattooed arms stretched as he bent over the pile of old pillars, his long fingers taking ahold of two at a time, right before throwing them over his shoulder, those muscles flexing as he held onto them for balance whilst heading to the entrance.

She couldn't stop herself from admiring the way that that simple black t-shirt and navy blue skinny jeans fit him so well, not too tight but not too loose either; just enough to outline the firmness of his shoulders, chest and toned legs, not too bulked up but not thin either. Just...perfect.

"You got some drool over there, honey," She suddenly startled, turning aside to stare at her friend like a deer caught between the headlights as he knowingly looked right back at her with a sly grin. She immediately blushed.

"Didn't notice, huh?" He raised a brow and crossed his arms over his loose tank top, the girl's cheeks quickly turning into a flaming hot red as she felt so embarrassed for being caught in such a shameful position. It was so unbecoming of her. Completely inappropriate. And without so much as a single word, she turned around to run back to the house.

Except that she didn't even get the chance to, for just as she was about to take another step she unexpectedly slammed into a solid black wall, the recoiling force making her stumble a step back and slam against an old wooden pillar sustaining the greenhouse's roof instead, making the whole structure lightly vibrate.