"Is everyone seated?" the bus driver asked. It was the same guy who'd taken her and Jackson to see the village before—Kian's butler.

From her seat at the front, Tessa turned her head and watched as the last few immortals found their seats. The tour bus was full to capacity and buzzing with excitement.

For the others, it was their first visit to the village.

Just like in the limousine they had ridden before, the windows in the new bus were opaque, but unlike that first time, Tessa didn't feel claustrophobic. Perhaps because it was roomier, or maybe because this time, over forty other immortals were going with her and Jackson.

"Did you lovebirds pick a house the last time you took a tour of the village?" Gordon asked.

Jackson turned back and glared at his friend. "If we had, we wouldn't be taking the tour with you guys."

"But you saw the place already," Vlad said.

"So what? We just looked. We didn't choose a house."

"Why not?" Gordon asked.

Tessa tuned them out and pulled her phone out of her purse, pretending to browse through a fashion magazine. Her memories from that visit were mixed.

The place was beautiful, and she would gladly move into one of those brand new, beautiful houses with Jackson. Except, that unpleasant episode in the walk-in closet was one she wished to forget.

It had been a misunderstanding, she'd only thought Jackson was disgusted by her, but the real reason for his loss of arousal had not been much better. His pity had made her feel almost as dirty.

Crap. She really didn't need the reminder.

Most days, Tessa felt great, it was like she'd been reborn as a new woman, but from time to time the past found a way to catch up with her, gripping her gut and twisting it painfully.

There was no escape.

She'd become adept at quick redirection of focus, like browsing for clothes she had no intention of buying, or reading one of the many books she had stored on her phone's reading application. For Jackson's sake, she had to channel her thoughts toward more pleasant subjects before her scent betrayed her unease and made him worry.

As far as Jackson was concerned, she was healed. He had done his part, accomplishing the impossible and helping her out of her self-imposed stasis.

She could handle the occasional flashback on her own.

"Did you see a house you liked, Tessa?" Gordon asked.

Reluctantly, she turned back and forced a smile. "They are all beautiful. Ideally, I want to be close to Eva, so I hope the houses next to hers and Bhathian's are not taken."

"When are they moving in?" Vlad asked. "I heard that the couples are moving in first."

"Not Eva and Bhathian," Tessa said. "Eva is waiting for Sharon and Nick to find mates and transition. She doesn't want to move unless they can move into the village as well."

"What's going on with that? Any news?" Jackson asked.

"Sharon told me that she likes Robert and thinks that he likes her back, so there might be a match there. But Nick has no takers yet."

"No wonder," Jackson snickered. "The guy is hopeless. He doesn't know the first thing about flirting. I bet he is still a virgin."

"You should give him pointers," Gordon suggested. "After all, you're Jackson the great."

Jackson bowed his head. "Thank you, but that's all in the past. I'm off the market for good." He took Tessa's hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss.

Vlad flipped his bangs back to look at Jackson with both eyes, the blue and the green. "Being mated doesn't mean you forgot the art. You can still teach it to us less gifted guys."

Tessa had a feeling Vlad was still a virgin too. He was too shy to flirt and most girls found him unattractive. Their loss. Tessa thought he was one of the nicest people she'd ever met. Unfortunately, he was tall and spindly and lacked the sex appeal most immortal males carried naturally. His Goth style wasn't helping his cause either.

Jackson shook his head. "I have a better chance of teaching you than Nick. You at least know that you need help. Nick thinks he's got it."

Gordon lifted a finger. "I have an idea. What about Ruth? She is kind of awkward too. They might hit it off."

"Who is Ruth?" Tessa asked.

"Sylvia's mom. Nathalie and I hired her to help at the café. Hopefully, once Gordon and Vlad leave for college, she can take over and make do with human employees."

Tessa turned back to look at Gordon. "You want Nick to hook up with Sylvia's mom? He is only twenty-two."

Gordon shrugged. "So what? Age is irrelevant as far as immortals go."

"What about maturity? Life experience?"

Vlad put his long-fingered hand on the back of her chair. "I don't think it makes a difference. After a certain age, when people's character is fully developed, they don't change much. Humans have no choice because their bodies age and they have to adjust their thinking to what they look like and what they can and cannot do, but immortals stay kind of frozen in place."

It was an interesting observation.

Bhathian acted just a little older than his looks suggested, and the same was true for Eva. There were also the cultural influences of the era they'd grown up in, but all in all, they behaved like young people, probably because they could.

"I could bring him over," Tessa said. "I'll make up some excuse why I want to have dinner with him. If there is a spark, they will take it up from there." She cast a fond glance at Jackson. "Do you remember the first time I saw you at the café?"

He smiled, his eyes so full of love that they made her heart flutter. "How can I forget?" He squeezed her hand. "One look at you and I knew I had to get to know you, that there was something special about you, and that I would never forgive myself if I let you get away. Eva pounced on me like a ferocious tiger mama, and made all kinds of threats, thinking I was just looking for a hookup. It took me a long time to convince her I was a good guy, and that I wasn't going to hurt her baby girl."

Tessa had no problem imagining Eva doing that. "She is very protective of us. She thinks of me and Sharon and Nick as her kids."

Vlad leaned forward, bracing his arms on the back of their chair and resting his chin on them. "How about you, Tessa? Did you feel something for Jackson?"

Tessa rolled her eyes. "Duh, just look at him." She waved a hand over the magnificent male sitting next to her.

"I mean, other than his looks. Did you feel anything in your heart?"

That was a question she couldn't answer truthfully. Gordon and Vlad didn't know about her past, and she wanted to keep it that way. To admit that she'd been too terrified of male attention to feel good about Jackson's interest would have betrayed her.

She shrugged. "I thought a guy like him would never even notice a girl like me. And when he hinted at wanting to get to know me, I thought I was imagining it. But you know Jackson, he is persistent. I guess he saw it as a challenge."

"So you didn't know right away that he was the one?"

Tessa shook her head. "But I was in denial. If I were more confident, I might have acknowledged the connection because it was there from the very start."

Leaning back in his seat, Vlad smiled as if she'd given him the answer he'd been hoping for. "That's what I thought. If I ever want to find my one truelove mate, I need to know what to look for."

Gordon chuckled. "Fat chance, buddy. Not all of us were born under a lucky star like Jackson."

Vlad ignored his friend's sarcasm. "I know it's going to happen for me one day. I feel it in here." He put his hand on his chest.