Chapter 2

Damon parked his car in the underground garage and rode the elevator for his penthouse apartment slamming the door behind him. Damon walked into the foyer and then the living room; he tossed his keys on an opened magazine on top of his shiny black coffee table. He collapsed on his soft black leather couch and looked at the picture of Bella still clutched in his left hand.

Bella. God. Even her name was Italian and God did it roll off his tongue easily.

He studied the picture of the pretty young woman and felt the first stirrings of hunger and arousal. Making a bee line for his kitchen he grabbed a handy blood bag (Stefan had really managed to get him to rely on those), stolen from a hospital and returned to the couch to drink it.

"I'm so royally screwed"

Bella really was adorable. At least in the privacy in his own home, he could fantasize like he wanted and with who he wanted and everyone else be damned.

Damon closed his eyes and began to wonder what Bella was really like. He knew that the suit said she was nice and it was obvious by the picture that was taken of her that she was probably fun-loving and enjoyable to be around.

Maybe he could be around Bella and keep his attraction to himself. He did have privacy in the bathroom so when he felt the need; he could appease his desires in there alone. There had to be enough room for a cooler somewhere.

Satisfied that he could keep his desire for Bella (and her blood) under control, Damon took a deep breath of relief. He placed the picture on the end table beside him, threw the empty baggie away and stood up. Nodding his head to a tempo only he heard he walked down the hall into his bedroom.

He felt his cell phone vibrate against his hip. He pulled out his phone, looked at the identification and flipped it open.

It was his brother.

"Hey, Stef"

"Damon! How did your meeting with the network executives go?"

Stefan's cheerful voice asked. The two had made up when Damon found Katherine. Stefan had finally admitted that he held a torch for their maker as well, but during a visit to Mystic Falls Stefan found an all human version of Katherine. Going home had been for the best as far as the youngest Salvatore was concerned.

Especially when Damon had no feelings for the human version. Instead he let them be and now his little brother was back in high school and the two kept an almost daily contact. It felt good to have his little brother back even if Stefan was a being of worry that was afraid they'd all be exposed if Damon ate someone in front of a camera. As if!

"Frankly it sucked"

There was a brief silence.

"What do you mean it sucked? I talked with the head executive and he said it went great. They expect you'll be accepting within a day or two."

Damon groaned and sat on the bed.

"I'm not sure I want to be filmed where everyone can criticize every move I make and every word I say. Not to mention being sequestered with a woman I don't know for eight weeks. Or are you not the same Stefan that was afraid I'll eat someone and expose us all?"

Damon complained as he laid his upper body back on the bed in exasperation. There was no reply for several seconds. Just when Damon realized he might have come across as the SOB he had always been without his brother and was contemplating an apology, Stefan took a deep sigh.

"Look, Damon, I'm going to be honest with you. The record company is threatening to drop you if this next album doesn't sell well. I know you don't really want to do this, but you need to anyway. You need the publicity and the exposure that this project will bring to you. You really need to consider doing this. Worst case scenario, compel her to leave you alone"

"Aren't you against compulsion? Who are you and what did you do to saint Stefan?"

Damon mocked

"Frankly big bro I want you away from Elena. If you fail you'll come back"

Stefan laughed making Damon give him a fake shocked gasp before laughing along

"Okay, Stefan. You win. I'll do it, but only because you made me. I'll be forced to sack up with some girl I don't know and keep a secret of my vampire status and try not to eat her"

Damon replied mocking. He heard Stefan laugh loudly. In childish anger, Damon closed the phone, ending his call with his brother abruptly. He scooted up to where he was able to lay his head on the pillow. He wrapped the covers around him and closed his eyes.

Maybe when he awoke things would look better in a different light.