Мишель Роуэн - Fanged & Fabulous

“They’ll what?”

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “It is likely that they will kill you before it gets out . . . so your reputation will remain intact and you will become a martyr to vampires worldwide.”

“You are shitting me.” I blinked hard. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“Because I only learned of the depth of this problem today.”

“So what am I supposed to do?”

He glanced around the club. We were completely alone for the moment. “You have told me you were an actress once, correct?”

“Aspiring. Then I realized I needed to eat daily, so I had to get a real job.”

“You must not tell anyone that the rumors are not true. You must act as if you are a dangerous vampire whom no one should trifle with. If we hold up this facade for a few days, I feel that all will pass without harm. The elders will be satisfied, and most hunters will fear you enough to leave you alone.”

I let this sink in. “This is your plan?”

He nodded gravely.

“Your plan sucks. No offense.”

He raised a dark eyebrow. “I am well aware of that. But it is the best I have at the moment.”

“So I’m just supposed to walk around like nothing’s wrong. And when a hunter moseys by and stakes me, I’m just supposed to ignore the big piece of wood sticking out of my chest?” My voice shook with every word. The line of perspiration along my spine had turned into a small waterfall.

He hesitated, then his worried gaze met my own. “I have just now arranged for bodyguards to follow you for the next couple of days. They are not the ones I originally requested, but they come highly recommended. They arrive tomorrow and will ensure your safety.”

“Bodyguards.” I repeated. “Great. Just great. I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Do you trust me?” he asked.

“Of course I do. But what should I do tonight?”

He glanced at the bar. “I do need a bartender to fill in. The new bartender I hired seems to feel that it would be too dangerous to work here, so he resigned early this afternoon.”

“You want me to make drinks all night?”

“It will keep you close to me. And safe. And yes, I want you to make drinks.”

I glanced over at the long, shiny bar—an exact replica of the one that had been in Midnight Eclipse.

“Okay, fine. If you say it will be okay, then I believe you. I’ll go along with this plan. I’ll let your bodyguards guard my body.” I paused and let it all sink in. “But I want something in return for being all agreeable.”

“What’s that?”

“Tomorrow night we spend some time together. Just you and me.”

A trace of amusement slid behind his silver eyes. “You are asking me out on a date?”

“I need something normal in all of this craziness. And you’ve been so busy that I haven’t spent any quality time with you in weeks. So what do you say? A little wine, a little music, a little . . .privacy ?” I gave him a shaky, yet hopefully flirtatious smile.

I wanted to spend some much-needed alone time with the man I was crazy about. Show him that there was more to me than just a sunburned, ex-actress, substitute bartender. Prove that I was the woman he wanted to be with now and in the future.

It would also be the perfect way for me to find out if Veronique was right in her prediction. And, truth be told, I really didn’t know a great deal about the beautiful man in front of me. He was a true master at avoiding questions. When I asked him something about himself, about his past, he’d turn it back around on me and I’d end up telling him about my life instead. Everything I knew about him, other than what was plain to the eye, I’d been told by other people. And I wanted a chance to change that. I wanted to know everything I could about him.

I actually expected him to say no. That things were too serious to have some fun. That would be so him.

He studied me for a moment, and then nodded with the smallest motion of his head. “Tomorrow, then.”

“Really? I mean, great. That’s great. Tomorrow.” I tried to refrain from smiling too widely at the thought of having Thierry all to myself without any other distractions. “Okay, so I’ll make drinks. You win. And if anyone wants to know more about the Slayer of Slayers, I’ll lie my ass off.”

“Just make the drinks and try not to draw too much attention to yourself.”

“But, you said—”

“The bodyguards do not arrive till tomorrow.”

I nodded. “Good point. Fine. I’ll be as quiet as a little booze-serving mouse. With pointy teeth.”

He smiled. “Very good. I’ll be in my office.”

I smiled back and closed my eyes waiting for a kiss. But no kiss came. I opened my eyes.

Thierry was gone, as if he’d never been there in the first place, leaving me standing there in the middle of the floor all alone.

“He’s completely wrong for you, you know.”

I blinked and tried to focus my wandering thoughts. “What did you just say?”

George gave me a look of annoyance over the bar. “These drinks. They’re completely wrong.”

I frowned and glanced down at the drink tray. “They are?”

“Yeah. Sarah, honey, pull it together, would you?”

I gave him a dirty look. I’d been on my feet making drinks for nearly three hours by then. A quick check of the little clock that sat between the Margarita blender and the keg of O-negative told me it was almost midnight. I was starting to feel a strange sense of gratitude toward my comfy shoes.

“Okay, give me a break. I’m new at this. What was the order again?”

He looked at the pad of paper in his hand. “Well, let’s see. Three vodka shots, five A-positives on the rocks, and a bowl of tortilla chips.”

I looked down at the tray, which held two Margaritas and a Coors Light. “I was close.”

Another waitress came up to the bar and I filled her order while George waited. He didn’t seem to be in that much of a rush to get back on the floor. Thankfully, it was a slow night. Only a few tables were filled with bloodthirsty vampires. The sound system played a mix of easy-listening music. I could hear Michael

Buble crooning “Kissing a Fool.”

When we were alone again, I fixed his drinks, then as he was about to turn away, I grabbed his arm.

“George, about that Slayer of Slayers thing I was telling you about?”

“Personally I like it. It sounds super sexy.”

“Um. Thanks, I guess. Listen, don’t tell anyone it’s not true.”

He looked at me quizzically. “Why not?”

“Just trust me, okay?”

He shrugged. “Honey, I got a ton of my own problems to worry about without adding yours to the mix.

No offense.”

I sighed. “Just don’t tell anyone it’s not true. Got it?”

“Gotten. I see since Barry isn’t here tonight, you’ve taken on the title of Little Miss Bossy?”

“And I wear that title proudly.”

He left with his drinks and I absently ran a wet cloth along the surface of the bar top. I was overthinking everything. That’s all this was. Ever since I’d been fired from my last job for sucking a drop of blood off my boss’s injured finger—I still shudder at the embarrassing and rather disgusting memory—I’d been “in between jobs,” akaVery Unemployed . I’d helped out where I could in getting the club up and running, but other than that I had a lot of time on my hands for worrying, thinking, and letting things fester away in my mind until they grew completely out of proportion.

My meager savings account was slowly dwindling away. I didn’t particularly want to bartend at Haven for the rest of my immortal life. I mean, George had recently told me he’d been a waiter for over twenty-five years. Yikes. I needed to start making some decisions about what I was going to do to make ends meet. I couldn’t live on credit forever.