OBTP (9 page)

the noise. Rosa probably hadn't heard her coming. Sitting there,

Paige felt her eyelids begin drooping. The activities of the early

morning hours and the lack of sleep started to get to her and she dozed

in the chair while the heat blew across her head and face.

The feeling of floating along was exhilarating. Paige looked down,

she was flying through the air and knew without a doubt she was

dreaming. She always had vivid dreams and could control her actions

in them. As she flew, the scenery below was a beautiful myriad of

greens and the skies were a bright blue. Rolling hills turned into

mountains, and then the skies began to darken. Off in the distance she

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could hear her name being called. When she turned, she saw that

Rosa and Casey were standing near a path leading up to a castle built

into the side of a mountain.

Her feet lowered to the ground and she thought to herself, this is a

cool dream. Never saw a castle before. When her feet touched

ground she started walking. The closer she got to where Rosa and

Casey stood, the darker the skies became. When she was within a few

feet of them, it was so dark she could barely see. For being one to

control her dreams, she was having a hard time making it brighter so

she could see where she was walking. Tripping over the rocks jutting

out along the path, she had to slow down because of the rough ground.

Had to watch her footing closely and wished in her dream world she

was wearing her sensible hiking boots and that thought made her

laugh.

She should be closer to where Rosa and Casey were standing, but it

seemed like they had somehow moved farther away, without really

moving. Then suddenly, she was right there in front of them. She

could see them plain as day and they were looking at each other.

When they turned to look at her, she sucked in her breath sharply.

Their eyes were red, their mouths were open in a laugh and their teeth

were a bright white with two fangs jutting out of their mouth. Then

they lunged.

Paige gasped and shoved at the drier so she could get up out of the

seat. Her chest heaved and she stared over at Rosa with a disbelieving

look on her face. What the hell kind of dream was that? Paige fought

to even out her breathing and headed to what she was sure was the

ladies restroom since it showed a pink woman wearing a dress on the

sign.

She had strange dreams, but never once had she ever dreamed of

vampires! Splashing cold water on her face, taking care not to get her

hair wet. Lack of sleep was messing with her mind. She was going to

have to tell Rosa that she needed a nap before she was going

anywhere tonight. For peace of mind, Paige leaned forward and

pulled her shirt away from her neck; remembering that Casey had

nibbled on her neck in Rosa's room. Maybe that was what had

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triggered the dream. Paige shook her head at her own stupid thoughts

and left the confines of the tiny bathroom.

Rosa was once again back in the chair having her rollers taken out.

The women who had been working on her hair rushed forward and

directed Paige back to her swiveling chair. She was anxious to see

what disaster they had made of her hair. To her astonishment, the cut

and style was actually flattering and made her face look slimmer.

They had chopped a good four inches off, but it looked so much

healthier and bounced with soft curls that delicately framed her face

and still fell across her shoulders.

Rosa's always looked good, but they had also cut a couple inches

from her hair, sweeping her shining black hair around her face. Her

new highlights glinted in the florescent lights and Paige thought how

pretty they would be out in the sunlight.

Being in Japan, she wondered if the weather would hold out. From

the news reports she had kept up with before transferring with her job,

they had arrived during the rainy season and it usually poured every

day. The reason the countryside was so green, but so far, it had only

rained a bit that morning and had let up before they had gone out for

the day of pampering.

Running their hands through their locks both women were happy

with their transformations and headed out of the salon with big smiles

on their face. Paige was hungry again, so they stopped at one of the

local restaurants. She was a little hesitant to stray from the foods she

knew, but Rosa had placed their order in Japanese. So once again, she

didn't know what to expect because Rosa just grinned without

responding to her question of what she had ordered.

When the appetizers were placed on their table, she was pleasantly

surprised by the thinly sliced chunks of marinated steak rolled in

green onion, and then broiled on bamboo skewers. Following the

appetizer was what Rosa told her was yakisoba chicken, a stir fry with

a strong odor of soy sauce and other spices Paige was unsure of. But

it smelled and looked really good tossed over soba noodles and mixed

with carrots, what looked like cabbage and more onion. They were

stuffed by the time the waiter offered them desert. Laughing, sitting

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back rubbing their bellies, they declined. Paige definitely needed a

nap after that!

The dream she had was haunting her, had never quite left her mind

and she stared at Rosa, wondering if she should tell her about it or not.

Then thought better of it, most people didn't understand how a lot of

her dreams would come true. But how in the world would she ask her

friend if she was a vampire? That was just plain stupid. Vampires

didn't exist, and from all the shows on television, they didn't run

around during the day time, nor did they eat food. Shaking her head

mentally at her runaway thoughts, she pushed herself away from the

table, grabbing the ticket. When she had tried to pay for the massage

and the haircut and style, Rosa said it had already been taken care of.

She felt that she had to at least pay for their food. Rosa protested,

but this time Paige wouldn't listen to her and paid for their meals.

The day had been filled with running from place to place and she

was exhausted. Once inside the elevator heading to the second floor,

Paige sank against the wall and leaned her head against the cold

metal. Sliding silently to a halt at the second floor, Paige forced

herself away from the wall and walked the long corridor to her room.

She didn't see how Rosa could be so perky. But then again, she was

used to the lifestyle.

Rosa was slipping the card key through the lock on her door.

Paige stopped outside her and turned towards her when she spoke.

"Take a nap, but don't mess your hair up. I'll wake you up in a couple

hours." Rosa didn't wait for her response and disappeared through her

door.

For someone who wasn't the boss on this trip, Rosa was definitely

being bossy. Paige shook her head and made her way into her room.

She was out within moments of her head hitting the pillow.

* * * *

jarred her from her dream filled sleep. For some reason, the vampire

dream kept haunting her and she couldn't shake the absurd thoughts of

Rosa and Casey being vampires. The same dream had returned. She

was used to dreams repeating, but it was unusual for her to dream of

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vampires like that. Even stranger, she still couldn't control what was

happening. That bugged her the most because she had learned at a

young age to control her dreams.

Wrapping a thin robe around her waist, she didn't bother looking

through the peep hole. She threw the door open with a grumpy frown

on her face and stared straight into Casey's icy blue eyes smiling down

at her. Taken aback at him standing there, her mouth gaped at the

rose he held out to her. Her hand clenched at the front of her robe and

she took the rose while heat flooded her face. She had been sleeping

naked, so she wore nothing but the thin silk robe.

Her body reacted immediately to his eyes appraising her form. Her

nipples stood at attention. Turning quickly towards the kitchen she

tried to hide the fact that her body responded to him so easily.

"Please, come in."

A hand on her shoulder stopped her and she turned slightly to see

his face descending towards hers.

She expected to feel his lips on hers, but was surprised when they

brushed softly on her cheek and she heard his voice speaking softly

near her ear. "Hi, beautiful."

She wanted to moan, to turn in his arms and grab him to her.

Closing her eyes a smile slid across her lips, happy that he had shown

up, but wondering what the hell she was doing.

"Hi, Casey." She responded softly, leaning back against him when

his arm came around the top of her chest, he pulled her back against

his chest, his hand cupping her shoulder.

His free hand lifted the hair from her neck. He inhaled her scent

and brushed his lips across her quickened pulse. The dream rushed

back to her and she stiffened in his arms. When she stepped away, he

released her.

Moving away, he leaned nonchalantly against the counter and

watched her pull a glass down from the cabinet. The short robe lifted

and she felt the heat of his stare when her butt cheek peeped out.

.From the corner of her eyes, she saw the smile on his face. He

looked like he enjoyed watching her move around the kitchen. With

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her back still to him, she placed the white rose he had given her into

the tall clear glass.

His elbow rested lightly on the countertop. "Did you have a good

girl's day out?"

"Yes, it was very relaxing." Taking a deep breath, her shoulders

lifted and she turned around to face him.

"I see you got your hair cut." His eyes started at the top of her head

and slowly made its way down. A slight grin lifted the corner of his

mouth when she clenched the robe tighter around her. By doing so,

she unwittingly allowed him to see the outline of her breast even

better. His appraising eyes continued and he nodded. "I like it, looks

really good."

Her husband never noticed anything about her, especially not when

she got her hair cut. Once, she had even cut it from the middle of her

back to her collar and it took him nearly three weeks before he asked

if she had done something different. Yet Casey noticed it right away.

Wait, how did he know they had a girl's day out? Paige opened her

mouth to ask, but there was a knock on the door again, so she turned

and went to the door. This time however, she looked out the peep

hole and sighed.

Opening the door, Rosa came in with her usual whirlwind self, and

a big smile. "Hey Papí." Her hand trailed along his shoulder and

Paige felt her hackles rise slightly and shook her head at her reaction.

There was absolutely no reason for her to be jealous. Casey's eyes

never left her face.

She felt herself flush when his eyes crinkled in the corners and his

lip rose slightly in a knowing smile.

Rosa plopped down on the sofa and threw her long legs up on the

coffee table. With her hands resting behind her head, she made

herself at home in the small living room.

"I will be right back." Paige ducked her head and felt Casey's eyes

following her to the bedroom. She closed the door without looking

back at him.

Leaning against the door, she took a deep breath to calm her

pounding heart. Why was she having such a reaction to a man she

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had barely met, not even twenty four hours ago.
"Yet you slept with

him."
She grumbled to herself and released a sigh. Slipping quickly

into her undergarments, she slipped on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and

headed back out to the living room.

Casey sat on the loveseat by the window, but Rosa was gone. He

responded to her questioning look. "She went back to her room, said

she had to get something for you."

Paige remembered a package was supposed to be delivered. But

that quickly left her mind when Casey patted the seat next to him.

She shook her head no, deciding it wasn't a good idea to snuggle with

him. She leaned against the bar that separated the kitchen from the

living area.

"I won't bite." He smiled and wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Too

hard."

Paige laughed nervously. "Uh, Casey, about last night." She