Real Vampires Have More to Love (33 page)

“Chip probably made sure I didn’t. I have way too many people in my life who try to run it. You know what I mean?” Ray moved close despite Rafe’s growl.

“You bet I do.” I smiled because Ray and I were friends in that moment. “But we just want you to take care of yourself, Ray.” I put my hand on his arm.

“I get that.” He ignored Rafe, who was looking dangerous and ready to pounce. “I appreciate it, sometimes. Right now I’m going to practice my acoustic number on the piano, then I’m heading out. I’ll let you know if I decide to drop by Wednesday. But anytime you need me, Glory, you have my number. That hasn’t changed.” He slid his thumb down my cheek, then opened the door and walked out.

“Always makes a move, doesn’t he?” Rafe glared after him.

“Was that a move? Didn’t notice.” I shrugged. “But I hated turning him on to the blood with alcohol. He’s going to run straight to Damian, I know it.”

“He’s a big boy, Glory. If he gets addicted, tough shit.” Rafe settled at his desk again. “Let me know which guys agree to work Wednesday night. I’ll send the bills directly to Flo. You did say she’s paying, didn’t you?”

I sighed and sat on the edge of the desk. “Yes. I hate that I can’t afford to do this for her on my own.”

“Well, that’s the way it is. Not many working stiffs could. She wants everything first-class, and that’s what she’s getting. It’s making her happy so just relax and enjoy. You’re arranging some neat things. If getting asshole Ray to dance in the buff would make the party better, hell, call him and say come on.” Rafe grinned. “I’ll take pictures and sell them to the tabloids. Make us both some serious coin.”

“I’m sure Alesa would say go for it, but don’t you dare.” I heard the piano and Ray’s sexy voice start in the other room. “Great acoustics, Rafe. Just listen to that sound. Ray’ll make this club opening a tremendous success. I doubt it’s in your best interests to throw him to those tabloid wolves.”

“Damn, I hate when you make sense.” Rafe stood and kissed me. “Go on out there. You know you’re dying to listen. I’ve got paperwork. Just keep your distance. Now that you’re mine, I’m not sharing.”

I eased out of his arms when he tried to make the kiss into foreplay. So possessive. Man, was I in deep. I should call him on it, but then I’d miss hearing Ray. So I just smiled and walked out to sit and listen while Ray did a complete set, much more than he’d do for the opening. He’d always been able to seduce me with his music. It was all a fantasy, of course. He’d pulled his shirt out of his pants, and it was open over a chest still and forever bronzed from when he’d been a sun-worshipping human, prefangs. He sang of love found and love lost and lovers who needed each other.

I sighed and just drank him in, lost in the whole Israel Caine mystique. I could have had him once.
Yeah, right, Glory. And he would probably already be tired of you by now. Rafe was right about that. Ray has a pattern. You made a study of the rock star. Remember?
That was my own common sense talking. Alesa was silent, just soaking up Ray’s sexy singing.

When he’d sung the last note, Ray just got up, nodded in my direction without even a smile and walked away. I heard the back door click shut behind him. Israel Caine. If I’d had this bit of demon in me back then, there was no way I would have put him off and not sampled every bit of what he had to offer. A little heartburn later would have been so worth it.

Rafe came out of his office, took one look at my dreamy face and stomped back inside, slamming the door hard enough to make glasses rattle behind the bar. I didn’t want to hurt him, but a little space between us right now wasn’t a bad thing.

I got up and approached Jimmy, who’d been busy setting up shelves. Flo’s party had to be priority one for now, and sighing over lost opportunities got me zilch. Guess that’s why I couldn’t beat myself up for what had happened with Rafe. I had always wondered. Now I knew. It had been incredible. And if Jerry hadn’t already owned my heart, I could probably be perfectly happy with Rafe. I doubted that would be much consolation for my shifter. I just hoped I could find a way to fix things so we could still be friends.

Alesa cackled and heated me to near boiling.
“Good luck with that, sister. My money’s on my demon honey. Somehow I doubt this Jerry can beat him in the love department.”

I asked Jimmy for a glass of ice and rubbed it on my face. Alesa was so wrong. But I hoped she was long gone before Jerry got back. Had to be. This torture had to stop.

 

Alingerie shower. And of course Flo wanted to drive me out there in her new car. How could I say no? I sure didn’t want to drive that horrible old car Westwood had given me. It started, but when I’d used the window defroster, there’d been a terrible smell, like maybe a small animal had died inside the dashboard. Eww. Add a weird whistling noise, and you had creepy
and
eww. The driver’s seat had a loose spring. Hit a bump and you were spanked. I was not accepting the junker. Either Simon or Westwood were buying me a new car. Alesa cheered me on.

Flo and I zoomed over the hills with the top down toward Aggie’s shower at a famous Mexican restaurant with a view of the lake. I was determined to enjoy it since I’d gotten a call from Simon that we’d be taping the video later tonight.

“Love this car,” I shouted as we did a curve at eighty miles an hour. What can I say? I’m immortal, and the front view was way better than the one from the backseat.

“Yes, it’s
perfetto
. How you like the red?” Flo grinned and slammed on the brakes. “Sorry, but did you see the deer? I cannot bring myself to dent my fender on such a creature.”

“Good driving. I love the color. It’s you. Matches your lipstick.” I sighed as she took off again. Turbocharged. That’s what I’m talking about. I added it to my list of features.

“Matches yours too.” Flo turned into the parking lot. “I hope Aggie knows what she’s doing with this shower. Nice setting.” She gestured at the half-empty lot. “But where are the people?”

“First, the restaurant is closed on Mondays. We have the whole place to ourselves. Good call for our Siren.” I unbuckled my seat belt and pulled a brush out of my purse. “Hold on a minute. Let me untangle this mess.” I went to work on my hair. “And, second, some of your guests obviously will shift to get here. Am I right?”

Flo stopped in the middle of her own hair brushing. “Not with a package for me. But maybe they carpool. For a moment I had a doubt. Am I not popular?” She put her hand on my arm. “I know one thing. Until I came here, I never had a real girlfriend. Men? Pfft. I could always get men. But I didn’t get really close to other women until you, Glory.”

I reached across and hugged her. “I love you, Flo. You’re like the sister I never had, only Italian.” I laughed and sat back. “Hey, why so serious?”

“What you’re doing for me. With the wedding.” Flo’s eyes glittered. “It means everything to me,
mia amica
.”

I sniffed, all the emotions I’d been stuffing down lately welling up. I’d like to tell her how mixed up I was about Rafe and Jerry, even Ray. I hated hurting any of them but saw no way around it. Ray had been hit first, and it had killed me to see his pain. I knew now that I’d have to let Rafe down too. And he was my best friend. How could I reject him like that? And when Jerry found out what Rafe and I had done . . . I didn’t deserve Flo’s love. Didn’t deserve anyone’s. God, but I was tempted to lay my head on Flo’s shoulder and sob. But she was the bride, and this was her week to have no worries at all.

“I’m so glad you have Richard, Flo. And that he makes you happy. I just want this wedding to be perfect for you.” I hugged her again. “Now we’d better fix our makeup and get inside.”

“
Sì
, I want to see who Aggie dragged out here for this.” Flo pulled out her makeup bag.

“Everyone loves you, Flo.” I grinned at her. “Well, except maybe your mother-in-law. Aggie says even she’s coming.”

“Great, now I’m dreading this thing.” Flo finished powdering her nose, then opened her car door.

“One more thing to dread. We’re playing games.” I got out of the car and faced her across the open top. “Please be nice and go along with it. Aggie’s never done this sort of thing before. You want more gal pals? Pretend to have fun. There will be booze. Drown your dislike of games. Okay?”

“Booze?” Flo’s eyes lit up. “You mean blood with a kick?”

“Yep. Let’s get hammered.” I walked around the car and linked my arm through hers. “And we’ll play Aggie’s stupid games. This place faces the lake. How about we throw her off the balcony at the end of the party?”

“Girlfriend, I can suffer through anything if I have that to look forward to. I’ve never forgotten how that Siren turned me into a statue.” Flo laughed and pulled me toward the door. “Payback time. And lots of new lingerie. What could be better?”

Aggie greeted us at the door. She looked gorgeous in a designer dress that I’d never be able to afford. The green print matched her eyes, and her blond hair was pulled back with a silver clip that looked like a piece of sculpture. Wow. My own red pantsuit screamed end-of-year clearance.

“Here’s our guest of honor now!” Aggie gushed. She thrust a basket at us. “Pick a number. We’re playing a team game or two, so you’ll need to see which team you’re on.”

I grabbed a folded paper. One. Flo showed me she’d drawn a two. Opposite teams. Oh, well.

“Grab a drink. Would you believe I found margarita-flavored blood on the Internet? Try it and tell me what you think.” Aggie nodded, and a waiter in a serape came forward with a tray. He was obviously human and terrified, the glasses shaking and rattling. His name tag said Rudolpho. Aggie patted him on the shoulder. “Would you relax? I told you. No worries. These ladies are harmless.” Aggie turned to me and winked. “AB negative, Glory.”

I snagged a glass and sipped. Okay, I could get used to this. It definitely kicked. Another waiter came by with the EV chips and salsa. I dove in. My kind of party.

“Gloriana, Florence. Darlings, I don’t know where you met this Siren, but she throws a great party.”

“CiCi!” I grabbed my dear friend and surrogate mother, Countess Cecilia von Repsdorph, and hugged her. Flo claimed her next. CiCi had been in Paris for months but had flown in for the wedding with her son and his partner. I desperately needed her sane advice but couldn’t drag her off to burden her with my angst now. Not when there were margaritas on hand.

It seemed like every paranormal female in Austin, and quite a few from Europe, had shown up for this shower. I added a few to my guest list for Wednesday night. Flo was thrilled, especially by the large table full of wrapped packages.

Aggie clapped her hands for attention. “Ladies, please get into your teams now. There are four of them.”

I was on margarita number three and eyeing Rudolpho for a nightcap. Hmmm. Definitely feeling a buzz, and my hellish side was picking up steam.

“Go ahead and snack on the waiter. Hell girls don’t hold back.”
Alesa giggled, obviously feeling the buzz too.

“First game. Check your purses. Here’s a list of oddball items. You have ten minutes, and the team that finds the most things on that list in their purses wins.”

“Wins what?” I shouted, definitely thinking Rudolpho would make a nice prize. Three other vamps on my team noticed where I was staring and grinned.

“Each team member gets a choice of a case of margarita Blud-Lite or a one-hundred-dollar gift card at the mall.”

“Woo-hoo! Game on!” Lacy was on my team, and she grabbed a copy of the list from Aggie.

“Time starts now.” Aggie looked at her Rolex.

“What’s on the list, Lacy?” I could go for some Blud-Lite to take home.

“We’re toast. This is stupid. Who carries a corkscrew?”

“I’ve got one.” This from Erin, one of my night clerks. Hmm. “Is there a flask on there?”

“No, but how about a box of condoms?”

The shifter who cut my and Flo’s hair offered up one of those in a jumbo size that raised a few eyebrows.

“Hurry, my dear. Team three has six items already.” CiCi snatched the list. “Eloise, get over here.”

I’d met Eloise Duval briefly. She was a witch who Flo and CiCi knew from Europe. Apparently she’d come in with the countess and had been happy to jump in on all the wedding festivities. I smiled because I knew we were set to win now. Eloise was the only witch here, and she glanced around the circle at her teammates. We all nodded, not a conscience among us.

“Now you’re getting it!”
Alesa crowed. And didn’t that make me think through my alcoholic haze.

“Oh, look!” Eloise cried, digging into her black patent designer tote. “I have an empty beer can and a jock strap.”

That last one cracked me up, and she threw it at me. I caught it and dropped it next to the box of condoms.

“What luck! It’s jumbo too.” We all laughed.

“Two-minute warning. Team three is ahead with six items. Who knew that Diana carried around a sex manual in her purse?” Aggie danced around with excitement in her Louboutin pumps while team three high-fived each other. Team two, with Flo complaining bitterly that she should have carried her tote instead of the cute little clutch, dug frantically in their purses. Team four had settled into heavy drinking and eating, obviously not competitive.

“Come on, Eloise. What else ya got?” I grabbed another drink from Waiter Boy, setting my empty on his tray and inhaling his blood type. I flashed fang, and he ran as fast as his loaded tray would let him.

“Hey, I have a hotel room key.” Lacy pulled it out of her hobo bag. She grinned. “Souvenir of a great weekend.”

“And I’ve got the massage oil.” The beautician tossed it on the pile.

“We’re tied!” Maybe I’d check my purse. Sure Eloise could conjure up a dead cat if we needed one, but winning by cheating wouldn’t be all that satisfying. When Alesa jeered, I realized I still had enough conscience left to want to play fair. There was a squeal as team two reached six items.