| |
The bar was slow going at two o’clock in the afternoon. Since most of my patrons were demons or otherwise, it wasn't surprising. Many of them were nocturnal in nature and wouldn't come rolling through until well after sunset.
“Hey boss,” Clive, the day shift bartender, inclined his head in my direction. “The cleaning crew came by an hour or so ago. I sent them on up.”
My brows bunched together at his words and then I remembered the pile of dust in my bed. Alec must have called them. I caught myself before I smiled, thinking it was sweet of him.
It was the fucker's fault in the first place.
“Thanks. I’ve got to head out for a bit but if you need me call. I’ll be back before closing.” Hopefully.
“You got it, boss.”
My boots banged against the stairs on my way up, not caring that I sounded like a herd of elephants. Unlocking my door, I slammed the door of my apartment and slumped against the cool wood with a sigh. Not even up more than a few hours and already I was ready to go back to bed. I rubbed the heel of my hand into my eyes and moved away from the door. Tossing my keys on the table, I started toward my closet.
‘I’ll meet you in the moonlight.’
Only one person would have the gall to send a note like that along with such a blatant threat. Well, not a person per say, but a vampire.
You'd think after my past luck with falling for vamps that I’d steer clear of them, but Remington Romero or ‘Call me Rem’ was a hard vampire to ignore, especially, when he makes it his personal undead goal to bed the ex-hunter. Not that we had... yet.
There wasn’t anything wrong with Rem per say. He was one of the few vampires strong enough to head his own kiss of vampires and he ruled them with an iron fist, never letting any of them do anything that might expose them to humans or draw the hunter's attention to them.
Still, arrogant would be a good way of describing him. He was not used to being told no. A bit like Alec to be honest, though the dark-haired vampire certainly had a different kind of allure to him than the blond golden boy of the Phoenix Hunter Guild.
Either way, it didn't help that I had nothing to wear to the restaurant Rem wanted me to meet him at. ‘Under The Moonlight’ was an exclusive five-star eatery on the outskirts of L.A. which meant the dress code would be black tie. I hadn’t had to wear something that fancy in a long while. I wasn’t even sure I had a cocktail dress in my closet.
A knock sounded on my door before I had the chance to check. I wondered what Clive could want already and half hoping it was Alec so I could punch him in the face.
Instead, my brows shot to my forehead at the sight of the delivery guy standing on the other side of my door. He handed over a large rectangular box, I thanked him and signed his clipboard.
Curious, I ripped into the box the moment the delivery man was gone, only to find another box inside of it. One with the logo from a popular expensive designer I’d seen on television. Rolling my eyes at Rem's blatant attempt to woo me, I took my time opening the lid and then pulling back the wrapping paper.
An icy blue dress the color of Remington's eyes stared back at me. I lifted it by its tiny straps from the box, appreciating the wispy fabric of the skirt and snorting at the bodice that would push my breasts up to their full potential.
Well, there went my excuse to shop on my dad's dime. Oh, well. I was sure I still needed to buy shoes to match.
Since there was still quite a bit of time before now and sundown, I hung the dress up and headed out to find just that. Maybe between stores, I could figure out what the hell Rem wanted besides inside my pants.
After finding a snazzy pair of shoes to go with my dress, I treated myself to a blow out and a mani pedi, all to be billed to Ashwood Security.
Who said I didn’t love my daddy?
When it hit six o’clock, right after I’d finished dressing, Clive came knocking on my door. “Hey, boss, there's a driver down here saying he's here to take you to dinner?”
Putting my phone in my clutch along with my keys and a small handgun, I offered Clive a small smile. “Thanks, I’ll be down in a second.”
I shouldn’t be surprised. If Rem went to the lengths of buying me a dress, it would reason he would send a car. I couldn’t very well drive my motorcycle to dinner.
A laugh-snort came through my nose. Now that’d be an amusing sight.
I slipped my shoes on, a pair of strappy three-inch heels that were sharp enough to put an eye out, and made my way to the front door.
Making my way down the stairs, I frowned at the sight of Alec waiting for me at the bottom of the steps. “What are you doing here?”
Alec's eyes trailed over my form, making my body warm from the attention before they landed back on my face. “I thought you were looking for your father?”
“I am.” I brushed past him and into the loud bar. Alec followed closely after me.
“Having dinner with a vampire doesn't sound like you’re trying that hard,” Alec hissed in my ear, having to raise his voice over the crowd.
“Do I even need to ask how you even found that out?” I shouted back at him over my shoulder. “And besides, you work how you do, and I’ll do what I do and then neither of us will have to worry.”
Alec grabbed my arm before I hit the bar door. “That makes no sense at all.”
Seeing the driver waiting for me, I forced a smile to my face and turned to Alec. Patting his cheek, I bit out through clenched teeth, “Not all vampires are violence and horror. Some need to be seduced out of their secrets. I just so happen to be on the opposite side of that stick in this instance.”
“Meaning what?” Alec quirked a brow.
“Meaning we're in luck that this particular vamp is more interested in what's beneath my dress than playing possum with the director.” I adjusted my tits before winking, leaving a gaping Alec behind me.