Bit the Jackpot (Vegas Vampires #2)(28)
Author: Erin McCarthy

"Oh, my God.You just killed him!" Alexis jumped up and down. "That was awesome."

Cara grabbed her chips from the dealer, heart racing, and stepped onto the rungs of her stool. " Yeehaw!" she yelled to the crowd gathered, grinning like crazy. Damn, this felt good. She’d been so cooped up in Seamus’s apartment, doing nothing but decorating to annoy him, and while it was working, he didn’t seem to have any intention of kicking her out. Because she had figured something out—Seamus was a really nice guy. He tolerated all her changes and demands with a stoic calm that amazed her.

It made her like him, damn it.

Meanwhile, she had discovered the horrible truth about herself. Not only did she like Seamus, but she liked being a housewife. It was just as she had always suspected, all those years of making dinner for her grandmother, and rearranging the furniture in their tiny apartment. She liked domestic tasks.

Which was scary.So she had run off to gamble, the perfect antidote to housekeeping urges. Winning was exhilarating. She gave Alexis a high five.

"Cara," Kelsey said.

"What?" Cara glanced over at Kelsey, who didn’t sound nearly as excited as she should given that Cara had just won twenty thousand dollars.

"I think Seamus wants your attention. He’s over there glaring at you."

Cara followed her finger and found Seamus and Ethan standing at the top of the casino floor stairs by the lobby. Ethan looked amused. Seamus looked pissed off.

Good. Alexis said Seamus didn’t like exhibitionism. Since domestic nag wasn’t working, maybe she’d gain her freedom this way. Which she was absolutely positive she still wanted.Truly, definitely positive. Staying with Seamus would be a bad, wrong, evil idea.

Cara stepped onto the seat of her stool and spoke to the crowd. "If you all catch me, I’ll buy the next round of drinks."

And she swan-dived into the spectators, making a beautiful leaping arch.They caught her, though her right leg did torque a bit on the grab. She laughed. Hey, that had actually been kind of fun sailing through the air. She had two brawny guys with tattoos setting her back on her feet when Seamus moved in front of her.

"What the hell are you doing?" he said.

"Having fun."Pissing him off intentionally."I don’t want to spend eternity being bored."

"So you leap into crowds of gamblers?" he said in exasperation.

"Yes." She raised her chin."Everyone, to the bar! This round’s on me."

The crowd gave another cheer and the twenty or so people pushed forward to the bar. The woman next to Cara gave her a nudge. "Yourboyfriend don’t look all that excited for you."

"He’s not my boyfriend, he’s my jailer." That was what was so incrediblyirritating, the real rub of what was bothering her. If Seamus would just let her make her own choices, she could say in all honesty she’d probably want to stay with him. At least long enough to explore the attraction between them. She liked Seamus, enjoyed his company, the way he was solid, reliable, loving with her pets. But knowing that she was trapped, knowing she couldn’t leave, had to depend on Seamus, rubbed her wrong and then some. It was poisoning their potential relationship because she felt patronized.

What she really wanted was to go home to live in her own apartment, but date Seamus. Go to the movies, talk,get to know each other, fall in love. Like normal people. But he wouldn’t let her go.

"Cara."

She ignored Seamus calling her and tossed a two-hundred-dollar chip at the bartender."Something for my friends here."

Alexis grabbed her hand. "Let’s dance. They’re playing Madonna."

So she, Alexis, and Kelsey hit the dance floor and moved to the funky beat, laughing and having fun while Seamus parked his butt in a chair and watched.Just watched.With a ticked-off look on his face. Ethan was working the room, talking to the bartender, the DJ, the waitresses.

Cara was actually having a hell of a lot of fun, despite the chill coming from Seamus. She hadn’t realized how tense she’d been until she’d starting acting silly with Alexis and Kelsey. They were lip-syncing and laughing and talking. Kelsey had loosened up as well, and Cara was glad to see she was enjoying herself. These vampire girls’ nights out were going to have to become a weekly deal.

When a sensual song came on, Cara couldn’t help but slide into a few of her regular, nonsexual dance moves. This song was part of her routine and it was like second nature to her. She did a shallow cradle rock just to limber up. Her jeans were a bit restrictive, but she felt her hips loosening up.

Alexis imitated her move, stiffly, and soon they were all laughing, until Seamus touched her arm. She jumped, startled at how fast he’d moved from his table to her side. He didn’t look happy. He looked capable of biting through steel.

"Hey, cutie," she said with a smile, which wiped the anger right off his face.

"Are you drunk?" he asked in astonishment.

"Can we get drunk?" she asked. That possibility had never occurred to her. "How do we do that?"

"Never mind."He took her hand, tugged a little. "Can I talk to you, please?"

"Since you said please."She let him lead her off the dance floor and to the table he’d been sitting at. "What’s up?"

"Cara." He cleared his throat. "I’m glad you’re having fun."

"Good. I won twenty thousand dollars." She was still a little floored by that. It meant that she had a serious nest egg. If her educational program could be altered to online classes, she could probably push and take eighteen or twenty-one credit hours and finish the following spring. Then she could intern in an all-night animal hospital. Her dreams could still be realized if she did a little creative maneuvering.

"But you have to understand our goal is to remain under the radar. If we draw attention to ourselves, we run the risk of exposure."

"Oh." That did make sense. "So you think I drew too much attention to myself tonight by winning?"

"That, and the diving into the crowd, and the sexy dance moves that had half a dozen guys salivating as they watched."

"Were you salivating?" She liked the thought of that. And she’d barely done anything out there on the floor. Wait until Seamus saw what she could do with water.

"Yes. I was definitely salivating." His hand fell on her knee.

"Okay."

He blinked. "Okay, what?"

"Okay, I’ll try not to draw attention to myself. See, when you discuss it with me rationally, explain to me the importance of discretion instead of ordering me around, I completely understand. I’ll chill with the dancing." She stood up. Time to revert back to her domestic plan, which she had to admit was more her style than crowd diving. She actually liked organizing Seamus’s apartment and putting color into his gunmetal gray life. She kissed his forehead. "I’m going to go cash out,then I’ll go upstairs. It’s been a long night. Will you walk the dogs for me?"