High Stakes (Vegas Vampires #1)(12)
Author: Erin McCarthy

She expected a little more of a reaction. He didn’t move, except for his left eyebrow, whichrose half an inch. "You don’t look like you have a stake tucked in that slinky shirt you’re wearing."

Jerk. "Maybe I have holy water and I’m going to throw it in your face."

"If you’d like, go ahead. I’m sure it would be refreshing."

"I really think that I hate you," she said, his flippant attitude getting the best of her.

"And here I thought we were getting along so well."

And she didn’t understand why being around him reduced ner to a frustrated eight-year-old.

Yet it did, and she faked to the left,then ran to the right, in a move any football player would be proud of.

Only Ethan didn’t fall for the fake. He quickly stuck his hand up to block her passage. It was a block, all right, but he also succeeded in grabbing her breast. Just a perfect lineup—his hand, her breast, like a ball and a glove, and she made some kind of startled yelp like a tortured yeti.

For the first time all evening, Alexis actually saw Ethan Car rick lose his cool. While she felt her face flame, and her entire body went stiff, he dropped both his hand and his lower jaw.

"I apologize that was not intentional " He frowned.

obviouslyat a loss for words, and man, oh man, did that make her happy-

So what that she’d had to get accidentally felt up to reduce him to this? It was worthit, and so amusing to see him struggling and embarrassed. She suddenly felt a whole lot better about old Ethan. It said a lot to her that he could have the decency to turn a little craven after grabbing her boob.

She couldn’t stop herself from grinning. "Well, that was good for me.How about you?"

Astonishment crossed his face, but quickly turned to laughter. "You have an interesting sense of humor.Wittier than your sister." The mention of her sister should have restored her anger, but it didn’t. Not really. Alexis felt she had regained the upper hand, or at least stood on even footing with Ethan, and that made her less inclined to violence. " Brittany is very naive. Her mind doesn’t go in the same lowly directions mine does.Which is why she’s completely wrong for you. Once you get tired of sleeping with her, you’ll be done with her, and I don’t want to see her hurt."

"You do know that she wants to stay." Those pale blue eyes of his darkened to denim. "And I think, despite your denials, you can understand the attraction."

Alexis worked a heavy eye roll. "So you’ve said Brittany wants stay. But I’m not convinced of that. And I was being sarcastic when I said I enjoyed your touch. It was a joke, Bite Boy."

The smile that played around his lips was smug. "You liked it."

"No, I didn’t. I don’t find you even remotely attractive. You’re like driver’s license. I can’t avoid you, you cost me time and money and no matter what I do, you make me look bad. You’re a necessary evil.For the moment."

"There’s nothing evil at all about me."

She was so ready to move on. "I would have thought that was the attraction to the whole vampire club—’Look at us, we’re evil, we’re so bad, don’t mess with us.’" Alexis ducked under his arm to get to Brittany ‘s room. "Give me a break."

Ethan let her take two steps,then found himself speaking. "I’ll cut Brittany loose if you’d like. Tell her to go home."

He leaned against the wall, knowing he was taking a risk, but intrigued by Alexis Baldizzi . He saw shades of himself in her—the determination, the righteousness, the absolute indignation. As a more experienced vampire now, he had suppressed the wildness, the fiery crusading of his youth, and had vowed to use diplomacy to seek the changes he sought.

After nine hundred years he well understood the world was not black and white, the way Alexis saw it.

Yet despite that difference,Alexis stirred passion in him, roused an urge to do something asinine and showy, like leaping off the top of his hotel just because he could, or flying toParis without the use of a plane just to feel the wind rushing past him. He wanted to tear her clothes off, roll around in a sweaty mass of sheets, and bite her all over her body.

Fortunately, she didn’t look willing.

Or unfortunately, because he couldn’t stop himself from want ing to convince her she wanted him. Or to admit she wanted him, if she already did want him. It was absurd. But then again, no woman had ever looked him straight in the eye and told him was unattractive before, and it felt a little like he’d sat on a burr. Not a pleasant feeling.

Pride could get him into trouble with this one.

"Why would you tell Brittany to leave?" she asked cynically."Because you want me to beg you to do it? Forget it. I’ll kick your ass before I beg."

It would be interesting to let her try to kick his ass, as she so eloquently put it, but unnecessary. "No, no begging required. Just that you play the game in Brittany ‘s place." If she thought it was some kind of rich man’s hobby, playing vampire, he’d let her believe that.For now.

"What?" Her hands went on her hips. "What the hell have you been smoking? I have a life, a career,court cases. I can’t play Barbie. Besides, I don’t have the legs for it."

"I don’t expect you to forsake your career." He still had a bit of an old-fashioned fascination with a woman doing man’s work, but he could certainly see how Alexis would be successful. Lawyers were argumentative, tenacious, and convinced they were right. That was an accurate assessment of Alexis.

"What I’m suggesting is you return here at the end of every day. You have dinner with me, stroll the casino with me,entertain guests. Sleep in the room next to mine."

"You want me to have sex with my sister’s lover after she gets dumped by him?By you. That’s sick.Twisted."

He supposed he should have clarified that earlier. "I have never taken your sister to my bed. We have a platonic friendship, and I apologize for misleading you earlier."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"Can we discuss this in my room? Brittany could step out into the hall at any moment, and I don’t imagine she would appreciate this discussion." He opened the door to his suite and smiled. "Don’t close the door behind us."

Obviously not trusting him to follow that order, she actually picked up a ceramic hound statue he had standing sentry to his living room, and plunked it down in front of the door. It held the door wide open, and she surveyed her work.

"Nice dog."

"Thanks."

She pointed. "Go first."

To humor her, he did, but he hovered in front of the sofa. He would-not sit down until she did. There were childhood lessons, inherentmanners, taht just couldn’t be erased, no matter how long he lived.