High Stakes (Vegas Vampires #1)(23)
Author: Erin McCarthy

"Thanks. Rub it in. I’m well aware that I’m vertically challenged." Alexis stabbed a piece of beef and watched Ethan walk into his bedroom.

For a vampire, he had a nice ass. How sick was it that she was attracted to a man who was older than the discovery of theNew World ? Granted, there were lots of things older than Ethan—like dirt and cockroaches—but he was still really damn old. And she was thinking naughty girl thoughts about him.

She should have dated more.Plain and simple.

Ethan came out and said, "I put some things in the bathroom for you when you’re ready to change."

"I’m ready. And I’m done with the dinner, it was delicious, thanks."

"You’re welcome." He didn’t move from his spot in the hallway, which meant she had to shimmy past him, brushing her arm against his.

She shivered.

"Cold?I can get you a sweatshirt, too." Alexis watched his lips move. Thought about how close they were to hers, albeit higher from the ground.

"It’s August in Vegas. I’m not cold." And she shut the bathroom door in his face before she leapt on him.

His bathroom was large and luxurious, white on white, with nickel faucets. A peek in the shower showed a wide variety of gels and shampoos, and there were bath beads sitting beside his Jacuzzi tub. "The softer side of vampires," she mused, as she unzipped the dress and let it drop to the floor.

Alexis wasn’t wearing a bra, which was potentially dangerous, but there wasn’t much she could do about that at the moment. Standing in her panties, she reached for the T-shirt Ethan had set on the marble countertop for her. But first, she spotted a scale tucked under the vanity. Never one to be able to resist the temptation to horrify herself, she pulled it out and stepped on.

And went blind."Holy crap, I’m a cow." She sucked in her gut, glared at the digital readout, shifted her feet, and then out of sheer desperation shucked her underwear off, too. They might weigh half a pound. Better to be completely accurate.

This time when she stepped on, it was a gratifying pound less. "Ha. See, I knew it. Damn lace is heavy."

The knock on the door had her jumping and falling off the side of the scale onto the floor, making a loud metal-on-tile scraping sound in the process.

"Alexis? Can I get you anything else?"

Hello.Naked here.With Ethan two feet away on the other side of a thin wood door. Just the thought had her inner thighs hum-mine. Nudity was for bathing or sex, and her body seemed to be ready for the second option. And she’d forgotten to lock the door.

"I’m good, thanks." She tugged on the kelly green T-shirt and reached for her panties. Once they were covering all the important parts as best as a black lace thong could, she felt marginally better. She debated locking the door, but figured he would hear the click and get offended.

"Okay. I spoke with the security advisor a half an hour ago, but I’m going to ask him to bring the tapes up now from the reception area."

"Good idea. You need to find this guy. And can you ask him to bring my shoes, too? I left one in the elevator and one by your bleeding body. In the trauma of the whole experience, I forgot them."

"Sure."

"Hey, Ethan?"Alexis pulled the jogging pants on and was mortified to find that they actually fit her in the waist. Shouldn’t a woman be smaller than a man? "How’s your vision? Do you have, like, x-ray eyes or anything?" Better to know what she was dealing with.

She could practically hear his grin. "I’m not superman, beautiful. I can’t see your naked body through this door, no matter how much I want to."

"Oh." She rolled the bottom of the pants and flipped off the door with her middle finger, just because he’d aggravated her.

"I saw that."

Alexis lost the ability to breathe. If he had seen her falling off that scale naked, she was going to croak. "You said you couldn’t see me!"

Now he laughed.Loudly. "I can’t. But I know you did something rude. I could.just feel it."

Oh, she hated it when someone got the best of her. "You’re going to feel me busting your ass in a minute."

"I can hardly wait."

Chapter Nine

Ethan opened the door to his security advisor a minute later, still wearing a grin. Alexis made him laugh, in a way he hadn’t in a long time.A hundred years or more. He’d been serious lately, trying really hard to keep a lid on his emotions, urges, instincts, temper.

In the process it seemed he’d forgotten how to laugh, and that was rather a shame.

"I brought the disc for you to view, Mr. Carrick, sir."

"Thank you, William. Is he on it?"

"Yes." William stepped into the room, a cardboard box in his hands. "And I wasn’t sure which shoes belonged to Ms. Baldizzi so I brought them all."

"What do you mean, you brought them all?" Alexis came up behind Ethan and stared into the box. "How many pairs of shoes are left lying in the elevator?"

"About three a day, miss," William said with a completely straight face, his little electronic earpiece tucked in place, his goatee trim and tidy.

Ethan liked the way Alexis was hovering behind him, sort of leaning around him.Like she was with him.Comfortable being behind his protection. It may have been an illusion or wishful thinking on his part, but she did actually touch his arm to shift him out of the way as she reached into the box. A red bra flew out of her hand and across the room.

" Geez!That’s definitely not mine." Keeping her hand tucked behind her back this time, she leaned farther over the box. "There’sthree more bras in here and a thong.From six elevators? "What the hell goes on in these elevators?"

Neither he nor William spoke.

"How long did it take to accumulate all this?"

The corner of William’s mouth twitched. "This is since yesterday, miss."

Alexis grabbed her throat and curled her lip back. "Is everyone in the world depraved except for me?"

"Oh, come now, Alexis, I’m sure you’re capable of as much depravity as the next person."

She glared at Ethan.

"Are any of these yours?" William looked ready to be on his way.

"I see my shoes, but they’re underneath a pair of boxers thatam not touching. I think I’ll just get a new pair next payday-Thanks."

Ethan wanted to offer her a new pair, but was pretty sure shetell him to stick them in an uncomfortable place.

William retrieved the flung bra from the sofa and tossed it back into the box."Sorry, Miss Baldizzi ."

"Hey, it’s not your fault. Thanks for trying." She turned and tapped the disc Ethan was holding. "Does this show us who shot you?"