The Real Werewives of Vampire County

“Ow!” Vinny protested behind me, rubbing his forehead.

Oh, come on. I couldn’t have hit him that hard. Besides, we had bigger problems. “Where are my heels?” I groused. “The ones with the green stickers?”

Tia’s dress-to-shoes color-coding system was no good if I couldn’t keep my new wardrobe straight.

Vinny massaged his head in a clearly dramatic attempt to make me feel like a crazy woman. “I don’t care where your green stickers are. I came up here to tell you Lucien is making a call. After that, he needs you downstairs.”

“Help me look.” The closet was a mess. I’d never had this much junk before. “Turn yourself into Martha Stewart or something.”

“Not for all the tea in China, babe.”

Oh yeah, now he gets picky.

We were due at Nina’s dinner party and I’d underestimated the time it took to get tweezed and sprayed and polished for the evening.

It had never taken me more than five minutes in the past.

Truth be told, I’d had a hard time tearing myself from the computer. I’d been online, investigating Slimprol. Not that it did any good. I couldn’t find any mention of the drug, much less what it did—or why Bliss would hide it.

Lucien said he’d put the Vampire Council research department on the job. I’d try to question Bliss at the party. Although I’d rather use my resources to ask questions about Sunny’s murder.

Finding the killer was my main priority. We had tonight. Tomorrow at dusk would be the full moon, which would be the end of our investigation, and the beginning of a war.

Vinny shoved the ThighMaster back into the closet and right in my way.

Say … I turned to him. “You have an ‘in’ with Bliss.”

I tossed the ThighMaster out of the closet before I tripped over the thing.

Vinny simply stared at me.

Honestly, the man was causing more problems than he solved.

Did I have to spell it out?

“Think you can romance me the 411 on Slimprol?” I asked.

“You’re the one who gets them to spill the truth, sweetheart,” he said, shoving the ThighMaster onto an upper shelf. “I’m just your eyes and ears.”

“Oh, so now you stick to your job.” Men. I’d never understand them. I stared up at the hinged contraption that was now threatening to smack me on the head. “What’s that thing doing in here anyway? I didn’t buy it.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, deliberately avoiding the subject.

Vinny began digging through my pile of shoes. “Wear these.” He held out a pair of brown flats that most certainly did not go with my slinky black dress.

See? I was getting better.

Granted, Tia had forced me to buy a lot of beauty gadgets, but, “if I didn’t buy it and you didn’t buy it and—”

“I can’t keep it in my closet, okay?” he said, tossing the flats and shoving a pair of gold strappy sandals at me.

“Hey, green stickers. Thanks.” Then it occurred to me. “Why do you have a ThighMaster?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he grumbled, retreating from the closet. “Just leave it in here.”

I perked up. “You don’t want Lucien to know you have a ThighMaster.”

Hidden in plain sight.

Vinny didn’t share my amusement. He rubbed at the stubble on his chin. “I told you to can it.”

I gave him the once-over. Okay, so maybe Vinny in his natural state had a few jiggly spots, but it wasn’t like he needed to “squeeze his way to fitness.”

His nostrils flared and I swear his eyebrow ring even jingled a bit.

“I’ll take it to the grave,” I said, carrying my heels to the bed so I could sit and fasten them. “It might happen soon, too, considering Bliss is about to tear me apart.”

She had to have smelled me in her house. Once she locked on to my scent tonight, I’d be toast.

A part of me was actually relieved. I liked confrontations. I’d rather know where I stood than sneak around waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“I’ve got your back,” he assured me.

“What? Are you a waiter tonight?”

“Better. That’s another reason I came up to talk to you.” He’d propped an elaborate curved sword against my nightstand. “Lucien thought you’d enjoy seeing this. It’s from his private collection.”

“Lucien likes knives?” I loved blades.

“You two have a lot more in common than you think.”

“I don’t want to hear it from you.”

“It needed to be said,” he stated. “Anyhow, I’m acting like scenery tonight. Sadly, this isn’t the first time I’ve had to be live sculpture art during a vampire party.”

“That is so pretentious.”

He shrugged. “I meet a lot of people in my line of work. Some act like God’s gift because they can put on a show.” There was that meaningful look again. “Others are full of themselves because they don’t.”

But Vinny didn’t dwell on it. “Nina has an Arabian Nights theme going.” He grinned. “Meet the burly harem guard.” He took a swoop at thin air. “You have a problem, look for the sword.”

Got it. “Much better than you with a chain saw.” We’d lost three trees during his stint as a gardener.

We headed downstairs to find Lucien waiting. He looked fantastic in an understated black suit and a blue tie that set off his eyes.

I felt his gaze touch me and it was all I could do not to trip down the last three steps.

“Is the research department working on Slimprol?” I asked, just to have something to say.

“They are,” he said slowly.

I couldn’t help remembering the way he’d touched me the night before. Clearly, he was thinking of it, too.

He ate me up with his eyes. “You look amazing.”

I snorted. “You’re only saying that.”

“No, I’m not.”

I moved close enough for him to smell my honeysuckle perfume. “You just want to bite me,” I said, my voice huskier than I would have liked.

He took my hand as I tried to breeze past.

“Maybe,” he said, drawing me back, his hand cupping my chin, his thumb grazing my lower lip. “I also want this.”

His mouth brushed mine once, twice. The thrill of it slapped through me. I grabbed his head and deepened the kiss.

My body collided flush with his. And those parts that had ached in frustration roared back to life.