Bit the Jackpot (Vegas Vampires #2)(3)
Author: Erin McCarthy

Not sure why exactly she was still standing there, Cara licked her lips nervously. She could have sworn she had ordered her feet to walk away and yet she was just frozen in a half-swizzle. A strange sensation stole over her, like a tugging, tingling feeling, in her shoulders, her neck,her skull. She opened her mouth to speak, but realized she couldn’t remember what he had just said. Just that it suddenly seemed really important to tell him her name.Urgent.

Her brain battled with the need to open her mouth. Her common sense was screaming no, no, no, he could find her address and phone number on the Internet with her name.

Yet she said, "Cara," before she could stop herself. It just came out with no warning or consent from her.

What the hell? She seethed at herself silently. What was the matter with her? He wasn’tthat good looking. Okay, yes, he was, but that didn’t fully explain why she seemed to have lost her mind. She glared at him, just to let him know the name thing had been a slip, one she wasn’t going to repeat.

The glare didn’t seem to faze him. He smiled, a beautiful, white teeth grin. "Come have a cup of coffee with me, Cara."

She’d rather die. "No, thank you."

"There’s a shop right across the street " He stopped smiling. "What? What do you mean?"

"I mean no."

Now he looked flat-out shocked."No? You can’t mean no."

"I do." He’d obviously never heard the wordno before. Maybe he was famous.Probably rich. Used to women dropping at his gorgeous feet. Well, she didn’t know if his feet were gorgeous, per se, but given the rest of him she could see, it was highly likely. This would be good for him, to hear no. Take his obviously huge ego down a notch or two.

Seamus stared at her.Hard. His eyebrows rose just a little bit, like he was waiting for something.

Feeling a little weirded out by his intensity, Cara eased to the left, still half-turned. She must be shuffling like a hunchback, but she didn’t care. She needed to get away from him, but couldn’t seem to force her body to do more than step forward an eighth of an inch at a time. She was either in a dream or she’d suffered some kind of post-dancing paralysis. That had been a really deep cat in the cradle at the end of her routine. She must have sore muscles, or maybe her high heels were too small and she had pinched a nerve.

Hesmiled, a slow, charming, roguish sort of smile. "Let me walk you to your dressing room. Can I buy you a cup of coffee?"

Umm.Didn’t she just say no twice? She attempted another shuffle and moved all of half an inch. Damn it. She was getting really freaked out. Her legs didn’t work. So if she couldn’t get her own legs to leave, she’d have to force him to take a hint. "Well, that depends. Do you like long walks?"

"Sure." The smile relaxed.

"Do you like sex?" Cara asked in a husky voice, hoping her acting skilis were passable.

"Absolutely."His nostrils flared.

"Then take a f**king hike." She’d been dying for months to use that line she’d read in a magazine, and the shocked look on his face was so worth the wait. "I’m not interested, got it?"

For a long second, he stared at her, like he could hypnotize her into having coffee—sex—with him. She half expected a pendulum to start swinging in front of her.

"Hello." She waved her hand in front of his face, starting to get ticked off. "Did you hear me? Not interested. Go away."

He broke eye contact with her, crossed his arms, and shook his head in disgust."Absolutely unbelievable. I just can’t win. I finally decide to live a little and I pick the one woman in Vegas who can shut me out and says no."

Okay, cute guy was psycho. And she was naked.

"I, um, have to go they’ll wonder where I am." She started to turn again, but he touched her arm. Crap. Where the hell was a bouncer when you needed one?

A hideous shriek startled Cara into jumping back three feet. A blur with black hair collided into Seamus.

He swore. "What the hell is the matter with you, Kelsey?"

A tall, thin, gorgeous woman wearing a tiny red dress that boosted up snow-white cle**age was clinging to Seamus. Cara took another step back, damn grateful her legs were finally cooperating, even if she was only able to manage geriatric speed.Time to casually slip away and put some pants on. Leave sexy psycho to his skinny girlfriend.

"They’re here, Seamus, I saw them."

"Who?"He sounded impatient, but wrapped his arm around the woman, patting her back. "Kelsey, babe, we’ve got to get you counseling or something. I can’t be with you every possible second of every day."

She sniffled and clung to his chest. "I can’t help it I’m sorry. Since they shot me, I just feel scared all the time."

On that note, Cara was out of there. She started increasing her backup shuffle.

"Cara, wait." He glanced at her.

No freaking way. "Look, threesomes aren’t my thing. In fact, nothing is my thing, okay? I’m boring and repressed and I have six brothers."

That weird tugging sensation crept over her arms again, across her collarbone and into her face like an invasive, probing, ice-cold finger. Shuddering, Cara whirled around, fast-walked around the corner, and ducked into the dressing room she shared with the other dancers. Slamming the door, she pushed the lock button in, and grabbed her chest.

Geez, she needed to get a new job. Maybe paying for veterinarian school and the nursing home with shadow dancing wasn’t worth this. That had started to get a little creepy. "What are you doing?" Dawn asked.

Cara looked at her coworker, sitting in her red thong, touching up her makeup. "This guy followed me." Really strange, sexy guy who had a girlfriend who had been shot and a strange ability to make Cara feel like his fingers were walking up her neck when he wasn’t even touching her.

She shivered again just thinking about it, a little scared by the whole encounter. Dawn had no such fear. Adjusting her bra with nipple tassels, she stood up and pushed Cara out of the way. "Where is he? We’ll callBryan . He’ll kick his ass."

Bryanwas Dawn’s bouncer boyfriend. Cara wasn’t sure she wantedBryan confronting Seamus, but she would like an escort to her car.After she got dressed. But before she could reach for her gym bag with her clothes, Dawn was making "uh-uh-uh" expressions.

"Is that him? Standing with that chick?" Dawn had opened the door and was gazing down the hall with a rapt expression on her face.

Cara peered from behind Dawn’s shoulder. Seamus was brushing the skinny girl’s hair back off her shoulders and looked like he was reassuring her.Freak. "That’s him."

"Damn, now that’s a man," Dawn enthused. "I’m looking at him, and I swear, my thighs are just spreading automatically."