Bit the Jackpot (Vegas Vampires #2)(35)
Author: Erin McCarthy

"She knows the guy, Seamus." Cara leaned closer to him. "I didn’t want to say anything in front of her, but she knows him and he knows her. He seems almost fond of her. And she calls him Kyle."

"Fond of her?"Seamus closed his eyes. Pictured that night Cara had been killed. Saw the thin man, the young vampire, saw how he had invited Kelsey to follow him and how she had, without hesitation.

"What does he look like? Is he thin, dressed well, darkhair, has sort of a quiet confidence?"

"Yes." Cara shifted in her chair restlessly, leaning in his direction. "Do you know him?"

Seamus shook his head. He took Cara’s hand in his, wanting to touch her, to reassurehimself she was alright.Safe. "No, but he was there the night we met. He was in the alley, and while I was dealing with the other two, he calmly told Kelsey to come with him and she did."

"So she knew him already. I tried to ask her how she knew him, but she didn’t really answer in any way that made sense."

"But he knows her, and he knew who I was, and he knew who you were tonight."

"Did she ever have any weird experiences before? Date a guy she was afraid of?"

"Wait a minute." Seamus sat straight up, squeezing Cara’s hand as a thought came to him. "Wait a goddamn minute. Kelsey is the one who knew the guy who shot Ethan in the casino six weeks ago. She’s the one who took him upstairs,then she left him alone up there because she read his mind and didn’t like what she saw. Said he was dark and that he was going to kill Ethan. Ethan went up to investigate since she’d left the poor guy ina vampire glamour, but he was out of it by then, and he shot Ethan. He wasn’t a vampire, though. We have it on tape. You can’t see Kelsey, but you can see him." Seamus thought he’d recognize him if he was the same guy who’d been in the alley, but it would be nice to have a second set of eyes confirming all three were the same man. "If you saw him on tape, would you recognize him?"

"I think so." Cara looked out over the dance floor. "But why doesn’t she remember? It’s like when she was drained of blood, they took the memory with it."

"I don’t know, Cara." Seamus studied Kelsey on the dance floor, moving sensually in that purple dress,her dark hair down her back. "I don’t understand Kelsey’s role in any of this."

The dancers moved their boas, used them as lassos on one another so the four were flush up against each other like naked book-ends. Seamus watched absently, the lights moving from pink to blue to pink again.

"Cara, is Jodi Madsen here tonight?" Maybe it was time to see what Jodi might have to say about her niece Brittany Baldizzi and who her biological father might be.

"I’m sure she’s in the back. She’s usually here on the weekends. I can go get her."

Cara stood up. She was watching the dancers on stage, too. She had a deep frown on her face. "Is that what I look like, Seamus? When I’m dancing?"

Seamus couldn’t read the expression on her face. This smacked of a trap. Any way he answered would be wrong, he was guessing. So he shook his head, determined not to trip himself up."Absolutely not. You look way better than that."

"Well, I should hope so," she said, frown deepening. "They look sort of ridiculous."

Oh, damn. He pulled her down onto his lap. She perched there stiffly but didn’t pull away. "Trust me,Cara, you look amazing when you dance. In three hundred years you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met."

Eyes still on the foursome gyrating with the boas and each other, she said, "I thought you were three hundred and seventy. So there was a prettier woman in the first seventy years? Was she a dancer, too?"

Somehow he’d fallen in a hole anyway. "No, that’s not what I meant. I was rounding down. Cara, in three hundred and seventy-one years you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known." Prettier than Marie, even, and she had been a stunning petite French beauty. Not that he was going to mention Marie.

She turned back to him.Looked at him, curious, studying. "What are we, Seamus?To each other? Is this the way it is for other vampires when they’re turned? Do they feel for the vampire who turned them what I feel?"

"What do you feel, Cara?" Seamus felt the taut muscle of her backside and thighs against him, and he felt a strange, growing tingling sensation inside his chest. He also felt like he was dangling over the edge of a very high cliff, like the Cliffs of Moher , and he had no vampire flying skills. He was going to fall, and smack hard, if he didn’t watch his step.

"I like you," she said softly. "That’s what I feel." She kissed his forehead, her lips warm,then stood up. "I’ll go get Jodi for you."

Seamus watched her walk away, her body a gorgeous work of art, all soft curves and contrasts. Her hair moved across her lacy lavender top, the black edges cut bluntly, long shaggy bangs framing her face when she glanced back at him over her shoulder, giving him a small, tense smile.

So she liked him. That should be good. But he suddenly felt like he’d just been delivered an "I’m glad we’re friends" speech. And he was pretty damn positive he didn’t want to be just friends.

So if he didn’t want to be just friends, what did he want when it came to Cara?

He had no idea.

Not a f**king clue.

Chapter Ten

"Ethan, did you ever check into that vampire slayers Internet loop?" Alexis paced back and forth in her husband’s office, feeling frustrated and anxious.

"No." Ethan shrugged nonchalantly, though Alexis could tell he was braced for her response. He always held his hand out like a barrier when he was sure she was going to protest. "I’m sure that group who e-mailed you is just a bunch of thrill seekers. They don’t really fancy themselves vampire slayers."

"How do you know?" Alexis opened the balcony door and stepped out into the rapidly disappearing night. Another hour, the sun would be up, and she’d be in bed for the day. There would be no one to watch over Brittany , make sure she was safe. Alexis scanned her eyes over the Vegas Strip, worried. She’d gotten the invitation to join the vampire slayers group,then was promptly kicked out the minute she’d been turned.Like they’d known.

Ethan came up behind her and rubbed her shoulders. "What’s the matter, Alex?"

She wasn’t sure exactly. "Something is going on. People want you and Seamus dead. Why? What haven’t you told me?"

"I’ve told you everything," he said softly, his lips running over the tip of her ear. "I don’t know why someone wants me dead. The guy we’re holding isn’t talking."