"Wait a minute, vamp girl." His arms tightened around me.
"For what?" I glanced down, oh, yeah, then pushed wet hair out of my eyes. No way was I going to miss one bit of that view. Ray has a piercing there with a sparkling diamond ring. I forced my chin up to meet his gaze.
"For this." He slid his hands under my thighs and pulled my legs around his waist until I was snug against him. "The celebration." One part of me was definitely celebrating. No underwear and baggy shorts? It wouldn't take much of a push for us to be
"We're just friends, remember? And you're pale. While one part of your body is obviously up for the celebration, I don't think it's a good idea even if I was willing." I shoved and managed to climb off of him without falling on my butt. "You want to lose your voice again?"
"Is that possible?" Ray actually looked worried and didn't try to pull me back. I'd found the magic words.
"Doubt it. But we're in uncharted territory. I don't think you want to take that chance." I handed Ray a towel.
"Somehow I have a feeling you'd be worth it." He grinned and pretended to reach for me again, but I could tell this time he was playing.
I scooted out of reach. "I admit I'm a fan. But I refuse to be one of those notches on your bedpost."
"Notches? Was I supposed to keep score? Damn. Nobody told me." Ray ran the towel over his hair, then down his chest. He took his time with his arms, feet, everywhere. Watching me, watching him.
I turned my back and grabbed a towel for myself, finally wrapping it around my hair. Calm. I'd taken yoga. I needed to meditate. Find my center. As if. With Ray less than a foot behind me combing his long hair after tossing his wet towel at my feet? I blindly handed him a dry towel then scurried out of the bathroom. I'm not immune to a well-built guy, no matter how committed I am to another one. If anything, my years with Jerry had made me appreciate men, really appreciate how a guy who knows his way around a woman's body can make her feel. Oh, jeez. I had to get a grip. On myself. Not on Ray.
"Get dressed. We need to talk about Aggie."
"Screw Aggie." Ray sounded out of sorts.
I didn't bother to hide my smile. "I'm sure she'd love for you to. If we don't find those three vamps for her, you may end up her love slave."
Ray finally wrapped the towel around his waist. "Whoa. Now that's a picture guaranteed to take the starch right out of a fella." I shook my head. "Aggie could probably freeze you stiff, if you know what I mean." I patted his shoulder when Ray shuddered.
"Surely it won't come to that. Let's think positive. Now that you can sing again, you can deal with Sienna and I'm going to my shop. I'll see what I can do to get us those vampires we need to satisfy Aggie."
"You know how to get hold of the EVs? Seems the sooner we can get that ball rolling, the sooner we can get Aggie off our backs. Can't imagine she'd just sit out on the lake twiddling her thumbs waiting. I expect to be summoned out to the lake any minute now for a progress report." Ray frowned. "And you're right about Sienna. She's a tyrant when it comes to rehearsals. I won't have time to mess with Aggie too."
"I bet Brittany has one of the EVs on speed dial from when she worked for Lucky. I'm sure her former employer was into their drugs."
"Oh, yeah. One of us should follow up on that." Ray sat on the side of the bed.
"I will. Right after I pull together one more outfit." There was a knock on the door. "I'll get it."
"Hey, Glory." Nathan pulled me to him and kissed me, then noticed Ray wearing nothing but a towel. His face fell. "Oh, obviously I interrupted something."
"Not at all. We were celebrating. Ray's voice is back." I'd had enough of this drama. I stared into Nate's eyes, ready to put him under the whammy.
"Stop it, Glory." Ray stepped between us. "Listen, bud. Glory's been playing her mind games with you."
"Hey, you did get your voice back!" Nathan grinned, then looked at me. "What's this about a game?"
"You gave your blood so I could help Ray. In return, we decided to make Ray jealous. So I planted a hot memory of you and me together. It never happened." I shrugged and noticed both Ray and Nathan watching my T-shirt. I couldn't help smiling a little. Sure I looked sluttish, but the guys weren't noticing my hips and thighs now, were they?
"Man, I hate that mind control you guys do." Nate frowned. "Glory, you mean we didn't do the Top Gun thing?"
"Sorry, but no. We're friends. You and me. Ray and me. You and Ray. No sex for any of us." Nate looked at Ray. "Damn."
I smiled at Nate and shook my finger in his face. "Come on, Nathan. Did you really think I was that big a slut? That I'd just hop into bed with you? Both of you know I'm with Blade."
Nathan grabbed my hand and kissed it. "A guy can dream. Did we make you jealous, Ray?"
"Hell, yes. Glory won't give me any, and then you strut in here like you got it all? I woulda ripped out your throat if I hadn't felt like shit."
Nate backed up and put a hand on his neck. "Damn. Don't even joke about it. I love you like a brother, Ray, but this vampire thing still scares the hell out of me sometimes."
Ray ran a hand over his face. "I know, guy. Me too." He looked up and smiled. "I owe you. Big-time. For the blood you gave." Ray slapped his friend on the shoulder. "Took guts."
Nathan staggered and rubbed his shoulder. "Obviously you're back to full strength. Just in time. Barry's here. He's got some phone interviews lined up and I was going crazy trying to stall him." Nathan glanced at me. "Barry's our PR guy. This is part of the Grammy hype." Nate grinned. "Sing something, Ray, so I'll know this is for real."
" 'Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends.' " Ray belted out the line from an old Beatles song.
"Hot damn!" Nate yelled. He and Ray high-fived. "Glory, you're a miracle worker."
"I've been trying to get her to celebrate with me." Ray winked at me.
"That'll have to wait. Sienna's downstairs. She ordered me to come up and drag you out of bed if I had to. She's ready to rehearse and isn't going to be put off. Dex spent the day taking her around town. They caused a few riots when they went public, paparazzi had a field day. In private, Dex tried some of his tricks. Now he's limping because Sienna dug a stiletto into his instep."
"I've got to meet this woman." I grinned, grabbed my purse from the nightstand, then disappeared into the large walk-in closet.
"I'm getting dressed now. You guys better take care of business because Valdez and I are out of here in about ten minutes." I shut the door and found yet another T-shirt and khaki shorts. I took a few minutes to throw on some makeup and pull my wet hair back into a ponytail. Then I stuck my feet into a pair of rubber flip-flops, picked up my suede boots and threw open the door.
Ray was on a cell phone. Nathan stood by the door whispering with a tall, thin man with a shaved head and a gold earring. He was dressed in casual elegance in expensive trousers and a white silk shirt open at the neck. He looked me over, grinned, then gave Nate an elbow.
"Oh, Glory, meet Barry Donaldson, Ray's PR guy." Nate glanced at Ray and lowered his voice. "You two need to get together." Barry took my elbow and hurried me into the closet and shut us inside. "Great to meet you, Glory. The press loves you. I can't wait to set up some interviews." He whipped a card out of his pocket. "Here are all my numbers. I know you're a busy woman, but we've got to get you on local TV. Fantastic publicity for your shop too."
"Thanks, Barry." I stared down at his card. I should have known. He was from a prestigious Los Angeles agency. Here in close quarters I could tell he was B positive with an overlay of Dolce & Gabbana's "Masculine." While he chattered on about possible Austin publicity opportunities, I read his mind. He was wondering if he could talk me into joining one of the national weight-loss clinics. Do a commercial and combine publicity with getting some of the extra pounds off of me.
I was about to write him off as a shallow jerk when I saw that he did think I was cute and respected Ray for picking someone who wasn't a celebutante for a change. He'd also checked out my fan club, one that protested the way the tabloids picked on my sizefour thousand members and counting, thank you very much. He liked the publicity there too. I waited, but he didn't bring up the subject of my weight. Not that I could diet. Believe mebeen there, done that. At least I've tried to cut down on the fluid intake. Vamps just can't lose. Healing sleep, you know.
"Local TV doesn't exactly love me, Barry. One reporter in particular keeps trying to make something of the Vintage Vamp's thing. Like I'm a vampire. Can you believe it?"
We both had a good laugh at that. "I say we run with it. The mysterious Glory St. Clair. Only comes out at night. I've seen the pictures. The agency has a file on you, of course. Started it as soon as Ray was seen with you the first time. That vampire mural on your shop wall is dynamite. Great draw for the store. I'd say you're a marketing genius." He grinned and turned when the closet door opened.
Ray stuck his head inside. "Do I have to throw a jealous rage here?" He threw his arm around me. "Glory, let me know if Barry tries to overschedule your life. I'll make him back off. You should see the list of phone interviews he handed me a few minutes ago."
"Right. And Chicago's next. I'll get them on the line." Barry held out his hand and took the cell phone from Ray "Great to meet you, Glory. I'll be stopping by your shop. Got to see that mural for myself. Oh, and I already met your dog." He shuddered.
"Heavy duty, isn't he?"
"You'd better believe it." I watched him look at a list on his BlackBerry, then begin to punch numbers into the phone before he sat on Ray's bed and started to talk.