The Undead Next Door (Love at Stake #4)

"I don't know how to tango. Will the Cotton Eye Joe work?" Heather pictured herself stripping while doing a country-western line dance.

"I'm trying to help you, chica. If you don't tell him you love him, you could lose him. Do you want to lose him?"

No. The answer sprang to her mind. No, she couldn't bear to lose him. "I miss him. I miss the fun conversations we used to have. I miss the way he was always trying to steal a kiss or touch me. I miss the way he made me feel." She'd felt loved by him. Oh God, she missed his love.

She kept herself occupied by working long hours. By Friday morning, she finished the last of the three outfits. That afternoon, her three teacher friends came by for their fittings. Everything was set for the show on Saturday. Her two weeks of employment would be over. Jean-Luc had said she could stay until her house was ready. Was he reluctant to see her go? She didn't know how she could leave him and go back to her old life like nothing had happened.

Ian collapsed as usual about six P.M. They always made sure Bethany was in the kitchen when it happened. Heather had told her Ian was a special person who was aging very fast. Bethany seemed to accept that, although she announced she wanted to age fast, too.

A little after seven P.M., Sasha showed up. After fussing at her, Alberto fitted her for the outfit she was supposed to wear.

"Heather, your designs are fabulous!" Sasha hugged her. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thank you." Heather was surprised. "You do know that my designs are for a size twelve?"

"Oh, I know. And I may be wearing them someday." Sasha whirled in a circle, grinning. "Guess what? I'm going to retire! And start eating again!"

"Wow. Congratulations. When did you decide this?"

"When I fell in love." Sasha clasped her hands together over her heart. "I met him in San Antonio. He's so handsome. And rich. And he's crazy about me!"

"Great! When do we get to meet this guy?"

"Soon. Henry is so fabulous. You'll just love him. I do. Can you believe it?" Sasha practically danced to the front door. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

Later that evening, after the Vamps awoke, Simone and Inga put on their gowns and tried out the runway. They pronounced it ugly, but adequate.

Meanwhile, Jean-Luc paced around the showroom, making sure everything was in order. The mannequins and display cases had been moved to storage. The black runway was flanked on each side by two rows of white folding chairs. The lengths of silk hanging from the catwalk glimmered in shades of black, gray, and white. The whole room looked very elegant.

Jean-Luc stopped beside Heather. "Your outfits are ready?"

"Yes. And my models were fitted this afternoon."

"Good." He paced toward the silk curtains and back. "You did well to have three outfits ready in such a short time."

"Thank you."

He paced toward the front door, then turned and came back. He glowered at her. "I'm about to explode."

She blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I can't take it anymore."

Was he rejecting her? Heather's heart began to pound. "I realize you only hired me for two weeks, and my time is up."

"I'm not talking about employment. I'm talking about us." He paced away, but returned after a few steps. "I've gone almost a week without touching you. I don't know how to...act. I want to grab you and kiss you, but I don't dare frighten you away. And I'm tired of waiting for Lui to make his move. You're trapped here until I can get rid of him."

"I think we're all suffering from cabin fever. I'm nervous about tomorrow, too, but I'll be glad when it's over."

"When it's over, you'll be free to go." He dragged a hand through the dark curls on his head. "Will you accept full-time employment?"

She blinked. "You're offering me a job?"

"Yes. I want to manufacture some of your designs. You can work out of New York or Paris. I'll help you relocate."

Heather's heart lurched. Designing clothes in New York or Paris? It was all she'd ever dreamed of. "But where would you be?"

He sat heavily in a foldout chair. "I'll be here in hiding."

She sat beside him. Her dream job didn't sound so wonderful if it didn't include him. "Could I work here?"

"I suppose the daytime guard could let you in." He gave her a wary look. "You can always go home before I wake."

She bit her lip. "Is that you want?"

"No! I know exactly what I - " He leaned back in the chair. "But I shouldn't tell you. It'll scare you away."

"Tell me. If Louie was gone, what would you do?"

"I would take you and your family to New York. We would stay at Roman's townhouse. You would see the tourist places during the day, and then at night..."

"Yes?"

"We'd go to the Diamond District to pick out a ring."

Her mouth dropped open.

"And then I would ask you to marry me."

Her mouth snapped shut, and she gulped.

"I would be a good father to Bethany, and I would love to have more children with you. Two, I think."

Did he have their colleges picked out? He certainly did know exactly what he wanted. She struggled to breathe.

He tilted his head, watching her. "What do you think?"

"I think you found your mojo," she whispered.

"Is that an answer?" He looked confused.

"No." Heather clenched her hands together.

"I'd better leave you alone. I've said too much already. Merde. I've probably scared you away." He strode from the room.

Heather's heart pounded in her ears. Good Lord, he wanted to marry her. Marriage to a vampire. And children.

Was he scaring her away? Didn't she have enough to be scared about? Tomorrow was Saturday, the day of the runway show. And the night they expected Louie to try to kill her.

Chapter 25

"Thank you for coming." Jean-Luc shook hands with Gregori, who had just teleported into his office.

"No problem, bro." Gregori peered through the window at the showroom below. "So you want me to emcee your show?"

"If you don't mind." Jean-Luc thought Gregori was the best choice since he'd once hosted a reality show on the Digital Vampire Network. "I need to be at Heather's side."

Gregori nodded. "She's the chick Lui wants to kill?"

"Yes." Jean-Luc glanced at the silk curtain. She was behind there with her models. Phineas was standing guard, but Jean-Luc was anxious to take over that duty.

"This will be fun." Gregori adjusted the tie to his tuxedo. "Lots of hot babes. Is Simone here?"

"She's with Inga. They put on each other's makeup. I have a digital camera and monitor set up in the cellar so they can see themselves." Jean-Luc retrieved a piece of paper from his desk. "This is everything you need to know."

Gregori glanced over the script. "Okay. Let's do it."

Robby strode into the office. He nodded at the vice president from Romatech Industries. "Gregori."

"Hey, bro." Gregori shook his hand.

"Everything's ready to go," Robby announced. "One of Heather's models was a bit nervous and had too much to drink. Heather has her drinking some coffee."

Jean-Luc frowned. "If she's drunk, her mental facilities will be weak."

"Ye're thinking she would be easy for Lui to control," Robby said.

"Oui." Jean-Luc picked up his cane with the hidden sword inside.

"I'll keep an eye on her. Simone, too," Robby added.

"Unfortunately, everyone in the building is a suspect." Jean-Luc strode to the office door, carrying his cane. "Let's go."

The three male Vamps zoomed down the backstairs and into the kitchen. Phil and Fidelia were having a late-night snack with Bethany.

"You can go to my office now." Jean-Luc hunched down beside Bethany. "You can watch your maman through the window." The little girl nodded, her mouth full of cookies.

He passed by Phil and whispered, "Keep them safe."

"Yes, sir." Phil nodded. He'd been instructed earlier to shield Bethany's view if things turned ugly.

Jean-Luc strode to the showroom with Robby and Gregori.

Robby pointed at the catwalk. "I'll be up there during the show. Phineas and Ian will be down here. The sheriff's already here with two deputies."

Jean-Luc noted Billy leaning against a wall with a toothpick in his mouth. His deputies were standing on the opposite side of the room.

"I'll check the guests as they come in," Robby continued, "and make sure they're all mortal."

Simone and Inga strode into the room, ignoring the deputies who turned to gape at them.

"Hey, Simone." Gregori walked toward her, smiling.

She stopped. "Gregori." She lifted her hand and allowed him to escort her and Inga to the backstage area.

Gregori lifted the curtains to let them pass. "I'll be back here," he told Jean-Luc.

"Tell Heather I want to see her." Jean-Luc waited.

Heather peeked out. Her eyes widened. "You're looking good."

"Thank you." He'd worn his best tux. "We're ready to start."

"Okay." She glanced back. "Good luck, ladies."

Jean-Luc smiled when he saw she was wearing the black cocktail dress he'd purchased for her. "You look lovely."

"Thank you." She smoothed down the skirt. "I know a guy with great taste."

"That's right." Jean-Luc escorted her to the front row of chairs. "I heard one of your models is a little drunk."

She winced. "Liz. I would have never believed that a drama coach would suffer so much from stage fright. But they're all dressed and ready to go." She was talking fast and her gaze was flitting about. She was nervous, Jean-Luc realized, and with good reason.

"Come." He sat in a chair at the end of the row and motioned for her to sit beside him. He took her hands in his. They were icy cold, and he rubbed them. "I will protect you, Heather. I promise."

She took a deep breath. "I've been waiting for this for two weeks, and now I just want it over with."

"You'll do fine. Your outfits are beautiful."

"Well, that seems really unimportant compared to someone trying to kill me."

"No one will hurt you. I won't let them." He glanced at the front door. Robby was checking everyone and examining purses as they came in.

"Oh no," Heather moaned. "Coach Gunter has arrived."

The short coach didn't wait in line, but burst into the showroom. "Hey Heather!" His booming voice rang out. "I brought some moral support for Liz." He blew his whistle, and two cheerleaders from Guadalupe High skipped into the showroom, waving pom-poms and squealing.

"Oh no." Heather scooted down in her chair.

Jean-Luc chuckled. "I've never seen this before at a fashion show."

"Only in Texas," Heather muttered.

Coach and the cheerleaders sat in the front row across from Jean-Luc and Heather.

More people arrived, and soon all the seats were filled. Robby shut the door, then walked down the hall. A few seconds later, he strolled onto the catwalk. Obviously he'd used vampire speed once he was out of sight.

Gregori stepped onto the platform next to the runway. "Good evening, and welcome to Schnitzelberg's first fashion show."

The small crowd cheered. Pom-poms waved.

Gregori grinned. "This is a charity event. For each person in attendance, Jean-Luc Echarpe is donating one thousand dollars to the Schnitzelberg Independent School District."

More cheers.

Jean-Luc scanned the room. Every visitor was mortal. None of them had approached him to talk or thank him, so it looked like his identity was still a secret.

"We'll start with two designs by Alberto Alberghini," Gregori continued. "May I introduce our world-famous models - Simone and Inga!"

The crowd clapped politely. Jean-Luc suspected they'd never heard of his famous models.

Music started. Alberto was controlling that from backstage. At the front door, Ian dimmed the sconces on the walls, so the runway would look brighter.

Simone stepped onto the runway. There was an appreciative gasp among the crowd.

"Simone is wearing a black silk evening gown that shimmers with thousands of bugle beads," Gregori read from his notes. "The draped back gives it just the right dramatic touch. A stunning design."

Simone marched down the runway and struck a pose. Jean-Luc watched her carefully. She glared at him, but then she always modeled with an angry expression. She was halfway back when Inga began her walk.

"Inga is wearing an ivory cocktail dress of shantung silk," Gregori announced. "Note the slanted neckline which leaves one shoulder bare and how this is echoed in the asymmetrical hem. An elegant creation by Alberto Alberghini."

The crowd clapped politely.

"Did Alberto write this script?" Heather whispered.

Jean-Luc nodded. "I edited it." He knew Simone and Inga would be busily changing into their next outfits. Alberto had set up a screen so the mortal models wouldn't see them using vampire speed to change clothes.

"And now," Gregori continued, "we have three designs by Schnitzelberg's very own designer, a promising new talent in the fashion world, Heather Lynn Westfield."

The crowd cheered. Coach Gunter circled a fist in the air and hooted. The cheerleaders shook their pom-poms.