A Bite to Remember (23 page)

“While I was in the ladies room a girl hit on me,” she said abruptly, and Vincent jerked back with surprise.

“No! A woman?” A disbelieving smile tugged at the corners of his lips, removing some of his sadness.

Jackie nodded, then leaned up to continue. “Yeah, then she dragged me to this storage room.”

Vincent made a choking sound and Jackie paused and pulled back to peer at him again. He looked as if he’d swallowed his own tongue.

“Nothing happened!” she said quickly, then went on to explain the rest, before adding, “You could feed safely. If the saboteur is watching, all he’d see is us entering and leaving. And, afterward, you could have Trevor and Shell slip through the door into his office, lock it from that side and leave from there so that even if the saboteur does check the storage room, they won’t find anyone there.” She paused and raised her eyebrows at his smile. “What?”

“I like your brain,” Vincent said with a grin. “You see an opportunity and you use it. A definite survivor. You’d do well as one of our kind.”

They both stilled at his words and she saw the pain that suddenly cut at her chest, reflected in his eyes along with the recognition that she could never be one of his kind now.

“Jackie, I—” he began with regret, but she shook her head.

“No. Not now.” Pulling out of his arms, she caught his hand and led him to the hall that led to the bathrooms.

“So, she really hit on you?” Vincent asked by her ear, his chest rubbing against her back as he did. Apparently, he was willing to let the other matter drop for now and pretend everything was fine. Or try to. For an actor, he was having trouble disguising the sadness he was experiencing. He gave it a good try though. “What did she do?”

“She said I had a good body,” Jackie paused to yell by his ear.

“You do,” Vincent assured her quickly. “But that’s just a compliment. It’s hardly hitting—”

“And offered to lick every inch of it,” she added dryly.

“Ohhhhhhh.” Vincent was silent for a moment, then groaned aloud, drawing her eyes back to his face. One look was all it took for her to know he was picturing that one in his head…and liking it.

“Men,” she muttered with disgust as she headed off again. Why did the idea of two women together always seem such a turn-on to them?

“Jackie, we might have a problem,” Vincent yelled, his chest brushing against her back again as she turned down another hall.

She paused and glanced past him to be sure no one was following, then asked, “What kind of problem?”

“I might have trouble controlling two of them at once,” Vincent admitted as she turned to lead him into the kitchen.

“What?” Jackie stopped dead and turned to face him. “But I’ve seen Bastien control more than one human at a time.”

“Well, yes, he wouldn’t have a problem. The older we are, the better we are at everything and Bastien is over four hundred.”

“So are you,” Jackie pointed out, lowering her voice so they wouldn’t be overheard by the couple in the storeroom ahead.

“Yes, but it’s been a while since I tried to control more than one. It’s like any skill, the more you practice it, the better you are and I don’t—” He paused and frowned at her alarmed expression, then patted her soothingly and said, “I’m not saying I
can’t
do it, just that it may be a bit tricky.
Can you distract one while I get control of the other? Once the one is under, I’ll slip into the mind of the second one as well.”

“Oh.” Jackie hesitated, uncertain how she would do that, but finally just nodded. “Yes, fine. I’ll distract the girl. Trevor’s a jerk, put him under first. Come on.”

Jackie led him to the storeroom door.

Twelve

The storeroom was empty when Jackie opened the door, and for one horrible moment she feared the couple had left, then she heard voices and realized they’d merely moved into the office.

Turning back, she whispered to Vincent to lock the storage room door. The last thing they needed was the saboteur perhaps trying to follow them in and discovering what she’d set up. Despite her dislike of Trevor, she didn’t want him dead.

Leaving Vincent to follow when he finished with the door, Jackie scooped up her shoes from where she’d left them and walked around the shelf to enter the office.

“I thought you’d given up on me,” Jackie said lightly as she entered. Trevor was seated in his desk chair to her right and Shell was seated on a large leather couch against the wall on her left in the black and gray office.

“No, we just thought this room would be more comfortable,” Trevor announced, his eyes traveling over her.

Nodding, Jackie moved past Shell on the couch, sitting on her side furthest from the door to draw her attention away from the storage area. As she’d hoped, Shell shifted on the couch, turning slightly so that they faced each other with her back to the door.

“Well.” Jackie forced a smile, her eyes skating from Shell to the doorway and back. Vincent was just approaching, easing carefully forward, his eyes seeking out everyone in the room.

Jackie started wracking her brain, trying to think of something to say that would distract Shell when Trevor stood up. “What are you waiting for, Shell? You—”

When he went suddenly silent, Jackie glanced his way, noting his blank face with relief, then she was distracted by Shell, who hadn’t noticed Trevor’s sudden silence and had taken his first question as instruction. She’d moved up on her knees and was bending toward Jackie as if to lay a kiss on her. That was a little more distraction than she was willing to give. Her panicked eyes shot to Vincent for help just as he glanced their way.

His eyebrows shot up as Shell closed in, then his gaze narrowed on the girl. Jackie turned her attention back to the brunette at the exact same moment as Shell suddenly collapsed forward, against her chest.

Jackie released a slow breath, then glanced from Trevor standing stiff and still behind his desk, to Shell, who lay limp against her. “What did you do to her?”

“Nothing. I just slipped into her mind and blanked it,” Vincent said with a shrug.

“Why is she so—” Jackie nodded toward the seemingly unconscious girl. “Trevor isn’t and neither was the laborer.”

“She’s easy,” Vincent said simply.

“Ha-ha,” Jackie said dryly and he bit his lip, probably to keep back a laugh.

“I told you it’s been a while. I just used a bit more oomph than needed,” he explained, moving further into the room. “She’ll be fine.”

“Oh, well, good,” Jackie said with a sigh. “So go on and bite her.”

Vincent caught the limp girl’s arm and raised her off Jackie to lean her back against the couch. His gaze skated over her blank face. “She really hit on you, huh?”

“Just feed, Argeneau,” Jackie said dryly.

“Hmm. I know I’m in trouble when you start calling me Argeneau.” He sounded more amused than worried, but then he hesitated and said, “I can’t with you watching.”

“What?” she asked with surprise.

“I’m not used to an audience,” he explained in pained tones. “Turn your back.”

Jackie shook her head, but stood and moved to the door to the storage room. She leaned against the door jamb with her back to the room, slipping her shoes back on as she waited. After a moment of silence, Vincent said, “Make noise.”

“What?” She glanced over her shoulder with amazement.

“Hum,” he instructed. “I don’t want you to hear.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake! You’re like a woman embarrassed to take a pee with people on the other side of the stall listening. Honestly.” She glared at him, but it had no
effect. He just waited patiently. Sighing, Jackie turned her back and began to hum, then feeling stupid, she stopped and said, “I’m going to go see if anyone is in the kitchen. Join me after you’ve finished here.”

Slipping into the storage room, she pulled the door mostly closed, then walked around the shelf and crossed to the door leading into the kitchen. She pressed an ear to the door and listened. When she didn’t hear any sound from the kitchen, Jackie hesitated, then unlocked the door and eased it open a crack so she could peek out.

The kitchen appeared empty, though she couldn’t see all of it. Jackie considered stepping out and actually looking around, but something held her back. Her old hinky feeling was dancing along her spine, making the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Jackie always listened to her hinky feelings, so instead of stepping out, she held her breath and listened for any sound that might give away the presence of someone standing nearby in a part of the kitchen she couldn’t see.

When she couldn’t hold her breath anymore and still hadn’t heard anything, Jackie eased the door closed again and took a deep breath as she relocked it. Sighing, she leaned her forehead against the door and silently prayed that she hadn’t made a mistake. She’d felt sure that Trevor and Shell could be kept safe if Vincent had them lock the door between his office and the storeroom and then leave via the door leading from his office out into the hall, but now was starting to worry again. Her hinky feeling always meant something was going to happen, and she didn’t want it to be that these two people died because of one of her bright ideas.

Jackie sighed unhappily at the prospect, then nearly jumped out of her skin when hands slid around her waist from behind.

“I can feel your worry,” Vincent said softly. “Everything will be all right.”

Jackie turned to peer up at him and asked in a whisper, “Are you done?”

He nodded, allowing his hands to link around her back. “I wiped their minds, instructed Trevor to lock the door behind me, then take Shell and return to the dance floor via the other door in the office. Everything will be all right.”

Jackie released her breath on a slow sigh. “Okay. They should be okay.”

“Yes, they should,” Vincent agreed, then urged her closer, and brushed his lips gently over hers. “Thank you. Again.”

Jackie went still as he kissed her properly. Vincent might be easygoing in nature, but he wasn’t when it came to kissing. He showed a masterful side, his hand sliding into her hair and tilting her head where he wanted it while his tongue slid in to lash hers. Jackie gasped and then moaned as her senses were overwhelmed. The man smelled good, felt good, tasted good, and kissed like a dream. She was a trembling, wide-eyed mass when he broke the kiss and hugged her close.

“Damn, Jackie, I don’t blame Shell for wanting to lick every inch of you. I’d be happy doing that myself.”

She closed her eyes on the erotic images that filled her mind, then forced herself to step away and said weakly, “We should go back to the table.”

Turning away before he could convince her otherwise, Jackie opened the door and led him out of the storage room.

“Would anyone like coffee?” Tiny asked as they entered the house an hour later.

“That sounds nice.” Jackie moved up the hall rather than block the entry as Marguerite, Tiny, and Vincent followed her inside. They had gone to a couple more clubs before returning home, and it was late, but she was reluctant to end the evening. Jackie didn’t want to be alone. The thoughts waiting to overwhelm her were not happy ones.

“I’m going to go change into something more relaxing,” she announced as Vincent paused to lock the door. “I’ll check the answering machine on my way back.”

“I’ll make a pot of coffee and maybe a snack of some sort,” Tiny said as he led Marguerite up the hall. He added, “If anyone’s interested?”

“I am,” Jackie answered promptly.

“Me too,” Vincent said as he moved to the security panel to punch in the code to keep the alarm from going off. “I’m going to change as well and check on Stephano, but I shouldn’t be long either.”

Jackie started upstairs, hurrying to prevent being caught alone with Vincent. If he started to kiss her again…She shivered at the very idea, but then closed her mind to the possibility. There were far too many complications involved in any possible relationship between them. For one, it wouldn’t be professional while she was working for him. And then there was the whole life mate, turning only one business. None of which she wanted to contemplate at the moment.

Jackie kicked off her shoes as she entered her room, removed her stockings and changed quickly into a black
jogging suit, then headed back out. She wondered how Stephano was doing as she passed his door, but didn’t stop to look in. Vincent could tell her when he got back down to the kitchen.

She had reached the foot of the stairs when Jackie remembered saying she’d check the answering machine. Neil had been home all night, but anyone wishing to get hold of him would have called on his cell phone. Vincent had told him not to worry about the phone and to let the answering machine get it while they were gone. She’d just check and see if there were any messages before heading to the kitchen, she decided.

On that thought, she turned in the direction of the office. Some part of her mind registered surprise when she saw that the door was closed. It was never closed unless someone was inside. When a cool breeze slid over her feet as she paused in front of the panel of wood, Jackie’s hand froze on the knob.

Recalling the night the employee lists had gone missing and the fact that one of the French doors had been left open then, Jackie glanced around to the security panel and saw that it wasn’t activated. Vincent had apparently punched in the code to prevent the alarm from going off, but not resecured the system. A soft sound from inside the room drew her attention back and Jackie instinctively thrust the door open. She was just in time to see a dark figure slipping out of the room via the same French door that had been opened last time.

“Hey!” Jackie said and rushed forward.

“There we are,” Tiny said, turning on the coffeepot. “Coffee will be ready in a few minutes. In the meantime, I’m going to go change into my joggers. These dress pants are too tight.”

“Okay.” Vincent said, his head half inside the refrigerator as he perused its contents. He’d changed, then glanced into Stephano’s room to find the injured man lying still and pale and Neil nodding off in a chair by the bed. Leaving them in peace, he’d come below, surprised to find that he’d beat Jackie back.