Needed: A BBW Vampire Blood Courtesans Romance (2 page)

I
was sitting
in the most spectacular office. It looked like it belonged in one of those fancy schmancy magazines. The receptionist had shown me to my current seat and then ran to grab the phone. According to the clock on the wall, I still had two minutes to my appointment. I could handle two more minutes of the nausea induced anxiety the waiting was causing. It was worth it. Mary was worth it.

“Hi, I’m Victoria.”

I rose to greet the woman who walked in dressed in elegance and confidence with a handshake and she indicated I should twirl for her instead, which I did. I looked good, and I waited for a smile or indication that I looked the part. Instead, she pointed to the seat, her face giving nothing away. “You must be Angelica.”

Victoria was younger than I had assumed she would be. She couldn’t be any more than forty, and looked more like a lawyer than a Madame of any kind. She was sporting the power pantsuit, nothing at all like Arabella had me decked out. It made sense, though. I was there to catch the eye of a wealthy vampire and she was there to take all of his money.

“Yes, ma’am, I’m Angel.” It was awkward having her stand over me as I sat. I focused on not squirming. Fidgeting was apparently on the extensive list of things Victoria wasn’t a fan of, according to Arabella.

“Angel.” She nodded before she took her seat behind the huge mahogany desk. “Nice, the vampires will love it. Now tell me, why are you here?”

“I need a job.”
To help my sister.
The question was dumb and felt almost too straight forward.

“No, I mean here, in this city, so far from your home.”

“The answer is the same. I need a job.” I kept reminding myself to breath in and out slowly as to appear calm. On the inside I was anything but I needed this job.

“There are jobs where you come from.” Victoria looked at some papers she was shuffling on her desk. “According to this, you have two.”

“I do. Two full-time jobs. I wait tables at the diner and work at the local movie theater.” Combined they made less in a week than it was rumored you made for a night at Madame Victoria’s. A lot less. She had to have known this. No one works two full-time jobs because they are lucrative.

“And yet you want a new job.” I nodded, unsure if she was asking a rhetorical question or not. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want a new job. “Why?”

“For the money, ma’am.” Victoria didn’t look like someone who wanted a sob story. Heck, she probably would have thought it a sign of weakness that I let my guilt lead me to such a life as this.

“Do you know what we do here?” She scribbled on the paper on her desk, not even granting me a glance. I needed to step it up if I bored her to scribbles already.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I mean do you
truly
understand what we do?” Now her eyes were on me. I still couldn’t figure this woman out. One second she seemed bored to tears by my answers and the next she looked at me as if I was the most interesting person she had ever met.

“You run a private club where you introduce vampires to Blood Courtesans in exchange for large sums of money.” I swore for a moment that she was going to smile at my answer, but then the blank expression returned. Arabella mentioned Victoria’s love of no nonsense answers, so maybe that was it.

“You’re only half right.”

I schooled my face hoping she didn’t see the shock I felt. Blood for money. That was the deal. Everything I explored online and everything I was told said the
extras
were completely optional and had nothing to do with pay.

“We do all those things, but we are selling an experience. Vampires can get their blood from anywhere, don’t let the laws fool you.” Victoria rose and meandered back to where I was sitting. She was taking her time, trying to scare me, if I were to guess. Little did she know that nothing scared me anymore. I had seen the worst life had to give and was still standing. Pulling bitch power moves while standing over me with ominous innuendos wasn’t going to stop me.

“They choose to come here, to me, because I offer, shall we say,
more
.” She leaned back against the desk, crossing her feet at the ankles in front of her. “Are you willing to give more, Angel?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I think I’ve heard enough.” She walked back to her desk chair and took her seat. I needed to learn from this woman. She was able to take a common piece of furniture and turn it into a chess piece. Brilliant. “Go home, Angel.”

I had fucked up my chance. I thought back to all of the advice I read and was told. I had to be quick of wit if I was going to save my chance.

She shooed me away and that was when I realized this wasn’t actually a rejection. It was a test. Game on. “This isn’t the place for you.”

I stood, no longer willing to let her have the power seat. I had a feeling she didn’t want me to allow it, either. She wanted someone strong. “Why not? I’ll do anything.” I wouldn’t, of course, do
anything
, but I needed for her to show her hand.

“That right there is three quarters of the problem. You immediately agreed to do
more
without even knowing what more was.” Cards shown. Three quarters of them anyway. “There are vampires that would take advantage of that. Do you like to be spanked? Tied up? Sensory deprived?”

“What? Of course not.” Her eyes fell upon me with a tinge of disbelief. “At least not that I know of.” I tacked on for good measure. To be honest, I had no clue if I liked those things or not, but I sure as shit would be willing to give them a try if it became necessary.

“There are vampires here who would see an innocent young thing like you and try to convince you that that is
more
.”

I leaned over her desk closing the distance between us without actually moving. I willed myself not to shake. This was not me, yet right now it needed to be. “Then teach me what is and what is not
more
.”

“If that was the only problem.” Victoria’s voice was almost sing-song. She wasn’t done with me yet, not that I thought she would be. I was a paycheck to her, and she needed to make sure I was going to be a big one. “Then yes, I
could
do that.”

“But it’s not,” I stated.

“No. It’s your look.” Lies. I saw her appraisal earlier. I would have been gone already if I didn’t meet her standards. My look was just fine. It was something else. Something I couldn’t quite place. “I think it would be
off putting
.”

“Oh, this.” I decided to play dumb and did a little shimmy. “My friend Arabella helped me get ready. I can easily find a better look if you prefer. Maybe something a bit less whimsical?”

“Let me rephrase, you are put together beautifully. I should have known Arabella had a hand in it. She has a knack. It’s more your, shall we say, stature.” That had to be the nicest way anyone had ever called me fat. I had a feeling Victoria actually liked me the way I was, so this was a test of something else.

“By stature you mean curves?”

“No
curves
are great. It’s your excess weight that is the issue.”

“Riddle me this, Victoria. Are the vampires you see me with mostly men, or were you thinking woman?” I caught her off guard with my reply. I’m sure others promised to try harder to lose weight or tone up. I was happy with the way I was. I looked good, not that I usually looked this good, but I had a natural beauty even on a bad day. My wardrobe was pathetic at best, but I caught plenty of men’s eyes, I just didn’t have time to deal with them. I had too much responsibility.

“I was thinking men. Why, are you attracted to women?” She leaned in slightly, her eyes sparkling just a tiny bit. That was definitely not on my
more
list, but it meant she saw potential in me greater than simply walking out of this room and back to a bus.

“Not the point, but no, I’m not.” This was where I became mega ballsy, if that’s even a word. I sat on the edge of her desk as if I owned the place. “So men would be my client base.” She nodded. She was trying to figure out my game plan. It wasn’t going to happen. “And you think men don’t like double digit women?”

“No, they don’t.” The small curve of her lips filled me with hope.

“You, Victoria are throwing away such profit potential.” I stood up and brushed off my dress before picking up my clutch. “If all of your girls are skinny, someone like me would have been your coup. They would be chomping at the bit to book time with me.” I picked up my hand and did a silly dismissal of a wave, crossing all things that my gamble would pay off. “Good day.”

I opened the door and almost ran into a man dressed in a business suit and tie. When his hand touched my arm, presumably to steady me, the cold gave him away. He was a vampire.

“Whoa there, beautiful. In a rush to get home?” His accent was hard to place. It wasn’t quite British and not quite local, either.

“To be honest, sir—” I was cut off by his finger to my lip.

“Jameson.” He removed his finger so I could finish. I could hear Victoria clearing her throat behind me and that meant Jameson could as well, but we both ignored it.

“To be honest, Jameson, I was just told that vampires couldn’t appreciate my curves.” I ran my hands down my sides as if to put them on display as if he could have missed them.

“Well that’s funny, because Bob just called me to tell me I needed to see the new girl because—”

Arabella to my rescue once again. Who would have thought one asshat’s rude comment at a bus station could be a life changer?

“—as he put it and I quote, ‘She has rockin’ curves that you are going to want to explore.’”

“Then clearly you aren’t a vampire,” I teased, the flirtation coming easily. There was something about this man. I had yet to gaze at his face, knowing the moment I did, all would be lost. If his voice turned me into a flirty school girl, I could only imagine what looking into his eyes would do as he spoke, making the connection that much more personal.

“Enough. Enough.” Victoria didn’t seem to want to be ignored any longer and joined us at the door. “You two have already met.” She handed him a folder that I presumed was my profile. “Jameson get her hooked up with her paperwork and a trainer…I’m thinking Jerome. She’s going to make us lots of money, Jameson.”

J
ameson took
me by the hand before he led me down a labyrinth of hallways until we reached what I assumed was the training center. This was where it was do or die. I had to learn all of the trade secrets of a courtesan, not pass out from blood loss, all while exuding confidence. Training was paid, though, so worst case scenario was I made enough money to get home and slide into my old life until I could think of a new way to help Mary. Fine, the scenario sucked beyond sucking, but it was better than not getting the job and not getting paid.

Jameson was silent the entire time and it probably would have had me on edge if it weren’t for his hand connected with mine. It somehow anchored me. It also warmed me, which was odd as he was cold to the touch.

“Here we are, beautiful.” He pushed open the door and instead of a busy office, or for that matter any office, it lead to a parking garage.

“I thought training was here.” The quiver in my voice gave away nervousness.

“It can be.” He kept walking and for a moment, I considered dropping his hand and refusing to go with him, but his voice didn’t hold the tinge of creepy I had come to trust in my life, too late. His voice almost hugged me. I wasn’t sure if it was a vampire thing or a Jameson thing. I was leaning toward it being a Jameson thing since I hadn’t heard or read any accounts of it, and made the split second decision to go with him.

“That doesn’t really clear things up.” We meandered through the first row of cars, which were surprisingly normal. I’m not altogether sure what I had been expecting, but minivans were not on the list.

“It wasn’t meant to. Let’s get to my car and get on our way and I will explain all that needs explaining.”

“But not all there is to explain.” He was carefully wording his response and I had to call him out. If my gut was wrong, I needed to know before I got in the car with him.

“Not much gets by you.”

“I learned that lesson a long time ago,” I mumbled under my breath before thinking. It wasn’t something I wanted to share and I knew better, yet out it came.

“Trust me.” He held up his key fob and I heard the beep of his car alarm. Turning to the noise, I saw the kind of car I expected in the lot. It was a black sports car of some kind. I knew nothing about cars, but even I knew this one cost more than I made last year. Scratch that, the past few years combined.

“Says the dead guy who wants my blood.” Flirty me seemed to have jumped back into play and I cringed hoping he didn’t think it was because of his money and fancy car. Then again, why should I care what he thought about my intentions? I wasn’t fooling myself. I cared far too much. He was my boss, or at least a liaison to my boss. He knew I was all about the money although in this, though I actually wasn’t. Not really.

“Who said I want your blood?”

The rejection hit me much harder than it should. A rational woman wouldn’t want someone who only wanted them for their blood. A rational woman wouldn’t want someone who wanted their blood…period.

“I was trying to break the tension. I didn’t—” His finger was once again against my lips and this time, my knees nearly gave way. It wasn’t as cold as before, probably because I was getting used to it, and the smile on his face was enough to have panties dropping across the county. It was the first time I allowed my eyes to meet his. They were a cerulean blue and sparkled with mischief. Pairing them with his dimples was a deadly combination.

“Fear not little one, I do and so will many
others
.” The way he said others could best be described as disgust, but he kept talking so I didn’t have time to ponder what that might mean. “But first, I need to get you out of here so we can get started on your training.”

“Shouldn’t I fill out paperwork first?” Victoria mentioned paperwork. Her secretary had mentioned paperwork. The gosh darn website mentioned paperwork. There was going to be a ton of it before I could make a penny, and I needed to make a truck full of those.

“And that is where she and I differ.” He opened the car door for me, and I halted. “Come on. I’ll only bite if you ask me to.” Darn man winked at me just as my clutch started to vibrate. I looked to the clutch and willed it to stop. I never thought to turn it off when I came in. At least I lucked out and it didn’t go off during the interview. “You should probably answer that.”

“It’s not my phone.” He looked to the clutch as if I was delirious. “Yes, it is the phone in here, I meant I borrowed the phone.”

“The call is for you. Answer it.” He was no longer asking, he was commanding, and the change in his voice did something to my insides. Something amazing.

“How do you know…” He pointed to the bag. “Never mind.” I fished out the phone and was thankful it was still vibrating. Calling back a number I didn’t know to find out why they called, most likely not for me, wouldn’t have been fun. “Hello?”

“Hey love, how are you?” It was Arabella. I let out a slow breath. I assumed it was for her and hadn’t yet hatched a plan of how to explain me having her phone.

“Fine?” It came out as more of a question than it should have. I was fine. Ish. I was fine-ish.

“You sound unsure. Are you with Jameson?”

“I am.”

“Then you are fine. Trust him.” Trust. Trust was such weird thing for me and here I was trusting someone I just met as to who I could trust. “Remember when I told you why I was helping you.”

“Yes.”
Because someone did it for me and I wouldn’t be here to help you if it wasn’t for them.

“Well, Jameson is the one who helped me. You can trust him with your life. I trust him with mine.” I just stared at the back of Jameson’s head. He was feigning privacy. I knew he could easily hear both ends of this conversation, but the gesture was nice. “Besides, have you seen his derriere? Yumm.” And now I wanted to die a little. Not that she was wrong. If anything, she was underestimating its gloriousness.

“I don’t even know how to respond to that.” Because, you know, pinching it would be wrong.

“Because he’s right there and you know he can hear my words?’

“What? No…” She burst into laughter. “Yes… ugggg just… goodbye.”

I looked up to see Jameson still being ever the gentleman. He had his hand out and the car door open, poised to help me into the car. I accepted his gesture and hoped the red in my cheeks from Arabella’s highly inappropriate yet spot on remarks wasn’t overly noticeable. He shut the door behind me and was in his seat faster than humanly possible. Not that he was human, but usually vampires tried to blend in. At least in my neck of the woods they do, maybe in the city it was a bit different.

He started the engine and it purred. When I read things like that I thought it was people exaggerating or taking creative license, but this thing purred.

“Nice car.” I was mostly being polite. It was nice and the leather was soft against my lower thigh, but that was the extent of opinion I had on it.

“Thank you.” He pulled out of the spot and started meandering down toward what I assumed was the exit. “I like it.”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but why are so many of the vampires here sporting the mom mobiles?”

He barked out a laugh. I wasn’t wrong, it was mom mobile central. “This is actually the employee lot, not the customer lot. I would venture a guess that it has never been described as anything mom related.”

“So you’re an employee.”

We pulled out of the garage and turned in the opposite direction from Arabella’s. It was dusk, and while I knew certain vampires could handle some sunlight or possibly more than some, it still went against all of my vampire novels that we were traveling out while the sun was still partially in the sky.

“Disappointed?”

“Curious more than anything.” Why would I be disappointed? And then I thought back to the car. Was he used to women who wanted him for his money? I was, after all, the ideal candidate for money stealing freak. I was dirt poor and desperate.

“I’m more of an investor.”

He didn’t elaborate so I dropped it and just watched as he wove through the city traffic. I never had a car and if I lived here, I sure wouldn’t want one. The traffic was pretty intense and people seemed to think their indicators were only for when they felt like it. “Where are we going?”

“You look too stunningly gorgeous not to show off.” His hand landed on my knee and I itched to grab it with mine. Not to push it away. No, I liked it there, just fine. I just wanted to feel more of him, which was beyond inappropriate and nothing like me. “So I was thinking dinner.”

“You don’t eat…” And there I was tasting the wonderful soles of my borrowed shoes. Of course he wanted to see if I was worth the training. He was an investor and he wouldn’t want to invest in someone who tasted like mud. “…Oh you mean—”

“No.” His voice was adamant and I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. “I don’t mean you, I meant a restaurant with food and wine and if we are lucky, live music.”

“You make it sound like a date.” If circumstances were different I would be all over the opportunity to go on a real date, but right now, I needed to land the job or start training or whatever came next. The whole situation had me in a fog and his hand on my thigh didn’t help.

“I meant it to sound that way.” He pulled to the side of the road, somehow scoring a parking spot during the craziness that was the traffic we had been working through.

“But I was there for a job, not a date.” The last word came out like a whisper. It was true, I did go there for a job and that was the number one thing I needed, but that didn’t mean I wanted to say no to this. I had to, though, not that the words would form.

“And if you still want one after our date, you are more than welcome to have one.”

If
—there was that word again.
If
I want the job. There was no
if
to it. I needed the job.

“I need one,” I confessed in hushed tones.

“Why is that?” He turned my face so I was no longer staring at the bumper in front of me. His eyes held me captive.

“What do you mean?” I swallowed deeply, trying to avoid licking my lips. “Why does anyone need a job?”

“Yes, but not everyone had a full scholarship to college.” That had not been in my application and it wasn’t something I liked to think about. Ever. “And ended up working two full-time jobs with nothing to show for it instead.” That was where he was wrong. I had something to show for it. My sister was taken care.

“You did some research.” I didn’t want this conversation. Not now, not ever. I had planned on just saying I had debt and calling it good. I assumed Madame Victoria would assume financial debt and brush it off. She would have been half right. The other half of the debt was worse. It was a debt of redemption, and I planned to pay it off in full before Mary left this earth.

“I research all of our potential employees.” He gave a shrug of his shoulder, but it felt forced. Not that I could feel his shrug, yet I did. I felt everything about this man. Maybe the websites were wrong. Maybe vampires did have powers outside of being super human and living for eons and all the typical novel fodder.

“You sounded like… never mind.” Once again, I started to speak too soon. Why was I unable to think before I spoke lately?

“Like what?” He leaned in as he spoke and the heat of his breath hit my ear as all rationality left.

“When you came into the office I thought it was because…”

“Because Bob had just called and I wanted fresh meat.”

“Well… yeah, something like that.” I wouldn’t have called me fresh meat, but since I was technically a meal he wasn’t really off base.

“Bob called me while you were in the shower.”

I wanted to die. Here was this gorgeous man, vamp, whatever, staring me in the eye talking about me all wet and…crap. Then I was imagining him that way. Bad Angelica.

“He didn’t, you know…” I didn’t even know what I was trying to say other than no sex for me. I tried to look down, but his hand cupped my cheek before I could. Using all of my willpower, I didn’t lean into his touch. Not much, anyways.

“You really are a treat.” His thumb caressed my cheek. “He was right. Of course you didn’t.” He leaned in close and whispered conspiratorially, “He was too busy playing dress up his new friend.”

I froze. Had I accidentally given Arabella away? I ran through the words again. No. Nothing that could connect the dot. “Stop your fretting. Of course I know Arabella. But Bob is my friend and has been since I met him years ago.”

“You recruited them.” Not that I would pass judgment. Arabella seemed pretty content with the way things were going, from the glimpses I had seen. Besides, I was there to get the same exact job.

“No.” He pulled back now as if my words burned him. I placed my hand on the one he never let leave my knee. “I saved him from a very bad man.” I saw the moment the discussion was over. His facial expressions went from expressive to news broadcaster. I knew the trick well. “But this is not the time for talking about your new friend. This is a time for you to decide.”

“Decide what?” He had lost me somewhere along the line and I was sure I sounded like the fool.

“Decide if you want to give me a chance.”

“I can’t.”

“Because you need the job.”

I nodded as he got out of the car. I unbuckled and grabbed the clutch. It looked like we were there, wherever there was. He opened the door for me and held out his hand, which I greedily took.

“Walk with me.”

“Yes.” I wanted to do so much more than walk with him, but it would have to do for now. When I raised enough money, maybe we could try this dating thing.

Who was I fooling? He would have a new girl tomorrow if he were so inclined. With his looks and accent, he could flipping have one in thirty seconds.

“You don’t, you know. Need the job, I mean.” He moved his hand from mine to the small of my back, gently guiding me around a pile of trash.

“I really do.” I leaned into his touch. Somehow I had turned into a tease. Offering something I couldn’t give, but my body had decided to take on a will of its own. It wanted more than his hand on my back.