Real Vampires Don't Diet (30 page)

"Stop right there, Blondie."
Valdez stood blocking the door out to the hallway.

"Valdez, we had this conversation. I'm going. Move out of the way." I knew I couldn't physically budge him. Even Ray and I together would have a tough go of it.

"You heard her, fur face. Move your butt." Ray obviously had a death wish, even making a move toward the dog.

"Listen, you empty-headed a-hole. Yon don't have the first idea what does go on out there. Simon hates Glory. She
made a fool outof him in front of his followers. You think he's just forgotten that?"

"Valdez, its okay. He wants Ray's business. I'll be under Ray's protection. This sparkler on my left hand guarantees Simon knows that. You can't stop me, pup." I squatted down and looked him in the eyes. "I know you mean well, but I'm going, end of story."

"Blade"

I held up my hand. "I know Jerry wouldn't like it. But this doesn't involve him. Just Ray and me." I stood and sighed. "If Jerry tries to blame you later, I can say you did everything you could to keep me here."

"Right."
Valdez leaped and knocked me flat, sitting on my chest while staring at Ray, his teeth bared, his growl the stuff of nightmares.

"Damn it, V!" I shoved at his paw and got a mouthful of fur for my trouble.

"Are you hurt, Glory? You son of a bitch, you've gone too far." Ray lunged and Valdez shifted just enough to grab Ray's duffle bag and toss it across the room.

"Stop it, Ray! I'm okay. He's no lightweight, but"huff, puff"let me talk to him."

"'I'm not moving, Glory. I can sit here all night. You tell your new boyfriend that the healing vamp sleep won't grow him
a new right hand. If he tries to reach for you again, I'll tear his off and swallow it."

"Ray, don't." I could see Ray's frustration. "He means it. Listen. Take the suitcases downstairs. Valdez and I need to talk privately. I'll be down in a minute."

"I can't leave you like this. The son of a bitch must weigh a ton."

"I'm fine. He'll
get
off once you're out of here." I shoved at Valdez's furry butt. "Right?"

"No
promises, but your boyfriend isn't helping. Put down that chair, Caine. Glory's already had her coffee table busted
this week, thanks to you."

"I'd feel a hell of a lot better if I broke this chair
over your
empty head. Wasn't just me knocking Glory on her ass and I didn't see you stepping up with a credit card to replace her table. Get off her now or I'm not leaving." Wow. Points to Ray for standing up to Valdez. Air gusted into my lungs when the dog actually stood and stepped off of me.

"There. Now get out so I can talk some sense into this woman,"

"Right. Like you and sense have made an acquaintance. See you downstairs, Glory." Ray picked up the bags and stepped into the hall, leaving the door ajar.

I sat up and took a minute to relearn breathing.

"Okay, Valdez, I get that you're the great protector, but I'm in charge. Jerry has always made that very clear to you. Am I right?"

"
Simon Destiny hates you. Am
I
right
?"

"The King of the EVs is all about money and power. Ray represents both. Simon won't risk losing such a valuable client. I'll be okay out there. Richard and Flo will have our backs." I put my hand on Valdez's head. "Now brace yourself. Ray called Brittany and told her you have the weekend off. She's on her way over. Forget your contract for once and shift out of this dog body. Take a shower. You've got till late Sunday night to enjoy your freedom. It's long overdue, my friend."

"
I cant
"

"This isn't a request, it's an order. You've been tense. On edge. I know you're conflicted. Working for Blade, but watching me become close to Ray. It's been tough and you can't do your best work when you're wound up like this." I rubbed his ears.

"Richard left some clothes in Flo's old bedroom. I don't know if they'll fit. Hey, if you're lucky, you won't need them. There are rib eyes in the freezer, wine in the pantry that Will left here. Knock yourself out. You've earned it."

"
Damn it. Glory
."

" 'Night, V" I ran out the door, my heart pounding. Ray was waiting at the top of the stairs. "You heard?"

"Yep. Think he'll do it?"

"He's not supposed to disobey a direct order."

"He sure was worked up about this EV visit."

"He had his reasons. Don't be fooled by the pretty setting, Ray. You heard what Valdez said before about how he was treated out there. Obviously bad things happen behind the scenes. This time you're a paying guest, a celebrity. So you'll be okay. And I'll be under your protection. That means a lot in the vampire world. So throw that phrase around a lot. Say, 'my fiancee, Glory, who is under my protection,' every chance you get. We just need to find out what it would take to get Simon to come out to your house. And it needs to be next week. We can't wait."

"Gotcha." Ray punched in the code and we stepped outside.

Flo and Richard were already inside the limo, Flo with her head down, Richard smiling like he was king of the world. Greg Kaplan lounged against the long black SUV stretch smoking a cheroot. He straightened when he saw Ray and me and grabbed our bags.

"Ray, this is Greg Kaplan, our limo driver." I smiled sweetly. "No uniform, Greg?"

"Just filling in for the regular guy." Greg nodded. "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Caine. Mr. Destiny will greet you personally when we get out to the compound."

"Of course." Ray was into his "I'm a rock star and don't you forget it" persona. "Glory, baby. Did you pack the sunscreen?"

"Oh, Ray, silly. You won't need it. Vampires don't sunburn." I frowned at Greg. "But, wait. Do they, Greg? In this sunlight room I've heard about?"

"No, Glory. But you'll see. It's a great experience. Worth every penny. But then I'm sure Mr. Caine doesn't care about the cost." Greg gave me a look, like how did I land this big fish?

"Just send the bill to my business manager. I'm surprised there's not paparazzi everywhere with this thing parked here. Destiny's not exactly subtle, is he?" Ray had his sneer down pat.

"Only the best for our guests." Greg grinned. "And he took care of the photographers earlier. I brought reinforcements. They cleared out all the reporters. Let's just say some of them will wonder how they ended up with snaps of the polka tournament at Schulenburg."

I hid my grin. "I hope you didn't hurt them. They're only doing their jobs, Greg. And Ray doesn't mind a little publicity."

"But we can't let them tail us out to the compound. So they had to go. They'll be okay, but of course if they had good quality juice, they were donors for the guys. That's a given." Greg held open the door.

I ignored him and let Ray help me into the backseat.

"Where is this place?" Ray patted my bottom as I climbed into the car.

"In the hills south of here. We keep our location a secret. You'll notice you can't see out those specially tinted windows. Nothing personal, Mr. Caine. Just the way we do business. We're very security conscious. Drive will take about forty-five minutes. There's a variety of some new premium synthetics in the mini bar if you're interested."

"No, thanks, we've gone back to hunting." I laughed at the look on Greg's face. "Oh, yes. Now I don't have to recycle all those bottles. So much more earth friendly. I hope you have plenty of mortal donors on hand out at the compound."

"Of course. Any type you wish." Greg slammed the car door and walked around to the driver's side.

"I think you surprised him, baby. You two have a history? Should I be jealous?" Ray nuzzled my neck.

"Of him?" I laughed. "I scraped him off my shoe long ago, lover. You're all I'll ever need." I saw Greg watching us in the rearview mirror. "Put up the privacy window, driver."

I swallowed a lump of dread and leaned against Ray while he and Richard discussed basketball of all things. Surreal, but male vampires are men first, and don't you forget it.

"Nice place you've got here, Destiny. Reminds me a little of Istanbul." Ray held my hand as we strolled the grounds of the EV

compound. Richard and Flo were right behind us. "What's in the gold domed building? Are we going inside?"

"That's a holy place for us, Mr. Caine. I'm afraid it's not open to visitors." Simon turned and looked at Flo. "Did you say something, Florence?"

"She did not." Richard frowned. "We are all anxious to see our rooms, unpack and visit the sunlight rooms. Am I right, Ray?"

"You bet." Ray turned to me. "I want to do this for my fiancee, Glory, who is under my protection. You do understand that, don't you, Destiny?"

"Certainly. Gloriana and I are starting over." Simon smiled and I had to hide my shudder.

"Glory hasn't seen the sun in hundreds of years so she's forgotten how wonderful it feels. I can't imagine going that long without the warmth, the, well, you know." Ray hugged me. "She's not as into this as I am. I guess we all have our secret cravings. She's more into the food thing."

"Now Ray, I'm sure Simon doesn't care about that." I filled my head with thoughts of Cheetos and chocolate truffles in case Simon decided to probe my mind.

"No, I find this fascinating. So, Gloriana, you would like to be able to eat like born vampires do." Simon was trying to catch my eyes, to whammy me.

I looked at Ray instead. "That used to be a big deal for me. Now I'm into whatever Ray wants."

"That's my girl." Ray kissed my lips. "What would do it for you, Destiny? Any big cravings on your hidden agenda?"

"What more could I want?" Simon swept his arm around the cluster of buildings that did seem to be straight out of the Arabian nights, complete with minarets and stucco buildings. The centerpiece was the huge gold dome atop a massive building that I knew housed their demon Honoria and the energy-sucking device that kept her happy and everyone else around her miserable.

"Its a nice place, but a little isolated. I like action myself. This vampire gig is cramping my style. The sunlight room is a great start, but I'd like to be able to go out in the daytime. Don't suppose you've got a magic bullet for that in your bag of tricks, do you?" Ray was suddenly serious and I wondered what he was up to.

"You've probably seen those vampire shows on television." Simon laughed which was a pretty creepy sound, I can tell you.

"Actually, we're working on it. You're not the first customer to express an interest. There would be a big demand for a drug that would allow for an adjusted body clock."

Richard put Flo behind him and moved closer. "Are we going to stand around here all night?"

"Not at all." Simon gestured and a woman hurried from the shadows. "Mindy will show you to your suite. Then provide you with whatever you need. The sunlight rooms are at your disposal. Contact me directly if you can't find what you desire and I'll see what I can do. The number is on the telephone beside each bed. Have a good evening." Simon nodded and walked away.

"Please, follow me." Mindy led us to a cottage that contained two bedrooms connected by a large living room. A fire blazed in the fireplace, the vibe a cozy southwestern feel. Our suitcases had been unpacked and I figured that meant someone had snooped through our things.

"Ms. St. Clair, there is a selection of bathing suits available in the dressing room if you wish to wear one to your sunlight room. Of course that is up to you. Terry robes are also in the dressing room. When you're ready to go, I'll escort you there." Mindy threw open the door to a decadent bathroom with an adjoining dressing room and closet.

A variety of bathing suits in every size and configuration were on shelves. I guess I wasn't the first vampire to arrive who didn't own a suit.

"There you go, babe, you can have your pick. Want to model some for me?"

"I'd rather fall on a stake." I smiled and slammed the door in Ray's face. Oops. Forgot. We were supposed to be engaged. I opened it again. "Sorry, love, but I'm a little self-conscious about my figure flaws. Let me do this by myself. When I think I have one I like, I'll show you. Okay?" In my head, I told Ray to cut me a break and give me some privacy. He just grinned but finally gave me a thorough kiss in case there were video cameras in the dressing area. Ick.

"Fine. I can't wait to see you. I'll put on my suit. Hurry. I want to have as much time as we can in the sun. I'll be out in the living room talking to Richard."

So I began the utterly humiliating task of trying on swimsuits. Yes, I'd read the articles and the funny cartoons about women in dressing rooms refusing to come out or having identity crises before swimsuit season. Hah! Now I felt their pain, especially since I kept trying to figure out if I was on video with Simon laughing somewhere. So I hid behind doors and used the terry robe as a sort of curtain.

I started with the one-pieces. No, not working. Because my top and bottom weren't quite the same size. I finally ended up with a red bra top that barely contained me. Ray would like the cleavage. Surprisingly,
I
liked a bikini bottom with a cute red ruffle on the diagonal to match the top and to distract a little from the width. My waist is not all that bad. I have what used to be called an hourglass figure. Of course my hour ran more like ninety minutes. I was trying to talk myself out of the dressing room before dawn when Ray tapped on the door.

"Glory? Babe? We're burning daylight."

"Coming." I sighed and grabbed one of the terry robes, frowning at the embroidered EV logo, then slipped it on and tied it. I scraped my hair back into a ponytail and wished for sunglasses. I'd never owned a pair. Sunlight. Yep, I was excited. I stepped into the living room and found Ray talking to Simon.

"Where are Richard and Flo?"

"Already gone to their sunlight room. It's the one that's like Tuscany. Florence was very excited to revisit a place like her childhood memories." Simon smiled indulgently and my skin crawled. "Richard certainly knows how to handle her."

"Destiny's brought you a present, Glory." Ray was grinning with what looked like real excitement. Which was scaring the crap out of me. Didn't he remember anything I'd told him? I hurriedly filled my head with all the bathing suits I'd just tried on.