Twice Bitten Not Shy [Vampires of Eternity] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (10 page)

Now it was Sebastian’s turn to laugh. “Persuasive? Have you interacted with many women from this century, or are you still thinking we’re in the 1800s?”

“Damn it. I guess I just figured that once we found her, she would fall into our arms and be ours forever.”

Sebastian raised his eyebrows. “You have definitely been reading too many fairy tales.”

Christian threw a book at him. For a few minutes it felt like the old days before they became vampires, when they were the carefree sons of noblemen. Back then their biggest worry was who they were going to bed that evening.

“Anyway, the gypsy who placed the curse is the only one who can lift it. I doubt she is alive. She would have to be over five hundred years old. So I don’t think she’ll be of much help to us.”

“Agreed.” Christian’s emotions mirrored the helplessness Sebastian was feeling. They knew Gwendolyn really was their last chance. After Sebastian’s episode this evening, it looked like they were just about out of time.

Brianna looked up as Gwen walked in the door.

“Holy shit, you look terrible,” Bree remarked as she took the cup of Beans ’n’ Buns chai tea from Gwen.

“Good morning to you, too,” Gwen answered as she rolled her eyes. “This is how you greet your boss?”

“Well, you do. What happened to you last night?”

“I really don’t feel like talking about it, at least not now.” Gwen took a long drink of her own coffee. She was not ready to discuss her eventful evening with Bree, definitely not the way to go. But Gwen knew she needed to talk to someone about it, just not yet. Not when she didn’t understand it all herself. There was also that little oath she had taken about not discussing anything.
Ugh, what the hell am I going to do?

“Fine, be that way.”

“It’s not like that. I’m sorry, but I just can’t right now.”

“Why are you shutting me out? Did something bad happen? Did you kill someone?”

“Geesh, Bree. I am just not ready to discuss any of this right now.” Brianna’s displeasure was written all over her face, but Bree would just have to deal with it. It wasn’t that Gwen didn’t trust her, and with Brianna’s lifestyle, she knew Bree would be thrilled that there were really vampires in this world. Hell, she’d want one of her own. Gwen smirked to herself. One of her own…she had two if she wanted them, but did she really want them?

“Fine.”

“Good, can we get on with our day now? Or do you want to hound me some more?” Gwen resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at her petulant assistant. But she knew better.

“No more hounding, but dammit, Gwen, something’s going on. I can tell.”

“I’m fine, honestly. But we have a ton of things to finish up before the opening on Friday night for Eternity. Did we hear back from the vendors yet?”

“Yeah, the phone’s been ringing off the hook all morning.”

“We should be able to send out the invites today. Can you give the messenger service a call? We’ll need to have the invites picked up by lunchtime. We should have them ready and waiting by then.”

“Sure, no problem. Do you want me to start working on them?”

“Yes, please, in your best calligraphy.”

“Yes, boss lady, I’ll hop right to it.” Bree stuck her tongue out.

Gwen laughed and felt human for the first time since she got out of bed after her sleepless night. She had so much to do, and there was no time for being tired. No matter what, she had an obligation to make sure the opening of Eternity was a smashing success. She’d deal with the vampires later.

“How about we order in Chinese for lunch? Who knows, maybe we can actually get out of here on time for a change?”

“Hell yeah. I guess I can forgive you for keeping secrets if you’re going to buy?”

“Yes, I’ll buy. Go ahead and order the usual. I have some calls to make, and then we’ll get through the rest of this in the conference room.”

“Gotcha, boss lady. I’ll have them deliver for noon. Do you need anything now?”

“I’ll let you know. I’ll want to change a few things after having a tour of the club last night. I’ll need to place some calls to the vendors to make sure they can give us what we want.”

“I can’t wait to see it. Was it really cool?”

Gwen shook her head. It was easy to forget that Brianna was a good ten years younger than her until she got excited about things like this. “Yes, it was pretty cool. I’ll tell you over lunch, and you’ll see it on Friday, anyway.”

“Yay. I went shopping last night for a new dress for Friday.”

Gwen answered, “Cool, you can tell me about it at lunch.” But she kept walking toward her office. With her chatty-Cathy assistant in overdrive, she’d never get her work done. Closing the door to the office, she sat down at her desk, but instead of getting to work, she turned to look out the window. The sunlight was pouring in. It was a truly beautiful day. The guys said they could be out in sunlight, but they were vampires. There had to be some truth to the tales, didn’t there?

With a deep sigh, she turned back around and reached for the phone. It rang before she had a chance to make her first call.
Figures.
It was her private line, so Bree wouldn’t be answering it.

“This is Gwen.”

“Hi, sweetie.”

Roger sounded way too cheerful this morning. He had an uncanny way of knowing the worst times to call.

“Morning, Roger. What’s up? But I’m warning you now, I’m swamped.”

“Good morning. What crawled up your butt?”

“Nothing, I’m just busy.”

“Gwen, you can’t bullshit me. I know you too well. What’s wrong?”

“I really don’t have time for this. Did you need something?”

“No, not really. I just wanted to see how you were doing. Is that a crime now?”

Gwen sighed loudly into the phone. “No, it’s not a crime. But really, Roger, if you want to help me, you’ll let me get back to work.”

“Okay, fine, but you have to have dinner with me tonight, then. I won’t take no for an answer.”

Gwen was shaking her head even though she knew he couldn’t see her. He wasn’t going to go away unless she agreed. Ten years of marriage taught her that. “Fine, fine, what time and where?”

“How’s six at our favorite Mexican restaurant?”

“OK, fine.”

“Great. See you later then, hun,” Roger said as he clicked off the line.

All Gwen could do was groan. Roger could be so damn annoying, and he always knew the worst time to call. Sometimes she’d swear that there was a button in her office that buzzed him as soon as she was overloaded.

She checked her watch and realized that it was almost lunchtime already. Time was flying, and she had so much to get done before this day could come to a close. She pulled the vendor list from the file in front of her and began making her calls to confirm everything for Friday’s grand opening of Eternity. Sebastian and Christian kept coming to the front of her mind, but she would push them back into the corner again. Before she knew it, Bree was standing in the doorway to let her know lunch had been delivered.

“Already?”

“Yup, I have it set up in the conference room. I’ll meet you in there.”

“Let me make this last call, and I’ll be right there.”

Brianna had everything ready when she walked in. The aroma of General Tsao’s chicken wafted over her, and she realized she hadn’t eaten since dinner last night.
No wonder I’m so discombobulated. Oh yeah, and that’s the only reason.
She would have rolled her eyes at herself if she could, but hey, it was her story, and she was going to stick to it.

“Mmm, I’m starving.”

Brianna smiled. “Well, that’s the Gwen I know and love. You never could resist Chinese food and some chopsticks.”

“Ha, you’re a funny girl. Maybe I should fire you for insubordination.”

“Well, that would be about the tenth time. I could use some time off. So just let me know. But I’ll be at the opening, fired or not.”

“Oh, I have no doubt about that.” Gwen laughed as Brianna batted her long eyelashes at her. She was beautiful, even with the ten-plus piercings in her ears and nose, and the tattoos that were usually uncovered. She always dressed in black and wore clunky heels, but she was smart and efficient, and she was her sounding board for most things. But not this time. The vampires were going to have to stay off-limits, at least for now. She had promised them.

A few mouthfuls of the pungent chicken and Gwen felt more like herself. She and Bree went over the rest of the plans. Score another one for Affairs to Remember. Even with such a short time to prepare, they had pulled it off as she knew they would. At least from her end, the grand opening should go off without a hitch, but there was no accounting for any surprises during the evening. Gwen wondered how many people knew that the new club was owned and run by vampires. Sebastian hadn’t told her that it was, but if the two of them existed, she was sure they weren’t the only ones.

Once Gwen got back to her office, she called the caterer and confirmed the hors d’ oeuvres for seventy-five. Gwen then called over and left a voice mail for Sebastian, letting him know the pending head count. Now all she needed was to figure out what she was going to wear and how to deal with two horny vampires.

Gwen parked her Mustang in the restaurant parking lot. Roger’s car was already in there. She was surprised that he hadn’t called at least one more time that afternoon to make sure she wasn’t going to cancel. He’d definitely been different these last couple of months. Something was going on. She wondered if he’d tell her this evening.

She really wished she was at home with a pint of Häagen-Dazs mint-chocolate-chip ice cream. Instead, she took a deep breath and walked through the front door of La Fiesta Kitchen. Roger was sitting at their usual table.

He stood up as she approached, always the gentleman. Too bad they got along better as friends than they ever did as husband and wife. He brushed his lips across her cheek and pulled out her chair.

“Thanks, Roger.”

“You’re welcome, sweetie. How are things? You look tired.”

“The opening is Friday, and I’ve been putting in a lot of time to make sure it is the most amazing event this town has ever seen.”

“Yes, I know how you are, Madame Workaholic.”

“Geesh, between you and Bree, you’ll have me packed off on vacation.”

“Maybe you should think about one. You haven’t taken any time off since you started the business.”

“Because I’m building the business, and I need to be here to make sure it happens. Besides, all my money is staying in Affairs to Remember for now.”

“Relax. I’m just worried about you. I’m not trying to start an argument.”

“Fine. I’m sorry. I am on edge, and I shouldn’t be taking it out on you.”

“It’s okay, sweetie. I understand, and you know I’m always here for you.”

“Yes, I know. But we are not married anymore. You don’t need to protect me.”

Roger shrugged and reached for Gwen’s hand across the table. “But you’ll always be mine in my heart.”

Gwen sighed. It would always be like this with Roger unless she moved away or remarried, or maybe both. He had been a way out of her mother’s house. Marrying him had been a big mistake, one that took ten years of her life to rectify.

“Roger, c’mon. We’ve been over this so many times. We are friends. You are not my protector.”

“Whatever, Gwen.”

She was saved by the bell, or, rather, waitress, who took their order. They ordered margaritas straight up with salt and guacamole and chips for an appetizer and the number four special for dinner. This had been their favorite restaurant. If their usual waitress had been here they wouldn’t have had to order at all. The food would have just materialized on the table.
I guess we truly are creatures of habit.

Gwen knew Roger had something on his mind. When he was like this it was hard to dissuade him. Besides Bree he was her best friend. But if he wanted to talk about the vampires at Eternity, he was going to strike out tonight. She knew that he would freak out totally or think she had lost her mind.
I’ll just have to keep them out of the conversation. That’s all. Yeah right, who am I kidding?

“Gwen…”

Gwen blinked her eyes and realized she had been staring right at the subject of her musings but hadn’t heard a word he’d said. “Um…yes?”

“Where were you just now?”

“I’m just thinking about the opening. It’s going to be a big deal in this town, and it could make or break my company.”

“True, you won’t let one
T
go uncrossed.”

Gwen smiled, the first and last for the evening, probably. “Gee, thanks.”

“You know it’s true.”

“Yeah, I know.” She nodded and reached for a chip then dipped it into the hot salsa. “Mmmm…they definitely make the best salsa ever.”

Roger laughed. “Yes, they do. Nice subject change.”

Gwen winked at him. “You noticed?” Of course he did. He noticed everything. He was equally observant and totally oblivious to the most important things. But she loved him, just wasn’t in love with him. Actually, if she was truthful with herself, she would have to admit she was more than half in love with the vampires, and that was the whole problem.