A Bite to Remember (22 page)

Recognizing that last part as her mind’s efforts to derail her good intentioned self-recriminations, Jackie sighed as she pushed through the bathroom door.

Vincent was a vampire, she reminded herself, pulling out what should have been the big guns. Unfortunately, her mind was less than impressed, reminding her that while Vincent was an immortal, he was nothing like Cassius and perhaps all vampires weren’t bad. If not, then Vincent definitely fit into the “not a bad vamp” category.

The thought that finally made her regain some control of her wayward desires was her recollection of Marguerite telling her Vincent had found his life mate and she wasn’t an immortal.

Stopping in front of the sink, Jackie stared into the mirror and saw the confusion on the face reflected back. If Vincent had found his life mate, why was he kissing her? The reflection didn’t have an answer, but her mind began to work the problem.

Marguerite had said Vincent’s life mate was not an immortal and she began to list all the mortal women she knew in Vincent’s life. There was Lily…and herself.

Jackie blinked at her reflection. Lily was sweet and young, but while she’d seen the two together and wouldn’t be surprised to learn the young production assistant had a crush on Vincent, she didn’t think he was interested in the girl. At least, she’d never seen any sign of interest on his part…not like his kissing her just now.

Jackie’s eyes dropped to her own mouth in the mirror. Her lipstick was missing, but her lips were still red and slightly swollen from his kisses. While she’d been kissed many times before, it had never been with the heat and raw desire that had exploded between her and Vincent…even Cassius’s kisses with his use of the immortal telepathic ability to put desire into another’s mind hadn’t been as hot. If they hadn’t been jostled by someone, she might very well have climbed Vincent like a bean pole right there on the dance floor.

“No,” she said the word softly, denying the conclusion her mind seemed to be heading toward. She could not be Vincent’s life mate. Surely, fate couldn’t be so cruel?

A stall door opened behind her, and Jackie quickly turned on the taps of the sink before her and began to splash water on her face in the hopes of clearing her mind. She saw the tall, young brunette come out and join her at the row of sinks, but paid her little attention other than to note that she was slim, with short brown hair. It wasn’t until she turned off the taps, and the brunette moved to her side to extend one of the little brown paper towels, that Jackie noted the way the woman was looking at her.

The brunette’s eyes were moving slowly over Jackie’s body in the short red cocktail dress she’d donned for tonight’s excursion. She murmured thank you as she accepted the towel, shifted uncomfortably, then did her best to ignore the woman as she patted her face dry.

“You have an amazing body.”

Jackie blinked at their reflections in the mirror, her gaze traveling over her own figure next to the taller, slimmer woman. In truth, Jackie didn’t think there was anything amazing about her body. She was short and no matter how often she worked out or how healthily she ate, couldn’t seem to get rid of the extra fifteen to twenty pounds she was sure she’d look better without. At the ripe old age of thirty, however, she’d come to the conclusion she might as well get used to it. It was probably here to stay.

Unsure what else to say, Jackie murmured “Thank you,” and crumpled up the paper towel she’d used to dry her face, but the woman wasn’t done. As Jackie moved to throw the paper towel in the garbage, the girl added, “I’d like to lick every inch of it.”

Nothing on God’s green earth could have stopped her
from whirling to face the girl with a look of abject horror and disbelief. Jackie even almost blurted,
Do I look gay to you?
before catching herself back, but it was her first thought. A stupid one, she acknowledged. You couldn’t tell someone’s sexual preference by their looks.

Jackie opened her mouth to politely tell the woman that she didn’t swing that way, but paused and stiffened as the brunette stepped closer and ran one hand lightly down her arm as she added, “Why don’t we go someplace else and party?”

Jackie opened and closed her mouth several times, but nothing was coming out. Her brain appeared to have temporarily disengaged. This was one of those situations she had absolutely no experience dealing with. It was the first time she’d ever been hit on by another woman.

Apparently, taking her silence as a good sign, the girl suddenly caught her hand and began to tug her to the door. “I know a spot where we can…”

The rest was lost on Jackie as the brunette pushed the bathroom door open. Loud music immediately rang in her ears, drowning out the rest of what she was saying. The only reason Jackie didn’t pull her hand free and urge the brunette back to the bathroom where she could explain she wasn’t interested was because the girl took her by surprise, turning right toward the back of the club, rather than left to head back into the dance and seating area.

Jackie’s brain immediately began churning along different lines. Vincent needed to feed. He’d only fed once today. He claimed he’d be fine missing one meal, and maybe he wouldn’t die from it, but she knew it would cause him pain.
And what if they weren’t able to come up with a way to feed him tomorrow?

The girl kept talking the whole time as she dragged Jackie into the bowels of the building. At least the brunette’s mouth was moving every time she glanced back. Reassured by her very human green eyes, Jackie decided to wait and see where she’d lead her, hoping that they might be able to use this somehow to help Vincent. It might be an opportunity they could use. At least she hoped so.

The brunette rushed her down one hall, turned down another, then hurried through a door and into a kitchen. The room was large, spotless and presently empty. It was late enough that food was no longer offered.

“—never done this before, really. Always fantasized about it, but I—” The girl’s nervous chatter was suddenly clearly heard as the door closed behind them, reducing the deafening music to a murmur barely heard through the door.

“Hang on,” Jackie said quickly. Now that the girl would be able to hear her, she tugged on her hand, trying to pull free, but the woman was stronger than she’d realized and merely tightened her grip, saying, “It’s right here. Just through this door.”

Jackie started to tug on her hand again, but paused as they sailed through yet another door. They were now in a small storeroom lined with shelves bearing industrial-sized cans and jars of food: pickles, sauces, ketchup, soups…Jackie moved further into the room and turned back toward the door, her gaze moving around the shelves with surprise until she’d made a full circuit and reached the brunette again. The confidence she’d appeared shrouded in as she’d propositioned
Jackie in the bathroom was definitely missing now. In fact, the girl looked nervous, then she took a deep breath, as if gathering her courage. A determined look entering her eyes, she took a step toward Jackie, one hand reaching toward her.

“Okay, wait.” Jackie took a step back, one hand rising to hold her off while she tried to think if she could use this or not. If the saboteur were watching Vincent and she went and brought him here to feed on the girl, then pretended to lock the door from the outside while the girl really locked it from the inside…She could have Vincent instruct the girl to lock it and wait there for at least half an hour, or even more maybe, before slipping out. There was a good chance the saboteur would never know the brunette was here. He might even think Vincent had fed off Jackie herself if they entered alone and left alone. The girl should be safe…

She peered at the brunette, considering the matter, then felt her conscience twinge as she noted the girl’s uncertain expression. In this light, she could see the brunette wasn’t as old as she’d first thought. Jackie would guess she was maybe nineteen or twenty, a kid really. What on earth was this child doing propositioning women in bathrooms and dragging them off here to a storeroom? She’d caught the girl’s words about this being a fantasy and something she’d never done before, but geez…

“I—” Jackie stiffened and whirled as she felt a hand brush lightly down the back of her hair. She found herself staring at a tall, sandy-haired man in his forties. He wore tight jeans and a shirt left open almost to his navel to reveal a gold chain around his neck. He was also leering.

Sleazeball, Jackie pegged him right away. Sleazeball trying
to stave off his midlife crisis by dressing too young, wearing lots of gold on his fingers, wrist and neck, and sporting a girlfriend who was young enough to be his daughter.

On the other hand, Jackie thought. She’d just been kissed by a four-hundred-year-old on the dance floor. Who was she to criticize people’s choices?

“Trevor!” the brunette sounded distressed. “You were supposed to wait until we were into it and then—”

“Shut up, Shell,” he said, sounding almost bored. “You weren’t going to get into it. She’s obviously got cold feet. I just thought I’d let her know I was part of the package too. See if maybe she’d be interested after all.”

Jackie’s attempts to be charitable died the moment she heard how Trevor addressed Shell. She was young, obviously looked up to the big greaseball, and she “shut up” as instructed, an unhappy look on her face. Jackie suddenly started to rethink things.

“Where did you come from?” she asked, taking a wary step back from Trevor. He hadn’t been in here when she’d done her first survey of the small room.

Trevor smiled faintly, then moved around the standing shelf at the back of the room, gesturing for her to follow. Jackie did, staying an arm’s length away from him and watching as he moved up to the wall. It was wood, a rough paneling and at first she had no idea what he wanted her to see, then he pushed on a panel and it slid open. A door was hidden in the paneling, although that may not have been deliberate. Between the poor light and the fact that the door was the same wood as the wall, the door was invisible at first glance.

“My office,” Trevor announced with a smile as he gestured to the room beyond. “I’m the manager here.”

Jackie peered at the expensive décor, her mind racing. This was perfect. This was almost foolproof.

She turned and walked back around the shelf into the storage room, her thoughts lining themselves up in her head. Her gaze landed on Shell and she smiled. “Trevor was wrong, I wasn’t getting cold feet.”

Shell didn’t look all that happy about this news at first, then she suddenly beamed a smile that looked decidedly forced. A glance over her shoulder showed Jackie that Trevor was coming back around the shelf and she suddenly thought she understood. This was no fantasy, at least not Shell’s, this was all about keeping Trevor happy. He wanted a three-some, so Shell—desperate to keep him happy—agreed to a threesome.

“So you
are
interested?” Trevor paused behind her, his hand sliding around her waist and moving up her stomach toward her breasts.

Jackie caught his hand, bringing his roaming to an abrupt halt. Ignoring him, she told Shell, “I stopped you because I need to go give my friends an excuse for my disappearance, otherwise they’ll freak out. That girl who was found in the hills was a friend of ours and it’s made us all jumpy.”

“I heard about that,” Shell said with a shudder. “She was a friend of yours?”

“Yeah,” Jackie lied, moving toward the door. “Give me five minutes to tell them I’m catching a ride home so they don’t worry. Then we’ll have all the time in the world.”

“She isn’t coming back.” Trevor’s voice was unpleasant and sneering.

Jackie paused at the door and glanced back. “Yes, I am.”

He shook his head. “You’re bailing on us.”

Jackie frowned. If he really believed she was bailing, he might take Shell and leave here while she was gone. Hesitating, she glanced over herself, trying to think what she could leave behind to convince him. Her purse was at the table, all she had was what she was wearing. Blowing a breath out, Jackie stepped out of her shoes and kicked them into the center of the small room, then cocked one eyebrow. “Believe me now?”

Trevor nodded, his lips parting in a smile that was all teeth. “See you soon.”

Jackie tugged the door open and slipped out of the room. She managed to find her way back to the hallway outside the ladies room, then continued on to the table.

“I was starting to worry,” Vincent shouted by her ear, having stood as she hurried up to the table.

Jackie saw a frown crest his face as he straightened from yelling in her ear, and guessed he’d noticed the difference in height when his gaze slid down to her feet. His eyebrows immediately drew together. “What happened to your shoes?”

“Never mind that,” Jackie instructed. She leaned over the table, saying to Marguerite and Tiny, “We’ll be right back. Wait here.”

Marguerite’s eyes narrowed and Jackie knew she was concerned and trying to read her thoughts. She didn’t try to block her, but let Vincent’s aunt read what was happening,
figuring it would be faster than explaining verbally. When Marguerite relaxed and sat back with a nod, Jackie straightened. Tiny still looked concerned, but Jackie knew Marguerite would explain everything, so she merely turned to catch Vincent’s hand and started to lead him back the way she’d come.

“Where are we going?”

Jackie heard his question as she led him around the dance floor, but almost didn’t answer. Then she realized she couldn’t take him in there cold, with no knowledge at all of what was going on. Stopping in the center of the dance floor, Jackie turned into his arms, urging him to dance as she leaned up and said, “Read my thoughts.”

Vincent stared at her solemnly, and she thought there was a sadness in his eyes, then his gaze focused on her forehead. They both stood still and Jackie waited for the ruffling that would tell her he was reading her mind, but it never came.

“I can’t,” he spoke so softly that she couldn’t hear him, but she could read the two words on his lips and saw the pain the acknowledgment caused him.

Jackie stared back blankly. Bastien had once told her that not being able to read someone was the sign of a true life mate. The confusion she’d experienced in the washroom tried to reclaim her, but she pushed it ruthlessly aside. Later, she could consider the ramifications of everything and the mess they appeared to be in, for now she had to see him fed.