Bit the Jackpot (2 page)

Wondering what the hell he wanted with Jodi, she nodded. Maybe he was the club owner. That would explain how he'd gotten past the solid row of bouncers the club employed. Men never managed to get backstage, which was why Cara loved working at this club. Jodi was stage manager and choreographer for all the dancers, so maybe this was her boss. The owner.

Shit. The boss had seen her butt.

"I'm Seamus Fox," he said, holding out his hand.

"Hi," she said, ignoring the hand. She wasn't touching that thing if her life depended on it. The hand was connected to the arm, which was connected to the shoulder, which was broad and muscular, which eventually led across a firm, powerful chest, right down to the bone. Er. Boner. Which she wasn't going anywhere near.

"This is the part where you tell me your name," he said with a wink.

Only if she were stupid. She knew how important it was to protect herself as a dancer from freaks who obsessed over women. Seamus didn't look like a freak, but he did look dangerous. Strong. Well-dressed. Sexy, damn it.

"No, this is the part where I walk away. If I see Jodi I'll tell her you're looking for her." She started to turn, but only got half through the pivot.

"Wait." His eyes darted down to her robe. "I saw your show. You dance beautifully. Sensual." Those blue eyes darkened, just went right from pale sky blue to cerulean. Which had to be a trick of the disco light from the stage. Eyes didn't just completely change color in two seconds. "Your moves are very classy."

Not sure why exactly she was still standing there, Cara licked her lips nervously. She could have sworn she had ordered her feet to walk away and yet she was just frozen in a half-swizzle. A strange sensation stole over her, like a tugging, tingling feeling, in her shoulders, her neck, her skull. She opened her mouth to speak, but realized she couldn't remember what he had just said. Just that it suddenly seemed really important to tell him her name. Urgent.

Her brain battled with the need to open her mouth. Her common sense was screaming no, no, no, he could find her address and phone number on the Internet with her name.

Yet she said, "Cara," before she could stop herself. It just came out with no warning or consent from her.

What the hell? She seethed at herself silently. What was the matter with her? He wasn't
that
good looking. Okay, yes, he was, but that didn't fully explain why she seemed to have lost her mind. She glared at him, just to let him know the name thing had been a slip, one she wasn't going to repeat.

The glare didn't seem to faze him. He smiled, a beautiful, white teeth grin. "Come have a cup of coffee with me, Cara."

She'd rather die. "No, thank you."

"There's a shop right across the street…" He stopped smiling. "What? What do you mean?"

"I mean no."

Now he looked flat-out shocked. "No? You can't mean no."

"I do." He'd obviously never heard the word
no
before. Maybe he was famous. Probably rich. Used to women dropping at his gorgeous feet. Well, she didn't know if his feet were gorgeous, per se, but given the rest of him she could see, it was highly likely. This would be good for him, to hear no. Take his obviously huge ego down a notch or two.

Seamus stared at her. Hard. His eyebrows rose just a little bit, like he was waiting for something.

Feeling a little weirded out by his intensity, Cara eased to the left, still half-turned. She must be shuffling like a hunchback, but she didn't care. She needed to get away from him, but couldn't seem to force her body to do more than step forward an eighth of an inch at a time. She was either in a dream or she'd suffered some kind of post-dancing paralysis. That had been a really deep cat in the cradle at the end of her routine. She must have sore muscles, or maybe her high heels were too small and she had pinched a nerve.

He smiled, a slow, charming, roguish sort of smile. "Let me walk you to your dressing room. Can I buy you a cup of coffee?"

Umm. Didn't she just say no twice? She attempted another shuffle and moved all of half an inch. Damn it. She was getting really freaked out. Her legs didn't work. So if she couldn't get her own legs to leave, she'd have to force him to take a hint. "Well, that depends. Do you like long walks?"

"Sure." The smile relaxed.

"Do you like sex?" Cara asked in a husky voice, hoping her acting skilis were passable.

"Absolutely." His nostrils flared.

"Then take a fucking hike." She'd been dying for months to use that line she'd read in a magazine, and the shocked look on his face was so worth the wait. "I'm not interested, got it?"

For a long second, he stared at her, like he could hypnotize her into having coffee—sex—with him. She half expected a pendulum to start swinging in front of her.

"Hello." She waved her hand in front of his face, starting to get ticked off. "Did you hear me? Not interested. Go away."

He broke eye contact with her, crossed his arms, and shook his head in disgust. "Absolutely unbelievable. I just can't win. I finally decide to live a little and I pick the one woman in Vegas who can shut me out and says no."

Okay, cute guy was psycho. And she was naked.

"I, um, have to go… they'll wonder where I am." She started to turn again, but he touched her arm. Crap. Where the hell was a bouncer when you needed one?

A hideous shriek startled Cara into jumping back three feet. A blur with black hair collided into Seamus.

He swore. "What the hell is the matter with you, Kelsey?"

A tall, thin, gorgeous woman wearing a tiny red dress that boosted up snow-white cleavage was clinging to Seamus. Cara took another step back, damn grateful her legs were finally cooperating, even if she was only able to manage geriatric speed. Time to casually slip away and put some pants on. Leave sexy psycho to his skinny girlfriend.

"They're here, Seamus, I saw them."

"Who?" He sounded impatient, but wrapped his arm around the woman, patting her back. "Kelsey, babe, we've got to get you counseling or something. I can't be with you every possible second of every day."

She sniffled and clung to his chest. "I can't help it… I'm sorry. Since they shot me, I just feel scared all the time."

On that note, Cara was out of there. She started increasing her backup shuffle.

"Cara, wait." He glanced at her.

No freaking way. "Look, threesomes aren't my thing. In fact, nothing is my thing, okay? I'm boring and repressed and I have six brothers."

That weird tugging sensation crept over her arms again, across her collarbone and into her face like an invasive, probing, ice-cold finger. Shuddering, Cara whirled around, fast-walked around the corner, and ducked into the dressing room she shared with the other dancers. Slamming the door, she pushed the lock button in, and grabbed her chest.

Geez, she needed to get a new job. Maybe paying for veterinarian school and the nursing home with shadow dancing wasn't worth this. That had started to get a little creepy. "What are you doing?" Dawn asked.

Cara looked at her coworker, sitting in her red thong, touching up her makeup. "This guy followed me." Really strange, sexy guy who had a girlfriend who had been shot and a strange ability to make Cara feel like his fingers were walking up her neck when he wasn't even touching her.

She shivered again just thinking about it, a little scared by the whole encounter. Dawn had no such fear. Adjusting her bra with nipple tassels, she stood up and pushed Cara out of the way. "Where is he? We'll call Bryan. He'll kick his ass."

Bryan was Dawn's bouncer boyfriend. Cara wasn't sure she wanted Bryan confronting Seamus, but she would like an escort to her car. After she got dressed. But before she could reach for her gym bag with her clothes, Dawn was making "uh-uh-uh" expressions.

"Is that him? Standing with that chick?" Dawn had opened the door and was gazing down the hall with a rapt expression on her face.

Cara peered from behind Dawn's shoulder. Seamus was brushing the skinny girl's hair back off her shoulders and looked like he was reassuring her. Freak. "That's him."

"Damn, now that's a man," Dawn enthused. "I'm looking at him, and I swear, my thighs are just spreading automatically."

Bryan, Dawn's bouncer boyfriend, was clearly forgotten. As was the fact that Dawn was wearing only a thong and the bra with nipple tassels as she leaned farther into the hall.

Her friend's reaction annoyed her. "He's not
that
hot." She stole another look down the hall. Okay, so yes he was.

"
'Yes
, he is." Dawn turned back to her. "You have to have sex with him and tell me every single detail."

That made her laugh. "No! I'm not interested, Dawn, seriously."

"Okay, then I call dibs on him."

Cara roiled her eyes. "You have a boyfriend and he obviously has a girlfriend."

"So? We could do a partner swap for a night. Bryan likes that kind of kinky shit and with this guy I just might be willing to try it."

Cara did not want to know those things about Bryan and Dawn. "Yuck. Too much information, Dawn." And she wasn't even going to think about why the thought of Dawn with Seamus made her want to strangle Dawn with her nipple tassels.

"You're the prudest stripper I've ever known." Dawn glanced back down the hall. "Shit. Where'd he go? He was there two seconds ago."

Cara stuck her head out farther. Dawn was right. There was no sign of Seamus or the woman. "That's weird. But I'm glad he's gone."

Really. She was.

But when she was sliding her panties on under her robe and felt the sudden desperate sense that Seamus was in danger, she only hesitated for a second. The feeling came hard, a violent splash of red and black emotion, making Cara close her eyes in agony.

"Damn."

"What's the matter?" Dawn asked.

"I have a headache." When the pain subsided, Cara pulled on a pair of jeans and flip-flops without hesitation and headed right for the back alley of the club.

So that hadn't gone according to plan. Seamus patted Kelsey on the back and murmured stupid nothing words to get her to calm down. The dancer, Cara, had bolted after making it quite clear that she wasn't interested in him. His vampire mind-control trick had completely failed.

He had gotten her to offer up her name, but that was it, and even that had been a struggle. She had resisted. Part of him wanted to follow after her, and try again. The smarter part of him figured if he did, he'd just wind up with a knee in the groin.

"Alright, let's go home to the casino, Kelsey." He might as well work the rest of the night. Or go to bed early. Alone. No sex for him, no blood unless he wanted a cold plastic bag from his fridge. It was completely depressing.

"Okay, thanks, Seamus, I'm sorry for being such a pain." Kelsey sniffled and peeled herself off his chest. She wiped under her eyes, dashing away her blood-red tears.

She was one of the few vampires Seamus had actually seen capable of producing tears, but it suited her. Drama and hysterics were Kelsey's personality.

"You're not a pain." He nudged her with his arm and gave her a smile. "You're just paranoid. And too skinny. We need to get more blood on your bones."

She returned a watery smile and followed him out the emergency exit door. Seamus didn't feel like walking back through the club, and this door would probably dump them out into the back parking lot.

The warm Vegas air hit Seamus in the face like a fleece blanket. He had never imagined he would like the heat, the desert, or the glitzy nightlife of Sin City, but he enjoyed the pulse of the city, the ability to hide among mortals completely out in the open.

They weren't in the back parking lot, but a side alley. And immediately Seamus smelled vampire. He scanned the dark, easing Kelsey behind him. He wasn't sure why, but he felt antagonism, danger. Vampire. The air was tinged with a sour scent.

"What's the matter?" she asked, her high-pitched voice bouncing up and down the quiet alley like she'd spoken with a bullhorn.

He was about to tell her to go back in the building, even though he couldn't see anything, when he took a blow to the top of his head that sent him staggering forward, a starburst of colors exploding in front of his eyes. Instinct had him ducking, avoiding a second blow. Seamus arched his arm out and made contact with a thick, full-barreled chest.

t

His attacker grunted, and as Seamus darted back out of the way, he finally got a good view of him. The guy was heavyset, balding, wearing a silk shirt and dress pants, his gold necklace glinting in the moonlight. With his vampire vision, Seamus could make out doughy jowls, a squat and thick crooked nose, and lids so swollen that his eyes were about as wide as a nickel. Overall, this guy coming at him was one seriously ugly vampire.

Seamus felt a twinge of pity for him that he had to go through eternity looking like the backside of a bulldog. But then the guy landed a fist in Seamus's gut, crunching all his muscles in agony, and his sympathy disappeared.

Especially when he threw a punch, collided with ugly guy's temple with an audible crack, and the guy didn't even lose his footing. Ugly vampire was a strong vampire.

"Go back in the club, Kelsey," he called over his shoulder, as he and the brawny man circled each other. This could take a while.

Seamus was no pretty boy. Back in his youth, he'd been a potato farmer and he had seen his share of fistfights and strength battles. But he'd gone soft lately, spending more time with technology than the treadmill and weight bench. He had the feeling he was going to be very sore in unpleasant places before he and Ugly parted ways.

When he moved to the right, he caught a clear view of Kelsey just standing in the doorway, horror on her pale face. "Dammit, get in the club, Kelsey!"

Faking left, then right, he landed a punch on the guy's kidneys. A howl of rage and pain went up from Ugly, but he didn't even so much as bend over. Not good. Time for Seamus to use his brain, not his brawn, before he got pummeled. Seamus bent over and rammed his head into the guy's gut, throwing off his center of gravity. As Ugly stumbled backward, Seamus kicked his foot out from under him, and the big guy went down with a satisfying thud.