Pixie Dust (Karli Lane #1) (10 page)

“Pardon me for just a moment.” He said. “Make yourself comfortable.”

I looked around the room, desperately trying not to make an ass out of myself again. The penthouse suite was just as luxurious as one would imagine. I walked into the cavernous living/dining area that was decorated in shades of eggplant and gold. Immediately to the right of the foyer was a small marble powder room. A crescent shaped wet bar made of marble and dark cherry wood was off to my left. Directly in front of me was a large overstuffed couch with two side chairs and a flat screen TV. There was a round cherry dining table surrounded by four golden chairs in the corner. The most impressive feature in the room was the wall to wall windows, and the view they provided. It was
stunning.
You could clearly see the neon lights of The Strip and the dancing fountains below.

“Wow, great room.” I said. “I’ve never been up this high before.”

Leo walked over to the adjoining master suite, not bothering to close the doors. “Only the best.” He said as he dropped his towel unabashedly, revealing an ass that must have been made out of a mold. He stepped into a pair of black slacks and pulled a dark green sweater over his shoulders.
Omigod, he’s going commando!

He looked back and caught me staring again.
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
 I quickly turned my head away and tried pretending as if that didn’t just happen. As he walked back into the living room he asked, “Can I get you a beverage?”

“Some water would be great. Thanks.” Gulp. He handed me a bottle of water from the fridge. I unscrewed the top and took a big swig. He was watching me with interest, making me very nervous. I started fidgeting, trying to look casual but failing miserably.

“Please have a seat.” He said, gesturing towards the couch. I picked a chair and continued to drink my water. I was having a very difficult time not thinking about the fact that he wasn’t wearing any underwear.

He took a seat on the couch. “Why are you so nervous, my sweet?”

“Nervous? I’m not nervous.” I lied.

He laughed. “Whatever you say, my love. I guess we should get down to it then.”

Another gulp. “Down to what exactly?” Crap, that came out about two pitches higher than normal.

“To the reason why I’ve asked you to come.” He replied. “As I mentioned last night, I plan to spend each evening at the bar until I know everyone is safe. My senses should alert me to any demons that may come in. I’ve hired four highly trained body guards, who also happen to be vampires. They will take shifts posing as customers, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. I’ll need you to notify the staff of our presence, but make sure you tell them that they should conduct themselves in the usual manner. I want them to notify
you
if they notice anything out of place. You can then pass that information off to me. I don’t want to draw too much attention to my men or scare anybody off. I want the chance to catch this guy if he is, in fact targeting my employees.”

“Have you already spoken to Kendra about this?” Kendra is the other Head Bartender who works when I don’t. “She’s there Sundays through Wednesdays.”

“Yes, I’ve made arrangements to meet with her in my suite before her shift on Sunday afternoon. I’ll make sure that she follows the same protocol.”

Why did he invite
her
to his room? More importantly, why am I so jealous? Leo smirked, as if he were reading my mind. Could he do that?  Damn, I really needed to find a
Vampires for Dummies
book!

“Do you have any other questions?” He asked.

“No, not that I can think of.” I replied.

He stood up and gestured for me to follow. He walked me out to the elevator and pressed the call button. When the doors opened, I offered to return the key fob. “No that’s okay,” he said. “You keep it. It opens the door to my suite as well. Feel free to visit at
any
time.”

Blushing again, or maybe
still
, I couldn’t keep track anymore, I stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the casino level. When the doors closed, I let out a breath that I didn’t realize I was holding. Oh God, w
hat the hell am I getting myself into?

******************************

I got to work as everyone was buzzing around, getting ready to open. “Everyone, could I have your attention please?” I asked. Once they were gathered, I continued. “I wanted to let you know that our new boss, Leo Markos will be here during the evenings until further notice. He is taking the events from the other night very seriously and wants to ensure our safety. I’ve reserved table twenty for him so please make sure it is always available. He will have a security detail in place that will include four rotating guards who will pose as customers. Mr. Markos wants us to conduct ourselves in a business as usual manner. If you notice anything out of place, please alert me or Kendra and we will share that information with them. Does anyone have any questions?”

Jordyn, one of the dancers asked, “Do the police know what killed Leslie?”

“They know it was a demon, but they don’t know what kind yet. I don’t want you guys to worry about any of that though. Mr. Markos has assured me that we are his top priority and he will take any necessary actions to keep us safe.”

“I’d like to show him some necessary action.” Jordyn teased. The other gals giggled. “I heard he was the super sexy vampire from table twenty the other night. Is that true?”

“Yes, that was him.” I snapped. Jordyn made no secret about preferring the company of vampires. I’m pretty sure she was the one who started the rumor about orgasmic bites.

“Now, unless anyone else has anything
relevant
to add,” I continued, “ Let’s finish our prep because the gate is going up in twenty minutes.”

Leo arrived shortly after eight and sat down in the corner booth. He had several reports fanned out across the table and kept to himself for the most part. He appeared immersed in his paperwork but I could tell his senses were on high alert. Every once in a while, I would catch him scanning the bar or making eye contact with one of the guards.

Surprisingly, the night went off without a hitch. We were busier than normal because people had a morbid interest in the details of Leslie’s murder, but nothing out of the ordinary happened. When the gates were closed, everyone busied themselves with clean up and prep work. Leo was gathering his paperwork when Jordyn came out, wearing nothing but a short, white satin robe. Smiling, she sat down at his table. I tried not to eavesdrop but my curiosity got the best of me. 

“Hi there,” she said, totally exaggerating her southern accent, “I’m Jordyn, the gal behind screen number one. You’re Leo, right?”

“That’s correct.” He replied. “It’s very nice to meet you Jordyn. I enjoyed watching your performance this evening. It was very….ah, titillating.”

“Well I aim to please sugar!” She said, clearly excited by his compliment. Was she exposing her neck to him? Oh Christ, could she be more obvious?  “You know, I’d be more than happy to give you a private performance sometime.” She continued. “I hear you’re staying upstairs for a while. You just say when honey and I’ll be sure to come
right up.” Oh please don’t tell me he’s falling for this!

“That’s very kind of you to offer.” He said with a fangy grin. “I’ll most certainly keep that in mind. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to wrap up a few things with Karli before I go.” He grabbed her hand and kissed the tips of her fingers as she stood.

“Oh, of course darlin’. Business before pleasure! I guess I’ll step in back to put my clothes on. I can’t exactly go out to my car dressed like this!” She winked at him as she walked away.

Leo glanced towards the bar and caught me spying on them.
Dammit!
He walked up to me and said, “It looks like things went well tonight. Would you agree?”

“Yeah, it was pretty busy. We did really well with tips. Enough so that it should make up for being closed last night.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” He said. “Are you just about finished up here?”

“Yes, I am. I just need to close the credit card machine and divvy up the tips. It looks like we should be ready to go in maybe five minutes or so.”

“Great, I’ll just finish gathering my things then.” He lowered his voice before continuing, “Would you care to join me upstairs for a nightcap?”

His rumbling voice gave me goose pimples as warmth radiated between my thighs. Yeah, that was the last thing I should be doing after seeing his perfect ass earlier. I don’t think I could be held responsible for my actions with the way I’m feeling right now. “Um, I appreciate the offer but I really think I should just head home. I’m pretty tired.”

“I understand.” He said, not trying to hide his disappointment. “Perhaps some other time.”

I nodded as he walked back over to his table. I gathered everyone to dole out their tips and escorted them to the gate. Once the last person had walked away, Leo joined me.

“If you change your mind, my dear, you know where to find me.”

“Um, thanks.” I said while I was locking the gate.

We parted ways and headed in separate directions. Oh boy, I needed to get far away from that man before I did something stupid. I picked up my pace and headed towards the parking garage. I ran into Erica in the atrium.

“So, how’d it go last night?” She asked.

“Last night?”

“Oh, don’t play dumb with me K. How was your little rendezvous with the detective? I was planning to call you before work, but I was tied up….quite literally.” She said with a mischievous grin.

“Oh that.” I replied. “Um, it was….fine.”

“Oh no, I’m not letting you off the hook that easily! I want details lady!”

I gave Erica all the sordid details about my experience at
Voyeur-Gasm,
including the fact that Leo had witnessed the whole thing.

“Oh man, I’m so sorry I missed that.” She laughed. “I would have loved to be a fly on that wall!”

“There’s one more thing I didn’t mention Eri.… When Vance came to pick me up, I may have
accidentally
sprinkled some fairy dust on him.”

“What?!?! Omigod, does he know what it was?” She shrieked.

“Yeah, he definitely knows. I think I dodged the bullet for now though.” 

“What are you going to do?” She asked.

 “I have no idea. So far complete denial is working pretty well for me.”

As we were getting in our cars, she said, “Well good luck baby. Let me know if you need any magical assistance.”

“Thanks sweetie, I will.”

Chapter 9

*****************************

I got up the next day around eleven after a fitful night’s sleep. I shuffled my feet down the hall into the kitchen and made some coffee. I checked my phone and saw that Vance had left me a voicemail about an hour ago.