“You should hire more staff.” Flo pulled out a skirt and a sweater. “Look at what else I got. For the honeymoon. Richard won’t tell me where we are going this time.”
“It’s only our sixth—or is it tenth?—one.” The usually reserved Richard couldn’t stop grinning. “I’m not counting, just happy to belong to this woman.” He shoved Flo’s finds into the bag and picked up everything. “Come on, darling.”
“Flo, you can always come help out again.” I hid a grin. Flo had subbed for me right before I got back from L.A. The store would never be the same. She wouldn’t wait on “frumps” and had declared some of my vintage finds “tacky” and “too old” to sell. She’d rearranged shelves, stuffing rejects in the back room. I still couldn’t find all my merchandise, and was afraid some of it had ended up in the Dumpster in the alley.
“No, thanks. So many people have no taste, and would they listen to my advice? No.” She laid my new nightgown on the table. “Here is your gown, Glory. Enjoy.”
“I will.” I touched the fine lace and imagined how it would look against bare skin. I glanced up to see Rafe staring at me. Hmm. I had a feeling he was picturing the same thing. I smiled. “Thanks, Flo. It’s gorgeous.”
“Put it to good use.” She sniffed at Rafe. “With Jeremiah. Where is he?”
“Off to Florida. A business crisis. But he’ll be back in time for the wedding.” I walked Flo and Richard to the door.
“He’d better. I figure he owes me a bachelor party, since Florence is getting hers.” Richard opened the door. “I imagine a naked mortal woman in my favorite blood type served to me on a platter would be about right. Or at the very least a poker night and some of Damian’s potent brews.”
“Poker, definitely. No naked women for you, amante. And you come home sloppy drunk, and it’s the couch for you, I tell you.” Flo scolded him all the way down the stairs and out of sight.
“You did great. She has no idea her dream wedding depends on you dancing to Simon’s tune.” Rafe picked up the nightgown. “You sure you have to hurry down to the shop? Maybe you should try this on, see if it fits.”
I snatched it out of his hand. “It’ll fit, and you’ll never see me in it, bud.”
“Wouldn’t count on that.” Rafe grinned and followed me to my bedroom where I carefully put the gown away. “I think I’m making headway in taking our relationship to the next level. You were really upset when those guys Tasered me.”
“If you’d seen yourself when they did it, you’d have been freaked out too. You looked like you were break dancing without music.” I sighed and shut the drawer. “You’re my friend, I care about you. But nightgowns like this one ...”
“Are meant for only one thing.” Rafe moved closer until I was against the dresser. “You kissed me back out there, Glory. I didn’t imagine that.”
“Any response on my part was involuntary. I was an emotional wreck, and you had a concussion. I felt sorry for you.”
“Just a bump on the head. And you’re never an emotional wreck.” He leaned in, his body hard and hot against mine.
“Hah! I should record you saying that. And Simon’s chocolates were drugged. I was under the influence.”
“The more excuses you trot out, I figure the more I got to you.” He pushed his hand into my hair and massaged the tight muscles at the back of my neck. It felt so good I wanted to moan and weep with relief. It had been a hellish roller-coaster ride of a twenty-four hours. But encouraging Rafe wasn’t fair to him or to me. Though I was having trouble pulling together the exact reason why with his hands working their magic.
“Don’t, uh, don’t make too much out of it, Rafe,” I said to the N-V on his chest. Another logo T-shirt, this one red with black letters. Envy. Maybe I did envy Flo her excitement and her big wedding. Not to mention all those honeymoons. To be so crazy in love . . . How long had it been since I’d felt so completely lost in a man’s arms, wild for his touch. Oh, wait a minute, that happened every time I was with Blade. Right? Or did it? The Vampire Viagra had helped. But without it?
“It was just one kiss.” I stiffened when Rafe pulled me closer.
“Then maybe you need another, for comparison. To see if the response is still there. What if it wasn’t just the circumstances? What if there’s more to this? Is that such a bad thing? I’ve made no secret of the fact that I want you.” He rubbed my back in a slow circular motion that was erotic and yet comforting at the same time.
Yeah, he wanted me. I could feel how much below his belt buckle pressed hard against me. I laid my hands on his chest.
“I can’t do this now, Rafe. I’ve got to go. Seriously. And what you’re suggesting could take a while.”
“Now you’re talking.” Rafe grinned, his dimples punctuating his relief as he released me and stepped back. “Go. But we’re definitely getting back to this later.”
I didn’t bother responding to that. I’d left the door open, which was wrong, wrong, wrong. I should just shut Rafe down. Instead I grabbed my purse and left without another word. Down in the shop, I took over from Erin and settled in for the night. We weren’t very busy, and I had way too much time to think. I’d just about talked myself down from my EV freak-out and fantasies about Rafe when Aggie walked in. Did she think I’d be glad to see her? I met her near the door, ready to go to war.
“What the hell are you doing here?” How’s that for customer service?
“I thought we should discuss Flo’s shower since you’re the expert on all things bridal.” She eased around me and began to flip through my cocktail-dress rack.
“Last time I saw you, you were happy to turn me into a freakin’ statue. I won’t forget that any time soon.” I wanted to snatch the sea green dress she was holding out of her hand. Damn it, she acted like nothing had happened.
“I was wrong. I admit it. Greg had convinced me I’d be doing him a favor, and he’d, well”—she smiled and winked—“he’d do some favors for me.”
“Then he left you here. Why didn’t you just thaw me out then and leave him in the lurch? Make him a statue?” I glanced at the price tag on the dress she was holding. Good profit potential. I’d like to toss her butt out of here, except if she was going to buy something . . . Damn, I hated that my finances didn’t allow me the luxury of alienating a paying customer. Westwood’s cash payoff couldn’t come fast enough.
“I sent your buddy Rafe out there to save you, didn’t I?” She held up the dress and looked at herself in the full-length mirror next to the dressing rooms. Yeah, she has a reflection. Me, not a glimmer. It’s a vampire thing.
“You sent him out to be beaten and tortured.” I itched to claw the smile off her face. “You buying that dress or not?”
“Sorry if Rafe’s visit didn’t go well, but that’s not my fault.” She swept her eyes, the same color as the dress, over me. “You look like you survived okay. Greg said they just wanted to talk to you, so why shouldn’t I help him?”
“I’m fine, no thanks to you or Greg. But believing anything Greg says isn’t smart. Haven’t you figured that out yet?” Had to stay on track here. As far as Aggie knew, I had just gone out there to talk. Greg wouldn’t have told her any EV plans. She’d blab to Flo if she thought she had a juicy tidbit.
“Sure. Now I have. But, unless your shifter suffered permanent damage, I’d say you need to relax and cooperate with me. We’re both supposed to help Flo have the wedding of her dreams. Am I right?” Aggie didn’t wait for an answer, just stepped into the dressing room. “I’m trying this on. Tell me what I need to do at a shower besides invite people and feed them.”
“You think I’ve been to a wedding shower?” I heard the rustle of her clothes behind the curtain. “All I know is what I’ve seen on TV and in movies. I think they play games. Oh, and wrap the bride in toilet paper. I have no idea why.”
“Making Flo into a Charmin mummy sounds like fun but I doubt she’d stand for it. Might not be a good look for her.” Aggie threw back the curtain. “Fits perfectly. What do you think?”
I thought that I’d kill to have her kind of figure. The vintage sixties shift could have been made for her. It was a size five, six max. The color did amazing things for her skin and eyes, and the hem hit her mid thigh. She had great legs that seemed to go on forever. Panting men would follow her anywhere in that dress. The short length would even allow for her fish tail if the Storm God got mad at her again. That thought made me smile. I’d like to see Aggie stuck on a rock singing for her supper again like a Siren should.
“Perfect. Where are you going to wear it?” I swallowed my snark for the sake of a sale.
“The bachelorette party. We should dress up, right?” Aggie bit her lip. “You said it’s at Rafe’s nightclub.”
“Sure, sure, dress up.” I couldn’t believe I was having a civil conversation with her. But she was more powerful than I could ever hope to be. I didn’t want to end up a statue again.
“What kind of games should I get for this shower? I’m not usually into them myself. Though I played strip Scrabble once.” She stepped back into the dressing room and shut the curtain. “I’m really good with words, but I lost on purpose. The guy I played with was unbelievably hot, but he didn’t like to lose.”
“No word games. Flo’s English isn’t so great. Do some research. Search the Web for bridal-shower games. See what comes up. You do have a computer, don’t you?” I took the dress she handed out to me. I realized I had no idea where Aggie lived or how she lived. As far as I knew, she still called a cave in the middle of Lake Travis home. But she dressed well and seemed to have plenty of money. Siren magic. I really didn’t care as long as she didn’t give me a rubber check for this dress.