Page 10 of Rescued By the Vexed Vampire

I jumped into the shower, trying to scrub the exhaustion from my skin. But as I stepped out and reached for the mirror to fix my hair, I froze.

I couldn’t see my reflection.

Panic surged through me as I wiped frantically at the fog on the mirror, but no matter how hard I rubbed, I saw...nothing. My reflection simply wasn’t there.

“What the hell?” I whispered, my heart pounding. I didn’t have time to figure this out—not right now. I shoved the thought aside, throwing on some clothes and rushing to the kitchen for a quick bite before heading to work.

But as soon as I opened the fridge, my stomach churned. The bagel I had been planning to grab suddenly looked revolting, the mere thought of eating it making my insides twist.

Instead, there was an enticing smell coming from the bottom drawer. I opened it to find the steak I had planned to cook later in the week, and my mouth watered at the sight of it, raw and bloody.

I froze, my hand trembling as I reached for my neck, touching the spot where there should have been a little scab from my lover’s bite—but there was nothing.

Vampires weren’t real.

Right?

I gulped, slamming the fridge shut and rushing out the door. I didn’t have time for this. I’d figure it out later. Right now, I had a job to get to, and a new boss to meet.

I arrived at Sugar Rush, my heart still racing as I hurried inside, hoping my hair wasn’t some mess of a beehive since I had no idea what I looked like. Alice gave me a sympathetic lookfrom behind the counter, but before I could say anything, I felt a presence behind me.

I turned slowly, and nearly fell over from shock when my eyes locked onto the man standing in the doorway.

It was Drake.

He was dressed in a sleek black suit, his dark eyes glinting with recognition, the same dangerous smile playing on his lips.

And in that moment, I knew two things for sure:

One, I had just slept with my new boss.

And two, my life was about to get a hell of a lot more complicated.

Chapter Four

Drake

“Well, well, well...Bethany Snow, I presume?”

The words rolled off my tongue before I could stop myself. My voice carried a hint of amusement, but the irony wasn’t lost on me either. There she was, standing in front of me in the doorway of this dilapidated candy shop that I was supposed to somehow fix, her face a picture of shock, disbelief, and something close to horror. Of all the towns, of all the employees I could have inherited, it had to be her.

Bethany Snow. The same woman I’d spent the night with at that ridiculous Halloween party. And now, she was standing there, my employee, looking flustered, late, and absolutely mortified.

Her lips parted, but no sound came out for a moment. She was clearly at a loss for words, her expression cycling between realization and disbelief. Her cheeks flushed that familiar shade of pink that I remembered all too well from Saturday night, the same pink that had spread across her skin when she was pressed against me, breathless and vulnerable.

“You?” she finally managed to stammer, her voice almost a whisper. “You’re...the new boss?”

I couldn’t help the smirk that tugged at the corners of my mouth. “Yes, and you’re over an hour late.” I let the words sink in, watching her eyes widen even more. “You also missed the morning meeting where I introduced myself and explained my vision for this...place.”

Bethany blinked rapidly, as if trying to clear her head and make sense of what she was seeing. “This is a joke, right? It has to be.”

I shook my head slowly, pinching the bridge of my nose as though that might somehow alleviate the absurdity of this situation. “No joke, Bethany. I’m the new manager. And you’re the employee who couldn’t bother to show up on time for her new boss.”

I kept my voice steady, but there was no denying the tension in the air. The memory of the night of the party flashed in my mind—her body warm against mine, the way her laughter had bubbled out like she didn’t have a care in the world. And now, standing here in this disaster of a candy shop, the contrast between then and now couldn’t have been starker.

I caught a glimpse of Alice and Noah out of the corner of my eye. They were exchanging looks—Alice holding her breath, while Noah wore a look of pity, the kind of expression people wear when they know someone’s about to be ripped to shreds.Neither of them had any clue what had transpired between Bethany and me, but I knew they assumed I was going to tear into her for being late.

Which I was.

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