Page 55 of Seduction in Blood
I stared at my closet,waiting for inspiration to strike. The amount of clothing I'd amassed in less than a week astonished me, and it didn't help my current dilemma. I had no idea what an ancient billionaire vampire meant as casual. Worry simmered to miffed.
What if I didn't feel like going out to dinner? He'd said I had freedom, yet for the last six days I'd done everything he'd asked. My thanks was a single day off, and that was with a bodyguard in tow. It was intolerable.
I was being testy. I had a debt to repay. This wasn't a week at the spa, regardless of the luxuries that surrounded me. Although, as I rubbed my shoulder, the time spent wasn't exactly pain-free. I knew my nerves were raw. Finding the garden from my dreams had startled then consumed me until my flesh burned for his touch. The mission was one day away, and as each hour grew closer, my stomach churned. What had I gotten myself into—walking into a house full of vampires to steal a letter? We'd only gone over the job once. We'd spent hours planning it, but any crew worth its salt would have replayed the entire mission from entry to exit dozens of times. And now I was supposed to find something casual in this closet stuffed with finery. Yeah, I was on edge and not ready for a night out.
What I wanted was the exact opposite. A night to curl up in bed, watch pathetic date movies from the eighties, and gorge on ice cream. The only missing ingredient was Ginger to make snarky comments on the bad dialogue. I should beg off dinner in favor of going to Ginger's bungalow for a sleepover. But that wasn't meant to be. Not until after tomorrow night.
I ran my fingers over the most casual clothes Devon had procured, which still seemed like dressing up to me. My gaze fell on my jeans and pullover sweater. I smiled. He did say casual.
Butterflies whipped around in my stomach. I could swear I heard them pinging off the sides, and I ran a hand over my belly as I wandered through the first floor in search of Devon. I found him in the library, sitting in a high-backed chair, reading a book. He was relaxed, one hand rubbing the fabric of the armrest, one leg resting on a knee. The only thing missing was a fire and a glass of whiskey. Was this how he spent most evenings? I wasn't much of a reader, but I was curious what vampires read.
Before entering, I straightened my shoulders and lifted my chin. I bounced on my toes to release nervous energy, enjoying the feel of my sneakers. A touch of rebel sneaked through my defenses and gave me a source of bravado.
He glanced over when I walked in, half turning in his chair. I waited for his disapproving look, or some witty comment that meant go change, but he turned back to his book and marked his place before standing. His casual attire was a pair of pressed black chinos and a blue shirt that matched the color of his eyes. The sleeves were rolled up to his forearms, and the top of a medallion grazed just above the opened collar. He'd left his late-afternoon stubble, and the tips of his dark-blond hair curled at the edge of his collar. He was the sexiest man I'd ever seen.
"I see you got my message." He gave me an appraising look. His expression gave nothing away, and I couldn't tell if he was amused or irritated by my choice of clothing. His eyes glittered with mischief.
A warmth flowed through me that I ignored in favor of pestering him. I crossed my arms. "Don't you own jeans?"
He swept out an arm, directing me out of the library. "I don't know."
I took the lead as we strode toward the foyer. "How can you not know that?" Then it dawned on me. "Don't you buy your own clothes?"
"Most suits and evening attire. Anything I need that requires meeting with a tailor. But my assistant procures everything else. He has a sense of humor, so it's possible he bought a pair, though I don't remember seeing them."
Sometimes I never knew whether to be exasperated with him or laugh. I settled on being happy he wasn't making me change.
His sleek BMW waited at the bottom of the stairs, but before we left, he handed me a long duster raincoat. It wasn't supposed to rain, but one never knew in the spring. I took it rather than start an argument and let him open the door for me. We were out of the estate, heading toward town before I couldn't wait any longer to ask.
"Where are we going?"
"It's a surprise."
"Not even a hint?"
He kept his eyes on the road, but I saw the slight grin. "I thought it would help to get your mind off tomorrow. And that's the most I'll share."
"I can hardly wait to see what a vamp considers playtime." I didn't mean for the remark to sound flippant, but after seeing some of the ways vamps released tensions at the tea party, I wasn't sure I wanted to know what was coming.
He surprised me by laughing. "I think you've had a very narrow window into our world, and it has left you biased. I expect this evening will toss everything you've learned about us into complete disarray."
"And that's supposed to make me feel better?"
His laughter only got lighter. "Nothing about us should ever make you feel better."
My only response was to cross my arms, stare out my passenger side window, and try to ignore the laughter he couldn't seem capable of holding in.
When he pulled into valet parking at Baxter's, an upscale microbrew, pizza, and gaming establishment, I could only stare.
"You're kidding." I'd never been to one. It was an adults-only gaming pub that Ginger and I could never afford and would never be willing to pay, though I'd always wanted to see what all the hype was about. There were two in the city, and as far as I knew, they were always packed.
"You should know by now that I never kid."
Devon dropped his keys in the valet's hands along with a tip, then took my elbow to steer me up the stairs into what turned out to be a three-floor restaurant. Each floor had a bar, gaming areas, and plenty of tables—all crowded. We'd barely made it three steps through the front door before a hostess met us.
"Mr. Trelane, good to see you again. We have a table for you on the second floor, if that's acceptable." The hostess was a short, dark-haired, buxom beauty who smiled warmly at Devon and then at me. I was surprised this wasn't his first time here, and the thought of him being a regular at this place blew my mind. I knew vamps played games. They'd been all over Gruber's house, but he had kinky rooms too, so I wasn't sure if that was the norm. I'd seen one gaming room at the mansion, but it was always empty. Come to think of it, I also saw one at Oasis, but I hadn't seen anyone using it. Maybe they played at night.
The floorplan was spacious with games on one side, the bar on the other, and the tables arranged in the middle, separated by sectional dividers and plants. We settled into a private nook for two, which gave us a clear view of the gaming area. Devon ordered a beer, and I decided on a hard cider.
