Real Vampires: Glory Does Vegas by Bartlett, Gerry (white hot kiss TXT) 📕

sure can’t be much help.” He slapped a paw on the back of my seat. “You just need to focus on what you want. You’ll figure it out.”

“Thanks, guys. I have some serious thinking to do. Whatever I decide, I am determined to make it a success.” I had to admit, their faith in me warmed my heart.

“You’ll have to find a niche market. One with solid demand that can sustain your business over time, not a flash in the pan. We’ve seen some fads come and go in our time, haven’t we?” Jerry squeezed my hand then let go to wheel the car into the valet station in front of his hotel.

I laughed. “We sure have. I remember you in Nehru jackets in the sixties.”

“You wore bell bottoms and flowers in your hair.” Jerry glanced at me. “I liked you like that.”

I tapped the dashboard in the luxury car he’d rented. “You had 8-track tape players in your cars back then. We partied in New York under disco balls until I met a man who stole me from you.”

“Don’t remind me. I was stupid. You didn’t like how I danced too often with another vampire, Elena from Cuba, as I recall, and left with that asshole.” He helped me out of the car. “He wasn’t good to you.”

“I think he used mind control on me. I’d like to blame my own stupidity on that, if you want to know the truth. Not my best decade. It’s one I hope we both can forget.” I slid out of the car then grabbed Valdez’s leash out of my purse.

Jerry stopped me and dropped a kiss on my lips. “Done. We’ve both made mistakes that we regret. I’d be happy if we could start over.”

“Me too.” I took his hand as we walked inside. Here we were again, parading through the luxurious lobby and casino. We were an odd group—the handsome prince, the peasant and her dog. In a fairy tale, I’d be dreaming of a happy ending. Once, I thought I’d found it. But real life turned out to be complicated.

For now, when Jerry tugged me closer as we waited for the elevator, I just basked in the envious looks I got from a pair of tourists. The women, obviously in town looking for fun judging by their fancy cocktail dresses and heavy makeup, scanned Jerry, then me, then the dog. I was the only one who didn’t meet approval. Tough. I snuggled up to my man. For now, he was mine. They could only dream of having a night with a hunk like him.

“Bought and paid for.” I cringed when I read the mind of the woman next to me. Yes, I probably did look like that next to my handsome, well-dressed lover. She wasn’t wrong either.

I sagged with relief when the tourists got off at the twelfth floor. Then it was all the way up to Jerry’s suite. As soon as we got off the elevator, I could hear noise. Voices. Arguing.

“What’s going on, Jerry?” I stopped him before he could insert his key card into the lock. “Is this something to do with your surprise?”

“See for yourself.” He threw open the door.

11

Four people stared at us. At first, I was too surprised to move. Then I flung myself into the older woman’s arms.

“Maggie!” I hadn’t realized how much I’d needed a friend until I saw her face.

“Don’t cry now, my dear friend. I might start bawling myself.” Maggie Turnbull hugged me then looked me over. “It’s been too long. Naturally, you look the same. Now I want to hear about the topless dancers.” She raised an eyebrow. “Not thinking of joining them, are you, luv?”

I glanced at Jerry. “Maybe, if I didn’t have two left feet.” We laughed together, instantly comfortable again. I think we could be apart for hundreds of years and still fall into an easy conversation. Maggie and I had met even before Jeremiah had turned me vampire.

We’d been two women desperate to make it on our own. Unfortunately, in 1604 that had been nearly impossible. We’d both been backstage at the Globe Theater. I’d made up stories since then that I was an actress. Impossible. It was against the law for women to perform on stage but vamps and shifters who didn’t know history believed me. Maggie had worked as a seamstress and I’d actually married an actor. After he’d died, she’d helped me stay there, stitching a bit, until Master Shakespeare had insisted I quit sleeping behind the stage. That’s when I’d been lucky enough to meet Jerry in the alley next to the theater.

“Hear about those topless dancers? I want to see them!” Maggie’s husband, Fergus, earned a slap on the arm from his wife for that comment.

They’d met when he was Jeremiah’s bodyguard. I’d introduced them and it wasn’t long before they’d fallen in love, married and started a family. As time passed, mortal Maggie had realized Fergus and her three shape-shifter children were going to live for several hundred years while she was continuing to age. Maggie had gone to one of Jeremiah’s vampire cousins and asked to be turned. The change had caused a furor in the Turnbull family. Eventually even Fergus had chosen to become vampire rather than die a natural death while his wife lived forever.

I turned to Jeremiah. “Is Maggie my surprise?”

He shook his head. “No, she is.” He pointed to a woman standing behind them. “I thought you might like a bodyguard who could actually be near you in that topless club. This is Caroline Turnbull. She can go with you into the club and work beside you as a waitress. Or you’ve done some bartending too, haven’t you, Caroline?” Jerry looked pleased with himself for thinking of this.

I wanted to knock his grin right off his self-satisfied face. “Are you kidding me? You thought I would like another bodyguard?” I turned to Caroline. She was a pretty girl. “Maggie, is