She was drunk.
He looked back at Linc, who smirked.
That’s right asshole. You gave her how many glasses of champagne and wine, and you forgot to feed her? Linc’s thoughts came through loud and clear in Nick’s head. I got her home safely, fed her, and was helping restore the feeling to her toes from the shoes she wore tonight.
Nick ran a hand through his hair. Damn. Sorry.
“You guys going to get it on or something? I didn’t know you went that way, but I think I could get into watching that. Do you remember that one time on True Blood when those guys were in the shower? Dude, that was hot.” Casey waved her hands around in the air as if she were conducting something. “Vampires are so hot.”
Linc chuckled. “You know what, luv, I’m going to leave you in Nick’s very capable hands.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek.
“I love the way you kiss,” she said sweetly. “Your lips are so soft. Does this mean our date is over? Because that makes me kind of sad.”
“Linc?” Nick questioned.
Casey’s words intimated they had kissed before.
“Thank you, sweetheart, but I think I’d better go.”
“No, don’t leave me with him,” she complained. “You’re my favorite hot guy right now. And it’s only sort of because you look like that actor. Man, before I met Nick, he was my vibrator’s—” she sneezed. “What was I saying?”
She closed one eye and gave Nick an evil glare.
Her vibrator? She thought of Linc when she used her vibrator?
His fangs protruded past his bottom lip again.
Not me idiot, the actor. And that was until she met you. Do you ever listen to anyone? Linc’s thoughts popped into his head.
“Nick’s been pretending to be my friend, but he and that chipmunk lady are like this.” She tried to cross her fingers. “I’m just a plant. No, what was that word? You know where I’m like that thing where you think it’s one thing but it’s another.” She paused. “You almost made me cry.” She pointed an accusing finger at Nick.
The effort was obviously too much, as her eyes fluttered close.
“Chipmunk lady?” Nick asked.
“Alvinia,” Linc answered out loud. “For some reason she relates the name to Alvin and the Chipmunks.”
For the first time since he’d noticed she was gone, the tension eased.
She heard you on the stairs. You said Casey was nothing, and I’m afraid she believes you. She thinks you and the chipmunk are having an affair. Are you? Linc’s thoughts beamed into his head.
“Are you serious? You know how I feel about that creature,” Nick said out loud.
Linc pushed a curl out of Casey’s eyes. She’d gone to sleep.
“Stop touching her,” Nick growled again.
He turned on him. “Why does it matter so much to you, Nick? You ever think about that? Why is it that you would keep your best friend from dating the sweetest woman either of us has ever met? One of the most beautiful souls to lighten our world in two hundred years. You know I would treat her right.”
“Linc, you’re going too far. I only want to protect her. I would do the same for any woman.”
Linc grunted. “You hurt this one, Nick, and I swear I’ll kill you. She’s not like the others. And I’m telling you right now: if you don’t claim her and offer your protection, I’m going to do it. You’ve had months with her. You know how special she is. I’ve only spent a few hours with her, and she has me wrapped around her little finger. Brother, you do what has to be done, or I’ll do it for you.”
Nick stepped back. Linc cared for her. Genuinely. Maybe he should let him claim her. She’d be safer. Nick’s life would always be in constant danger as long as he led the Council. But the idea of another man loving her ripped at his heart.
No. The realization hit him. Now he had to protect her. He’d been an idiot to take her to the gala.
“If I hurt her, you have my permission to kill me. I swear it.” Nick held up his hand. “I want to tell her more than anything, but—you know what’s going on. If I abandon her now, they’ll come after her. I don’t think Alvinia believed a word I said. I know why.” Nick swallowed hard. “I don’t know what to do.”
Linc put a hand on his shoulder. “Then claim her. You’ve already exposed her to our world. You know what will happen next.”
Nick hung his head. “I care for her, but she deserves someone so much better than me. My soul is black. The only time I’ve felt a bit of light is when I’m with her. She needs someone who can give her the type of life that she wants.”
Linc smirked. “You should examine your feelings closely. It’s more than a brotherly protection you feel for her. She deserves to be happy. This is true. And to be with a man who wants the best for her. Whether you love her or not, you cannot deny that you want that for her. And no one is more capable of giving her that than you.”
“No.” Nick’s mind whirled with the possibilities. Could he bond himself to Casey? He lusted after her, but he could never give her the love she so desperately needed. “I need time to think. There must be another solution.”
“Time is something you no longer have. You can extend the choosing another week, but they won’t let you go past that. And you’re right. Her life is in danger, and you put her in that position. Make it right, brother.” Linc closed the door behind him.
Nick knelt beside Casey. She’d hate him when she discovered who and what he really was.
Her eyes fluttered open. “Hey, Nick,” she said sweetly. “Something is trying to cut me in two.” She pushed at her waist. “Take it…off.” She closed her eyes again.
Nick slid a finger beneath the slip and smiled. Scooping her up in his arms, he headed for the bedroom. After pulling back the comforter and sheets, he put her down carefully. He didn’t want to strip her, but she wouldn’t rest comfortably with that elastic band holding in her waist, stomach and thighs.
“Casey,” he whispered. “I need you to wake up, so I can peel this thing off of you.”
Dreamily, she opened her eyes again. “Nick, you’re in my dream again. I love it when you touch me. It makes me all warm down there.”
Well, his down there hardened to an uncomfortable state. She dreamed about him. And he remembered about the vibrator. She thought about him when she used it.
If she hadn’t been intoxicated, he’d have taken her right then and there. How many times had he thought about it? Every day. Hundreds of times.
Nick shook his head. He rolled the slip and tight undergarment down at the same time. Thankfully, it slid down easily. The lacy thong, the only thing separating him from her—He took a deep breath, and then pulled the sheets back over her, taking one last lusty look at her beautiful breasts and stomach. She hated the small bump there, but he loved it.
Hell, he adored everything about her.
“Nick,” she whispered.
“Yeah,” he said as he turned out the light next to her bed.
“I like you so much,” she sighed. “I wish you liked me. You know, in the sexy way.”
Nick’s breath caught in throat.
What would she say if he admitted to wanting her in that way for months?
Would she be able to handle a purely physical relationship? If he explained it to her, maybe she would understand why that was all he could offer.
He stood and watched her for a long time. He didn’t know how, but he had to make this work.
She would never be safe from Alvinia, unless she was his.
He had to make it happen.
Chapter Eight
Someone put bricks in her bed. Casey’s eyes refused to open but she could feel the hard surface beneath her hands. No, it was covered in cloth. Her eyes wouldn’t budge. Fine, they could stay closed.
Her mouth on the other hand, had issues.
Did I eat dog crap last night?
Something foul had died on her tongue. Brushing her teeth was paramount. Rolling to her side made her entire body hurt.
Her stomach roiled. This wasn’t good.
She finally looked at herself in the mirror and immediately wished she hadn’t. Mascara was smeared down to her nose, and her hair was a different color.
When did that happen?
After finishing with her teeth, she grabbed her face soap and removed her makeup.
Her hair—
“Oh, hell,” she whispered.
She glanced down at her bra and thong.
Crap. How did I get naked?
Running for the toilet, she barely made it before everything she’d eaten in the past several weeks emptied into the bowl.
Someone stood behind her, holding her hair out of her face.
“Aunt Teddie?” she asked before retching again.
She sunk to her knees, weak and feeling like death.
“I think I’m dying. Stay back. It might be the plague.”
“No, it only feels like it,” Nick’s voice said from behind her.
Mortification. Mor-ti-fucking-ation. “Go away, Nick. I don’t want you to see me like this.” Could the world just swallow her and chomp her into bits? She’d probably feel a hell of a lot better. Jesus, she was sweating, she was shaking, and her mouth watered. She was never going to drink another alcoholic beverage for the rest of her miserable life.
“Not going to happen,” he said still holding her hair.
When she was fairly certain she was in the clear, she sat down on the blessedly cold floor—considered laying on it—but leaned against the wall with some small hope of retaining a tiny thread of her dignity.
He sat down in front of her and held out a cool washcloth.
Why the eff was he here? The cotton balls in her brain made it impossible to remember what happened the night before.
“Please tell me I didn’t do anything to embarrass you last night,” she groaned.
He held the cold cloth to her forehead. “You don’t remember what happened?”
Strange pictures flashed through her mind. “I was Cinderella in a red dress. We danced and it felt like we were flying.” She took a deep breath, grasping at images in her mind. “Why were you talking to Alvin and the Chipmunks? That’s one I don’t get.”
Nick chortled.
“Shhhh. Not so loud with the laughing.” But she smiled, too. “The night is a blur. After we danced, I can’t remember much. Wait. Someone made me eat a hamburger. Was that you?”
Nick cleared his throat. “Not exactly. You weren’t feeling well, and Linc brought you home.”
Her mind searched for a Linc. “Ohhh. Nooo.” She hit her head against the wall behind her and the room spun. “I’ll never be able to face him again. I kissed him.”
Nick’s eyes narrowed. “What?”
“Trust me, it was all my fault. I’m so embarrassed. In my head he was that guy from the television show Lost Girl. I think I made him take my clothes off, and then I kissed him. Oh my God, did I sleep with him?” She stared down at her thong. She couldn’t drum up any embarrassment. Not the way she felt.
Nick held up a can of club soda. “No,” he bit out. “But only because he’s my best friend and if he’d taken advantage of you, I would have murdered him. Trust me, I’m fairly certain he thought about it.”
She pursed her lips. “You’re so sweet. Wait, he wanted to sleep with me? Wow. They must have made me look better last night than I thought. I seem to remember he had a model on his arm at one point. Wow. That almost makes up for the puking.”
She couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face. Linc had liked her. That was the best news she had in weeks.
Nick grunted. Or was that a growl?
“Drink this. Linc says if you can make yourself burp, you won’t throw up any more. His cure for hangovers, which he swears works pretty well.”
Her eyebrow rose. “Uh, I think my stomach would disagree.”
He held up the can again and she took a sip. “The point is to get it all out at once. Drink a little soda. Then when you wake up the second time, you’ll feel fine.”
She rolled her eyes. “Linc’s full of—” A burp busted out of her gut. “Good Lord. Could this get any more embarrassing?”
“Don’t worry. I’m furious with myself. It’s all my fault.”
She peeked at him through the blond curls in front of her eyes. “Did you force the champagne and wine down my throat last night?”
“No. But I forgot to feed you. You had a headache from not eating and then tried to dull it with alcohol.”
“Hey, Nick?”
“Yes.”
“I’m a grown woman, I should know when to feed myself.” It was kind of him to try and take the blame, but so unnecessary.
He smiled. “Do you feel like getting up?”
“Would you think less of me if I wanted to sleep here on the floor?”
“No, but I think you’d rest better in bed.”
He leaned down to scoop her up, but she pushed him away. “You’re going to break your back lifting me like that, silly man. I’ll walk. But I need to brush my teeth again.”
He waited for her, and then picked her up again. After tucking the covers around her, he went around to the other side of the bed.
“Uh, Nick.”
“I’m not leaving you alone until I know for sure you’re over the worst of it.”
She wanted to argue, but she was too tired. Questions swirled through her mind. Why had Linc been the one to bring her home? But the more she tried to concentrate, the fuzzier the night became.
Picking up her pillow she placed it near his chest. She needed comfort and he was there. She snuggled in next to him. “Have I mentioned lately how grateful I am to have you as a friend?”
He squeezed his arm around her. “I feel the same way about you.”
Something niggled her brain. Had she told him that she liked him? Please be a drunken hallucination.
“You’re thinking too much,” he whispered. “Go to sleep.”
Snuggling closer, she did exactly that.
Four hours later she sat straight up in bed. There was too much light in her room. What day was it? She pounded the heel of her hand against her forehead begging her brain to work.
Thursday.
“Crap.”
The work cell rang. She ran around her room searching for her purse. It had been put away in her closet. Odd. She never put her purse up. It was usually on a chair or the floor.
“This is Casey,” she answered and tried not to yawn.
“Where are you? Hawkeye, Dorsey, and Trapper will be here in thirty minutes. They want to see the new logo, and the background you designed for their photo shoots,” said her assistant Bennett Langdon. Not many graphic artists had assistants, but she brought so much business into the company her boss had insisted on it. Good thing, since Casey was the cliché forgetful artist. She’d lose herself in her work, and fail to remember the rest of the world existed sometimes for days at a time when designing a campaign.
She hated liars, and it was Bennett, so she told the truth. “I drank too much at a fancy party and didn’t eat last night. I got really sick. Listen, I’m going to email you the JPEGs. Print them out and put them in a big portfolio.” Casey thought about skipping a shower, but she couldn’t go to work smelling of vomit. “Stall them. Give them coffee. Flirt. Whatever you have to do.”
Bennett laughed. “That I can do.”
God, she loved this woman. Bennett was a Barbie, except she was a brilliant one with an amazing sense of humor and tattoos. She’d have those guys drooling by the time Casey arrived.
“I’ll see you in forty-five.”
She raced for the shower.
Her hair still had some style from the previous night.
Wrapping a towel around her head, she jumped into the shower. The warm water eased her aches and pains. Her mind wanted to go over the previous night’s event, but she had to focus on the presentation.
Ten minutes later, she was dressed in her favorite pair of jeans, boots, and layered blouse that showed off her boobs. She wasn’t above distracting a client when necessary. Maybe they wouldn’t notice how unprepared she was.
At least the artwork was ready, and she could fake the rest.
Running to the kitchen to grab something to eat, she stopped in her tracks.
It was the way he was dressed that sent her into hyperventilation.
Nick wore flannel pajama bottoms in navy that hung off his hips in way that made her want to peel them right off. A tight white T-shirt showed off his muscled biceps, and those abs she drooled over were front and center through the thin material.
“Hey,” she said, her voice hoarse. A picture flashed in her mind of her cuddling with Nick in her bed. She frowned. Dream or reality?
“Good morning, Casey. You look beautiful.” He gave her one of his sexy smiles. The one that made her panties melt.
Beautiful?
“You look yummy yourself, but not as good as that banana,” she said as she took it from him.
“Dumped for a banana. I’m a broken man now,” he joked.
Good. She was afraid their weird night, whatever had happened, might have jacked up their relationship. “I’m sure you’ll get over it.” She winked.
“There’s a town car downstairs waiting to take you to work. I was worried you might not feel like driving,” he said as he handed her a travel mug filled with coffee. He also handed her a pair of sunglasses.
“Wow. Unnecessary, but seriously appreciated.”
He gave her a strange look.
Oh, hell. Maybe they did do something. “Nick, I can’t remember anything. Please tell me we didn’t sleep together. If I’ve screwed this up between us, I won’t forgive myself.” Panic rose in her throat.
“Hey, it’s okay. I did sleep in your bed, but only to make sure you were okay. I’m not so desperate that I would take advantage of you when you were passed out.”
She snorted. “Desperate. Right. Of course you wouldn’t, so sorry. Stupid to even consider. I keep seeing the weirdest things in my head and I can’t tell if they happened or if they are figments of my imagination.” Standing on her tiptoes she kissed his cheek. “Thanks for being such an awesome dude. I’ve got to scram. Clients are waiting on me.”
Take It Like A Vamp Page 7