Fire and Ash (Immortal Touch) (3 page)

BOOK: Fire and Ash (Immortal Touch)
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Kendall
.
Asher tended to rely on last name usage most of the time, reserving first names mainly for those occasions when either he wanted something or happened to be in a particularly good mood.

“I got it.”

“So what’s she like?”

“What?”

“The girl. What does she look like?”

“She’s a redhead.” Knowing Reid’s taste in women gravitated towards brunettes, Tristan
chose to point out this fact exclusively in a deliberate effort to draw his interest away from Miss Spencer. Her fiancé did not strike him as the type who would tolerate another vampire encroaching on his domain, mild temperament or not. Vampires were notoriously territorial. And even though Ash was adept at keeping everyone
else
in line, at times his own personal antics bordered on audacious.

Sometimes, downright
stupid
.

The
tactic seemed to work for the time being. Ash only grunted indifferently.

“Was there anything else?”

“Nah, I guess not. You headed back to Frisco now?”

“First thing in the morning.”

“All right. Thanks for the update.”

“You’re welcome. Take it easy.”

“Don’t I always?”

~*~*~*~

A couple of lovebird fangers jonesing to get married.

Ash rolled his eyes at the very thought.
An immortal aspiring to keep one permanent mate - the idea was beyond sickening. Did these novices have any inkling of how long eternity could be? Hard to believe they actually thought they could be content to live the sort of bland existence humans were so inexplicably fond of. The three miserable months he’d been forced to spend with his own originator were enough to prove to him that any sort of relationship outside sex was about as desirable as chilled bison blood.

Not that
Cecilia hadn’t taught him a thing or two along the way. Knowledge that proved itself very useful at times. For instance, the plant extract that could be used to sedate one of their kind, incapacitating to the point of rendering completely helpless. And…other things. Things he chose not to share with anyone, even Tristan. These secrets served him well.

Cecilia
…not so much. It had been a distinct pleasure to end that clingy vamp’s existence.

He
changed course on the boardwalk and headed in the direction of Vestal Sands, catching sight of a woman in a gray suit emerging from the small office building sequestered from the resort. Instead of crossing the street to the parking garage, she appeared to be headed for the Jade Palms next door. Sales rep or realtor, probably. Bor-
ing.
Things were so dull around here lately - spring couldn’t get here soon enough. Nothing interesting had happened since he’d tossed that twit off the balcony two weeks ago. Even games such as that were losing their appeal. Humans were all beginning to look alike to him. They were just so…
predictable.

Yawning, he checked the
text messages on his iPhone. Boring, boring, all of it boring. The brilliant sun cast a glare on the screen, and as he took a couple of steps backward a sudden impact against his left shoulder caught him off guard, causing him to almost drop the phone. He scowled at the young woman who’d run right smack into him - the very one he’d just seen coming out of the general manager’s office.

“Walk much?” she snapped, lowering her sunglasses long enough to glare at him with amber eyes. Her chocolate-brown hair was pulled back from her face, knotted in the back as if it were her intent to imitate some stodgy librarian. To add to the uptight image, she carried a briefcase and was dressed in a business suit and pumps, attire that was conspicuously out of place for this particular area. It was a wonder she didn’t get one of her heels caught in between the wooden slats. Would serve the klutz right.


You
ran into
me
,” he pointed out, but she’d already continued briskly on her way, heels clomping on the wood. His eyes wandered to the vision of her backside wiggling back and forth in that tight pencil skirt.
Nice.

“Fuck you,” she replied without even bothering to look back.

Good Lord…what the hell had crawled up her ass? “Hey!” he called to her. No way was he letting this one slide. “
Hey!

Her only response was a middle finger.

His first impulse was to follow Miss High and Mighty and fix that smart mouth of hers for her, right then and there. She had no idea who she was messing with.

Though he had to reluctantly admit…he
was intrigued by her moxie. And damn, but there was something sizzling hot about this gorgeous woman trying to hide her sexuality underneath bland business attire. He had a feeling there was a hellcat crouching inside that dull gray suit. Besides, there were definitely more creative ways of handling women like her.

It was time to break the monotony.
With one last curious glance at her retreating form, he headed for the office to find out just what business that bitchy brunette had with his general manager.

 

CHAPTER TWO

 

Stuart Sedgwick glanced up from the computer screen and plastered a diplomatic smile on his face at the sight of his temperamental employer. Not that Asher Reid was by any means a difficult man to work for, but his moods could be as unpredictable as the weather. Sunny one day, stormy the next, sunny generally being the norm but unfortunately there was no website to consult for an accurate forecast.

“’Sup, Studebaker! How they hangin’?”

Ah, nice. The forecast today called for clear skies.

“It’s all good. What are you up to today?”

“Not much. I noticed the indoor pool looks a hundred percent better today.”

“Yes sir, I think that new pool cleaning service is going to be a vast improvement over the last one. They seem much more reliable.”

“Cool beans.” Ash casually perched on the edge of the desk, lifting a small glass bowl to inspect the hermit crab inside. “Who was that woman I saw leaving here just now? The brunette with the briefcase.”

“Just someone looking for a job.”

“Was she now.” The faintest trace of a smile played about his lips as he tapped his fingers on the glass, provoking the crab. “What kind of employment was she looking for? I’m assuming it wasn’t something in housekeeping.”

“Network administrator or something along those lines.”

“Hm. Did she leave a resumé?”

“She did.”

“And may I see it?” The small crab’s home was returned to its place on the desk beside a conch shell and a figurine of Xena the Warrior Princess.

Stuart pulled open a file cabinet drawer and fumbled through a folder until he located it. Closing the drawer, he handed the resum
é to Reid who studied it with mild interest.

“Samara Porter. Twenty-seven years old, associate degree in NSA, six years experience with the same company
, recently laid off due to closures…the address she has listed on here is in Birmingham. She doesn’t live around here?”

“No sir,
but she said she was willing to relocate to Panama City. Wanted to leave Alabama. Bad breakup, psycho ex-boyfriend, one of those kinda deals.” Stuart raised an eyebrow, certain that Reid would want no part of someone else’s drama. Although admittedly the woman had been frustratingly vague about the details.

“That explains a lot,” he muttered, eyes still absorbing the neatly printed lines.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Hm? Oh…nothin’. Hey, is
Logan still talking about wanting to cut his hours to part time?”

“He has mentioned it again recently.
Said he wants to spend more time helping his wife with her furniture business.”

“H
uh. You know, I’ve been thinking that it might benefit us to have an IT person onsite 24/7. It takes Logan half an hour to drive here during his off hours every time someone’s computer has a damn hiccup, and even longer to get a qualified PC tech to come out.”

“Well, yes sir. I guess if he does go to part time we’d need to hire someone anyway.”

“Precisely.” Reid hopped up off the desk. “How about giving Miss Porter a call tomorrow or day after…but not before then. I’m busy tomorrow and I want to be here for her interview. Get her in at her earliest convenience. Let me know once you’ve got it set up, please. I’d like to discuss the details with you beforehand.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You da man.” Grinning, Ash slipped his sunglasses on and saluted before breezing gaily out the door. He was in an awfully chipper mood today. Which, judging by Stu’s observations of past experiences, meant that some poor soul was about to get royally screwed over.

Adjusting his glasses, Stuart picked up the resum
é and took a good look at it. He’d been suggesting to Reid for over a month that Logan could use some help, especially since he was requesting less hours. The property management software was fully supported by the company they’d purchased it from, but there were still plenty of technical problems that had to be resolved on a day-to-day basis. And peak season was fast approaching.

Odd that Reid would suddenly decide to listen to his advice now.

He thought of the pretty brunette whose warm smile had caused him to stutter like an adolescent kid. And he thought of the calculating look in Reid’s eyes when he’d asked about her.

He shook his head. Samara Porter, whoever she was, most certainly had his deepest sympathies.

~*~*~*~


How did my life become such a train wreck?”

Samara Porter collapsed on the couch, soft brunette waves falling over her face to hide a
dismal expression. The past two weeks had leveled her sense of stability like a tornado, an unanticipated disaster materializing only long enough to wipe out all she knew. There was nothing left behind but an undeniable mess, and it all went down over the course of three days. That was all the time it took. Three days. Three days to lose not only her darling grandmother but her job, her fiancé and lately, it seemed, her worth.

It was unbelievable. Unbelievable that he could have done this to her at all, let alone at the worst possible time. When she was already feeling hopelessly inadequate and terminally flawed. While she was selecting a headstone and grieving for someone she loved, simultaneously reeling from the unexpected
loss of the job she’d always assumed was secure, Prince Charming was busy banging one of the ugly stepsisters.

Metaphorically speaking, of course. According to him, she was just some random girl. An easy lay. Was that supposed to make her feel better somehow? To know that she’d been betrayed for someone who didn’t even matter to him?

And her engagement ring was now floating somewhere in the sewer system below her apartment complex. Now, just like him, it was full of shit.

“Oh, stop feeling sorry for yourself
, Samibear.” Kelly Sheldon, loyal best friend and the world’s most slovenly roommate, balanced on the edge of the thrift-shop couch and smacked her on the bottom. “Would you rather he’d shown his true colors after you were married? He did you a favor.”

“Some favor. Anyway, it’s not even
just him I’m talking about. It’s everything.”

“I take it the job search didn’t go well yesterday.”

“You could say that.”

“It’s
karma. That’s what you get for going to the beach and not taking me with you.”

Sami sent a muffled laugh into the worn fabric, then turned her head to the side and gazed forlornly at her friend. “
I didn’t have time to play, doofus. I was only there for two days.”

“You still could’ve taken me with you, tramp. I can’t believe you drove all that way just for one night. We
’d have found something to get into.”

“I can hardly afford beachfront hotels right now
, offseason or not. I’m unemployed, remember?”

Kelly fluttered an impatient hand. “I could
’ve covered it.”

“I wasn’t there to party, Kel.”

“You
should’ve
gone there to party. It would take your mind off all the crap that’s been going on around here.”


It would have to be some party!” She reluctantly pulled herself upright. “You wanna know something funny?”

“Sure, I could use a laugh.”

“Before…all this happened. Before it happened, I was already having doubts. You know? About getting married.”

“So? That’s normal.”

“No, I mean serious doubts. Like…when I really thought about it, I had trouble picturing spending the rest of my life with him. I sometimes caught myself wishing he’d never proposed to me in the first place. Or wishing I hadn’t said yes.” She pushed her hair back with both hands, holding them fixed on either side of her head while staring thoughtfully at a crack in the hardwood floor. “It’s not like I’m completely devastated that the engagement’s off. I can get over that. It’s more…the
way
it happened. I mean, when he proposed to me, he said I was the love of his life. The only woman he would ever want. So I ask you - what happened? What did I do to make him risk everything for nothing? What’s wrong with me?”

BOOK: Fire and Ash (Immortal Touch)
4.36Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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