High Stakes

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HIGH STAKES

By

Erin McCarthy

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv
erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

Dental hygiene was important to a vampire.

Or at least to Ethan Carrick, who had been born before the bubonic plague, when simply having teeth in adulthood was considered an achievement.

Since his human death and rebirth nine hundred years ago, his teeth and body continually rejuvenated themselves, and he wasn't exactly in danger of gingivitis. But he liked the clean, silky feeling of his teeth after they'd been polished, and the crispminty smell of professional toothpaste.

He smiled at the perky dentist as she strolled into the room. "Am I going to live?"

She laughed, her sleek, dark hair bouncing on her shoulders."For now. But I wish you'd let me take
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some x-rays. It's a little challenging to see cavities with the naked eye sometimes."

But not difficult to view vampire fangs on an x-ray film.He'd pass. "I'm sorry, but I have an irrational fear of radiation. I just can't do it without falling out of this chair in a total panic attack." He capped this off with a smooth smile, reclining comfortably in the squeaky, hard dental chair.

She cocked her head to the side and smiled back. "You're teasing me."

It was true. And he was flirting with her, because this woman was exactly the type he'd been searching for—sweet, pleasant, intelligent, but very feminine, very pliable.Innocent.

A quick shift through her mind showed nothing but rainbows and puppies, cotton candy and baby cheeks.Such a cheerful and refreshing change from so many modern women, whose minds raged like warriors, and whose rampant aggressiveness turned Ethan off.

No, Dr. BrittanyBaldizzi was exactly the kind of woman he'd been looking for. His campaign manager would seek to find some flaw in her, a smear in her background, and it would all be shot to hell, but for now, Ethan felt cautiously optimistic.

"I am teasing you. But I'm still not getting x-rays. Now don't leave me in suspense—tell me if I have to revisit this torture chamber again within the next six months or if I get to join the Cavity-Free Club." He pointed to the wall of honor, which boasted Polaroid pictures of gap-toothed children grinning in pride.

She leaned against the sink and folded her arms across her chest. Her scrubs were too bulky for Ethan to get an accurate perception of her figure, but she had a pleasing, bouncy walk, and a fresh, shampoo smell.

"You don't have any cavities."

"See? I told my mother it didn't matter if I ate all those sweets and never brushed." Ethan sat up in the chair and ripped off the little bib with the metal clip. "I believe this is yours?"

Dr.Baldizzi took it, her hands still in latex gloves, and pitched it into the metal garbage container. "You're kind of funny, you know that?"

Charming
was the adjective he preferred, but it was a start. He probed her mind a little deeper, looking for clues to what she liked, how he might seduce her.

Then he sensed it. It was buried deep, almost undetected, but there it was.

Lazy teasing was forgotten. His eyes sharpened, muscles tensed, mind scanned and processed.

Well, this was an interesting twist.

Time to speed things up a bit.

"You'll have dinner with me tonight." It wasn't a question. And he knew what her answer would be because he was guiding her to give the right one.

Brittanystared at him, her smile drifting off into confusion. "Yes, yes, of course I will. I'll have dinner with you tonight."

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"And you're going to pack an overnight bag so you can spend the night."

Not that Ethan was going to sleep with her—he really wasn't interested in her sexually—but he wanted her in his hotel, The Ava under his watch, while he discussed with Seamus the new lit-tlerevelation he'd just uncovered.

Glassy-eyed and a little droopy, his dentist nodded. "Okay. I'll pack a bag so I can spend the night."

Ethan stood up and removed his file chart from her hands and tucked it under his arm. He smiled and gave her warm fingers a squeeze. "Perfect."

"I'd like to speak to the owner of this casino." AlexisBaldizzi flashed her prosecutor's badge at the door minion, and fought the urge to just shove past him and start screaming her sister's name. That wouldn't get the results she wanted.

The guard showed no emotion. He just stared down at her from his foot-and-a-half height advantage.

"Mr. Carrick is unavailable."

Well, no kidding. He had no appointments open for the next three months, which was why she was flashing her badge. Mr. Carrick could be in the middle of packing away a sushi dinner, schmoozing his way through a shareholders meeting, or reading the latest John Grisham on the commode, and she couldn't care less— she was going to talk to him.Now.

"Look." Alexis fought the crick in her neck from staring up at tall, dark, and dumb. "I can talk to Mr.

Carrick now or I can come back with a warrant for his arrest on kidnapping charges." You know, she really loved her job. Power was a beautiful thing. Especially since it was her lovable but naive sister, Brittany, who was the victim she was rescuing this time.

One thick, black eyebrow went up. Then without a word, the guard turned and went to the reception desk a few feet away and spoke to the woman sitting there. They put their heads together and murmured while Alexis rocked on her heels impatiently, scanning the quiet lobby.

Both the guard and the receptionist were tall, with dark hair and luminous, ivory skin. The woman in particular wasgorgeous, the perfect accessory to a well-decorated office building, and Alex was annoyed even further. She had a personal grudge against tall women who looked good in sleek black pantsuits and red lipstick, since they embodied everything that was lacking in Alexis's own appearance.

It alsocreepedher out a little that the pair looked like twins escaped from a Goth concert. They blended with their surroundings, the modern black-and-white furnishings cool and sleek, industrial design. The entire room—including its inhabitants—had about as much color and appeal as a skunk.

Alexis simultaneously cursedBrittany while praying she was okay. It was typical of her sister to get coaxed into something like this, and while Alexis didn't think she had been harmed in any way, she didn't
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like that Brittany was living with an eccentric, rich casino owner as his personal blow-up doll.

Really, really didn't like that.

The very thought sent her striding forward, right past the desk.

"Where are you going?" the startled receptionist called.

"To see your boss."Duh.Alexis picked up the pace when she heard the security guard's heavy tread following her.

Obviously Mr. Carrick's office was right down the hall, since she had been told at the reception area on the twelfth floor that Mr. Carrick's private offices took up the entire twenty-second floor. Goth Guy was gaining on her, yelling, "Hey!" so Alexis kicked it into gear and started running, looking for a door that seemed appropriately impressive enough for a self-important rich bastard.

Double doors.Bingo. Alexis reached for the handle and turned it right as the guard reached her. He touched her shoulder, and before Alexis could even figure out what was happening, she was sailing through the air like water tossed from a bucket. She landed with a bone-crunching smack—nerves firing, muscles jarring, face grinding into the gray carpet.

"Ow," she said. Damn, double damn, she had broken every bone in herfrickin ' body.Including her nose, which she grabbed, eyes watering. Like she didn't have enough problems at the moment— now she was going to have to suffer throughrhinoplasty to fix a broken nose.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Carrick. I tried to stop her," Big Stupid Jerk said.

"Apologize to the lady, James, and help her up. I'm sure you didn't mean to trip her."

First of all, she hadn't been tripped. He had pushed her, though she didn't see how one little shoulder shove could toss her five feet across the room. Second of all, that voice just sent shivers down her probably broken spine. Dang, no wonder the guy was successful. He sounded commanding and cultured, confident and calm.

Which pissed her off.

"James can keep his goddamn hands off of me," she said, peeling her face from the floor like old wallpaper.

Doing so brought legs into her line of vision. Not just one pair.Or two. But a dozen pairs of legs, some in dress pants, some wearing pantyhose, one lone rebel in jeans.

Whoops.Looked like Carrick was having a dinner party. She felt so bad for interrupting.
Not
.

Thick hands touched the back of her own pantyhose-covered calves and Alexis kicked out in reflex, making contact with a hard surface. Perfect. It was Stupid Jerk James's chest, she saw with satisfaction as he grunted in what she hoped like hell was pain.

"Hello? Keep your hands off me!"

"I was just going to… uh… flip…" He was making motions with his hands like he was folding a tortilla in
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half.

Alexis glanced down.Lovely. Her suit skirt had ridden up during impact and thebottom of her buns were peeking out. This was why she hated girl clothes. Couldn't do a damn thing in them, couldn't look like a heterosexual without them.

James, who apparently had a death wish, yanked her skirt back into place quickly. But not so quickly that he missed getting cracked on the hand when Alexis reached back and popped him one.

"Isaid, keep your hands off me." Alexis pushed herself up onto her knees.

"Mr. Carrick," James whined, "I was just—"

"Let her alone, James. She obviously doesn't appreciate your gentlemanly assistance."

There was humor in Carrick's voice, and Alexis felt her already tested temper flare. She stood up, adjusted her jacket and skirt, and turned to her audience. "He's the one who pushed me in the first place!"

Her gaze floated from the receptionist to James and on past, trying to find the source of the voice that was pissing her off. Well, they were all pissing her off, but Carrick more so because he was laughing at her. No one laughed at AlexisBaldizzi or her baby sister, Brittany. Okay, so people probably laughed at AlexisBaldizzi . But never so she could see or hear it.

Prepared to rip the bastard's face off, Alexis dismissed an aging hippie in jeans, passed over a brunette in a cocktail dress, and landed on a man in the center of the room, one hand casually in the pocket of his gray pants. Damn it, he was gorgeous.

Not that she had expected her sister would run off with a mutant, but this guy was hot. Tall, blond, blue-eyed, well dressed, muscular but not too pumped up… crap. It might be harder than she'd thought to dragBrittany away from this guy.

But no matter how difficult, or how well Carrick's pants fit, Alexis was going to succeed."Carrick?"

"I am Ethan Carrick, yes. And to whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?" He took several steps closer to her and smiled.

The calm, casual tone he was using was unnerving. But Alexis readjusted her mental strategy. She was a prosecutor and she knew how to switch gears based on people's reactions to her. So she stood a little straighter and stuck her hand out. "AlexisBaldizzi , county prosecutor. I need to speak with you for a minute."
And rip your nuts off
.

Face, nuts, something needed to be ripped off.

He stopped in front of her. Took her hand, and slowly, slowly shook it, clasping her tightly in his grip.

"Right this moment?"

"Yes." Shake, shake, her hand still went up and down in his. She gave a little tug, but couldn't escape the contact. He wasn't letting go of her, which was just weird. Tugging again as he smiled—an innocent Botticelli blond angel smile—she asked, "Do you have an office we could step into?'