SEDUCTIVE SUPERNATURALS: 12 Tales of Shapeshifters, Vampires & Sexy Spirits (137 page)

Plenty of strength in that grip, and I could have sworn I felt the heat of his fingertips sizzling straight through the fabric of my jacket. Couldn’t help wondering how much hotter the heat would be skin on skin. Then I scrapped that thought and ordered my hoo-hah to take a nap. It didn’t listen.

“But not all of the rooms are used every day. I’d only need your company twice a week. Early mornings are best for me.”

“Uh-huh,” I said as he showed me a room that boasted a two seater velvet swing hanging from the ceiling on silver chains. Wow. Okay, this was better. More what I was expecting to see here. Could you really do it while swinging? Who kept balance? The one on top? And how would you stay on top while the swing was moving?

And who the hell cared?

He was talking and I really tried to focus on his words even while a part of my brain was spinning as it happily tried to tick off rooms, square footage and the hourly rate for cleaning it all. Figuring out the bid for this contract was going to be so much fun. Well, fun for me, since Thea would be doing the actual math parts.

Still, happy little potential dollar signs were flashing in my mind. Though it really would have been easier to plot and add and multiply if Thea were there.

Not that she would be. I try to be an understanding, extremely cool mom, but I do draw the line every now and then and sex clubs are definitely ‘over the line’ places.

“Ms. Burke, I checked out your company after we spoke on the phone last week.”

Crap. Could he find out that I’d recently bounced a couple of checks?

“And?”

“You have good references.” He shrugged those big shoulders. “But you’re a small business. Only a few employees.”

Even fewer today, I thought, but thankfully didn’t say. Besides, it didn’t matter. The minute I wrangled this contract, I could hire a couple more women. No more college students for me, though. This time, I’d listen to Carmen and hire some of her cousins.

“But you just said yourself you preferred a smaller company for privacy reasons.”

“So I did.”

“And we may be small, but we’re good.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “So I hear. In fact, Davis Howell swears you’re the best at what you do. That you’re efficient and discreet.”

Had to smile. Davis Howell thinks bologna is a gourmet treat. But hey, who am I to argue? “Davis is a sweetie.”

“Not many people think of the DA as a sweetie.”

“I’m not most people.”

“I’m sensing that.”

“Good.” I gave him a smile because A., I really wanted this job, and B., it’s hard to
not
smile at a guy who looks like Devlin Cole. “Clean Sweep can take very good care of your place, Mr. Cole.”

“Devlin.”

“Devlin.”

“Would you like to see the rest of the place now?”

“Oh,” I said, grinning now. “You bet. I need as much information as I can get to put my official bid together. I can have it to you by the end of the week.” As soon as Thea did the actual math.

“I’m impressed.”

Impressed was way better than terrified or bored. Feeling better about the whole situation, I headed on down the hall to peek into the next room.

This one looked like a cave. The walls had been plastered, then sculpted, then painted gray to resemble rock walls. The fireplace looked as though it had been hewn from solid rock and stone benches had faux fur rugs thrown across them. Wow. Made me want to strip down and roll around on the furs for awhile. Until I remembered somebody else already had been.

Eww.

“The You Tarzan, Me Jane room,” I muttered, walking inside and doing a slow turn. “So, will you want us to um, wash these furs every day or just vacuum?”

“Vacuuming is fine. Heavy cleaning once a week or so.”

Oh, I didn’t want to think about how much action those furs saw in a week. Mentally, I added an extra box of rubber gloves to the bid.

“So we’re talking stain removal, too?”

“That would be part of the job, yes.”

“Make that two extra.”

“Two extra what?” he asked.

“Boxes of rubber gloves.”

“Ah...” He leaned one shoulder against the door jamb and managed to look both coiled for action and totally relaxed at the same time.

“How many of these rooms?”

“An even dozen,” he said.

I whistled and stepped into the hall. Opening up the Fendi, I scrambled for a pad and paper and scratched out a ballpark figure as my initial bid. And just for the hell of it, I made it a little on the high side. “Here’s a vague estimate of what my bid might be. I can’t give you anything definite until I see the rest of the place and work out the figures.” Or, have Thea work them up. “I don’t think you’ll find anyone else in La Sombra who can do the quality work we do at so reasonable a price.”

His eyebrows lifted as he glanced from the figure on the paper to me. “You’re not cheap,” he said.

“I said reasonable, not cheap. Besides, you get what you pay for, and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed in our work,” I countered and in this one area of my life, I felt completely at ease talking facts. And better we get this straight before we went any further with this anyway. “If you’re looking for a bargain, you can call Sheila Benson. She’s cheap, but so’s her work.”

“Is that right?” he asked, and his really terrific mouth curved again.

“Why would I lie?” I quipped, hitting my stride and going right on. “You can check her out as easily as you did me.
And,
” I added, “if you do go with Sheila, I’ll only charge you five percent more when you come running to me later, begging me to forgive you your lack of foresight.”

He laughed. A booming sound that echoed down the long hallway and then bounced back at me. His eyes were gleaming now and there was no question. Definite interest there. Goody for me.

“Ms. Burke...”

“Cassidy.”

He inclined his head like king to peasant. “Cassidy. I admire your style.”

“Well, thanks. I like your place.”

He shrugged. “People like fantasy.”

“And who can blame ‘em?” I asked. “Sure as hell beats reality most of the time.” Especially mine.

“What’s your fantasy?” he asked and his voice came so soft, from so close, I shivered.

“You’re looming,” I said.

“Are you intimidated?”

“Nope, just saying.” Okay, maybe I was a little, but damned if I was going to tell him that.

He backed up and leaned one shoulder against the wall. “Fair enough. But you didn’t answer the question. What’s your fantasy?”

His eyes were really, really dark. I mean almost black. Hypnotic. I couldn’t even look away. (Not that I wanted to, but that’s not the point.)

“My fantasy?”

“Everyone has one.”

“Well sure.”

“And yours is?”

“Private?”

He smiled. One quick twist of his lips and wahoo, it set up an electrical reaction through my bloodstream. Man, I really had to get out more.

“In this place, secrets remain secret,” he said and his voice, I swear to God, rumbled through the room. “Tell me.”

My nipples got hard.

Wow. If his
voice
could do that to me, imagine what an actual touch could accomplish. Was it getting hot in there?

“Fantasy, huh?” I blurted and hoped to hell my ugly green jacket was covering up my nipples. “I do have a favorite.”

“Yeeessss...”

“A deaf mute boy-toy who cooks, cleans and can’t get enough sex.” Oh God, did I really say that?

“Interesting.”

“Yeah, well, just off the top of my head.” And the product of many years of careful consideration.

“You intrigue me,” he said, tipping his head to one side to study me. “You’re not what I expected.”

Now, that could be good or bad. And the way my day’d been going, I was betting on bad. Instantly, I went into defensive mode, which if I’m going to be honest is always pretty close to the surface. “What? You expected a maid uniform? Or maybe you thought I’d be wearing an apron and have a rag tied over my head? Just because I clean houses doesn’t mean—“

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Oh.” To give me my due, the defensive thing disappears as quickly as it arrives. “Then what?”

“I didn’t expect you to be...pretty. Charming.”

“Uh...” Fabulous, Cassidy. Way to think on your feet.

“I’ve embarrassed you.”

I laughed. “Oh, hell no. Takes a lot more than this to embarrass me. Just ask my daughter. She still hasn’t forgiven me for the clown costume I wore to throw the school carnival.”

“Clown costume?”

“Yeah, I went as a clown, Thea went as a neurosurgeon. She was eight. What does that say?” I stopped, held up one hand. “Never mind. Not sure I wanna know.”

He started downstairs again and I went along, wondering if I’d managed to talk myself right out of this contract. God, I hoped not.

“So when can you have that bid to me?” he asked when we were once again in the entry way.

“Friday morning.” Three whole days to get everything together and make a bid so fabulous he’d
have
to give me this job. Plenty of time.

He held out his hand and when I gave him mine, his fingers closed around it and squeezed gently. “I’m looking forward to hearing from you.”

* * *

I was still mentally fanning myself an hour later as I drove down my block. Devlin Cole made quite the impression. But honestly, the heady sensation of possibly steady employment had a lot to do with my elevated blood pressure. I’d even splurged, stopped at the market and picked up Thea’s and my favorite gorge fest food. Frozen pizza, Coney Island Waffle Cone ice cream and Hershey’s Kisses. A big night at the Burke house.

The street was quiet. But here in La Sombra, things were usually quiet, except for, as mentioned earlier, the occasional breakout from the Nut Factory.

I’d grown up right here on this block. In the same house I lived in now. And I was grateful for it. If my dad hadn’t left me the house when he died, Thea and I never could have afforded to buy one.

California bungalows, each of them more than fifty years old, sat far back on large, tidy lawns. Huge trees leaned toward each other, their branches forming thick, green arches over the street. Classic rock and roll poured from the garage where the Marchetti boys were working on their always dead Chevy and a lawnmower grumbled in the background.

I noticed the strange car parked in front of my house and instantly, my good mood dissolved. I’d forgotten all about Leo and the crazy woman with her bottle o’ acid. Was this a lawyer here to sue me for the money I was about to earn?

As I pulled into the driveway, already formulating arguments, plea bargains and if necessary, completely undignified weeping and sobbing, Thea came down the front steps to meet me. Her long, black hair was pulled back in a ponytail, her nearly threadbare (and brand new) jeans hung low on her hips and the hem of her blue tee shirt stopped a couple of inches above the belly button she wanted to get pierced. (I need hardly add, over my dead body).

As far as rebellious teens went, Thea was pretty mild. She was basically such a good kid that the most she ever came up with to annoy me was being a smart ass. And frankly, she’d learned from me, so I couldn’t really complain much, could I?

Now, despite the weirdness of my day, despite knowing that her long lost father was back in town and about to screw everything up, I looked at Thea and smiled. I knew that as long as the two of us were together, we could weather any storm.

Lawsuits, crazy old women, bouncing checks, newly discovered dads...none of it meant a damn. The Burke women could deal.

I got out of the car and gave her a hug I needed more than she did and said, “Hey baby girl. I think we’re gonna get the job.”

She smiled at me briefly. “That’s great mom, but—“

“Whose car is that?” I asked, jerking a thumb at the black SUV parked at the curb. “Is it a lawyer? Oh, God. Did he say something about Leo? And the acid?”

“Who’s Leo? What acid?”

Whew. Dodged that bullet.

“It’s not a lawyer then.” I sighed and did an exaggerated slump of relief. “Thank God. You know, after the day I’ve had, I really didn’t need one more problem.”

Handing Thea my purse, I turned and reached for the bag of groceries on the front seat. When I had it, I slammed the car door shut with one hip and said, “I got all the stuff for a great birthday dinner. Extra ice cream.”

“Uh-huh.” She glanced back at the house, then turned back to me. “But first, there’s somebody here who wants to talk to you.”

A tiny, tiny,
tiny
curl of dread unwound in the pit of my stomach. For the first time I noticed that Thea wasn’t smiling. She hadn’t said Happy Birthday and hadn’t even made a grab for the Hershey’s Kisses she had to know were in the grocery bag. And when my daughter didn’t lunge for chocolate, something was up.

I looked back at the black car and bit down hard on my bottom lip. As I watched, a huge dollop of bird poop landed on the gleaming hood and splattered. A warning from the gods? A hint of things to come?

“What’s going on, Thea? Whose car is that? Who’s here?”

She folded her arms across her chest, shot one hip higher than the other and cocked her head to look at me. “Well, he says he’s my
father.
You know...the
dead one?”

More than Fiends: Chapter Four

Oh, crap.

God, I really needed chocolate.

“Mom?
What
is going on?” Thea’s voice took on that ‘nobody-has-a-worse-mom-than-me’ tone and she whipped up one black eyebrow. Just like her dad used to do.

Her dad.

Oh yeah.

Chocolate.

I dropped the grocery bag onto the hood of my bright yellow VW, rustled inside for the Hershey’s kisses and yanked the cellophane bag so hard, foil covered caramel Kisses flew everywhere. I grabbed up three, unwrapped them as fast as I could and shoved them all into my mouth.

A win-win situation as far as I could see. Couldn’t talk while chewing caramel and hey, chocolate was bound to make me feel better.

Although, a quick glance into Thea’s deep blue eyes told me it might take a few more than
three
kisses to survive this one. Grabbing the first stall tactic I could think of, I concentrated on gathering up the chocolate off the hood of my car and then giving the little suckers lying in the street a wistful glance.