DraculaVille - New York - Book One (10 page)

She blinked several times. “How do you come to this conclusion? You don’t know me.”

“I’ve talked to Gerri. She’s told me a lot about the hurts forced on you in the past—things that might defeat a weaker person. Even Felix understands how you build up walls to protect yourself.” He faced her and gave a rueful smile. “Funny thing is, they are both completely loyal to you. They look beneath the surface of your stony resolve and see something in you that you don’t recognize yourself.”

He leaned against the wall beside the window. “There’s more.”

An itch of dread crept over her skin. He’d intruded into her secret chamber. The one filled with pain and disappointment. She kept that door locked and barred at all times. An impulse to race from the room hit her hard, but she couldn’t move. Her bones and muscles were frozen in anticipation of his next words.

“You’re so attracted to me that it’s making you crazy. Hiding behind the tough business woman façade is your way of keeping me at arm’s length. If you ever let your guard down, you’re afraid you’ll lose complete control. That terrifies you because you have absolutely no idea who you really are.”

She stared at him, her mouth opening and closing as words came and went without spilling forth. Her mind whirled but she couldn’t think of a reasonable response. The truth of his words struck her in the gut like a bowling ball, leaving her gasping for breath.

“Until you strip away all the absurd layers of meaningless crap from your life, you’ll go on being lonely, friendless, and without love.” He came to the sofa and ran a finger over her bracelet. “Nice bracelet, by the way. dZi beads if I’m not mistaken. To ward off evil, right? Want to know why they don’t work against me? It’s because I’m not evil, Tal. I’m not evil.”

Words stuck in her throat. She wanted to yell. Shriek. Tell him that everything he said was wrong. She had friends…well, Gerri. Maybe. She wasn’t lonely. She was busy all the time. Sure it was work stuff, but who wanted to get involved with some guy who would break her heart and leave her, like her father left her mother? Like her fiancé left her at the altar. Not again. No way.

“Get some rest.” He walked toward the hall. “You’ve been killing yourself for the past few days. I’ll see you tomorrow.” With a slight smile, he left her and went to his bedroom, closing the door softly behind him.

She muffled a cry of despair in one of the couch pillows, stuffing it over her face. Anguish tore at her chest with ragged claws. She fell over on the sofa, pushing her face into the cushion as sobs wracked her body. She beat the cushion with her fists. Damn him. Damn him. Why did he force her to remember her asshole father and cheating ex? Worse, why did he have to be so handsome and wonderful when she was an undeserving mess, suffering from a fear of abandonment? Damn Him. Why did he have to be right?

***

The warmth of sunlight tickled Talia’s cheek. She swatted at it, rolled, and tumbled to the floor. She wasn’t in bed. Crap. After struggling back onto the couch, she tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt as if marshmallows had been super glued to them. Then she remembered the previous night and groaned.

She pressed a hand to her forehead. What a disaster. Gerri mad at her, Drake exposing all her hidden weaknesses, and Felix taking her friend’s side against her. Her world had come apart in the matter of an hour.

Maybe coffee would help. She trudged to the kitchen and set the machine to brew. The clock on the stove said ten a.m. Holy cow. She yawned and stole a cup of coffee from the still brewing pot. How could she face Drake again after what he’d said?

She’d assumed her attraction was some vampire trick, luring her to him. He suggested it was only a male-female thing. Was that really true?

The doorbell rang and she shuffled over to open it.

“I’m sorry, Tal.” Gerri hesitated in the doorway. “Can you forgive me?”

“Oh, for God’s sake, come in and get a cup of coffee. There’s nothing to forgive. You were right. I need to back off the tough bitch act a bit. Sorry.” Talia went back to the living room and sank down on the couch. “I’m just so worried this campaign won’t work and then what will Drake do with his life?”

Gerri got coffee and joined Talia, sitting across from her on the wing chair. “I understand. But please don’t treat him like a trick pony anymore. By the way, where is he?”

“In his vampire lair, sleeping.” She burned her tongue on the hot coffee.

“So you’re not mad at me for what I said?” Her friend grasped her mug between her hands.

“For goodness sake, you’ve forgiven me for being a jerk more times than I can count.” She pushed her bangs out of her eyes. “I’m glad I get a chance to put a mark in my favor on the forgiveness board of life.”

Gerri grinned. “That’s true.”

“Don’t push it.” Talia gave her a mock glare.

“So what’s up for today?”

“I don’t know. I think maybe I need a break from work. We should do something fun today. I need to clear my mind before I jump back into the project tomorrow. I only have five days left.”

“That sounds like a great idea. What should we do?”

“I have no idea. I never have fun. I’m a slave driving bitch, remember?”

Gerri laughed. “Right. Well, let me make a suggestion. How about we go over to Coney Island as soon as Drake emerges from his lair?”

“Brooklyn? I haven’t been there in years.” She sipped her coffee. The plan appealed to her. To go somewhere completely different from her regular routine, let her hair down and just have fun. “All right. I’m game. Let’s do it.”

Her friend let out a whoop. “Yay. It’ll be a blast. We’ll eat hot dogs and ride the roller coaster.”

“I don’t ride roller coasters.” She placed her cup on the coffee table.

“Why not?”

“Because they make me puke.”

“Oh.”

“I’ll call Felix and let him know. He needs a break, too. We’ll meet here at sundown and take taxis over.”

“Okay.” Gerri set her cup down and rose. “I have some errands to run. I’ll see you later.”

“Sounds good.” Talia stood and embraced her friend. A lump formed in her throat. “I thought you finally hated me last night.”

“Idiot.” Gerri smiled. “I can’t hate you. You’re too pitiful.”

She snorted. “Thanks.”

“No problem. Anytime.” Her friend grabbed her purse and headed out the door. “See you later.”

She waved. She didn’t deserve such a good friend. She didn’t know what made Gerri stick around. Drake said she saw beneath the surface to something redeemable in Talia. She’d have to dig deep and figure out how to bring that forth. Maybe she didn’t have to be such a bitch.

After another cup of coffee, she called Felix and told him about the plans. Then she called Anton.

“Tiger, why did you leave in a rush last night?” he asked.

She let out a deep breath, hoping her lie sounded plausible. “I don’t think I can explain it. Some woman was after Drake, and I tried to discourage her. A friend of hers almost attacked Drake while we were dancing.”

“Hmm, I don’t know about all zat, but I got some fabulous shots.”

“Great. E-mail them to me when you get a chance.”

“I have a feeling something ez going on here zat you’re not telling me.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just get me those pictures. I’ll make sure you’re amply rewarded.”

He laughed. “Okay, Tiger. You always hold your cards close to zee chest, but you’ve never led me wrong yet.”

“Good. I’ll let you know as soon as the presentation is over.”

“
Au revoir, cherie
.”

She opened her laptop and scanned through the pictures from the previous photo shoot. Drake’s charisma was undeniable. The camera loved him. She quickly flipped past the ones of him with Gerri, hating the unconscious rise of jealousy in her chest. What was she going to do about this stupid attraction? She looked at her bracelet. How did he know she’d bought it to counteract his effect on her?

Of all the men she’d ever met or been involved with, why did it take a freaking vampire to destroy her defenses? Damn him. She had to pull herself together and be realistic. Falling for a vampire was stupid and impossible. Crazy. Out of the question.

Chapter 13

“Where’s Drake?” Felix handed Talia a bottle of wine with a big red bow. He hurried on to the living room.

“What’s this for?” She followed him, holding the bottle out in front of her, inspecting the label. Yum, Stag’s Leap cabernet.

“For siding with Gerri last night.” He crossed his arms.

“Bitch.” She carried it into the kitchen and poured them each a glass. “Don’t ever disagree with me again or I’ll make sure you’re transferred to the mailroom.”

“You can’t do anything on your own, so your threat does not terrify me at all.” He took his glass and clinked it against hers. “So where’s Drake? Not up yet?”

The doorbell rang, and she waved toward the entrance. “That’s probably Gerri. Get it will you? I’ll check on Drake. He should be up by now.”

Her assistant headed for the door and Talia went to Drake’s room. She knocked softly.

“Come in.”

She opened the door and took a step into the shadowy room. Lights from outside peeked through cracks in the curtains and provided a slight illumination that met the glow from the hall. “Drake?”

“Up here.”

She looked up to find her vampire, crawling across the ceiling. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I just found out I could do this. Cool, huh?” He did a flip and landed on his feet in front of her, a big smile on his face. He wore drawstring pajama bottoms, but his torso was bare, pale skin shining in the light from the hall.

She swallowed, remembering her resolution. She’d act like last night never happened. “Oh, yeah, walking on the ceiling is
super
cool. Now get some clothes on. We’re going to Coney Island.”

Dragging her eyes from his perfectly chiseled torso, she headed to the living room. Gerri and Felix drank wine and laughed over some joke she didn’t dare ask about.

“Drake’s getting ready.” She took her wine glass from the coffee table.

“Did you hear from Anton?” her assistant asked.

“Yes. He asked a lot of questions I had to evade, but he got some great shots.”

“Good. I can’t wait to see them,” he said.

Drake strode in wearing jeans and a burgundy sweatshirt with a navy down vest over it.

She blinked. How did he do that so fast? “Great. Hurry next time.”

“I’m ready for a hotdog,” Gerri said. “Let’s go.”

They rode down the elevator, conversation buzzing about which rides they liked and what Coney Island foods were best. They reached the lobby and piled into a cab, still laughing and joking.

Stress eased from Talia’s shoulders. Drake hadn’t mentioned last night, and he joked with the others. Maybe he would let her escape a conversation about it. She hoped so.

The cab dropped them at the corner of Stillwell and Surf Avenues, right in front of Nathan’s hotdog shop. They bustled inside and ordered Coney Island dogs. Drake watched as they devoured them, an amused smile on his lips. Talia ate a bite of hers and threw the rest away.

“Seriously, guys, blood is a lot better,” he said.

“No way, dude. Hotdogs are manna from heaven.” Felix licked a glop of mustard off his bottom lip.

“I want to ride the Ferris wheel.” Gerri raised a fist in the air. “Who’s with me?”

“I’m in,” Talia said. A wave of joy splashed over her. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d done something other than work. It felt good.

“Let’s go, then.” Her assistant headed out the door.

They entered a line at the base of the wheel, and a giddy swirl of happiness kicked up in Talia’s tummy. She had to grin. Felix and Gerri took a car, and she and Drake got in the next. They swung higher and higher. She couldn’t stop laughing.

The wheel stopped with their car at the top. Twinkling, multicolored lights spread out below them, and Drake leaned over so far looking at them, she grabbed his arm to keep him from falling out.

“It’s beautiful,” he said.

A surge of tenderness softened her heart. He resembled a child, bending over the safety bar, eyes glowing in happiness and amazement. It made her feel responsible, and protective of him. Strange.

He leaned back and gazed at the night sky. “There are lights up there, too.”

She tilted her head back. Stars sparkled in the velvety blackness.

“I see things differently now,” he murmured.

“In what way?”

“Everything is…clearer. I don’t know how to describe it.”

Their car jerked and started moving again. As the wheel turned, Talia lost the urge to laugh. Reminders of Drake’s differences left her with an empty, cold spot in her heart, and filled with doubt. Could she really pull this campaign off? If the Romanians hated the idea, what would happen to Drake? It hurt her head to think about it.

Their ride ended and they joined Felix and Gerri outside the fence surrounding the Ferris wheel.

“What next?” Her assistant hopped up and down like a kid. “That was great.”

“I want to go on the roller coaster,” Gerri said.

Talia shook her head. “Not me.”

“I’m in.” Felix grabbed Gerri’s hand. “Let’s go.”

“Drake?” Her friend raised a brow.

“I’ll stay with Tal.” He stuck his hands in his pants pockets.

“Call my cell when you finish and we’ll meet up,” Talia said. She couldn’t stop the giddy glow of satisfaction sparked by Drake choosing to stay with her. Her self esteem was able to inch up a notch after last night’s debacle.

“What would you like to do?” Drake strolled by her side.

“I always wanted somebody to win a super huge stuffed animal for me.” She gave him a sideways glance.

He grinned. “You’re so funny.” He took her hand and pointed to the arcade area. “Let’s go.”

She felt like a teenager on her first date at the local fair. Back then, the bigger the prize the more the boy loved her. Sort of like bagging big game and bringing it back to the ol’ cave in prehistoric times. It struck her as absurd that she really did want that stuffed animal, even now.

Drake chose pitching a baseball at metal jugs stacked in a tripod. It was a rigged game and nobody ever won, but Drake was rigged, too. A flash of him sending that vampire across the dance floor with no effort at the club went through her mind.