To Catch a Vampire by Jennifer Harlow Page A

doesn’t move, doesn’t even blink for a few seconds. His eyes rove my body from toes to top, where they rest on my breasts. My entire body heats up in embarrassment.
    “This is better, I take it?” I ask with a nervous chuckle.
    “Yes,” he says in a husky voice. He finally blinks and looks away. An embarrassed vamp, there’s something you don’t see every day.
    “I need you to do up the laces,” I say, turning my back to him.
    He hesitates for a moment, then says, “Very well.”
    I brush my hair off to the side as he joins me by the bathroom door. If he had breath, I’d feel it on my back now. I tense a little as I sense his eyes on my bare neck. This is where trust comes in. He’s tempted; I’d be a fool not to know this. This is like shoving a Big Mac in the face of someone on a diet. I mean, bare neck just inches from his mouth? But I know he won’t succumb. I just do. Weird, right? I don’t understand it myself. I trust my instincts. That and I have no choice; I can’t do the laces myself.
    We stand completely still for a moment. The butterflies that have taken up permanent residence in my stomach since I took this job spread their wings and soar for the second time today. They have no loyalty. As his hand moves toward me, I visibly tense this time. He doesn’t touch me; his hand moves to the laces. He yanks the bottom one.
    “This must bring back memories, huh?” I ask.
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “I’ll bet you’ve done up a hundred corsets through the years, what with all those Victorian women you no doubt seduced.”
    “I have done my fair share, yes. I was usually undoing them, though.” He pulls the final one and ties the back. “Done.”
    Thank God.
    “Thanks.” I flip my hair back and step away. Darn. The girls rose another inch. “Just like a married couple, huh? Me serving you dinner, you doing up my dress. We might actually pass.”
    His left eyebrow lifts. “Married?”
    “Yeah. You didn’t fill me in on our cover story, so I had to improvise. We were married a year ago in Vegas. I thought it might explain why we’re not so moony-eyed over each other. The thrill is gone, pookie.”
    Grin Number Three surfaces. “And is there anything else I should know? Do we have children or pets?”
    I sit on the desk chair facing him. The butterflies return to their perches. “I did my best.”
    “And you did beautifully. I do apologize for your ill preparedness. I did not have time while making all the other arrangements to provide a complete cover. If it is any consolation, I knew you would succeed without one.”
    “I’m sure you did. So, care to share now? You do have a plan, right?”
    “Of course,” he says, sitting on the bed right across from me. “The last three victims were last seen in Dallas at two clubs often frequented by human and vampire alike.”
    “So we go there and ask questions?”
    “Discreetly.”
    “Didn’t the police already do that?”
    “Yes, but the clientele were less than forthcoming. You and I will claim to be friends of the suspects. A cabal of seven vamps will be noticeable.”
    “Right, but whoever these vamps are, they’ve probably moved on by now.”
    “Possibly, but there still might be witnesses who can lead us in the appropriate direction,” Oliver says.
    I scoff. “I’m sorry, but that’s your plan? Hit a couple bars, ask questions, and pray we luck out on the off chance these vamps even exist?”
    “They exist. My source is convinced.”
    “And you trust this person?”
    “To a point. He has never led me astray, but I do question his motives.”
    “Who is he?”
    “It is not important. An accusation of a crime has been made, and as officers of the law, we are duty bound to investigate. And so we shall.”
    “Do we even have a description of these vamps? Something to go on?”
    “Yes, we have the description of one. Six-foot even, thin, blue eyes, midnight black hair. Answers to the name JR.”
    “That’s it? I’ll bet