Sexy, irritating Josh winked in my direction and I ignored it, because sometimes I hoped that if I wished hard enough, he’d fall off the planet and disappear. So far, no dice.
“I see my gorgeous Marie is thrilled to see me once again,” he said, going to the chair that Sara and Ramsey had just vacated. He flipped it around and straddled it, his grin making crinkles form around those gorgeous, long-lashed eyes. “Don’t take her hard words to heart. She has a secret spot in her heart for me. I don’t know if you guys noticed, but she always pays special attention when I show up.”
Sara giggled.
I hated that man. “
“No, you don’t,” he said easily.
“Yes, I really do.”
“Quit speaking all that sexy French at me if you want me to leave.”
“I’m cussing at you,
“Oh, I know that one! I think she just called you a pig-head,” Ryder said with a cheeky grin. “She called me one the other day, too.”
He didn’t look discouraged in the slightest. “Dirty French words are Marie’s way of foreplay. That’s how I know she loves me.”
I wanted to bang my head on my keyboard in frustration. “Please. Please just go away.”
“Now, Marie,” he drawled. “If you wanted me to go away, why’d you doll up and look so damn beautiful?”
I flushed. Crap. He’d noticed my makeup for my next date? I had to be more subtle.
I avoided making eye contact with Sara. If she found out what I was doing, she’d tell Bathsheba. If Bathsheba found out I was using the service without permission during working hours, my ass would be out on the street. She might have been okay with it once upon a time, given that she’d used the service to meet Beau, but with the shifter issues going on,
“Maybe Marie just wanted to look pretty today,” Sara said lightly. “I don’t think it has anything to do with you, Josh.”
“Don’t be so sure, Sara. It always has to do with me. All the girls want a piece of me,” he said with a grin, clearly joking. When Ramsey cast a black look in his direction, he amended it. “Almost all girls.”
Sara grinned and slipped a hand around Ramsey’s massive waist. She glanced back at me. “We’re off for the evening. Bath said to call her if you had questions about the project, and leave her a report in the morning.”
“See you,” I said casually, picking up the first folder in the stack and pretending to be interested in it. I was more than ready for all of them to leave the office, so I could check whether a vampire had responded to Minnie’s profile. And I couldn’t do that if they were all sitting right there.
That was the bad thing about such a small, intimate business. My boss, Bathsheba Ward-Russell, was married to the head of the Paranormal Alliance, Beau Russell. The two businesses worked closely together and shared records. That meant that Beau was constantly dropping by the office, which was fine. He was handsome, polite, well spoken, and friendly. But it also meant his cadre of brothers and cousins was also stopping by at all hours.
And that drove me crazy. Most of the Russells were nice enough. Jeremiah was the tall, muscular one who showed up to work on the network from time to time. Ellis, Everett, and Austin worked for the security firm that Beau ran, and they popped by to flirt with Ryder, chat with Bath or Sara, and do background checks on clients. The three looked so much alike that I had a hard time telling them apart, save for the one who had a sleeve of tattoos up one arm. All of them were incredibly friendly and nice to everyone in the office.
Joshua was the thorn in my side. In personality, he was nothing like serious, polite, well-dressed Beau. Josh seemed to live in a plain black T-shirt, ass-hugging jeans, and a baseball cap. It didn’t hurt that he was flat-out gorgeous to boot. Tall, muscular, and handsome, with an amazing grin and sinfully beautiful eyes that didn’t belong on a man.
He was also a flirt who didn’t seem to take no for an answer. You would think women would see right through his overbearing, overly flirty personality, but you would think wrong. They loved his flirting, and loved him, and he had the dating records to prove it.
Until he didn’t call them back, of course. And he never did.
And unfortunately for me, Josh generally worked the same hours that I did. As a vampire security specialist, he tended to be up all night. That meant he often stopped by the office on his way to work, and again on his way back from his shift.
Ryder didn’t mind. She said it livened up our long shift.
I minded. Which only encouraged him more.
Tonight was one of those nights that I’d been hoping he wouldn’t show up . . . so naturally he was here, and he was early.
I shot Ryder an uncomfortable look as Sara and Ramsey left for the evening and Josh stood, flipped his chair around, sat again, and put his feet up on Sara’s desk. His self-assured gaze rested on me, as if evaluating me. He always watched me as I worked, and I was pretty sure he did it to annoy me. No supernatural could be that interested in a human woman who told him to buzz off repeatedly.
He was just acting so focused and determined to bother me. Typical.
Ryder moved to the coffeepot, preparing the first of several she’d brew tonight.
“So what’s the plan, ladies?” Josh gave me a mildly curious look, raising an eyebrow in my direction.
“Gee,” I said, flipping open the folder. Female. Mink shifter. Not my target demographic. “I don’t know. I thought tonight I’d go out on a limb and do some work. You know, that crazy thing that people expect in exchange for a salary?” I glanced over at him, hoping he’d get the hint. “That thing
“My client won’t be up for another hour or so,” he said casually. “I thought I’d hang out for a few in the meantime.”
I had my next vampire date in an hour and a half. That was cutting it close.
“New client?” Ryder asked him, picking up her headset and adjusting it over her blond pigtails.
“Yup. Another vampire being stalked by a fellow vampire. Surprise, surprise.” He sounded bored. “So the shifter muscle has to show up and throw our weight around to make sure his new friends get the hint.”
“I hope he’s paying you a lot,” Ryder said with a grin.
“Oh, he is,” Josh said. “Premium security for a premium price.”
I tuned out their conversation and pulled up the record of my date on the computer, glancing back at the were-mink’s folder as cover. My date, a vampire named Lewis, hadn’t yet cancelled. Good. I’d tried setting up another date last night, but the guy had cancelled on me once I’d sent him a picture.
To ensure that my date would show up this time, I’d googled “sexy brunette in glasses,” picked a suitably suggestive photo, and sent that one. It had been a little white lie, but I didn’t care as long as he showed up.
There were thirty-two vampires in the Midnight Liaisons database. Nineteen of them were currently available for dating, and I was already down by two. I was starting to get anxious. I only needed one, but what I needed seemed to be a pretty big favor. I had to tread cautiously.
The cowbell hanging against the front door clanged, and I jerked in surprise.
“Little jumpy tonight, aren’t we?” Josh teased.
I glared at him and didn’t dignify that with a response.
A trio of loud, noisy men entered the office and my heart sank all over again. “Just what we needed,” I said with a sour look. “More Russells.”
Austin pulled up a chair across from Ryder, and the twins sat down at Sara’s desk. I didn’t know which ones were Josh’s cousins and which ones were his brothers; they all looked like they were cut from the same mold. Tall. Muscled. Incredibly good-looking. Dark, thick hair. Same rakish smile. The twins had deep dimples, though, and one had a sleeve of tattoos. Jeremiah was quiet and soft spoken, but he didn’t show up around the agency much anymore, now that he was in a relationship with a were-fox. Well, rumor had it that he was in a relationship with a were-fox and another guy, but that was probably just rumor.
