She glanced over and saw Lucy watching her now, no doubt wondering what was on her mind. Jessica, superstitiously afraid to jinx Nathan’s appearance by talking about it, decided to change the subject.
“How was dinner?” she asked, knowing Aaron had whisked Lucy away to his favorite pizza parlor before bringing her here. Jessica recognized the restaurant from its name, knew it as a dimly lit joint with sticky rings on the tables, but judging by Lucy’s dazzled expression, her boss may as well have taken her to the Four Seasons.
“Great,” she sighed, and her eyes acquired a new glow. “Aaron’s really awesome, isn’t he?”
“Well, you know I’ve got no complaints about him,” Jessica laughed. “Although I think maybe he’s been holding out on you.”
“What do you mean?”
Jessica waved around the ballroom. “The way he hooked up this place for me so fast. And how all I’ve had to do since then is mention his name, and the people who work here fall all over themselves to give me whatever I want. It’s been like something out of Goodfellas. You know that Copacabana scene?”
Lucy’s mouth twitched with amusement. “So, what, you’re saying you think Aaron’s some kind of gangster or something?”
“I think he might be, yeah.”
Laughter erupted from Lucy’s lips. “Well, I’ll be sure and ask him about that sometime.” She glanced across the ballroom to where Aaron had just appeared in the doorway, looking dapper as ever in his dress shirt, tie, and slacks. Although tonight’s tie had miniature jack-o-lanterns printed all over it. He zeroed in on Lucy and raised his hand, flashing a grin. “Speak of the devil,” she said. “If you’ll excuse me?” She started toward him, and Jessica smiled happily as she watched her go—but she couldn’t help feeling a pang of envy, too. Where was Nathan? she wondered. Would he even be here tonight?
◆◆◆
It was half past midnight before Jessica got another break. A few hours had zoomed by in a blink, and she found herself happily exhausted. She had been smiling so much and for so long that her face hurt. Tons of people had shown up for the party—including the Donovans, even though Dara was no fan of big social events—and they’d all seemed to have a wonderful time. Business had been brisk, too. Megan had broken away from the sales table for a minute to inform Jessica that she and the other cashiers had already blown way past their projected sales goal for A Prince at Midnight, and that they’d moved dozens of other titles, too. And that was before R.Q. Vander Gries had even made her appearance.
Dara, God bless her, had come through with her library connections last week, and provided Jessica with an email address for the author’s manager. Jessica had written Vander Gries a short message, explaining Book of Love’s plight and inviting her to the party. Vander Gries had responded personally. She’d been effusively condoling about the store in her return email, and while she hadn’t been able to attend the party on such short notice, she’d overnighted a stack of autographed merchandise for Jessica to raffle off as door prizes in a fundraising raffle. She’d also agreed to an exclusive virtual Q and A session with Jessica’s customers on the night of the party.
Such overwhelming largesse had made Jessica’s head spin. She wondered if Vander Gries would have been more or less sympathetic had she known the bookstore was destroyed by an actual vampire. And that the vampire had, in turn, been beheaded by a weapon hatched straight out of Vander Gries’ own fevered imagination.
Jessica shook her head in mild amusement over the whole thing, and then turned and watched as a giant flat screen monitor was wheeled into the room. Megan, dressed in a reproduction of Duchess Horatia’s ballgown, complete with billowing hoop skirt and corseted, ruffled bodice, followed right behind it, ready to moderate the discussion. She plucked up a microphone, chattered excitedly through a brief introductory speech, and then opened the floor for customer questions. Before long, the genial, white-haired novelist responsible for the evening’s festivities was onscreen, fielding breathless inquiries from an eager audience, many of them also elaborately costumed as their favorite Sharpest Kiss characters. Everyone seemed enthralled with Vander Gries, and Jessica had no doubt that as soon as the session was over, even more people would stream to the checkout station to buy books. Which meant Jessica would be able to pay Aaron back even sooner than she’d hoped, and she’d probably rake in a nifty profit to boot. It was wonderful news.
Even so, Jessica’s heart ached as she finally sat down at a table in a dim corner at the very back of the room, with a jelly donut and a fresh glass of champagne in front of her. The night was almost over, and Nathan wasn’t at her side. He hadn’t shown up. A part of her wasn’t all that surprised. He’d told her, hadn’t he, that he couldn’t forge relationships with anyone? He was too afraid it would lead to disaster. But after everything they had been through together…
Jessica felt her eyes sting and her chin tremble, and she silently scolded herself for being such a ninny. Her friends were safe, and the night was a success. The store was going to bounce back from the vampire attack. These were the important things, the issues she ought to be focusing on.
And there would be other men.
Not like him, she thought, and tried to swallow
