Felicity didn’t know whether to laugh or feel deeply embarrassed, but her cheeks burned and she chuckled—just a little which made him turn around on her with astonishment. Felicity didn’t know what to make of it. Had she broken some sacred vampire law she didn’t know about? Was she not allowed to giggle in the Blackmoore house? Perhaps it was expressly forbidden.
His lip curled down into a deep, heavy frown that if he wasn’t careful might become permanent on his dark face. He lifted his chin at her. “At least you dressed better tonight. Perhaps that will bode well for you. For all of our sakes, I hope not.”
Well, that wasn’t a nice thing to say. Sort of. “Hey, I need this job,” Felicity said as she was once again led through the massive mansion. This time, however, the butler didn’t lead her to Dominic’s personal lounge but down a separate, shorter hallway where two large wooden doors stood. One was cracked so she could see light filtering through.
“You may need the job, but the Blackmoores deserve the best. Are you the best?”
Felicity felt the first flames of anger trigger inside her. “Damn right I’m the best. My designs range from interior decorating to exterior decorating to planning lavish dinner parties, balls, galas, rock parties for famous bands, you name it, I’ve done it all.” She had the portfolio to prove it.
And, she was also lying—big time.
Yeah, really.
A year ago she’d fibbed her portfolio. She’d created images using designs of events she’d like to throw but hadn’t actually done. Yet. She also listed that she’d worked under clients that she’d only wished she worked for. Big named clients, too. Why did she do this? Felicity hated to lie, but she’d been unemployed for more than a year and the job before that had barely paid enough to feed Hugo and pay rent. She was only a few months away from being kicked off her lease—which her landlord already warned her he was doing—and she couldn’t pay her bills. Desperation was an ugly thing.
Therefore, if she had to lie, cheat, or (possibly) steal to get the kind of job she wanted, then she would. And she’d be damn good at it too.
Ian’s uncertain eyes ran over his face before he shook his head. Then he grabbed the door handle of the slightly ajar door and opened it. “They await you, Ms. Shaw,” he said with a slight bow.
Felicity straightened her shoulders then strode toward the door. It was only after she passed through the door and heard it snap closed behind her that she realized something important about what butler Ian just said. That would be that he said “they.” Indeed, Felicity felt her bravado drop through the floor as she stood frozen and staring into the faces of Dominic Blackmoore, his mother Lady Blackmoore, and none other than the beautiful socialite Juliana Greenwich.
Felicity’s eyes wandered to Dominic and her breath caught. Yes, he really was as devastatingly handsome as she’d thought. He wore another suit but today he looked angry and flustered. His eyes were dark and burning with anger aimed straight at her, and though his hateful look made her pulse leap and her stomach twist into knots, she couldn’t help but admire him.
The man could seriously wear clothes. He had his suit jacket unbuttoned and spread out on either side of his chest as if he’d flung it open when he sat down. He wore a pearly white shirt underneath with black little buttons. The top two were undone showing off dark, golden skin. Even the way he leaned back in his seat with his long arms tossed over each of the arm rests screamed I own this with masculine perfection. His knees were bent, but spread and Felicity’s gaze wavered at the sight. For a moment all she could do was picture herself between those strong thighs, holding his cock, her low-lidded eyes locked on his as she licked the length of him.
A low growl snapped through the room.
Felicity jerked her gaze to Dominic’s just as everyone else in the room did. Had he really just growled? His eyes stared challengingly into hers—daring her to keep his gaze. That the same level of passion she’d witnessed yesterday still flickered there. The light gold around his eyes flared like a pulse and Felicity felt an answering pulse between her thighs. He might have been nasty to her yesterday but he still wanted her. That fact shocked her more than if he had walked up to her and informed her he was leaving his estate and bank accounts to her, then vanish in a puff of mysterious smoke.
Of course that didn’t happen.
But he did look at her like he wanted her naked, in his lap, right now. And boy did she want to be.
Vampire eyes shifted when aroused, but the older the vampire the more control they had to mask such a reaction. Either Dominic wasn’t as old as she’d heard or he’d really just had a flash of arousal blaze in his eyes.
“Ms. Shaw, won’t you please take a seat?” his mother asked with a polite smile and watchful eyes. Her voice cut the tension in the room like a hot knife through warm butter.
Juliana seemed oblivious to the whole deal, while his mother looked far more cunning with her clever golden brown eyes.
Felicity managed to walk to her seat across from the two Blackmoores and the lovely Juliana Greenwich without tripping and falling on her face. Score one for her.
Juliana looked much, much more beautiful in person than she did in magazines. Felicity could probably stare at her all day trying to figure out how she could arrest one’s gaze like she did. She had a thin, pert nose with lovely hollowed cheekbones, a gently pointed chin, light brown eyebrows, and a stunning pair of blue eyes. The color was so light it looked like a cloudless sky. Her eyes were lined by heavy dark brown lashes that only brought out the color and provided a lovely contrast to her light blonde hair. And she even had perfectly shaped lips with two peaks on top and a perfect bow on the bottom. Her hair was lush—a beautiful golden yellow like the perfect strand of wheat. It shined in the light and rested in curling waves down to her waist. Yes, down to her waist!
The paparazzi followed her for a reason and not because she had more money than the Monopoly guy, but because of how she looked. She looked perfect, and that was only her face. Her body matched her face in its stunning loveliness. Tall, elegant, refined, and with more class than Jackie-O, Julianna made lovely pictures. Pictures the rest of society without as much money and good looks stared longingly at and pretended to hate.
Really it wasn’t fair to the rest of the women in the world to have to compare to women like Julianna Greenwich. Not fair at all.
In fact, Felicity decided she might just hate her.
“Thank you for joining us tonight. I’m looking forward to hearing about your previous work experience and seeing some of your designs,” his mother said with a smile. She had the kind of polite smile that had been refined through years of having political friends and throwing strategic parties. Felicity suspected Lady Blackmoore was a master at hiding her true feelings.
A moment later, a soft knock sounded at the door and Ian shuffled in carrying a silver tray with a crystal decanter and four glasses. Felicity watched the blood-filled decanter with longing, her tongue watering. She hadn’t fed that morning because she was out of blood again, but she hoped to rectify that problem tonight. She’d get this job, get paid upfront, and buy some of her favorite blood—AB. Lots of it. Maybe she’d even buy crates of it she could stack up in her spare bedroom for safekeeping.
Felicity watched Lady Blackmoore sit at the edge of her seat as she efficiently poured four glasses of blood. She filled each of the glasses so that the blood stopped at exactly a quarter inch from the rim. The entire time Felicity watched Lady Blackmoore’s elegant movements, she could feel his eyes on her. She didn’t need to shift her gaze to know it was him. No one could look at her and make her feel heat from just looking. No one except Dominic Blackmoore.