1 Dead Girl's Guide to Style (12 page)

The next day
Max was coming through my shop door when I looked up. I was surprised to see that he had a smile on his face. He handed me an envelope.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“I wanted to stop in and invite you personally.”

I took the envelope and opened it.

“It’s the annual charity gala. I’d love for you to attend,” he said.

I pulled the card from the envelope. It was cream with gold letters and it had my name written on the front with the date and time and location of the gala. What I didn’t know was if he was asking me to be his date or if this was just a general invitation. He didn’t make it clear and I didn’t want to embarrass myself anymore by asking.

“I know it’s short notice,” he said.

I glanced at the invite one last time and then said, “I’d love to attend.”

I didn’t say
I’d love to go with you
so that way it wouldn’t embarrass me if I wasn’t his date.

Just then my phone rang.

“I’d better let you get back to work, plus I’m expected in a meeting.” He gestured over his shoulder.

I hesitated, but the phone continued to ring
, insisting that I stop the conversation. Since I needed the business, I knew I’d better answer it. I hoped it wasn’t Mona again. She was really beginning to become a thorn in my side.

Max offered a dazzling smile and a wave and headed out the door. I watched for a few seconds before I finally grabbed the phone.

“Hello?” I answered breathlessly.

“I thought you weren’t going to answer,” Caitlin said.

“If I’d known it was you I would have let it go to voice mail,” I said.

“Wow, thanks a lot,” she said.

“Max was here and when my phone rang he left.”

“Oh, sorry,” she offered. “What did he want?”

“He invited me to the gala.”

“That’s a hot ticket in town,” she said. “So you’re his date?”

I paused. “I don’t think so. He didn’t exactly ask me to be his date. He just handed me the invitation and said he would like it if I could come.”

“Hmm. That is a little confusing. You should have asked him,” she said.

“I didn’t want to ask a stupid question. It’s obvious that I’m not his date or he would have said he would pick me up, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, I’m not going to worry about whether or not I’m his date like this is some kind of high-school dilemma.”

“That’s true. So are you going?” she asked.

“Heck yeah, I want to see what’s going on.”

She laughed.

***

I’d gotten my dress from Off Saks for seventy-five percent off. I was totally proud of my bargain. The black fabric reached to below my ankles and hugged my curves. The tiny straps rested on my shoulders and the neckline fell to
reveal just the right amount of cleavage. I’d finished the look with a pair of rhinestone-encrusted heels and a single diamond pendant around my neck and a triple line of diamond earrings. Okay, the jewelry was cubic zirconia but it looked nice and I didn’t care. My diva of a grandmother might turn to dust at my statement, but I thought real diamonds were overrated anyway.

A knock sounded on the door and I sucked in a deep breath. I wasn’t expecting anyone and I didn’t have time for chitchat. If someone was trying to sell magazines I’d probably buy everything they had just to get them to go away. I grabbed my purse and rushed over to the door. Maybe this person would see that I was in a hurry and leave me alone.

When I opened the door, my stomach dropped. Max was standing in front of me wearing a tux. He looked more handsome than ever. More handsome than I’d thought possible. What was he doing here?

I repeated that question out loud. “Why are you here?”

He stared for a moment and then said, “I came to pick you up for the gala.”

I was so confused. Apparently, he was my date for the evening. Couldn’t he just come out and say these things without making them so confusing? But then again he would have probably said the same thing about me.

“You look absolutely fantastic,” he added.

“So do you.” I
smiled.

“Shall we go?” he asked.

I nodded, trying not to grin too much. I didn’t want to seem overanxious. Pulling the door shut behind me, I allowed Max to guide me toward the steps with his hand on the small of my back.

When I reached the bottom of the steps, I stopped. There was a black limo parked at the curb.

“Is that for us?” I asked.

“I thought it would be better than walking,” he said with a
wink. “I figured you would wear heels.”

I
chuckled. “I’m glad you thought of me.”

Max reached for the door, but the driver ran around and opened it.

“Thank you,” I said as I slipped into the backseat.

This made the second time I’d been in a limo in the past week and the second time I’d been in one my entire life.

“I’m glad you decided to accompany me tonight,” Max said when we started down the road.

“I’m glad you asked,” I answered without letting him know that this was the first confirmation I
’d had that this was a date. Even if he hadn’t asked me out for a night, I had been prepared to have a wonderful evening regardless.

“I have to confess that I’m not sure about tonight. It was another employee’s idea. Don’t get me wrong
, I’m one hundred percent behind the charity aspect, but I don’t like the promotion of the company so much. It should just be all about the charity tonight.”

I nodded. “I completely understand.”

Within a few minutes, we’d pulled up in front of the mansion. The place was huge and made of white brick with a large porch. The driver pulled up in front, then opened the door for us. The place was even larger when I reached the porch. Lights shone in every window and chatter from the guests spilled out into the warm night air. When we reached the door, it opened as if someone had been waiting for us. I stepped into the room and a small man wearing a waiter’s uniform greeted me.

“Good evening. Welcome to the gala.”

Max nodded. “Good evening.” Max gestured toward the other side of the room. “Would you care for a drink?”

I nodded. “Yes, I’d like that.”

Max and I moved across the space. I tried to ignore the fact that all eyes watched us. Why were they so curious about Max’s every move?

“There are a lot of people here,” I said, taking a sip of my champagne.

“Yes, I’m glad to see there is such a good turnout.”

I took another drink from my glass and then said, “Have you noticed that everyone is watching your every move? I’m just curious why that is.”

He glanced around the room. “I guess they are curious since I’ve recently returned.”

I guess
ed that made sense, but they were taking it to the creepy level.

Max watched me for a moment then he touched my hand. “May I have this dance?”

The energy from the song pulsed through the room. Max led me to the dance floor and didn’t waste any time pulling me close to his hard body. My stomach flipped and at that moment I wanted to place my lips against his. His gaze met mine and our bodies touched. I felt eyes on us and when I finally looked over I realized everyone was watching us. It really wasn’t much of a surprise.

The strange vibe didn’t stop there. I felt even more of a penetrating stare. When I looked across the room, I noticed the man from the other party—was it the
Enforcer? Yes, I was almost certain it was him. Oddly though, he wasn’t watching us. Maybe he had been staring, but for now he was drinking from his glass. He had to have some kind of connection to the company and I would have to ask Max again who this man was. He seemed to have a power around him, like he was in charge.

Sadly, I’d allowed this man to take away from my special moment from Max. Had Max noticed that I’d suddenly become distracted? When the music stopped, Max led me away from the dance floor.

“Are you okay?” Max asked.

Finally it registered that he had been talking to me. I met his gaze. “Yes, I’m fine. I’m just going to find the powder room. Will you excuse me?”

“Certainly.” He took my glass and I headed off in the direction of the Enforcer.

The Enforcer
had started to walk down the hallway, but I felt compelled to follow him. I had to know what was going on with him.

He paused and I ducked into an empty room. I didn’t want the man to know that I had been following him. After a few seconds, I peeked out from the room and noticed that he had stopped at the end of the hall. He was talking to someone, but since he was standing in front of the man I couldn’t see his face. Wasn’t that the vampire from the bar? I had to get a closer look so that maybe I could hear what they were saying. Why was I so interested anyway?

It would be hard for me to sneak up on the men because they would see me walking down the hallway. When a couple moved down the hall, I took that as my opportunity to get closer. I stepped out behind the man and woman and moved stealthily down the hallway behind them. They stopped and glanced over their shoulders at me. They probably realized that I was walking really close behind them. I smiled and stopped to adjust my dress as if I hadn’t been following them. As I neared, I wasn’t so sure that it was the vampire from the bar. Heck, I just couldn’t see well enough. However, I heard part of their conversation.

“Have you made an
y progress in finding it?” the Enforcer asked.

“I’m still working on that.” The man shifted from one foot to the other.

“What’s the holdup?”

“I think I’ll have it soon.” He paused and then said, “But why don’t you just let me just kill him?”

“We don’t know that would work. Just do as I told you.” Who were they talking about? Killing someone was serious business.

Someone cleared their throat from behind me and I spun around.

“Oh, you scared me,” I said.

Max stared at me. “What are you doing?”

Considering the ladies’ room wasn’t near here, I had to come up with some excuse.

When I didn’t immediately answer, he asked, “Is everything okay? I thought maybe you got lost.” He didn’t take his eyes off me.

I glanced over to see if the men were watching, but they had disappeared. I focused my attention on Max again. “I did get lost. The place is so big and I took a wrong turn.”

He smiled and I figured that he’d bought my story. He reached out, grabbed my hand and gently pulled me to follow him.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

Max didn’t answer, but within a couple seconds, we were outside the French doors and had stepped out onto a patio.

Tall trees with moss shaded the area. Flowers and bushes dotted the landscape. Max took my hands and faced me. He didn’t say anything, just leaned in to place his lips on mine. The moon shone, casting a glow over the area. His lips were soft, but he kissed me with a sense of urgency and I returned the feeling. I was thankful that we were the only ones out there. We were lost in our own world, away from the music and the loud chatter. Max wrapped his arms around me tighter.

Even though
we’d momentarily forgotten where we were, I couldn’t ignore the level of noise coming from the house. Everyone was talking louder. Unusually loud. We looked over, but couldn’t tell what was going on.

“Let’s see if something is wrong,” Max said.

I followed him back into the mansion. Everything was as we left it, but it was different too. Everyone talked louder and their movements were faster. I also noticed people were avoiding light. Like the light coming from lamps and chandeliers. Of course I was annoyed by the light too. This was strange and had never happened before. The sun was probably starting to have long-lasting effects.

Whatever was going on here I knew that it was time for us to get out of there.

Max must have read my mind because he said, “I think it’s time for us to leave.”

“I think you’re right.”

He had already spoken to the people gathered around the room anyway, so I doubted they would miss him. I glanced back one last time. People were still moving away from the lights and the room was dim. We climbed into the back seat of the limo and took off toward my home. It had been a weird evening, but I should have expected it. Everything had been weird since I’d met Max.

We chatted about the way things had changed since he had been turned and before I knew it we had pulled up
in front of my house. The driver let us out and Max walked me to my door. We stopped in front of the door and he pulled me close like he had back at the mansion. He leaned in and placed his lips against mine. Once again, I was in a daze. I wouldn’t stop kissing him if there was a fire under my feet. I knew that this night would end in more than just a kiss. It wouldn’t be a repeat of the last time I’d invited him in.

He paused his lips on mine and then pulled away a little. Desire was evident in his eyes and I knew that he wanted me to invite him in.
Why fight it? If I was attracted to him this much then I should give in to my desires for once. I’d always pushed people away. Why not just this once see what happened when I let someone in my life and let my guard down?