"Your place or mine?" he asked as he started the car.
"Well, Lily is at yours. She wasn't too happy the last time we saw her. Remember?" I fastened my seat belt.
"Surprisingly I remember almost everything. Except for when I was shooting fire out of my hands. Did I blast it out of my eyes too or was that a nightmare?" He drove down Ian's driveway then stopped to wait for the iron gates to open. A pair of guards eyed us but waved us through.
"Nightmare. Mouth and fingers, that's all. Like some kind of unwilling superhero. FireMan. PyroBlaster. Has a certain ring to it, don't you think?" I reached over and squeezed his hand.
He laughed and shook his head. "Keep it up, Gloriana, and I just might have to pull over and make you pay for mocking me."
I smiled, loving his teasing. "If it wasn't so close to dawn, I'd beg you to." I sighed and leaned my head against his shoulder. "It's good to see you driving again, Jerry. You sure you're up to it? Not that long ago you were laid out in a tub, incoherent."
"Nice picture." He hit the accelerator and drove onto the highway. "I'm fine. Your place. I'll face Lily tomorrow night. She needs some tough love. That temper tantrum at the airport wasn't necessary. I do remember that. I think a job would be good for her. If Lily will listen to you, it's a good idea for you to talk to her. If you're willing." He glanced at me.
"I can try." I settled back in the leather seat, the cool wind blowing my hair, my worries safely tucked away for tomorrow too. Tonight, since Jerry was feeling so chipper, I was going to make him very happy when I took him to bed.
"Only have a half hour until dawn." I looked up at the dark cloudless sky. My plans for a big night were slipping away with the ticktock of the clock.
"Let's make the most of it." He stopped at a light and pulled me to him for a kiss. His mouth on mine sent a different kind of flame licking through me. I could tell he was having the same reaction. He seemed desperate to get closer to me. When he finally drew back, his eyes were dark and shining. "God, but I didn't think I'd survive tonight. Now...I need you, Gloriana."
"I need you too. I'm so glad you're back, really back, Jerry." I ran my hand over the bulge in his jeans. "Hurry." I glanced around. We were the only car on the road, even as we neared downtown. I slid down his zipper and eased my fingers inside to find him hard. His cock sprang free with a nudge and I bent down to run my tongue across the bead of moisture that had collected on the tip.
"God, Gloriana." He stepped on the gas. "What are you doing?"
"Testing your recovery. Can you multitask, Jeremiah? Drive and play at the same time?" This car had automatic transmission and I pulled his right hand over to plunge it into my dress's gaping neckline. Then I went back to work, taking his cock into my mouth and rolling my tongue around it. He pinched my nipple, his breath hitching when I squeezed his sac.
"Temptress. You realize there are traffic cams getting all this action."
"Hmm. Giving some poor bored sap a thrill, aren't we?" I went back to pleasing him until he slowed to make the turn into my alley. Then I sat up. Someone had replaced the lightbulbs and it was almost as bright as day. I pushed my dress back into place and zipped him closed. "I'm going to have to check on my shop sometime."
"Not tonight." He leaped out of the car and jerked open my car door, rushing me to the back of the building while I fumbled in my purse. "Hurry or I'll break the bugger down."
I laughed and held up the key. He grabbed it and made quick work of the lock while I punched in the security code. We ran up the stairs and I gasped when Jerry pushed against me from behind, unzipping my dress and opening my bra while I unlocked the apartment door with shaking hands.
As soon as we were inside he ripped off my panties, pushed up my skirt and leaned me over the couch, taking me from behind before I could do more than drop my purse on the floor. My landline was ringing. No way was I going to answer it now. Jerry pushed my dress and bra forward to bare me to the waist as he pounded into me, his hands clamped onto my breasts, two joysticks on his ride toward release.
I just held on, my fingers gripping the fabric while pleasure spiraled through me. I panted his name over and over again wanting more, more, more. I didn't mind his rough, take-charge lovemaking. I knew I could turn the tables anytime and make Jerry mine the same way he was claiming me now. The answering machine clicked on.
"Glory girl. I just heard you're back in town. Call me, babe. Tell me what happened with the hardheaded Scot. If he didn't take you back, you know where to find me. Love ya." Ray. Israel Caine. His voice was unmistakable. And just in case I didn't recognize it, he ended the message with a chorus from his latest hit, a love song with an erotic message. "Oh, baby, do you remember what we did last night? Let me do you again."
Jerry stopped moving. "Caine. What the hell was that about?" He pulled away, his hands sliding off my breasts.
"Tomorrow. We'll talk about it tomorrow." I turned, refusing to give Jerry time to think, and pushed him down to the floor before I climbed on top of him. He still wore all of his clothes, only his zipper was open. I wrestled off his shirt then bit one of his nipples before I sucked it into my mouth. He growled, definitely distracted.
"Yes, we will talk about it." He grabbed my ass and pushed into me, hard. "But right now I need to feed again, Gloriana, before this ends too quickly. Are you up to it?" He bared his fangs.
"Of course." I leaned down, meeting his thrusts eagerly. All my senses were alive as I touched his face, felt the press of his belt buckle into my stomach, my breasts bouncing against his chest. It was wonderful to know he was actually seeing me, his longtime lover, remembering everything we'd been through together and yet still wanting me. "You need me, take me."
He didn't misunderstand, just brought my throat down to his lips. "I love you, Gloriana. I hope to God you haven't made a fool of me again." Then he sank his fangs into my vein.
Made a fool of him again? I woke at sunset lying in my bed with Jerry's words ringing in my ears. He rolled over and took his time making love to me. No words. No explanations. Neither of us seemed ready to get into it. Instead we celebrated Jerry's return to mental health with the kind of slow, sweet loving that left me limp and barely able to stagger into the shower. There he washed my back, massaged shampoo into my hair and then pleasured me one more time.
Of course I realized Ray was the elephant in the room. I wanted to say something. Open the conversation. But how much should I tell Jerry? I couldn't just dump my betrayal into his lap. He'd been through so much and I really didn't want that to be the first thing he had to deal with. Ray and I had slept together right before I'd headed for Scotland. At a low point for both of us we'd offered each other comfort. It had been easy for me to rationalize that Jerry taking off for his homeland had left me free to finally give into my fantasies about Ray.
But I'd discovered that my infatuation with a rock star was just that. Something that had no real future. Ray was kind, generous and exciting. But he was simply not Jerry and Ray's history with loving 'em and leaving 'em didn't recommend him as a keeper anyway. Unfortunately Ray still had hopes that he and I could work things out between us. I needed to see him to set him straight on that. I was with Jerry as long as he wanted me to be. It was that simple.
Lucky for me, unlucky for Jerry, his phone rang and all the business problems that had been put off when he'd been out of commission began to catch up with him. I had to jump in the shower again by myself when he frowned, booted up his laptop and began to scroll through what looked like a thousand unanswered e-mails. I hoped my business was in better shape as I blew my hair dry, threw on makeup and headed downstairs wearing one of the dresses my mother had given me. As I could have predicted, the expensive wrap dress got an appreciative audience in the shop. If I ever decided to sell it, I could get big bucks.
"Glory, we heard you were back." Lacy Devereau, the were-cat who was my day manager, had hung around after her shift was over so she could meet with me. She'd been running the store while I was gone.
"Who is telling everyone that?" I led Lacy to the back room. I was dying to see the books, to see how my finances stood. I had payroll, rent, merchandise to pay for. My mind was getting an overloaded feeling when I thought of how much I had to handle.
"Jerry's daughter, Lily, has been by on a regular basis. She kept us updated since you haven't exactly touched base." Lacy smiled. "Not that we expected you to. Anyway, Lily left a few of her vintage pieces here. She wasn't too happy with our consignment policy. Actually thought she'd get the money up front, like at a pawnshop." Lacy sat on the worktable while I pulled out a stack of receipts. "Seems she was short of cash. Her daddy didn't send her a check this month. What's that about?"
"Jerry had amnesia for a while. Guess Lily didn't share that tidbit. He's upstairs right now trying to catch up on his business. Nice to know Lily was smart enough to come here. Did she bring anything good?" I started piles of shop bills versus income. It was going to be a tough month.
"You bet. And she goes for the Goth look so we've sold quite of bit of her stuff already. Corsets, vintage leather. You'll love it. If you see her, tell her to clean out her closet again." Lacy put her hand on mine. "Amnesia! Wow, that had to have been rough. Megan said Jerry was in here last night and looked confused. Is he okay now?"
"Yes, thank God. His memory is back and he's good as new." I laughed, still not sure I believed it.
"Good." Lacy pushed a ledger closer. "Hate to bug you, boss, but here are the time cards. All of the clerks really need to be paid as soon as you can manage it. I know I have rent, car note. Living expenses."
"Sure. I'm sorry. I had no idea I'd be gone so long or I would have put you on the checking account. If there's a next time, you can stick to the schedule and take care of payroll yourself." I pulled out a calculator. I'd start with Lacy's hours.
"Good idea. You can trust me, Glory. I'd never take advantage of you." She smiled and pointed. "These extra hours are because Becky quit. Graduated and took a job in Oklahoma. Can you believe it?"
"Good for her. But what's she going to do with a fashion degree in Oklahoma?" I didn't want to show her how that total was hitting me. Lacy was getting a big check. I needed to run some numbers, check my balance, before I paid my other bills.
"She's going to work for a big retailer up there. She was all excited about it." Lacy chattered on about the other clerks, a new one she wanted to hire, her family, even a boyfriend she was thinking of breaking up with. I wrote her check then started in on the rest of the payroll checks. It had to be done. Fortunately there was a large deposit to be made too. I should have left better instructions. Lacy could have made these deposits sooner.
"Great." I had no idea what she'd said. I hoped she hadn't just called her boyfriend a loser. "Here are all the checks for the clerks. I'm going to drop this cash into the night deposit. The bank lobby is open late on Thursday nights. I'll get things set up for you then and from now on you can deposit our cash daily." I handed her the envelopes for the staff then zipped the bank bag closed. "We should have done this years ago."
"Well, yeah. I didn't want to say anything but you are a bit of a micromanager, Glo." Lacy smiled and hopped down from the table. "No offense."
"No, you're right." I picked up the bag. "I had a serious wake-up call in Scotland. My priorities have shifted now. Jerry didn't know me and I had to start over with him. It made me realize that I wanted to put my relationship with him first. This business supports me but it's not the center of my existence."
Lacy hugged me. "Wow. That's major." She pulled open the door into the shop. "We handled things here for you. That's why we didn't call while you were over there."
"And I appreciated it. My mind just wasn't on this place." I glanced around the store and realized that, except for that front window display, everything looked fine - stock straight and new things out for customers to see. "The store looks great, Lacy. As soon as I balance my checkbook, I'll see if I can squeeze out a bonus for you and the rest of the staff."
Lacy flushed. "Thanks, Glo." She hugged me again, unusual in a were-cat. "If you're going to the bank now, be careful. There have been some ATM robberies lately."
"I'm a vampire, Lacy. I think I can take care of myself against some mortal thief." I held the bag against my chest. "No one is getting this money. It's all that's keeping this store afloat right now."
"Okay then. And thanks. It's good to know you appreciate us." She waved the envelopes and the night clerk, Megan, came running over.
I stopped to talk to her for a few minutes then headed for the bank down the street. It was still fairly early for Sixth Street, not yet ten o'clock. I passed Rafe's nightclub which had a line down the sidewalk. It was a Friday night and he had a popular band playing according to the poster beside the door. The shifter letting in the crowd saw me and waved. I waved back but kept walking. Of course I knew him. I knew most of the people who worked for Rafe. I should stop and talk to Rafe too. I wasn't happy with the way he'd confronted Jerry. Maybe after I dropped off this deposit.
I passed the crowd and got closer to the financial district where the bank was located. The night deposit drawer was near the ATM and both were well lit. I held the bag tightly as I approached the building. My spidey senses told me something was up. If some desperate yahoo thought he was going to take this deposit, he was in for a surprise. He'd end up with fangs in his throat. I wouldn't mind a little human blood for a change, though I wouldn't kill him of course, just take a donation.
A police car drove slowly down the street. Good. I walked faster, eager to get rid of the bag and back to the nightclub. Rafe stocked blood with alcohol and I would enjoy a drink like that. Maybe I'd call Jerry and see if he was ready for a break. That band played good dance music. Flo and Richard might come over too. I was making up a guest list when something hit me between my shoulder blades. The bag went flying across the pavement and I hit the concrete.
"What the hell?" I was up in a flash and saw a person in black running down an alley, my bag tucked in like it was a football and the perp was going for the goal line. "Oh, no, you don't."
I sprinted down the alley, sure I could catch up to a human in no time. But this person wasn't jogging along at human speed. I sniffed the air and realized I was after something paranormal. Shit. I shifted and took off overhead. I could see the dark figure cutting through a parking lot, zigzagging around rows of cars like he was trying to make a trail impossible to follow. Good luck with that. I swooped down and landed in front of him. One touch and the creep was frozen. Oh, but I loved a good skill set.
I reached out and jerked off the ski mask my thief wore. Original disguise. Not. Long dark hair tumbled out. Oh, no. I knew this robber.
"Lily!" I thawed her out.
"You are kidding me." She threw the bank bag in my face. "You have to ruin everything, don't you, Glory?"
"Excuse me?" I stuck the bag in my purse, though it hung out over the top. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"I needed money." She picked up her ski mask and shoved it into her waistband. "So I figured out a way to get it." She smiled. "Mortals are so easy."
"I can't believe you. Where's your conscience? Are you the one holding up all the ATMs around town?" I grabbed her arm and shook her, so mad I didn't realize just how hard I was holding her until she hit me.
"Ouch! Let me go! This is all your fault anyway. First you piss Dad off so he leaves for Scotland. Then Mother explained why Dad lost his memory. That left me high and dry. I had no cash. How was I supposed to live? Answer me that." She wrenched away from me. I noticed she didn't answer me about the ATM robberies. Which was an answer in itself.
"You had Jerry's house to live in, his car to drive. I'm sure Jerry left you well stocked with synthetic." She made a face and I had a feeling she shared her father's love of a fresh donor. "And there's always a mortal to sip from if you're careful. Quit being so dramatic."
"Oh, why would you understand? It wouldn't bother you that I even had to sell my clothes. Do you know how humiliating that was for me?" She snarled. "Of course not. You're just a shopgirl. Probably wearing someone else's castoffs right now."
"There's nothing wrong with recycling vintage clothing." I bit back an explanation that my dress was new. Shopgirl. Nice to know that what I'd thought was a blossoming friendship had been nothing but condescension on her part. She'd sounded like her bitch of a mother just then. God knows Mara and I had never been friends, never would be. "Why didn't you ask your mother for money?" I crossed my arms. Point for Glory.
"She's too busy impressing her new fiance. Doesn't want him to think she comes with baggage like a daughter to support." Lily shoved her hands in her pockets. Skinny jeans, probably a size zero. She had her mother's great body. I wondered why she didn't have a boyfriend paying the freight at the moment but I definitely wasn't about to bring up what might be a sore subject.
"It was smart to go to my shop. Lacy said you brought in some great things. You'll have plenty of money when you stop in tomorrow night. I'll make sure she has a check ready for you."
"Yeah, sure. Now you pay me. But it's a little too late." Tears filled her dark eyes, so much like Jerry's. "Shit, Glory. I couldn't even buy my own drink at N-V."
Rafe's club. Of course Lily, slim and gorgeous, probably never had to buy her own drinks anyway. Not the time to mention that. She was well into her pitiful act.
"Look. I'm sorry about that. I'll take responsibility for my payout policy." I sighed. "Which is about to change. But forget that. Stealing, Lily. Your father will stroke out when he hears about this."
"Will he? Seems like he's too busy worrying about his lost mind right now to give me a second thought." Lily stared into the darkness, her shoulders slumped.
I wanted to shake her again. Where was her sympathy? Selfish twit. But what did I expect? She was clearly the center of her own universe.
"Good news. Your father got his memory back last night. He was going to call you. Maybe you have a message right now. I'm sure you turned off your cell when you got ready for your big heist, didn't you?" I tapped my foot, waiting for her reaction.
"Yeah." She threw back her dark hair and pulled a cell out of her back pocket. She looked so much like her father it was a miracle Mara had been able to fool her first husband into believing Lily was his instead of Jerry's. "Okay, there's a call here. I'll listen to the message later." She lifted her stubborn chin. "Go, make your deposit. Maybe Dad found his checkbook. Is he at your place?"
"Last I knew." I waited to see if she would beg me not to tell him about her life of crime. She didn't bother, just shifted and flew off into the night sky. What a character. Mara had had four hundred years to screw up her daughter, Jerry only a year to try to give her a moral compass. Did I want to tell him about the robberies? Not now.
One more thing to keep from him. He was going to have to get used to my thoughts being permanently blocked from him. Which would make him suspicious. So far he hadn't mentioned it, but sooner or later, he'd ask why I wouldn't let him peek into my brain. We were lovers, we shouldn't have secrets. Damn.
I pulled out the bank bag and walked back to the night deposit slot. Dropping it in was a huge relief. What next? It seemed nothing was simple anymore.
"Glory? Are you all right? Billy said he saw you walk past the club with a bank bag. There have been robberies lately." Rafe walked up behind me.
A police car pulled up. "Everything okay, ma'am?" The policeman opened his door, ready to come to my aid if Rafe happened to be the ATM robber. Lucky for the cop he was a few minutes too late. Lily would have made sure he wouldn't have remembered seeing her, or she'd have had him for dinner, or both.
"Yes, Officer, I'm fine. This is a friend of mine. I already made my deposit." I smiled and held out my empty hands, my purse strap safely on my shoulder.
"Just checking. We're trying to stop the rash of robberies around here." He closed his car door.
"Hey, I appreciate it." Rafe walked over to the police car. He handed something to the cop. "On your night off, stop by my club, N-V, right down the street. That's a coupon for a free drink."
"Thanks. My wife's been after me to take her there. You get some great bands on the weekends." The cop listened to his radio, which had come to life, a disturbance near the UT campus. "Maybe some Saturday I'll actually be off and can do that."
"Take a couple more coupons. Make a party out of it." Rafe tapped the top of the car when it sped off, then strolled back to me.
"Good PR for the club. So why did you follow me? Surely you weren't really worried about me. I can handle a thief." And had. I began walking back down the street toward N-V and my shop.
"You know why. What's up with you and Blade? Is he still out of it?" Rafe took my elbow and brought me to a stop. "Talk to me. I'd rather do it here than in a noisy club where I usually have a fire to put out."
Fire. That reminded me of Jerry's ordeal the night before. I wanted to check on him, make sure he was suffering no aftereffects. But first things first.
"No, he had a setback and we went out to see Ian. Believe it or not."
"Blade asking a MacDonald for help? He must have been desperate." Rafe knew all about the feud and Jerry's distrust of Ian and anything MacDonald.
"He was. But Ian came through. He called a sorcerer and, hocus-pocus, Jerry got his memory back." I went on to explain what had happened. Rafe whistled.
"Man, that had to have been rough on you. To see Blade like that."
Tears filled my eyes. Rafe always, always thought of me first. "Yes, it was. I love him, Rafe. I'm sorry if it hurts you to hear me say that, but I've made my choice. Jerry and I are together now. I'm not going to do anything else to pull us apart."
"It's tough to fight hundreds of years of history. I get that." He slid his arms around me. "But do you remember why you had such a hard time sticking with him before? I do. He's domineering, controlling, and you're a modern woman, Glory. He's still an ancient male even without a memory problem. With secrets."
"Last night you said something about that. About his name change. What did you mean?" I fought the urge to lean into him for a moment. No. I pushed back. It wasn't fair to Rafe to keep giving myself comforting touches when I was never going to let them lead to more.
"Ask him. Now that he remembers everything, make him tell you why he had to change his name a few years back, when he came to Texas. Ever wonder why he was so happy to pull up stakes and follow you here? It wasn't just for love, Glory." Rafe smiled, like maybe he had a few cards up his sleeve yet to play.
"Don't try to break us up, Rafe. That won't guarantee I'll end up with you." I stepped back out of reach. "I'd like to be able to go to your club, have a drink with friends and be your friend. But if you're always going to have this agenda..."
"No, relax. I'm here to catch you if you fall, nothing more." He held out his hands as if to show me they were empty. "Come on, I'll buy you a drink. Call Blade and invite him over. I'm not threatened by him, no matter how loud he blusters or how many knives he throws." He grinned, his teeth very white under the streetlight.
"You won't goad him?" I wasn't sure I trusted Rafe. He had that wicked twinkle in his eyes that I loved, but that also promised mischief.
"If he behaves, I behave. Swear to God." He held his hand over his heart. "Now come on. Hey, how are Flo and Richard?" He kept up a steady conversation as we walked on to his club, past the line and into the noise. The music was loud and the place was packed. Rafe signaled the bartender and I soon had a glass of premium synthetic blood in my hand, the kind with alcohol. The mortals surrounding me probably thought I was drinking a tomato juice cocktail. Rafe grabbed my hand and pulled me toward a table marked reserved on the balcony overlooking the dance floor. It was a little quieter up there and he settled me into a chair.
"I keep a table handy." He leaned close and whispered. "For my vampire buddies when they come by." He stood and looked around the busy club then frowned. "Call your man. I've got to go down and fix a problem with the band. Told you." He took off down the stairs.
So I did call Jerry. He was happy to take a break though he had Lily with him. I invited her along. When Jerry seemed reluctant to spend an evening in a club Rafe owned, I assured him that I'd had a talk with my friend and we'd come to an agreement that Jerry would be happy with. Okay, they were on their way. That left me feeling like I needed reinforcements because I was pretty sure Lily wasn't on Team Glory. Flo answered on the first ring.
"Amica! I have been dying here. How is Jeremiah?"
"Cured, Flo. He remembers everything now." That reality struck me hard suddenly and I had to blink back tears. "Come see me and I'll tell you how it happened. He'll be here soon too." I sipped my drink. The DJ was playing a popular hit and everyone was dancing. I should be celebrating. I had my old Jerry back.
"Where are you? I hear music."
"At N-V. Can you come?" I smiled and shook my head at a man who stopped by my chair with a question in his eyes. Too bad. I did like to dance. But no way was I going to be on the dance floor with another man when Jerry arrived.
"We're on our way. I am so happy!" Flo hung up.
Jerry and Lily would be here soon too. Would she be wearing her all black outfit? I'm sure she'd ditched the ski mask before she'd arrived on my doorstep to see her father. I was on my second drink when I saw them coming up the stairs. Lily had obviously stopped at the shop and rescued one of her consigned pieces. It was a red satin corset that barely held her generous breasts and looked good with those skinny black jeans and high heels. Hmm. Hadn't she been wearing running shoes earlier?
I narrowed my gaze. Those were my new shoes my mother had given me, an expensive designer label. Lily and I obviously wore the same size. I'd damn sure get them back and they'd better not be damaged. Not right away obviously. Lily was getting major interest from the men in the room.
Of course Jerry looked more like her date than her dad. But when he kissed me on the lips and settled down next to me, a pair of twentysomething men swooped in to ask Lily to dance. Her eyes lit up and she took both of them down the stairs with her before I could say something about those shoes.
"It's good that she's dancing. She was pretty upset when she got to your place. Chewed me out good for leaving her without so much as a credit card." Jerry waved at a waitress and put in a drink order. "What brought this on?" He nodded toward the crowded dance floor.
"I needed to talk to Rafe. To make sure he knew you and I were together and that I wasn't putting up with his shit. Like that scene last night." I tapped my fingers to the beat of the music. "You know this is the only club in town that caters to us." Meaning vampires. I didn't think the mortals nearby could hear us over the band but we didn't use the "V" word in public. "I wanted to be sure we could still come here without a showdown between you two."
Jerry grinned. "And did you set him straight?" He leaned back in his chair, obviously happy with that idea.
"Yes. I told him he was my good friend but would never be anything more." I rubbed Jerry's hard thigh. "How are you feeling? Any residual problems from last night?"
"Other than accidentally setting fire to your Israel Caine collection?" He laughed when I gasped. "Kidding. I know better than to touch that, just like you may hate my smoking cigars but you would never toss out my stash of Cubans."
"Exactly." I kissed his smile. It was so good to see him back to his old self.
"I'm afraid there is a bit of fallout from our trip to MacDonald's." He covered my hand with his. "He's called in his favor."
"Already?" I felt that last drink do a slow churn in my stomach. "What does he want you to do?"
"I have no idea but I'm to bring you with me. I told him hell no but he was adamant. Seems he needs your Olympus connection to solve this issue he's dealing with. Of course he had to be mysterious on the phone. Typical MacDonald tactic." Jerry squeezed my hand. "Sorry, Gloriana, but we're going to have to go out there and see him again. If you're willing, of course." He picked up the drink the waitress set down in front of him and signaled that she should go ahead and bring us both another round.
"Of course, whatever you need. But my Olympus connection. Crap, Jerry, I really don't want to have to get involved with my mother again." I drained my own drink.
"Darling, how can you say that? We have such fun when we work together." Her perfume sent waves of fragrance across the table and reminded me of an overblown bouquet. Too intense, cloying. I couldn't breathe so I didn't bother. Had she just appeared or walked up the stairs? We weren't getting stares so I guess it didn't matter.
Fun. Right. I ignored her and turned to Jerry. "When do we have to take care of this favor?"
"Tomorrow night." He glared at my mother. "Olympia, why don't you run on out there to MacDonald's house? You two seemed to hit it off. Maybe you could handle whatever he needs done and spare your daughter the hassle. Tell him you're doing it for me. I think you owe me that much."
"Owe you?" She lifted a perfect eyebrow.
"Mother." I leaned forward. "Jerry's been through hell. His brain almost boiled because of your interference. Yes, you certainly do owe him."
She acted like she didn't hear me. "Ian and I did hit it off. He was quite charmed, of course. Most men are when they meet me." She preened, adjusting the bodice of her stylish leopard print dress to show maximum cleavage and pulling a compact out of her black patent clutch. If she heard Jerry's snort, she didn't acknowledge it. When she started to reapply her lipstick, I'd had it.
"Are you going to do it?"
"Really, Gloriana, just because you run around town without even bothering to use a hairbrush doesn't mean I do." She snapped her compact closed. "I'll go see Ian and we'll discuss what he wants done. Then I'll see you both tomorrow night. You did promise we'd visit with each other occasionally, Gloriana. Remember?" With that she just vanished, heedless of the mortals all around us.
"What is she thinking?" I glanced around, sure someone would exclaim, say something, point. No one seemed to have noticed. Maybe she'd only been visible to us. I could hope.
"She obviously has her own rules. We are nothing to her, Gloriana. It's strange that she even wants to bother knowing you. Maybe you'll explain that to me now that I'm myself again." Jerry smiled suddenly. "Here are Florence and Richard. I'm glad they're here. I never thanked them properly for giving us a ride home on the jet. Or apologized for acting the fool about it." He stood and kissed Flo's cheek. He and Richard clapped hands, discussing Jerry's miraculous and almost fatal recovery.
I tried to perk up and get into the spirit of a celebration, even ran a hand over my hair. Trust my mother to make me feel like I looked a mess. Now I had something new to dread. Tomorrow night. Doing a favor for Ian was bad enough, but when it involved Olympus? It was too much to hope that my mother would fix things and then just go away. No, somehow I'd be up to my eyebrows, which needed a serious plucking, in disaster.
The only thing left to do tonight was to order another drink. I was already feeling a buzz. Then I glanced over the railing and saw Lily dancing with her new male friends. She stumbled then jerked off my shoes and tossed them aside. One landed in a puddle of beer. Okay, that did it. I was out of my chair and halfway down the stairs before Jerry caught up with me.
"Going to dance by yourself?" He laughed and grabbed me around the waist. "Next slow one I'll be happy to partner you." He noticed my glare in his daughter's direction. "What is it? Did Lily do something?"
I stopped and made myself calm down. Starting a war with Jerry's daughter wouldn't help anything. I turned and smiled up at him and didn't that take every bit of my acting skills?
"Lily had on my shoes. Did you tell her she could borrow them?"
He glanced over at her sandwiched between the two men who were taking turns bumping into her with their hips. "She's barefoot. Hell, I didn't notice what she wore in here. She said she needed to borrow your hairbrush and went into the bedroom. If she got into your closet, I'm sorry." He hugged me. "I know how you are about your shoes. I'll buy you a replacement pair, even better than whatever she appropriated."
We both saw one of my black pumps go skidding across the dance floor when someone kicked it. "Not the point, Jerry. I wish she'd asked." I leaned against him. "Never mind. Lily and I need to talk. And not just about the shoes. Do you care?"
"No. Go for it." He kissed my cheek. "Ah, a slow song. Come on, dance with me. And I will buy you those shoes. It's the least I can do if my daughter makes off with yours. I'll not have a thief in the family." He pulled me onto the crowded floor. "All right?"
"Sure. Thanks." I leaned my head against his chest. A thief in the family. If he only knew. Yes, I needed to talk to Lily, but I owed it to Jerry to talk to him first. Yet another thing to dread. He ran his hands down to rest on my hips. Forget dread. I needed to focus now on what was good. I was in Jerry's arms and he knew me. The music was working on me like it always did and the alcohol had lit a fire in my blood. I was getting anxious to take Jerry home. One night at a time. That was the only way I could deal with my ridiculous life.