The steel door swung open and there was conversation, then the huge garage door came up with a groan and a crash. I darted inside while three men stepped into the truck. I kept to the shadows, slipping into the main room and looking for Rafe. He was behind the bar, and he’d pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and a glass. Great. I’d driven him to drink.
“What the hell?”
Oops. I’d been spotted by the human truck driver. I ran across the empty dance floor to the bar.
“Ignore her.” The shifter carrying two tables laughed. “One of the owner’s pets if I’m not mistaken.”
Rafe’s head came up, and he stared at me. He shook his head and drained his glass. I just sat down in front of the bar.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Rafe poured another drink and knocked it back.
Several of the men had stopped working to watch. A few of them laughed.
“Hey, boss,” one of them called. “Who’s the bitch?”
Rafe leaped over the bar and was on him in a heartbeat. “You want to ask me that again?” He had a fistful of the man’s shirt. “Maybe you don’t need this work.”
“No, man. Sorry.” The man glanced at me, then at the rest of the gang who all got really quiet, then busy with hammers and electric drills and saws.
“That’s it for tonight. Clear out.” Rafe grabbed the clipboard the delivery man thrust at him and signed. “All the tables inside?”
“Yes, sir.” The delivery man was confused as the work crew packed up their tools with quiet efficiency and exited the building in record time.
“Out.” Rafe followed him to the door, and I heard the garage door come down with a noisy clang.
I just sat there, not so sure this had been a good idea. If he’d just smiled . . .
“So what’s this about?”
I didn’t say anything, just laid down and looked at him with big eyes. What had he done to show he was sorry in the past? Oh, yeah. I rolled over and showed him my tummy.
Finally, he smiled with just a hint of dimple. “A golden retriever?”
“It matched my hair.” I wiggled and thumped my tail against the floor. Mental messaging seemed to be the way to talk to him.
“So I see.” Rafe knelt down and rubbed the fur under my chin. “Soft. How does it feel? To be a dog when I’m human.”
I didn’t like it one damned bit to tell the truth. I rolled over again. The tummy up position had been way more vulnerable than I could deal with for more than a minute at a time.
“It’s not great. How did you stand it all those years?”
“I’m a shifter, not a vampire, for one thing. We look at these things differently. And I was getting a big paycheck for the inconvenience.” Rafe sat on the floor beside me. He put his hand on my head. “Seriously. I want you to remember this feeling. I had to live with it a long damn time. Watch you go about your business, and see you as a desirable woman while I knew you never saw me as a man.”
“I’m sorry, Rafe.”
“It’s okay. It’s over. I’m not doing that again.” He looked around the club. “But this has to be a success. I’m through with the bodyguard thing. When I cut myself off from my family’s wealth, I had to take some jobs that weren’t so great. Like dancing in Nadia’s clubs. And doing dog duty for Blade. And those were the best of the lot.” He turned to stare into my eyes. “Never again.”
“Why’d you cut yourself off?” I wondered if I should change back but felt maybe Rafe would share more about himself if I stayed in this dog persona. I wasn’t physically uncomfortable. I didn’t have fleas or anything. And the concrete floor wasn’t cold. But I was definitely in a subservient position, and I didn’t like that at all. Alesa hated it, and I was hot again. Guess that was my punishment when she was displeased. I mentally shot her the finger, then sucked it up and stayed put.
“Granddad is head of the family. Because my branch has the demon taint, we have to be model citizens to be accepted in the shifter community. We’re supposed to marry the right women, have the perfect children, always be above reproach. My brother pretends to go along with it, but I wanted to do things my way. So I took off.” Rafe stroked my head like I used to do when I was upset.
“What do you mean, your brother ‘pretends’ to go along?” I sighed. His hand felt good on me. Warm, soothing.“We do have demon blood. It makes us enjoy being a little, okay, a lot wild at times.” Rafe’s eyes gleamed. “Ethan keeps his stunts on the down low. I never bothered. It caused my family some grief. I haven’t shown you that side of me yet, Glory. Because it would probably be too much for you. Like now.”
I stiffened, reading his mind. “No, I won’t do that. You just veered into ick territory.”
He grinned. “Thought so. Brittany was up for it, but then she’s a shifter. Like I said. Different point of view.”
“Changing the subject now. I saw your eyes go red at the shop. That’s part of the demon thing, right?”
“Yeah. I’ve got a few dark powers. Trust me, you don’t want to see me go there. But if I need them, I can call on the forces of evil.” Rafe lifted his hand from my head. “Payback’s a bitch, though.” He frowned. “Do you hear that?”
“Rafe, your dog is ringing.” Nadia walked into the room, her high heels tapping on the concrete floor. “And why the hell is the crew gone early?”
“They got enough done. The sound system and lighting are installed. The tables arrived. I let them go. The vamps needed to feed before dawn and the shifters ...” Rafe shrugged, then jumped up and faced her. “They’d earned a break. The second crew will be here in a few hours. I’ll come back and supervise.” He frowned down at me. “Glory, shift and answer your damned phone.”
I hated to. Blade? Simon? And shifting in front of the sophisticated Nadia made me feel awkward and vulnerable.
Rafe grinned. “What? You naked inside that dog body?” He’d done his guard duty clothing optional.
Damn, I should have thought of that. But Nadia being here would have ruined that scenario anyway. I gave up and stood. The phone had stopped ringing, but I heard the sound that meant I had a voice mail. I trotted behind the bar, then shifted.
“I’m not naked, just felt a little weird about shifting again.” I straightened, then walked around to face both of them. “Not my usual thing.”
Nadia shook her head. “I don’t care what games you two play on your own time as long as the club gets ready.” She glanced over her shoulder. “I see Ray’s men were here and set up his special sound equipment. Now we’ve got to rent a grand piano.”
“That’s a little much, don’t you think?” Rafe walked with her toward the stage while I dug my cell out of my pocket.
Uh-oh. Missed call from an unknown caller. I had a feeling that meant Greg, Simon or Westwood. I pressed a button and listened to the voice mail while at the other end of the room Rafe and Nadia argued over Ray’s performance and the expense.
“Gloriana, we think we’ve got the right location for the video shoot. Meet Kaplan behind your shop in ten minutes, and he’ll lead you there. We want your input.” Simon’s voice. A command, not a request. I glanced at Rafe. He wasn’t going to like this, but I had to go. I owed it to Rafe to tell him about it. No secrets. Our relationship was hanging by a thread already.
“Rafe?” I eased up behind him.
“One minute.” Rafe put his hand on Nadia’s arm. “Go ahead with the piano. It’ll be like his Grammy performance. Right, Glory?”
“Sure. It was sensational. Ray really gets the crowd going when he sits at a keyboard.” I forced a smile.
“Exactly.” Nadia laughed, clearly pleased to have won the round with Rafe. “Run along and enjoy the rest of the evening. I’ll tell Ray. He’s staying at my house.” She gave me an inquiring look. “I know you two used to be together, Glory. I hope that doesn’t cause a problem.”
“No, have fun.” I even managed a smile.
“Oh, I’m sure we will.” Nadia laughed. “As I told you, there are no safe hotels for a vampire here in Austin. It will be so much better for Ray at my house than having his shifter keep housekeeping out of the room during the day.” She nodded at me. “You understand.”
“Perfectly.” I understood that Ray was putting his plan into motion at warp speed. Nadia would give him an up close and personal lesson in how ancient vampires played.
“Sounds like a winner.” Rafe didn’t bother to hide his satisfaction at the news. He picked up a paper. “Here’s the invoice for the tables. I’ll lock up. Ray’s already moved in?”
“He was getting his luggage.” Nadia frowned. “Glory, he said you’d left him a message. For some reason he didn’t seem inclined to call you back. Was it important?”
I gritted my teeth at the slam. “Ray and I had a misunderstanding earlier, but I still care about him. There’s been a threat against some of my friends. Rafe talked to Brittany, Ray’s bodyguard, so she knows all about it.” I smiled. “I think I’ve got it handled now, but Ray should still be careful. I assume you have excellent security.”
“Of course. No vampire can sleep during the day without it.” Nadia picked up the purse she’d dropped on a table and slung the strap over her shoulder. “Don’t you worry, I’ll keep an eye on Ray.” She winked. “Sorry about the fight, but seems you and Ray have both moved on. Rafe, I’ll talk to you tomorrow night. Have fun, you two.” She left without a backward glance.
“Now are you going to tell me who called? Was it Blade?” Rafe kept a table between us, not exactly taking Nadia’s “have fun” to heart.
“No. Simon. He wants me to check out the site for the video. I’ve got to meet Greg in the alley behind the shop in”—I glanced at my watch—“about five minutes.”