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“Thanks,” Dana said with a laugh. “Derek didn’t dress up of course. He says one vampire is enough. Between you, me, and the rest of the world, I think he looks damn good just as he is.” Her friend looked over at her husband and Harper followed her gaze. Derek Covington stood with a circle of men at the far side of the room. Tall and handsome in a very conventional kind of way. Dana was over the moon about him and, more importantly, Derek was madly in love with her. They were the perfect couple.
Harper shifted her mask. The room was sweltering and the damn thing was itchy. Gina Ling had moved to the center of the room and tapped a knife on a crystal glass to get everyone’s attention.
Harper decided it was now or never. “Do me a favor and take notes. I’m going to have a wander.” She winked at her friend. “If anyone comes looking for me, I’m in the restroom. But text me and let me know.”
Dana giggled. “A wander? Not sure that’s a great idea in this creepy place, but I’ve got your back.”
Harper strolled back to the foyer as if looking for some cooler air, she looked around. The coat check girl and the one with the list were chatting with the valet and the boy with the umbrella. Everyone else was in the salon listening to Gina’s speech. No one was paying attention to Harper.
She took a deep breath and then quickly went up the stairs, her heart pounding. She expected someone to yell stop at any moment. Reaching the top, she turned and moved to the opposite wall so no one could see her from below. There was another staircase leading to an upper floor. Should she start at the top? The option was logical but somehow, she didn’t think she’d have a solid reason to be on the third floor. She could always say she came up to the second floor to find a bathroom. She might get away with that ruse, but no one would buy that excuse for being on the third floor.
Looking left then right, she decided to start at the front of the house and then work her way down the hall. Standing at the foot of the stairs to the third floor, she tried the door to her left. It was locked. She went across the hall and tried the one directly opposite. The door opened but the room was dark. She quickly dug out her cell phone and turned on the flashlight. She didn’t want to risk turning on the overhead light. The walls were a pale yellow. It looked like some kind of sitting room.
She backed out and shut the door again. Moving down the hallway, she tried the next door. Also locked. At this rate, she’d never find the green paint.If it still existed.She tried the next door and it opened. She hit her flashlight again but heard voices coming down the hallway. She closed the door behind her and leaned on it. Should she risk turning on the light? Then at least she’d look like she belonged. If someone opened the door and she was standing there in the dark, they’d know she was up to no good.
“I know what you’re saying but we need to rethink how we play this,” a voice said. “We’re going to need local help to make this happen.” There was a pause. He must be talking on the phone.Oh my God, what if he’s looking for a room to take the call in?
“Possibly, but as I said, Davis, local help is going to be necessary. Circumstances aren’t what we hoped in this location.” The voice paused right outside the door.
Did she flick on the light? Try to lock the door? Shit, she sucked at this.Note to self, don’t take up a life of crime. It would be a short-lived career.She held her breath.Please go away.
“I have to get back to the party before anyone notices I’m gone. Think about what I said. We’ll talk soon.” The voice died out.
Harper put her ear to the door and listened. Nothing. She was pretty sure the man had left but she wasn’t about to open the door to check. Instead, she groped the wall until she found a light switch. Made more sense to be discovered with the light on.
She flicked the switch and a single floor lamp in the corner of the room lit up. She blinked in the sudden light. Then all her breath whooshed out of her lungs. This was it. The room was the green she remembered. The green that was under Astrid’s fingernails and on her dress. Astrid had been here.
Harper stared. Where the hell did she start looking for evidence? The room was a library. The walls were covered in dark wood bookshelves. An ornate wooden desk was by the wall on the left and some chairs with a small table between them were on the right. The windows were large and would flood the room with light during the day. Lightning flashed outside, scaring her. Where would Astrid scratch the green paint if this was the only green room? What if there were more? She couldn’t think about that now. She looked all around the door. Nothing.
She crossed the room and went to the first window. If Astrid was clawing at the paint, then she was probably trying to get out. That thought made her stomach turn and she swayed on her feet. Closing her eyes for a second to regain her equilibrium, she clutched at the windowsill to keep her balance.
“What are you doing in here?”
CHAPTERFIVE
The woman clutching the windowsill jumped and put a hand up to her chest as she turned toward him. She was wearing one of those stupid black half-masks so he couldn’t make out her face but he could definitely see the rest of her, and damn if she wasn’t a walking wet dream. Her dress was deep purple, and the fabric kissed every curve. One of those, what was it called…bandage dresses, stopping mid-thigh. The tops of her breasts were exposed in the deep vee of the neckline. As he approached, her hazel eyes appeared startled behind the mask.
“What are you doing in here?” he asked again. He came to a stop beside her. Her scent wafted up to him and a sudden wave of lust caught him off guard. He stared down at her. Energy charged off her and he felt an immediate pull in his groin. Excitement danced across his skin.
“I—I was just looking out the window when the lightning hit. It scared the life out of me.”
Her voice was low and sexy but he was having trouble concentrating on what she was saying. “Lightning?” Just then the sky lit up and the crash that followed was so loud, the house shook.
“Oh.” She jumped and swayed.
He slid an arm around her to steady her.
She rested a hand on his chest. “It’s getting bad out there.”
Touching her had been a mistake. It took everything he had not to curl his arm around her waist and draw her against him. What the fuck was wrong with him?
He dropped his arm and stepped back. “It does seem to be getting worse.”
Of all the inane shit to say.Jesus. This woman had fully thrown him off his game. The electricity between them rivaled the storm. He’d never felt the pull to a woman so strongly before. It was as if…his Irish mother would say it was as if they knew each other in a past life. He gave a mental snort. Too much talk of haunted houses and this close to Halloween. He was letting it get to him. He didn’t know this woman. They’d never met before. He didn’t forget a face or especially a figure like that. But she seemed so damn familiar somehow. His mother was laughing at him from wherever she was. He could feel it. She’d always said out of all her seven children he was the only one with her gift.Gift for trouble was more like it.
“I think it’s probably time for me to go.” She offered him a small smile and moved to step away when he shifted his weight to block her exit.
“Maybe not just yet. I think you should tell me what you were doing in here first.” He had her backed against the window. He wasn’t touching her, but he was close enough for the energy to arc off her skin to his. And close enough that the sound of her quickened breathing reached him.
