Chapter 1
Piper
Icould just move next Thursday’s meeting to the following Monday…and there. I smacked enter on my keyboard with a resounding clack. I was done for the weekend.
With a long sigh of relief, I logged out of my computer and pushed back from my desk. Working for a lawyer wasn’t the most exciting job, especially not when your previous employment included so much excitement it almost killed you. Multiple times. But it was better than sitting around the house waiting for the others to tell me we could go back to our regular lives.
“You out of here for the day, Piper?” Bethany, a curly red-headed paralegal, smiled down at me as she stopped at my desk. In a tight, formfitting, forest green dress, the slit between the square neckline showed off just a hint of cleavage. With her perfectly on point makeup, Bethany looked the part of a serious but sexy businesswoman.
Unlike me.
I had to work twice as hard to look like more than just the plain Jane around the office. I had to admit, as much as I hated some of the outfits the Durands put me in, at least they had good taste. The best I could come up with were a series of blouses all of the same style but in different colors. I mixed and matched them with black skirts, pants, and sensible shoes. You couldn’t pay me to don those death contraptions Bethany wore to work every day. She didn’t have the same issues I did though. I never knew when I might need to run.
Holding back disdain from the way my thoughts had turned, I opened my desk drawer and grabbed my purse. “Yep. Right this moment.” My eyes darted to the open door of our boss’ office, Jack Biggs. I lowered my voice. “If I can get by the Big Man.” We both rolled our eyes and giggled quietly. Jack Biggs was just as arrogant as his last name. In his opinion, no one was better than Jack Biggs. Not in the courtroom…or the bedroom, which he’d not so subtly slipped into the conversation not even the first week I’d been working for him.
“It’s hard to believe you’ve been working here a year.” Bethany bumped my arm with hers as we walked toward the exit. Her heels clicked on the tiled floor, unfortunately signaling the Big Man of our departure.
“Piper!”
I held my answer to Bethany and cursed under my breath. Giving her an exasperated look before spinning around, I forced a smile on my face. “Mr. Biggs, I was just heading out. What can I do for you?”
“Please, Piper. How many times have I told you to call me Jack?” The dimple in his cheek peeked out as his full lips curved up in a flirtatious grin. Some people would be orgasming over having a boss like Jack Biggs. He had black hair that was almost blue in a certain light, and warm brown eyes that his smiles actually reached. If I was any other woman, I would have been delighted to have him as a boss, let alone someone interested in me, but I had more than my fair share of beautiful men, and frankly, Jack didn’t hold a candle to them.
Clutching my purse strap tighter, I glanced over at Bethany who was holding back a smile. Inwardly, I groaned. On the outside, I gave a polite chuckle. “At least one more time, Mr. Biggs. Did you need something? I’d really like to get home.”
“No, you’re not!” Bethany gasped and smacked me on the arm. “This is your one year at the company. We have to go out and celebrate. Come on, Jack, tell her!” Bethany turned her pouty lips toward Jack and fluttered her long lashes over her big hazel eyes. As much as Jack was interested in me, Bethany was far more interested in him. She once told me she wanted to have his Biggy babies. Really. She said it exactly like that. I wanted to vomit. A little like the way I felt now at the prospect of going out to celebrate my one-year workiversary.
To them, it might seem like a momentous occasion. But to me, it reminded me that I was dying a little bit inside each day that went by. Instead of voicing what I really thought of going out with them, I shoved down all my emotions that were billowing up and put on a strong face.
“I really shouldn’t. I need to—” I tried to make my excuses, but Jack interrupted me.
“You are the best receptionist I’ve ever had. You don’t have any work you need to do. And I know for sure that your boss would approve.” He winked at me, causing Bethany to giggle.
Seeing that I was not getting out of this, I conceded, “Fine. One drink.” I held my finger up with a stern look. “Just one.”
“That’s my girl!” Bethany cheered, and looped her arm through mine as they steered me out of the building.
With my free hand, I grabbed my phone and shot a quick text to Darren to let him know I was going out. There was a fifty-fifty chance he wouldn’t even look at it.
Darren had taken up the head of the household role quite easily since we went into hiding. Or rather the Durands had. Darren and I were playing at being normal humans for the time being. That time seeming to be endless since we’d first moved to Seabrick a year ago. I’d hoped it would be short-lived. My promise to not wait around for them hadn’t quite gone as planned. Hard to bust down the doors of the vampire hunters when you had no idea how to find them. Plus, I might be a human servant, but that only allotted me so many extra benefits. Speed, heightened senses, and unfortunately, raging hormones. Darren kept telling me they would get under control eventually, but I had yet to see it.
“So, where are we going?” I asked, trying to keep my mind off my own tragic life, and focused on my pretend one.
“Just down a block or two.” Jack pointed to the west once we stepped out of the building. Seabrick was a cute little town with a fifteen-minute walk to the beach from any part of town. I guessed that was why Antoine had planned for Darren and me to go here. No vampire in their right mind would live by the beach, where getting as much sun as possible was the motivation for practically all its residents.
There wasn’t a pale face in sight as we walked down the street. Everyone had a nice tan from—if not spending time on the beach—being outside in general. And they were all just so…happy. It was sickening really. Who was that happy? There had to be something in the water.
“Were you able to move my meeting?” Jack glanced over at me, his long legs having to shorten their stride to keep in line with Bethany and myself.
Thankful for something non-personal to talk about, I offered him a small smile. “Yes. I moved it to Monday.”
Jack grimaced. “Not too early, I hope?”
I suppressed a giggle. “Of course not. We wouldn’t want the Big Man to lose any beauty sleep, would we?”
Jack smirked as Bethany groaned.
“You’re not seriously going to talk about work this whole time, are you? This is a celebration!” Bethany skipped a bit in her three-inch heels, jerking me with her. “I want to know more about you, Piper.”