Vampires Among Us [Vampires Among Us 1] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Alice Brown

  “No. Once is enough for me. Where did that come from?” Erica asked, now clearly confused.

  “I’m just stating that you could have the wedding of your dreams once a week for the next thirty years, and I doubt you could bankrupt us,” he replied with a chuckle.

  “Oh,” she answered with a gulp. It was the only thing she could get out of her mouth. She had known all along he had money, but it really wasn’t her business to dig into his finances, so she never asked. “Like I said, there is nothing to fret about. And since we haven’t done it yet, how about when we get home I go over all of our finances with you so you know where we stand, okay? I never meant to leave you in the dark on it.” He paused and simply stared at Erica, as another thought went through his head.

  “Erica, is this something that was a problem with Shawn? Did he lose his temper over financials?”

  “No not really,” Erica answered honestly, but with a shudder going down her spine. “I just never knew where we stood, and I was always careful to never give him the chance to blow up over financials. I never spent money unless I absolutely had to.”

  “Okay, good. You have nothing to fear from me, baby. Spend as much as you need or want. If we ever run into a problem, I promise we will both sit down and discuss it like adults. Now, can I allow my sister back in here, so you two can get ready to go shopping with my famous limitless credit card she is dying to get her hands onto?” Kevin inquired with a wry grin on his face.

  “Sure, but what are you going to do all day while we shop? Isn’t it going to get boring for you waiting on us all day long?”

  “Kevin can find a seat and read while we shop,” Jennifer stated as she breezed in the door. “Well, I’m glad to hear the two of you worked things out.”

  Thirty minutes later the three were on the way to the dress shop. As they walked in, the lady standing behind the counter exclaimed, “Ms. Jennifer! I haven’t seen you in ages! How are you?”

  “I’m fine, Marge, and you?” Jennifer responded.

  “Oh, business as usual.” The other lady laughed, and then gave a pointed look at Erica and Kevin. “Have you brought me new customers?”

  “Marge, this is my brother, Kevin, and his fiancée, Erica. And yes, we are going to be shopping for Erica today,” Jennifer announced excitedly.

  “Okay, go ahead and start looking around. I need to finish up with this customer, and then I’ll be free to help you,” Marge stated, as she scooted off back to her other customer waiting at the counter.

  Kevin handed over his credit card to Jennifer. “Here, I know you are dying to get your hands on this,” he stated with a wicked grin.

  “Oh yes, most definitely. There is a park bench just outside under an awning. You can wait for us there.” Jennifer replied, as she snatched the credit card out of her brother’s hand.

  “Jennifer, that’s mean!” Erica scolded her, but couldn’t hold back a light giggle.

  “It’s okay, love,” Kevin answered, as he placed a gentle kiss on Erica’s brow. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

  As he headed out the door, he turned and threw a quick glance at Erica. “Don’t be afraid to get your wardrobe set, Erica.” Then, he turned to Jennifer and stated, “Use the card, and do what you need to.” He then turned on his heel, and strolled out the door.

  Jennifer turned to Erica with a raised eyebrow. “You aren’t going to give me any trouble today, are you?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean I don’t want you resisting me when I am trying to do what is best for you.”

  Erica chuckled as she shook her head. “Nope, I have no intentions of bucking you. Go ahead,” she stated as she swept her arm outward. “Be my guest. Shop until you drop. You are the one he handed the credit card to. If he has a problem, I’m sending him straight to you!”

  Jennifer laughed. “Oh, my brother will be fine with this. Trust me!”

  Jennifer turned and started looking at the dresses on the rack beside her. “Besides, if I don’t succeed by the end of today, I am afraid I will lose my title of Shopping Queen!” Both young women broke out in fits of laughter, and then quickly got down to business.

  The two women spent the next three hours in the little dress shop. Erica quickly discovered that the woman who had greeted them at the door was the owner, and of course, she was a vampire. It took little time for Erica to decide that Marge was one of the nicest women she’d ever met. Erica stopped for a moment to realize that every vampire she had met since leaving Shawn had been extremely nice and pleasant toward her. Well, Felippe at the board meeting had been the one exception. She remembered reading a few old vampire books when she had been in high school. They had left the reader with the impression that vampires did nothing but suck the blood from humans, and then discard them as if they were little more than trash. She snickered at herself as she tried to imagine any of her soon-to-be family members acting like this. Impossible!

  Jennifer demanded Erica try on at least fifty dresses and outfits. It was while they were in the dressing room, trying on outfits, that Erica posed a question to her. “Is Kevin able to hear us?” She asked this at just barely a whisper, having no idea how far their superior hearing carried.

  Jennifer threw a smile over to Erica and said in a low voice, “He shouldn’t if you whisper.”

  Erica nodded, quickly continuing in a whisper, “Your brother and I have just recently become intimate. I would love to have something pretty to put on for bed, you know, some pretty lingerie, but the only thing I own is my silk nightshirt. Do you think you could help me?”

  Jennifer immediately nodded her head in confirmation, her eyes shining and dancing in merriment. “Ohh, lingerie shopping, my favorite!” she whispered in delight, and she did a little happy dance right there in the dressing room.

  Realizing what Erica had stated at the beginning of the conversation, Jennifer suddenly stopped her dancing and shot her eyebrows up as she verified, “Did you state that you two just now? You know? As in you two haven’t been all along?” Jennifer stammered in shocked disbelief. The young woman standing in front of her had been living with her brother for months now, and they were just now deciding to become intimate? She suddenly questioned if she knew her brother at all. Either he was a saint, or a complete idiot. Of the two, she wasn’t so sure of at the given moment.

  Erica nodded her head in confirmation, and then continued, “I’ve had some trust issues to hurdle, and that took time.” Erica took a quick second to glance over to her. She knew from the look on Jennifer’s face when this subject was first brought up, that Jennifer had assumed the exact opposite. Jennifer, who quickly remembered the shape Erica was in when she first arrived, now decided her brother was a saint to have the willpower to hold off and give Erica a chance to heal.

  “Well then, I guess a double congratulation is called for! And yes, I will get you taken care of. Just leave everything to me!” Jennifer breathed, and then stopped for just a moment to glance over to Erica. “I’ll take care of things for now, but you are going to promise me that we will go lingerie shopping before the wedding. Do we have a deal?”

  “Okay, deal,” Erica agreed, quickly glancing over to Jennifer to see her eyes dancing with excitement and just a hint of mischief. “Meantime, I think we had better get back down to business here,” she pointed to the massive stack of clothing still to be tried on.

  By the time the girls finished shopping, Jennifer had helped Erica pick out enough clothing to fill a closet. Among everything else, they were able to find six different evening gowns, and had narrowed the wedding dress selection down to two different styles. All the gowns were being ordered in the color Erica had chosen, or needed to be altered in some way. They would be delivered to the house within a week. Erica promised Marge she would make a final decision on the wedding gown quickly so it could be ordered.

  “Now, we must have shoes to go with these new clothes!” Jennifer exclaimed, glancing over to Erica, while handing Kev
in’s credit card to the shop owner.

  Having heard Jennifer’s statement regarding new shoes, Marge smiled as she processed the credit card and started folding Erica’s new wardrobe. “My best friend owns a shoe shop just down the street. If you would like, I can quickly email her pictures of your outfits and she will be happy to help you pick out shoes to match.”

  “Thanks, Marge; that would be wonderful!” Jennifer stated with a smile on her face, as she quickly gathered up their purchases and headed to the door.

  Kevin was parked right outside under the awning where Jennifer told him to wait. Looking up from his book as the girls walked out of the little dress shop, he asked, “Are you done already?”

  “Not at all!” Jennifer replied, flashing her brother a quick grin. “We are just finished with the first stop. Now, we are off to find shoes to match the outfits!” She quickly handed over all the garment bags she had been toting. “Why don’t you be a gem and place these in the car? We are heading down the block to the shoe shop.”

  “Do you two want a ride, or are you walking?” Kevin inquired as he took the many bags from his sister and quickly headed for the car. It was such a pretty day, Erica was hoping she would opt for walking.

  As if reading her mind, Jennifer glanced over her shoulder at her brother, and stated, “We’re walking.” She then added quickly, “Meet you there shortly.”

  As the girls headed down the street, Kevin watched their retreating figures for just a few seconds. Erica looked genuinely pleased to have Jennifer with her today, and she seemed to be having fun. With Jennifer involved, he was sure the damage on his credit card would be a healthy amount. A small smile stole over his lips. It didn’t matter how much damage those two women did today, it was worth it all to see the smile on Erica’s face. He chuckled softly, recalling Jennifer’s comment about only being finished with one stop. Now on to shoes! Oh yes, they must have shoes to match the clothes. We are talking about women here!

  As the two women stepped into the shoe shop, a quick smile stole over Erica’s face. Maggie, the shoe shop owner, met them at the door, and quickly introduced herself. She wasted no time informing the girls that Marge from the dress shop had already emailed her the pictures, and she had numerous pairs of shoes ready to show them.

  By the time they were finished shoe shopping, Erica was exhausted. She ended up picking out twelve pairs of shoes! She was sure she had never owned this many shoes in her entire life! She chose three pairs of cute comfortable sandals, the remainder being pumps and heeled shoes to go with the different dresses and suits. Maggie showed her a couple of tricks, including using small cushioned inserts that lined the bottom of the shoe. These inserts were narrow enough to be worn with open shoes, and never be noticed. Erica found herself able to wear heels for the first time in her life without being in pain. When the shopping was completed and the girls were standing at the checkout counter, Erica made certain that she had picked up enough of the inserts for all of her heeled shoes.

  Kevin never said a word when his girls emerged from the shoe shop almost two hours later, toting bag after bag of shoes. When Jennifer informed him as to the amount they had purchased, he just smiled and asked if they had fun.

  Erica returned his smile and added a quick kiss as she replied, “Yes, we had a blast!”

  * * * *

  Once everything had been loaded in the trunk of the car, Jennifer gave a quick wink over to Erica, stating she needed to be off, and then left in a sudden hurry.

  Kevin waited until he had Erica in the car, and was sitting in the driver’s seat himself. “What was that about?” he questioned her.

  “What?” she replied innocently.

  “Come now, love. Surely you didn’t think I would miss my little sister’s wink, did you? What has she got up her sleeve now?” Then, as he slid the key into the ignition, it suddenly hit him. “That little vixen didn’t give me my credit card back.” He reached into his pocket for his cell phone and was speaking to Jennifer a few seconds later.

  “Do you still have my credit card? Okay, just hold onto it until we get back. No, I won’t need it. I have another if that happens,” Erica heard him state.

  Kevin didn’t know what his little sister was up to, but he had a feeling that he was getting ready to pay up for that favor he still owed her for when she covered the bullet hole in Erica’s new car from her. She dismissed him quite easily when he phoned her, and although he asked her if she still had the credit card, he was actually letting her know he knew she still had it. Under the innocence of his words was a warning. She was up to something, and by the look on his fiancée’s face as she stared out the window avoiding making eye contact with him, Kevin was betting Erica knew what Jennifer was up to. Hmm, he thought with an inward grin, this could get interesting.

  The couple went out for dinner, which gave Erica time to relax. She had two more days at the beach before returning to life as normal. Although she’d had fun shopping today, she had plans of splitting her time with Kevin, and soaking up the rays over the next two days.

  The young couple arrived back home, and as they climbed the steps leading to the front porch, Kevin glanced over to her with concern. “You look like something is bothering you love. Is something wrong?” He was hoping she would open up and tell him know what his sister was up to.

  Erica smiled over to him as he unlocked the door. “No, everything is fine.” If he thought she was going to rat out his sister, he didn’t know her very well.

  As they stepped inside the house, they were greeted by a large white box with a huge red bow on top sitting in the middle of the floor. Erica’s name was written across the top of the box in big, bold letters. Erica took a quick second to glance up at Kevin with wide eyes, noticing the look of amusement on his face. As if on cue, both said the name at once, “Jennifer.” Then, as Erica walked over to the box, she quietly whispered, “Girl, what have you done now?”

  She knelt down on the floor to lift the box open. She couldn’t help but gasp out loud as she realized what the box was full of. On top of everything sat Kevin’s credit card. Erica held it up for him, refusing to look at him, still staring into the box that was so full of frilly things, she had no idea where to start.

  “This is yours,” she stated, still holding the credit card in her hand, knowing he was behind her.

  Kevin reached down and took the offered card, and then took a moment to glance into the box. His face broke out into a big grin. “Hmm, do I get to see?” Erica felt her face turn every shade of red possible. She was seriously regretting asking Jennifer for this favor. She only wanted one or two outfits. Not a box full of every type of lingerie known to mankind. The box was full of undergarments as well as nightwear. From the looks of it, Jennifer had bought out the local Victoria’s Secret.

  Kevin, of course, found the entire situation very amusing. So this is what his little sister had been up to! He knew the minute they walked in the door and had spotted the box, it was from her, no one else had a key to the house other than the cleaning crew, and his little sister was the best lockpick in town. If Charles ever found out Jennifer had picked one of his locks, he would be furious, but Kevin wasn’t going to be the one who told him. Jennifer and he had kept that little gift of hers to themselves.

  When he had glanced into the box, he spotted a lot of silk and lace. Good, he thought to himself, she needed that stuff. A smile played on his lips, as image after image flitted through his mind of her modeling for him. He would need to remember to thank his younger sister.

  “Well, I did tell Jennifer to get your wardrobe set. Now I know why she hung on to my credit card,” he casually stated.

  “Kevin, I’m sorry, this is my fault,” Erica whispered. “I honestly didn’t think she would buy out a whole damn store! I knew she could go overboard, but she truly went way overboard this time!” She looked up at him to judge his mood. Would he be mad? Would this be the thing that finally sent him into a temper? Well, if it was she would just have
to shoulder the responsibility on this one since she was the one who had asked Jennifer for help

  He swung down and picked her up so fast it made her head spin. He had her standing in front of him, lightly grasping her hips, before her heart could have even thought about skipping a beat. “I’m not upset, love. I knew she must have been up to something to hang on to my credit card. Our kind doesn’t forget things like that. I just didn’t know what she was up to. I’m not mad at all.” He gave a quick glance down into the box and then back up to Erica with an amused expression on his face. “So, are you going to model any of this for me?” he asked with a twinkle in his eye and a wide grin on his face.

  Erica bit down on her lower lip. “I need to see what all is in here, first. Your sister went way overboard. I sent her out for one or two nightwear outfits, and she comes back with this.” She gestured towards the box on the floor. “I need to see what all she has done before I can answer that question.”

  “Fair enough,” Kevin replied. He gave her a kiss, and she wrapped her arms around him tightly. “I do hope you will decide to model some of it for me,” he whispered in her ear. She could feel the heat start in her chest and work up to her neck and face, all the way to her hairline. He chuckled at seeing her face go up in flames. “I would have thought after all we have done, you wouldn’t be so easy to embarrass,” he teased.

  Erica decided to take the box into the spare bedroom to figure out what all was in it. As she spread everything out on the double bed and then started sorting things into piles, she had to admit it was all very pretty. She also had to admit that most of her undergarments needed to be replaced, and having an assortment of pretty, sexy lingerie to wear to bed was great. As a yawn escaped her, she glanced over to the clock. It was already 10:00 p.m. Where had the evening gone? She quickly picked out her selection for the night and threw everything else back in the box, then headed for the bathroom for a quick shower.

  As Erica took a look at herself in the mirror, she had to admit the change was nice. And, she was sure Kevin would enjoy the view. She chose a long blue gown with a plunging neckline, and only a scrap of lace covering her breasts. There was a long slit going up the front of the nightgown, separated by yet more lace that went clean up to her navel. Oh yeah, Kevin is going to love this one, she mused as she took in a gulp of air and walked out of the bathroom.