Darcy massaged her temples where tension was building. Good God, she'd forgotten how hard it was to find a decent man. No wonder she had remained single.
"Can we go home now?" Maggie asked. "I've never seen such a dreadful display of manhood."
"I know," Darcy agreed. "But we still need one more."
Michelle opened the door. With a smile, she announced, "This is our last applicant. Adam Cartwright."
He walked into the room. Darcy's mouth fell open. Tall, with long legs and broad shoulders, he moved with an understated grace as if he were conserving energy. His thick hair was shot through with golden streaks. His bronzed skin glowed with natural vitality.
He moved forward, scanning the room, then halted suddenly, his gaze fastened on Darcy.
His blue eyes widened. Darcy's breath caught, and she couldn't look away.
He stepped toward her. He cleared his throat, and she swore the sound rumbled in her own chest. "Miss Darcy?"
Was that deep, sexy voice coming from him? She willed herself to reply, but the words refused to come out. She licked her lips, thinking that might help, but then his blue gaze lowered to her mouth, and she forgot what to say.
"Darcy?" Maggie whispered.
His eyes focused on hers once again. Instantly, a flood of warmth surged through her. Warm like the sun beating down on her head. Warm like the sand between her toes. Good God, she hadn't felt this warm since that terrible night four years ago. She closed her eyes and relished the liquid heat as it poured through her veins. It was like being on the beach again with the surf pounding in her ears and the salty air tickling her nose. She could almost feel a volleyball in her hands, see the net in front of her, hear her sister laughing beside her.
"Darcy." Vanda nudged her with an elbow.
She opened her eyes with a jerk. He was still there, still staring at her. Slowly, he smiled. Oh my God, dimples. Her brain turned to mush.
"Are you all right, Darcy?" Maggie whispered.
She took a deep breath and managed a whisper. "Apollo."
Chapter 4
She was mortal.
Thank God! Austin slowly became aware that he was standing there with a dopey grin on his face. But why not? He'd found the mystery woman, and she was mortal. She had to be. He'd entered her mind so easily, and once there, her thoughts had burst forth like rays of sunshine. She was thinking about warm sand, beach volleyball, and her sister's laughter. No vampire would have thoughts like that.
And the other two women? The short one with dark hair was definitely a vampire. He recognized her from the parking lot at DVN. And he would bet the purple-haired one was undead, too. She had that flashy look and hungry gleam in her eye. His gaze barely flickered to the other two women, before returning to the lovely-woman in blue. He kept his power carefully focused on her alone, so the other women wouldn't detect him.
She finally spoke, her voice a hushed whisper. "Apollo."
Huh? He cocked his head, trying to decipher her meaning. The images in her mind were still focused on the beach. She dreamed of the sun's warmth caressing her skin. Her face was flushed, her br**sts rising with each rushed breath. He realized with a jolt that she'd look the same way if he were making love to her. A surge of blood careened toward his groin, and for a second, he visualized himself pulling her on top of the table and kissing her 'til her lips were swollen and red. And then he'd - what? He couldn't do anything with one, maybe two vampires in the room.
Why was she here with these two undead women? Was she a prisoner? Were they blackmailing her or threatening a member of her family in order to force her cooperation? The two women kept whispering and nudging her. Was she under their control? But Ms. Stein had told him Miss Darcy was the one in charge.
He needed more information. He needed to gain her trust. And staring at her with a big bulge in his pants was not the way to do it. He placed his photo on the table in front of her. Her smoky blue eyes glanced down, then back at his face.
"May I?" He pulled a black, leather-upholstered chair away from the table and sat, facing her.
Her thoughts flitted into his head. He doesn't want to stand there and stare down at us like the other men. No, he's bringing himself down to my eye level. How kind and considerate.
Kind and considerate? Sheesh, he was just hiding his erection. "How do you do, ladies? I'm... Adam Olaf Cartwright."
The purple-headed one wrinkled her nose. "Olaf?"
"Yes." Austin knew the most successful lies included as much of the truth as possible. "I was named after my grandfather, Papa Olaf. Best fisherman in Minnesota. My favorite memories are going fishing with him." He caught some thoughts coming from the beautiful Miss Darcy. He loves his family. And the outdoors. And the simple pleasures in life.
The short one yawned. "You like killing fish?"
"I enjoy the process of fishing, the anticipation of what could happen. If I don't need the fish for food, I put them back in the water." He heard more thoughts, coming from Miss Darcy. He's patient and compassionate. And so gorgeous. Holy moley, she really liked him.
The purple-headed one leaned toward her and whispered, "He's boring."
Austin knew Miss Darcy wasn't bored. He also realized the other women were simply calling her Darcy. "May I know your names?"
"I guess so," the short one answered. "I'm Margaret Mary O'Brian, the assistant director. Everyone calls me Maggie."
"Vanda Barkowski." The purple-headed one raised a hand, displaying long purple fingernails.
He shifted his gaze back to the woman in blue. "And you?"
She curled her fingers around her writing pen. "Darcy."
"First name or last?"
"Last," she whispered, while the other two said, "First." Her eye twitched, and her hands clenched the pen more tightly.
"Which is it?" he asked softly. The poor girl was a nervous wreck. Why? Was it because she was forced to keep company with vampires?
She took a deep breath and set the pen down carefully on the table. "Do you have any acting experience?"
He started to recite the list of lies he'd prepared, but changed his mind. "No, no experience at all."
He's an honest man. And intelligent. Her thoughts sifted into his head, followed by a flood of guilt from his own conscience. Honest? He wasn't even telling her his real name. And how intelligent could he be if he was auditioning for a reality show? Besides, these women didn't look or act like vicious killers. He'd questioned the other applicants as they'd left the conference room, and none of them reported being harmed in any way. Could it be true what Shanna had said? That there were actually two kinds of vampires - harmless ones and violent ones?
No, he wasn't ready to accept that yet. Even so, this seemed like a waste of time. Emma had the right idea. His abilities would be better spent in Central Park, hunting the vampires who attacked people and fed off them. And when he caught one of the creatures, he could interrogate it about Shanna.
"I'm afraid my audition was a mistake. I'm sorry I wasted your time." He gave Miss Darcy one last look as he stood. Poor beautiful sweetheart. Whoever she was, he wasn't giving up on her. She might be in danger and need his help. He'd start investigating her right away. He strode toward the door.
"Wait!"
He turned. She'd risen to her feet.
"You... you don't really need any experience. Or even any talent. This is a reality show."
He couldn't help but smile. And when she smiled shyly back, he knew he was lost. So what if it was a waste of time? Sean had ordered him to do the show.
She gave him a pleading look. "I'd like you to be on the show."
I'd like to kiss you senseless. "I can do that." She heaved a sigh of relief and grinned. "Good." Oh, it would be good. His gaze swept down to her hips, then back to her face. "More like excellent." Her eyes widened. "I - we'll be in touch."
"I'm sure we will." He let out a long breath as he left the room. He had every intention of touching her.
And very soon.
Darcy took a deep breath and willed her racing heart to calm down. Adam Olaf Cartwright - just the thought of him made her heart thump ridiculously fast. She reached for his photo with trembling fingers. Good God, you could see his dimples in the picture. And the beautiful turquoise blue of his eyes.
"Are you all right?" Maggie asked. "You could hardly speak."