Chapter Two
by Michelle M Pillow & Mandy M Roth
Interview with: Jaycee Clark author of Deadly Shadows
“What’s with the sign on the door?” Mandy
asked as she sashayed towards the bar.
Armando smiled and stood
slowly from his seat. A grin appeared on his pale face as he tipped his
head to the side. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, now you’re coy!” Mandy let out a loud laugh.
“Seriously, why do you need to hire more help? It’s not like you’re too
good to serve a drink or two. It wouldn’t kill you.”
He let out a sexy laugh and
took a step towards her. “No, serving a drink won’t kill me. Besides, I’m
already dead.”
She let out a groan and
plopped down at an empty seat. Armando moved behind her and put his hands
on her shoulders. “You look tired, Mandy. Not get much sleep last night?”
His tone was harsh.
“No, I had a rough night. I
never realized how wild vamps are in bed,” she said, closing her eyes and
stretching her neck. Armando’s grip tightened on her. “Ouch, take it easy
big boy.”
“What brings you down to the
club so early?”
Mandy patted his hands and
smiled up at him. “You haven’t seen my purse have you? I can’t remember
what I did with it.”
Armando let out a snort.
“I’m surprised you remember much of anything you did last night.”
“Giving her a hard time first
thing in the door, Armando?”
Mandy leaned back and saw
Dmitri approaching. He flashed one of his famous bad boy smiles and picked
a bottle of whiskey up from behind the counter.
“Bit early for a drink, isn’t
it?” Mandy asked.
“It’s never too early for a
drink.” Dmitri shot back with a smile. “So, what’s the deal with your
little blonde friend?”
Mandy glanced at Armando. He
gave a Gallic shrug and continued rubbing her shoulders. “Who, Michelle?
Please tell me that you’re not interested in Michelle.”
“Well, yeah, I am
interested. Why?”
Mandy let out a very
unladylike snort. “She is so out of your league. You’re a ladies
man and she’s not into those.”
Dmitri filled his glass and
did another shot of whiskey. “No woman can resist the loving of the lycan,”
he said in a low sultry tone.
“He’s kidding, right?” Mandy
asked, looking up at Armando. The vampire just smiled. “Are you going to
break out in the Thriller dance now?” Dmitri burst out into laughter.
Armando just looked at Mandy with a look of confusion. She stroked his hand
gently. “It’s okay, you’ve been dead a long time. It’s excusable.”
“So, you really think I’ve
got no chance with Michelle?” Dmitri asked.
“Oh, sweetie, you’d stand a
chance in hell with her.”
He tossed his hands in the
air and spun in a circle. A phone started to ring and Dmitri bent down
behind the bar. He came up with a small silver handbag. “Why do we have a
purse back here that’s ringing?”
Armando’s caresses came
harder now, and Mandy felt too good to move. “It’s mine, answer it please.”
“Sure,” Dimtri said, fishing
the phone out of her handbag. “Hello, this is the man who is going to shag
Mandy’s friend Michelle tonight. Who is this?”
Dimtri cleared his throat and
shot Mandy a horrified look. He ran his hands through his light brown hair
and bit at his corner lip as he brought the phone over to Mandy. “Here,” he
said, extending his hand outwards. “It’s Michelle.”
Mandy burst into laughter and
took the phone from him. “What’s up, babes?”
“What’s up?” Michelle
screamed in Mandy’s ear. “What’s up is I’ve been trying to get a hold of
you all damn night. I’ve been worried sick about you. What have you been
doing?”
“I think you mean who.”
Mandy said, a smiled forming on her face. “Actually, what might work
too—now that I think about it. I went home with those vamps from last
night.” Armando’s hands squeezed her shoulders tight. She let out a small
gasp and tapped on his cool hands to indicate he was rubbing too hard.
“Did you get your article
done?” Michelle asked.
Mandy held the phone away
from her ear before saying no. She didn’t feel like listening to Michelle
yell. When the screaming in the phone stopped, Mandy put it back to her
ear. “So, you’re coming down to the club tonight, right?”
“Did you hear a word I said?”
Michelle asked.
“Nope. And you took my car
so I need a ride. I’ll see you in a bit. Thanks babes, owe ya one!” Mandy
shut her phone off and put it back in her purse.
“I think I pissed her off,”
Dmitri said.
Mandy nodded. “Yep, you did,
but she’ll still come down here.”
“How do you know?” asked
Dmitri, looking hopeful.
“She’s not done yelling at me
and I’m sure she’s got a few choice things to say to you too!”
~****~
“Oh, I know
you!”
Michelle glanced up, sure the
woman had the wrong person. But her purple eyes seemed to be looking right
at her. Michelle looked over her shoulder. No, they were the only two in
the parking lot along with a handful of cars. “I’m sorry?”
“You’re a writer, right?
The Mists of Midnight? And you work for the Nocturnal Journal,” said
the woman.
“Ah, yeah, yeah that’s me,”
Michelle answered, giving a light smile.
“I’m Jaycee Clark,” the woman
said, holding out her hand. Jaycee was dressed comfortably in blue jeans
and leather boots. She didn’t look like a typical Raven patron. Michelle
chuckled, of course, neither did she. “I write too.”
Michelle took the woman’s
hand briefly. She didn’t want to ignore her, but she was livid with Mandy.
And where was that jerk who’d answered Mandy’s phone? So help him if Mandy
didn’t put him up to it!
“You’re upset aren’t you?”
asked Jaycee.
Michelle blinked. Artfully
getting out of the direct question, she asked, “You say you write? Anything
I might have heard of?”
“Ah, my first just came out.
Deadly Shadows,” said Jaycee. “It’s a murder suspense romance.
Actually, that’s why I’m here. I’m researching my next book, or at least an
idea for a next book. Besides, it’s nice to get away from the computer and
out into the world every once and awhile—if only to watch what’s going on.”
Michelle grinned, forgetting
her momentary wrath. She genuinely liked the laid back woman.
“Do you work here?” asked
Jaycee.
“No,” Michelle frowned,
remembering why she was there. “I have to pick up a friend of mine, Mandy
Roth.”
“Daughter of Darkness,
Mandy Roth?” asked Jaycee getting excited. “She’s here too? Do you
think…?”
“What?” Michelle began
walking in the front door. The large doorman hadn’t arrived yet and she was
glad she didn’t have to shove past him.
“Well, I know you are always
looking for new authors to interview. I’d love to come down and talk to you
sometime about my work.”
Michelle grabbed a business
card out of her purse and handed it to Jaycee. “Sure, give me a call. I’ll
be in my office tomorrow.”
“Great,” Jaycee said as she
grabbed the help wanted sign off The Raven’s door. Michelle gave her a
questioning look. “Research. Besides, I could use the extra cash.”
~****~
“Hey, where’s Mr. Howl at the
Moon Cocky Boy?” Michelle asked, walking up to Mandy and dropping her purse
down on the table.
Mandy laughed and nodded her
head towards the bar. “He’s waiting for the new hire to show up.”
“Oh, he’ll be trying to make
the moves on her next.”
“On who?” Mandy asked.
Michelle began to answer her,
but was cut off by a dark blonde with an apron on. “Oh, hi, you must be
Mandy.” She thrust her hand out. “I’m Jaycee. I’m doing an interview with
Michelle at the Nocturnal Journal. My first book just came out, it’s
called…”
“Deadly Shadows,”
Mandy said, answering for her.
Jaycee’s purple eyes bulged.
“Yes, oh my gosh, I can’t believe….”
“Hey, lady, how about some
drinks over here?” a husky voice shouted from the other side of the bar.
Jaycee rolled her eyes and
smiled politely as she headed off to handle her customers. Mandy leaned
over and smiled at Michelle. “I wonder why they hired more help.”
Armando suddenly appeared
next to them. Both women jumped. “Can’t you give a shout out before you
materialize next to us?” Michelle asked, dryly.
“My apologies,” Armando said
with a slight bow of his head. “Mandy, would you like to dance?”
“You can’t leave the bar
unattended,” she said turning her attentions back to Michelle.
Michelle let out a sigh and
looked up at Armando. For a vampire, he wasn’t turning out to be such a bad
guy. She almost felt bad for him. It was obvious that he was trying to
impress Mandy, but she was oblivious to it. “I think that Armando hired
more help so he’d be free to visit with the patrons,” Michelle said, pushing
Mandy’s hand.
“Oh, okay…but, I don’t want
to leave you here by yourself.”
“I’ll keep her
company,” Dmitri said, gliding into the empty chair next to Michelle.
Mandy smiled brightly and put
her hand in Armando’s. Michelle watched in horror as the two of them left
her sitting with Dmitri, the stud who thought he was going to shag her
tonight. She inched her seat away from him and rolled her eyes.
“What? I don’t bite,” he
said with a smile.
Michelle huffed. Grumbling
under her breath, she uttered, “I thought all werewolves were supposed to
bite.”
“Is that a request?” Dmitri
gave a cocky grin, his grey eyes hopeful.
“Oh, please.” Michelle stood
to walk away from him. She was suddenly sorry she’d encouraged Mandy to
dance with Armando. What did she care if the vampire got his feeling hurt?
“I can’t believe Mandy knew
my book!” said Jaycee as soon as Michelle sat down at the bar.
“Mandy has all the spicy and
erotic novels brought straight to her desk when they come in the door,”
Michelle laughed. “Can I get a coffee?”
“Ah, yeah, sure. What do you
want in it?”
“Just the coffee.”
