She realized she was trying not to think about Austin. Or his confession of love. Or his belief that they had no future. Dammit, future was the one thing she did have. In abundance. Why couldn't she spend it with the man she loved? Shanna was happily married to Roman. Why couldn't Austin be happy with her?
Do you expect me to make love to a dead woman? His words rushed back, flooding her with pain and frustration. They couldn't have a future. His mission in life was to battle her own kind. He would have to give up his job to be with her. He'd have to give up his whole way of life to dwell in the darkness with her. It'd been so hard for her to adjust. How could she expect him to do it? He was right. It was impossible.
Ian dropped her off at DVN. She wandered across the lobby, aware of the furious glares being cast her way by the other vampires. Great. She was enemy number one in the vampire world.
The receptionist frowned at her. "Mr. Bacchus is expecting you. I'll tell him you've arrived." She punched a button on her phone. "She's here."
She's doomed, Darcy thought as she walked down the hall. She knocked on Sly's door.
"Come in."
As Darcy entered, Tiffany rushed past her into the hall. Great. Hopefully, Tiffany had left him in a good mood. Darcy shut the door. Sylvester Bacchus stood behind his desk, his arms crossed, his brow creased with a ferocious scowl.
Tiffany must be overrated. Darcy squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. "You wanted to see me?"
Sly narrowed his beady eyes. "I watched the debut tonight. The whole freaking vampire world watched it."
Darcy swallowed. "That was what we'd hoped for."
He skirted the desk. "The show finished two hours ago. In that time, we have received fifteen hundred phone calls and emails. Do you know what they're saying, Newhart?"
"They… like the show?"
With a snort, he stopped in front of her. "They hate you."
She gripped her hands together. "I can explain—"
"I thought I told you that the Sexiest Man on Earth had to be a vampire."
"He will be. The mortals will never pass all the tests."
"Did I say you could include mortal scum on a vampire show?"
"No, but you wanted a big twist, one that would shock everyone. I believe I have accomplished that."
He raised a hand to hush her. "Let me tell you what you've accomplished. You've pissed off the entire vampire world."
"I—" She stopped when he pointed a finger at her.
He stepped closer 'til the tip of his pointing finger was an inch from her face. "I have two words to say to you."
She braced herself for it. You're fired.
The corner of Sly's mouth lifted. "You're brilliant."
Her eye twitched.
"You have single-handedly caused an uproar! This is the most exciting event since the introduction of synthetic blood."
"Excuse me?"
Sly paced across the room. "We're averaging over seven hundred calls and emails an hour. Vamps all over the world are royally pissed. At us! It's fantastic."
"Huh?"
"When Wednesday night comes, the entire vampire world will come to a screeching halt while everyone watches our show. Tell me, do they kick off another mortal in the next show?"
Darcy thought back. Yes, Nicholas was booted off when he dropped Lady Pamela in the mud. "Yes, they do."
"Great!" Sly slapped his thigh. "You're a genius, Newhart. It's like you've created a war on television. Vamps will be glued to the screen to make sure the mortals are defeated."
"I see."
"They will be defeated, won't they?" Sly paused in mid-stride. "I'm warning you, Newhart, a Vamp has got to win."
"Yes, sir."
"Have you finished recording yet?"
"No. We have three nights left."
"And the last night—when are you shooting that?"
"This Friday."
Sly nodded. "I want to be there to personally hand over the harem and the check to the winner. It'll be great!"
"Yes, sir."
Sly grinned. "That's it, Newhart. Good work."
"Thank you." She headed for the door.
"Just remember, a Vamp has to win."
"No problem." Darcy exhaled in relief as she strode to her office. She still had a job. And Austin had agreed that he and Garrett would get eliminated in the next round. In her office, she worked on the second show that would air on Wednesday.
After a few minutes, the receptionist came in with a stack of phone messages and emails. "Sly wanted you to see these."
Darcy thumbed through the messages. Oh, no. Vamps from around the world were complaining about the ex-harem's old clothes and hairstyles. Some were even poking fun at them.
Darcy had tried so hard to get the ladies to modernize. These messages might do the trick.
She worked until Gregori and Maggie arrived. They were relieved she still had a job and that the show would continue.
Maggie studied the messages that blasted the ex-harem's taste. "You know what this means?"
"That Lady Pamela will have the vapors?" Gregori muttered.
Maggie smiled. "Yes. But then, we'll be doing makeovers."
CHAPTER 19
"This is just wrong," Gregori muttered. "You can't pay me enough for this kind of humiliation."
Darcy winced. "Actually, I'm not paying you at all." It was Monday night, and she was in the hot tub with Gregori and Vanda, getting ready to record the fourth episode of The Sexiest Man on Earth. "You agreed to help me out of the goodness of your heart, remember?"
Gregori sank deeper into the hot bubbly water. "That's my problem. I'm too damned nice. Nice guys never get the girl."
Vanda laughed. "Come on, Gregori. You have two women all to yourself right now."
He snorted. "I haven't noticed either of you being very friendly. I'm sitting here all alone in my little corner—"
"Pouting." Darcy finished his sentence for him.
He splashed water at her face. "You said I would be well dressed for the show. That means tuxedos, not this—this spandex underwear I'm wearing. It barely covers the goods."
"Stop worrying." Darcy splashed water back. "You look great in a Speedo."
"Yeah." Vanda winked at him. "You look as sexy as those male dancers last night."
"Don't remind me." Gregori scowled at them. "I never should have taken you ladies to that raunchy club."
"But we had fun," Vanda protested. "And we needed to celebrate the successful makeovers."
"You cost me four hundred dollars!"
"We did?" Darcy asked. "But we only ordered one drink apiece and that was just for looks."
"You forget that Vanda stuffed some money into the leopard guy's furry underwear," Gregori grumbled. "Money she got from me."
Darcy shrugged. "It was only a buck."
"It was a twenty," Gregori growled. "And then all the ladies had to try it. Over and over."
Darcy winced. No wonder the male dancers had practically climbed all over the ex-harem ladies.
"I'm sorry. I didn't realize they were spending so much money."
"Why didn't you stuff some money?" Vanda asked.
Darcy shrugged. "I wasn't in the mood." And they weren't Austin. Even with male dancers gyrating in front of her face, she'd only wanted to think about Austin. She should have been angrier with him. He'd lied to her. Spied on her and her friends. But he'd also confessed to being in love with her. How could she stay angry when he loved her?
"Not in the mood?" Vanda looked aghast. "But leopard guy was so hot. And I loved that cowboy with the sexy pants."
"Those were chaps," Darcy clarified. And they were indeed sexy when the cowboy forgot to wear his trousers underneath. At some point, while she was getting whiplashed with the flying fringe of Cowboy's chaps, she'd realized how easily she had forgiven Austin. The only explanation she could come up with was that she still loved him very much. Too much to just give up.