Chapter 35

Six days ago, on the rooftop, Beth had been kissed once again by her vampire and that would have to do for now. She had given him as strong a nudge as she dared and been rewarded with a long, deep kiss. He hadn't seemed angry at being vampire again and after thinking about it, she realized Mick had seemed changed afterwards. She knew before he had hated himself and what he was; now he wasn't as brooding, and nor self-loathing. Could his short time as a human have convinced him it wasn't so bad being vampire? Would he never try again, even if they found more of the cure? She hoped not but definitely liked this new, and more confident, Mick.

Certainly he was more visible, proving that when Beth saw him pulll up at the restaurant with that extremely young starlet, Tierney Taylor. Jealousy stabbed at her. Of course, she was having lunch with Ben Talbott who had called her out of the blue today with the invite. She became suspicious after realizing he was checking up on her but it turned out he just needed someone to talk to -- after all, they had shared quite a trauma. He started probing for answers, too, but got nothing from her.

She peeked at Mick who didn't look too happy seeing her with Ben. Good. Turns out he had taken on Tierney as a client which still didn't sit well with her but then, right in the bright sunlight -- he was asking her for a date! How very 50's. Goofball! She teased him about knowing him since she was four but was secretly thrilled that he was taking their relationship further.

The glow lasted until reaching Buzzwire, and her worst fears came true: Maureen's replacement, Greg, was an ass -- with ethics lower than a snake (or Perez Hilton) -- plus he had called Mick Tierney's new hottie! She straightened him out fast, but then couldn't dodge the party that night.

Let's see, it'll be on a ship, the Lusitania, so it might get chilly on the waterfront. She grabbed her best sweater to put on over her cocktail dress. She had never been so glad to see Mick at that party for she had been stuck at the boring and egotistical producer's table.

Neither of them had planned it but there they were, out on the deck, in the moonlight. She was surprised but pleased when she learned Mick had never slept with a human. She joked about being drunk in college and sleeping with a vampire. Darn, he was about to kiss her again, too, but then everything changed and once again they were on a murder investigation. He felt responsible! Fortunately, Mick's nose helped identify that Tierney had died from being struck by an anchor and then other clues eventually led them to the killer, Abbott, the producer.

Poor Tierney was right about how dangerous the paparazzi were becoming; especially Dean Foster, who sent her photos of Mick getting up, unhurt, after the hit and run. The photographer would have no qualms about outing Mick, forcing him to go underground. Knowing she had no other choice, she got up her courage and called Josef. Her conscience was clear; saving Mick was the priority. And what Josef said about her job exposing Mick made sense and dovetailed with her need to get away from sleezeball editors and tabloid news.

At dinner that night, they had laughed over each being vampires in their own way.

Mick's secret was safe and Beth, although jobless, was content.