Read Online Between a Vamp and a Hard Place by Jessica Sims - Free Book Online

easily Gemma was accepting the fact that there was a vampire in the bedroom.
    â€œWell, it might be that I’m still half asleep,” Gemma said with a yawn. “But you found a hot guy in Venice who’s dressed like a guy from the Renaissance faire and you have a big bruise on your neck. And we have a coffin downstairs. So the fact that the dude is hot and not eating our faces? I’m calling this a bonus.”
    â€œGive him a few minutes,” I muttered.
    But Rand came and sat on the edge of the bed. He took Gemma’s hand in his and kissed the back of it as if she were a princess instead of a girl in an old ratty T-shirt with her hair standing on end. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”
    â€œOooh,” Gemma said. “It must be true about vampires being charming. Do you also turn into a bat?”
    Rand gave her his signature sexy grin. “I am afraid that is but a myth.”
    â€œMuch like the charming part,” I countered.
    Gemma thwapped my arm and continued beaming at Rand. “Can I see your teeth?”
    He smiled widely, pulling back his lips. His fangs shot out, elongating, and both Gemma and I flinched backward. Rand hissed.
    â€œI-I’m good now,” Gemma said, her hand clenching my arm. “Thanks for the show.” She sidled a little closer to me and gave me a wary look. “So how exactly is it that we went from coffin in basement to vampire in bedroom, pray tell?”
    I told her the entire tale. Maybe it would have sounded like a ridiculous story if it hadn’t been for the fact that Rand was in the room with us, poking the alarm clock with a wary finger and then moving to the mirror. He didn’t show up, but we did, and he kept lifting the edge of it away from the wall to try to see what was “behind” it.
    It was clear that Rand had no clue about modern anything. And that made the whole vampire thing a bit easier to go down, I imagine.
    â€œSoooo, now we have a vampire,” Gemma said, watching curiously as Rand picked up a discarded bra from the floor and tried to figure it out. Her lips twitched with amusement, and she looked back to me. “Can we keep him?”
    I smacked her arm. “What? No! He’s not a puppy!”
    â€œWe can’t just leave him on his own,” Gemma said. “Look at him. He’s so sad and confused.”
    I looked over, and he was trying to open the closet door. Or rather, he didn’t know how. His fingers moved along the seam, and he completely ignored the doorknob. Then he tried to peer through the seam and gave up.
    â€œBless his heart,” Gemma said. “He doesn’t even know how to use a doorknob. You said he’s not a dog, but there are dogs that know more than he does.”
    He bites like a dog, I thought unhappily. “Well, don’t worry about it. I told him I’d take him to the nearest vampire.”
    â€œOh, you don’t have to,” Gemma said. “I’ll take him if you don’t want to.”
    I looked over at her in surprise. “What?”
    â€œWe both know you’re not good with men. And you’re a bit of a control freak.” Gemma gave me an apologetic look and a pat on the arm. “And all that stuff in the basement needs to be taken care of, in addition to the rest of this apartment. Like you said, it’s going to take all month just to do what we have to for this place. You can’t spend your time running around with a stranger.”
    She had a point. I did like to control things. And with the treasure trove in the basement, there was so, so much that needed to be handled delicately and with the utmost of care.
    â€œAnd I know you don’t trust me with things.” Her smile was faint. “So, you know, I can handle the guy. I can do that much at least.”
    Oh. That felt like reproach. Had I hurt Gemma’s feelings with my control-freaky ways? Hurt her self-esteem when it came to helping