Cover

Title

Slow Burn

Rachel Caine

To J.J. Davis

For years of support, belief, and friendship.

Insanity loves company, eh?

(Or is that the company loves…?)

Chapter One

Velvet

God, she hated hallways. This one stretched to her left and right like a pea-green ocean, dimly lit with art deco moons. Velvet Daniels hugged her mink closer and wished she didn’t feel so vulnerable out here, so obvious.

I could leave, she thought, and wondered why the hell she was so jumpy. She shook her head and took a quick look at her cheat sheet, discreetly tucked in her eelskin purse.

Burt Everard Marshall. Trojans. Scented banana oil. Likes baby blue. Prefers rich and bossy.

She sucked in a deep breath and gave three sharp commanding raps on the wood.

He was pretty much what she’d expected—over-weight, middle-aged, sallow with exhaustion. Bruised bags under eyes that glittered with panic.

“Hello,” he began, and from the terror on his face she realized he couldn’t figure out what else to say. She put one hand flat against the door and pushed it wide open, swept him aside with it. Walked into the room and gave it her best unforgiving glare.

“What a dump,” she said, and thought of imitating Bette Davis too late. “Next time, try to get someplace decent. And don’t keep me waiting.”

“Hey, that’s great, you’re—you’re in character, aren’t you—” He licked his thick lips and swung the door indecisively back and forth. The breeze ruffled her hair. She raised her eyebrows at him.

“Are you going to invite anybody else in?” she asked, and nodded toward the open door. He shut it and stood where he was, fooling nervously with his tie. Velvet resisted the urge to sigh. “Well, don’t just stand there, take my coat.”

“Ah! Okay.” He managed to touch her while he slid the mink from her shoulders, and his fingers felt hot and damp. Shower, she reminded herself, as she always did at these moments. A nice long hot shower. “Okay, okay.”

He hung the coat up and looked panicked again. She lost the battle and sighed.

“Money,” she reminded him. He snatched out a thick, bumpy-looking wallet and fanned twenties out on the dresser with shaking fingers. The twenties looked real enough at a distance, and he was too much of a geek to cheat. Having delivered the date money, Burt looked panicked again.

“A drink? Do you think you can spare a drink?”

“Ah. Sure.” Burt was going to be stupid, but biddable. She sat down on the edge of the bed and watched him rattle glasses and pour Scotch from tiny hotel bottles. He kept giving her little flicking glances that ricocheted away from her stare.

Velvet took off her shoes and curled up on the bed, legs demurely covered by her dress.

“You look …” Burt hesitated, flipping through a mental thesaurus. “Beautiful.”