The Bride Hunt: Lightning Dragon Part 1

Lightning Dragon.

The Bride Hunt.

Charlene Hartnady.

Chapter 1.

She'd nailed it.

Nailed it!.

Excitement coursed through her. This was the break she needed. Jessica Woodruff was amazing. She was talented and would make a fantastic mentor. They'd gotten along like a house on fire, it was like they had known each other for years. The older woman was definitely someone she could see herself working for. The interview was a piece of cake. Tammy had sailed through it. If she didn't get the job, she would be really shocked. Then again ... she sighed and grabbed the leather strap on her bag tighter. Her stomach gave a little clench. She tried to pick up the pace, to put her energy into something worthwhile. Any faster though, and she'd be jogging.

Try as she might, she couldn't help but think about the position. Graphic design was something Tammy loved. Something she was good at. The only problem was that the industry was small. Too d.a.m.ned small. Her past still haunted her. The skeletons in her closet were still very much alive and still very p.i.s.sed. One skeleton in particular ...

b.a.s.t.a.r.d.

She walked faster and glanced at the watch on her wrist. d.a.m.n, she was going to be late and for the second time this week. Carlos was going to give her grief and quite rightly so. Two interviews in one week.

Two.

She was on a roll. The thought of working for Jessica filled her with excitement. Squashed Orange was a small agency but they were on the up and up. Tammy wanted to be a part of that. The thought of the other interview she did this week had her hands turning clammy and her heart racing. There was a part of her that wanted nothing to do with that one. Mating a vampire. Really? Is that what her life had come to? All of her studies, her hard work? All meaningless. None of it mattered. If given the chance, would she really go to the vampire castle and beg some guy to take her on? Beg a guy to take care of her? What choice did she have? Then again, there was the payout. It didn't feel right to go down that road though.

The last two years had been long and hard. Living from hand to mouth. Begging for extra s.h.i.+fts to make rent. Some days the only meals she ate were the ones that came free at work. One meal per s.h.i.+ft. It couldn't go on.

Tammy picked up the pace, she approached the door with a sign that said 'Staff Entrance' above it in peeling red paint. Just as she reached for the door handle, her phone rang. She took the device out of her purse.

s.h.i.+t!

It was a landline number she didn't recognize offhand. For a quick second she thought about ignoring it. Carlos was going to have her a.s.s. Without giving herself a chance to think about it any longer, she answered the phone.

"Good day, is this Tamara Schiffer?" It was a woman's voice. Formally delivered and not one she recognized.

"Yes, I'm Tamara."

"Hi ..." A deep breath. "I'm Allison, I'm calling about your interview earlier this week."

Double s.h.i.+t!

Tammy swallowed hard, her heart rate picked up. "Oh ... okay." She pinched her lips together, closed her eyes and waited to hear what Allison had to say.

"We think that you would be a good fit for our program ..." the woman paused.

Tammy nodded once feeling like an idiot since the other woman couldn't see her. "That's great," she stammered.

"We need you to come in for a briefing on the third of next month. That's next Thursday," Allison added. "You will be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement which will be emailed to you before the close of business today. Make sure that you have your lawyer look at it between now and the time you come in."

Her lawyer. Yeah right. "Okay. No problem," her voice sounded squeaky. She couldn't believe this was happening.

"Oh and, Miss Schiffer ..."

"Yes?" Her mind raced. s.h.i.+t! A vampire. Could she go through with it? Hopefully she wouldn't have to. Maybe the graphic design position would come through as well. Oh please let that one come through. Miracles happened! They did, didn't they?

"Congratulations! We've had tens of thousands of applicants from all over the country. Less than half a percent made it. You are one of the lucky few."

Maybe Allison could hear the hesitancy in her voice. "Thank you. I appreciate it." She worked hard to inject some enthusiasm into her voice.

"I'll send all the information together with the agreement. Be ready to leave within a day of the briefing." That wasn't an issue, Tammy had casual employment. There weren't enough s.h.i.+fts to go around at the moment as it was. Besides, Carlos had always been good to her. Hard but fair. They said their goodbyes and she disconnected the call, shoving her phone back into her purse.

Her mind was still reeling. Being accepted into the program meant getting paid. They received an enormous daily allowance. One week in the program would pay two months' rent. It would take the pressure off of her in a big way. Maybe she'd find love in the process. Tammy had to stop herself from laughing out loud. Yeah right.

One thing was for sure, her luck seemed to be changing. Which gave her hope that the position at Squashed Orange would still come through. A real job. One that would allow her to stand on her own two feet. She would take the spot in the vampire program if she needed to, but she would still feel guilty about entering it only for the money when so many women were looking for love. When these vampires were seeking mates. It sounded like they were desperate. Hopefully she wouldn't have to go down that road.

If it came to it though, she'd make the most of the opportunity. She wasn't so crazy that she would jump in and tie herself to another person just for the sake of a secure future. She also wasn't so nave as to believe in 'the one'. On the other hand, she hadn't had much luck with human men so maybe a vampire was just what she needed. Maybe she could start over on a clean slate and build a future. Worst case scenario, she'd get a break from the rigors of real life for a couple of days. Three square meals a day sounded like music to her ears.

Tammy took a deep breath and pushed the door open. Carlos was waiting for her. He looked at his watch and then pointedly at her.

"I know, I know ..." Tammy held up a hand. "I'm so sorry."

"Save it. Not only are you late but you missed the weekly meeting."

Tamara felt her eyes widen. She blew out a breath. "s.h.i.+t!" She rubbed her forehead. "I'm really sorry. I don't know how I forgot about it. The interview went on for forever. Jessica asked me to help out with an ad she's working on. She wanted to see how we worked together and to see if ..." Tamara licked her lips, feeling excitement course through her as she relived the last hour and a half. "If I could deliver the goods."

Carlos didn't look impressed. He pushed off from the counter and dropped his hands to his sides. He finally gave a quick nod. "Get your a.s.s in there." He pointed to the double door with his thumb. "Natalie is covering for you." They were working skeleton staff which meant that the server from the previous s.h.i.+ft had to work overtime for free. They'd all filled in for one another on occasion so it wasn't a big deal. It wasn't like she made a habit of it. Not normally. It still made her feel really guilty though.

Tammy pulled a neatly folded ap.r.o.n from her bag and tied it around her waist.

Carlos sighed. "How did it go?" Her boss stared at her pointedly. Although his voice was still gruff, his eyes glinted.

Tamara tried to hold back a grin and failed.

"That good, huh?" Carlos smiled back. "I'm still angry about you being late. In fact, you're closing up tonight."

"It's James' turn to ... never mind," she quickly added when his eyes narrowed. "It went really well. I loved every minute of it ... okay, maybe not the first five minutes and waiting for the interview was horrible, but once I got in there and we got to talking ..."

"This Jessica lady sounds nice."

"Oh she is! Really nice in a 'kick a.s.s and take no prisoners' kind of way. She's dynamic and so d.a.m.ned good at what she does. It's little wonder the company is doing so well."

"I take it she's open-minded?" He raised his brows.

"We'll soon find out since I nailed the interview."

"One day someone will see through the bulls.h.i.+t. They'll see you and know that you aren't capable of those things you were accused of."

"Lying, cheating and stealing, you mean?"

"It's crazy that anyone would think that of you. I believed in you ... gave you a chance."

"Yeah, but you knew me from before. Still, I can't thank you enough for giving me a chance when no one else would." She felt her eyes sting.

Carlos smiled, the skin around his eyes crinkling. He shrugged. "There's no way you did those things. Did you put me down as a reference?"

Tammy nodded. "Not that it will help much ... no offence. Agencies generally want references from other agencies."

"You never know. Now," he pointed towards the swinging doors, "get in there before you miss your whole s.h.i.+ft. Oh ..." His eyes darted to his shoes for a second or two before he made eye contact with her again. "The roster for next week is up. We're still on a skeleton staff for the next couple of weeks. Business is bound to pick up soon though."

Tamara didn't like the tension in the air or the way Carlos kept dropping eye contact. He rocked his weight from one foot to the other. She walked over to the cork board and glanced at the roster. "Oh my word!" she muttered under her breath. "Three s.h.i.+fts? Are you serious?"

Carlos shook his head. "I'm sorry. It doesn't make sense to have more than one of you per s.h.i.+ft, for the majority of the time we're just not busy enough."

"I get that, but three ... I need at least four just to make ends meet." Just to pay the rent. Any other bills and food would come out of tips. This was a small diner; they didn't make much in tips.

"There is nothing I can do. There was a s.h.i.+ft going earlier, if you'd been at the meeting you-"

"I was at an interview," she tried to keep the anger and frustration from her voice. "You know this."

"I told you to swap s.h.i.+fts."

"Thursday evenings are the best money."

Carlos pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Tam," he finally said. "There's nothing I can do. I need to be fair to all my staff."

Tammy nodded, feeling like an a.s.s. "I know. I'm sorry I complained. I'm just nervous, if I don't make rent ..." she let the sentence die. "I'll be fine," she quickly added, seeing the look of concern on Carlos' face. It wasn't fair of her to put the blame and responsibility on his shoulders. She was an adult and responsible for her own past, as well as her future.

"Do you need a loan? I could help out with a small-"

Tamara put up a hand. "No ... no, I'll be fine. Thanks though." Times were just as tough on Carlos. He had a family to take care of. Three kids, the youngest of whom was still in diapers. No, she'd get by.

"Are you sure, I-" Her phone rang, silencing her boss. He looked down at her purse and frowned.

"s.h.i.+t! Sorry." Tammy pulled the phone out of her bag, intent on silencing the device, and saw that it was the agency. "Oh G.o.d! It's them!" she blurted. "It's Squashed Orange." Her heart-rate accelerated. She could barely breathe. She locked eyes with Carlos.

He must've seen the panic reflected there because he gave a nod. "Take it. I'll meet you out front in a few minutes." He gave her arm a squeeze as he walked past.

It was too soon. A call this quick had to be bad news. Then again, maybe it was a good thing. Jessica seemed like the type of person to make snap decisions.

Tammy sucked in a deep breath, her hand shook as she pressed down on the green b.u.t.ton. "h.e.l.lo?" Thankfully her voice sounded normal.

"Good day, is this Tamara Schiffer?"

Oh no! The woman sounded formal. Too rigid. "Speaking." There was just the hint of a squeak in Tammy's voice. She couldn't be blamed.

"I'm calling to inform you that you were unsuccessful in your bid. Thank you for applying."

s.h.i.+t!

"Why?" It just slipped out. Stupid thing to ask when she knew why. There was only one reason she didn't get this job. One slimy, a.s.shole of a reason.

The woman on the other end of the line hesitated for a few moments. "We called the previous company you were with and ..." A long, drawn-out pause. This was followed by a heavy sigh. "You shouldn't waste people's time like that."

What the ...?

"Jessica is a busy person. She was excited about working with you," the woman said in a clipped tone.

"I was excited about joining your company as well, and for the record, Chris Collins is a liar."

Another sigh. "Thank you for your time, Miss Schiffer."

"Christopher is my jilted ex-boyfriend but I'm sure he didn't mention that."

"Please stop ... you're only making things worse. We can add sleeping with the boss to your long list of reasons why not to hire you."

Tammy felt her mouth gape open but quickly pulled herself together. "We were partners," she half yelled. Only Chris had never officially given her shares like he'd promised.

"We both know that's not true." Of course it was true ... well, not exactly, since a person's word counted for s.h.i.+t.

"He made all of those things up," she practically whispered, talking more to herself than the other woman.

The lady on the other end of the line must have heard her. "You were arrested, put inside a jail cell ... correct me if I'm wrong."

f.u.c.k!

"If it wasn't for Mr. Collins dropping the charges, you'd be in jail now. As far as I'm concerned the man is a saint."

She couldn't help the snort that was pulled from her. If he was a saint, then she was an angel in heaven.

The woman paused. Tammy could almost hear her irritation through the phone line. "You can thank your-"

"I was framed." Tamara knew how she sounded. She sounded as guilty as sin, as guilty as the freaking devil himself and there was nothing she could do about it. "He was angry when I left him. He framed me. I didn't do any of it."

"You left him?" The lady sounded incredulous. Tammy couldn't blame her. Chris was a smooth-talking charmer. It was the reason she'd fallen for him in the first place. That and his good looks. "Hmmmm. It doesn't matter, the decision has been made." There was a soft click as she put the phone down on the other end.

Tammy's throat felt clogged. Her eyes stung and her nose threatened to run. Tamara sniffed a few times and sucked in a deep breath. s.h.i.+t! Double freaking s.h.i.+t. Why did it still hurt so bad? Two years and, at times like this, it was like it had happened yesterday. Christopher f.u.c.king Collins had ruined her life and there wasn't a d.a.m.n thing she could do about it. Crying wouldn't help. She'd done plenty of that.

The Program.

It wasn't something she ever saw herself getting involved in. Not that she had anything against vampires. She just didn't like the idea of relying on another person again, especially a man. Then again, these guys weren't men. A s.h.i.+ver ran through her. Like someone was walking over her grave.

She'd take part. It wasn't like she had much of a choice. It would mean going against what she knew was right. Her father would be so disappointed in her if he knew what she was planning. She'd get in, earn the money she needed to start over and then get out.

One week. Not so long. There was no chance of her falling for anyone, so she wasn't worried about that. Tammy didn't like the idea of stringing someone along, so she'd make sure that no one fell for her either. One week and then she was out of there. She only wished it had never come to this.