Free Vampires Need Pedicures Too (A Paranormal Romance) by C.C. Kelly

 
    Vampires Need Pedicures Too
     
     
    Holly still wasn’t sure how she had let Deb talk her into this , best friend or not .  Speed dating wasn’t even close to her thing .   N estling into her worn , but comfy couch in a flannel night shirt and thick crocheted socks, her tabby Mittens curled up on her lap as she rides through Longbourn to the Bennet home and t he romance of Elizabeth and Darcy or the Antebellum adventures of Scarlet and Rhe t t - the se were her things.
    Deb had practically kidnapped her at lunch, dragging her away from re-shelving the reference periodicals to take her shopping at one of the most expensive boutiques in town.  Holly couldn’t really afford the dress - or the shoes, but she had slipped out a credit card just the same and now , nearly eight hours later, stood before the blacked out glass doors of the hottest underground restaurant in town wearing a black leather evening dress and what she considered to be dangerous, non - OSHA approved high heels.
    She was only vaguely aware that Milton Falls , Iowa had places like this.  The taxi pulled away to reveal an empty street and an empty sidewalk shrouded in an amber mist, the effect of the sodium vapor street lamps and the unseasonable humidity of the warm summer evening .  Holly couldn’t help but make connection s to literary scenes of other people and other places .  She was taken with a n acute sense of the surreal.
    She was brought back from her thoughts by Deb’s hand on her back , “You ’re awesome !  W ho ’d have thought you were hiding all this under those awful khakis and sweaters ? ”
    Holly blushed .
    She had nearly called the whole thing off on several occasions, once when she laid the dress out across her antique lace duvet and again when she opened the lacquered wooden shoe box .   The lid pivoted back on its hinges revealing the burgundy velvet lining and the black heels themselves .   They stared up at her - daring her .
    She surprised herself when she actually said “Yikes!” out loud; they had appeared less imposing at the store.
    She almost phoned Deb again from her apartment lobby, feeling awkwardly out of place as she stared out the front door glass to the waiting taxi , but that wasn’t just due to the mocking high heels .  The ti ght, full length evening dress, a dress that demanded very careful and delicate steps - at least if she wished to remain standing, had the most influence on her doubts.  It had taken her nearly twenty minutes to put on, which wasn’t bad in her opinion considering the two rows of buttons that ran from a Victorian collar to just below her b ottom , not to mention the fifteen minutes she spent pacing, giving covert sidew ays glares at the dress, then the shoes, then her phone - plotting to call Deb and be done with the whole unpleasant business.
    But now, as she stared at her reflection in the door , long blonde hair framing her heart shaped face , she felt good .  S he did look amazing , she felt - empowered .   Deb had that effect on her.
    Deb, the young head Librarian, had piled her dark curls up on top of her head, long dangling diamonds caressing her slender neck .  Holly thought she looked like a movie star .  She wore high heeled, lacey, white old fashioned boots and a long , white , skin tight dress with a slit up the side that ended just above good taste ; a high, lacey collar that accentuated her dark complexion finished the ensemble .
    “ One of us has to kill tonight ,” Deb whispered in her ear as the maitre de opened the door and escorted them inside.
    The two women followed and entered the dark candle lit interior of La Bistro Nost.  Holly again found her nerves pushing back , but Deb wrapped her in her arms and gave Holly a quick hug and a reassuring look - those pale gray blue eyes were so comforting.
    Deb took one arm and pulled Holly close like a teenage girlfriend as they clicked across the cigar toned ma rble floor of the outer bar, past the