by Aria Ford
“I have never been happier than I am with you,” he assured me with another kiss before we lazily cleaned up. He excused himself first, telling me that he forgot clothes in the room as I shook my head. The shower felt lonely without him.
I finished rinsing my hair and got out of the shower. I grabbed a towel and carefully dried my hair, taking in the length in the mirror. I ran a comb through it before I dried off my body and wrapped it in a towel before opening the bathroom door. “Stephen?” He was kneeling in front of me in some jeans, unbuttoned and showing me a hint of what I’d just enjoyed. “What are you—”
I gasped as he held up a blue box and smiled up at me, looking like he was going to cry. “I spent a lot of time alone, Mandy. I thought that I didn’t have it in me to have a son, a job, and a wonderful woman like you, but you’ve given me my life back. I feel like I have the world at my fingertips, but I want one more thing from you.”
“What?” Tears slid down my cheeks, and I dropped down in front of him, unable to stand any longer.
“Will you be my wife? Will you be a mother to Brandon and make us the happiest guys in the world?” he asked as I nodded and sucked in a sob. “Will you marry me?”
“Yes, yes, yes.” I wrapped my arms around him, and he pulled me close, kissing my wet hair. Once we’d kissed and hugged through tears, he opened the box to reveal a beautiful diamond band with a delicate square stone centered in the middle as I blinked at him. “It’s so beautiful.”
“It pales in comparison to you, baby.” He slid it onto my left hand, pulling him in for a kiss as I realized that I had almost everything I wanted in life.
We could work on the other item after the wedding, and I closed my eyes after he kissed me again, losing myself in him. In my life. In my future.
The End
A Hot Billionaire Romance
Chapter One
The Gulfstream IV touched down at the Las Vegas McCarran International Airport and came to a stop on a distant tarmac where a royal blue carpet and a silver Rolls Royce waited for the passenger. The jet rested, as if adjusting to the extreme heat, although its home base was commonly as hot and it was hardly a stranger to deserts.
Although the aircraft could accommodate up to eight people for sleeping, when the door rolled open, only two individuals came out; Sheikh Arran Muhalla and his loyal body guard, Alahan. Impeccably dressed in a custom-tailored silk suit, Sheikh Arran Muhalla’s tanned skin contrasted with the heavy golden Rolex he wore on his wrist and the gleaming white of his perfect teeth. Powerfully built, he walked with the grace of a cougar. Even those who didn’t know him could feel his lethal potential. Known to his American friends as Arran, he was comfortable in any environment; that of his birth, and that of his Yale education.
Arran stepped into the glittering silver Rolls. His guard, Alahan, took a front seat and the driver smoothly rolled out of the airport and headed for the Bellagio. Arran adjusted his tie and checked his hair, although there was never a hair out of place. Although there were no meetings planned, he was always concerned with his appearance. He patted the sound system and the vehicle filled with Puccini’s Tosca. He settled back against the upholstered cushions and closed his eyes, allowing the music to carry him to a different place where time was measured in the trappings of grace.
As the driver pulled up before the Bellagio, a doorman advanced to open Arran’s door. Alahan quickly blocked him and stood momentarily, surveying the people and surroundings before opening the limo door. Arran emerged and went into the hotel where he had reserved the Chairman’s Suite.
Arran was the eldest in an extremely successful Middle-Eastern family and the head of their businesses. His younger brothers, Sinhad and Farrah, dealt with various smaller enterprises, but Arran exercised final approval of every move that was made. He was in Vegas to handle the general business for one of the banks the family owned. His schedule provided for a short stay; no more than three weeks at most.
Alahan took care of the details of checking in while Arran waited in the nearby Russian Bar, sliding onto a stool at one end of the long bar where he might watch everything going on. It was his habit to keep his back to a wall; a lesson learned from a lifetime of caution. He ordered a whiskey sour and while he sipped, his posture staunchly erect and alert. He was bored and played with his tumbler, the thick gold ring on his middle finger tapping against the glass. Alahan took up a watch point just inside the door, checking out the room constantly. The bulk beneath his jacket revealed that he was carrying a weapon. While not blatantly obvious, anyone looking would know not to start trouble in his presence.
There were a handful of others in the bar, taking a break from the gaming or meeting before going on to dinner. Arran had an eye for unusual women but had tired of the shallow beauties who usually offered themselves to him. He’d been to Las Vegas many times and knew it was the land of smoke and mirrors. Women’s bodies were molded and augmented to their own ideas of beauty while their men merely paid the tab. Arran could have any female who interested him, but had grown bored with their readiness to fill his empty bed. For the time being, he would remain a confirmed bachelor.
The sound of shattered glass filled the room as a tray plummeted to the bar floor. A table of guests leapt out of the way to keep from being sprayed and one of the women cried out theatrically as liquor dripped down the front of her phony designer cocktail dress. She was outrageously made up and smelled of her profession; a very expensive whore. One of the men motioned toward the bar and the harried manager quickly came over, an angry look on his countenance.
The helpless waitress had her back to Arran. From his perspective, he could see shapely hips, endless legs, and a wealth of silver-blonde hair swept back from her face and wrapped into a barrette at her neck. She was poised there, frozen, looking at the woman with the liquor stain and then to the dropped tray on the carpet at her feet. The manager reappeared with white bar towels and the waitress instantly bent to retrieve the tray, and then turned to wipe the woman’s chest with the towels. She succeeded in making the stain worse, rubbing the sweet liquor more deeply into the fabric of the gown and the woman’s voice rose in intensity at the mess. The overly reactive manager was bowing and apologizing dramatically, motioning away the waitress who set her tray on the bar and left through doors into the kitchen area. A uniformed waiter immediately appeared with a broom and more towels to clean up the mess as the group at the table rose and left the bar after a few harsh expletives toward the manager.
The manager, obviously upset, pulled down his jacket to re-establish his dignity and turned toward the kitchen. Arran signaled the bartender and asked that the manager be directed toward him.
“Yes, sir, good evening Sheikh Muhalla,” the manager greeted him, a nervous grin upon his perspiring face.
“The waitress—you intend to fire her?” Arran asked simply.
“No need to worry, sir, she won’t be bothering anyone again,” the manager quickly assured him.
“You intend to fire her?” Arran repeated, and the manager realized it was a question and scrambled to answer it.
“Yes, sir, we will find someone more professional to take her job.”
“Keep her,” Arran said.
“Sir?”
“Leave the girl be. She needs the work and will not repeat her mistake, you may be assured. Ask the guest who was soiled to select a gown in any of the hotel shops and add it to my account,” Arran ordered.
“Sir, are you sure? After all, it was the waitresses’ fault and there’s no reason you should…”
Arran cut him off. “Shall I repeat my instructions?” His voice invited no argument; he was a man who was accustomed to giving orders—once.
“Of course, Sheikh Muhalla, immediately,” the manager bowed and scurried away.
Arran took another sip of his drink and as expected, the doors from the galley slammed open and the waitress came out, looking along the bar until she spotted him. She came toward him and as she approach
ed, he took in her face. An elegant nose and rosy, prominent cheekbones framed what were huge, green eyes. These, combined with her hair gave her the appearance of being chiseled from a pale gray marble.
“Are you Sheikh Muhalla?” she asked politely. Her voice was slightly gravelly but articulate—giving her a cultured appeal.
“Yes,” he nodded, caught in those green eyes.
“I understand I owe you a debt of gratitude,” she prompted.
“No, you owe me nothing,” he returned, watching the light behind her eyes turn dark.
“I pay my debts…with money. If you’ll give me your address, I’ll see to it that I reimburse the cost of the woman’s dress to you,” she said in a businesslike voice.
“It’s not necessary,” he shook his head, wanting to hear her speak more but wishing she would change the subject.
“I must insist. I don’t accept charity,” her voice was stronger now, more official. In a way, she was almost arrogant except that it was pride that held her spine straight and her chin up.
“My dear Miss…?” he said, asking her to fill in the details.
“Standish, I’m Gabrielle Standish,” she obliged. “Look Sheikh, I’m not really sure how I’m supposed to address you; we don’t have sheikhs in the States, so excuse any ignorance, but I’d really rather that you allow me to pay for the woman’s dress. It will take me a while, but I will pay you for it. Your information, please?” she asked again and pulled out an order pad to write on the back of a slip.
“I’m staying here at the Bellagio,” he said in a quiet voice, wishing he could record hers for its sultry quality.
“I’ll do my best,” she said and nodded her head before she turned away and went toward another table of guests, carefully walking wide of the wet carpet. As she returned to have the drink order filled, he called her over.
“You may call me Arran,” he said.
This time she cocked her head and repeated his name. “Arran… that’s different, but then I suppose where you come from all names are going to differ from those here in America. Well, it’s nice to meet you, Arran, and I’ll be sending you the money I owe you as I can,” she told him. Her tray of drinks ready, she carefully pulled them onto her raised hand and walked toward the table.
Arran watched her and saw that she was, despite the earlier accident, quite a graceful woman. Those well-proportioned hips swayed between the tables with rhythm and she spun about as if on ballerina slippers to deliver the glasses. She could have been a dancer, the way she walked. He finished his glass and left the bar, taking the elevator to the top floor and his room. This was his base of business when he was in town. Over four thousand feet in size, it slept five guests in king-sized beds and had five and a half baths.
He was greeted by his own butler in the mosaic tiled hall with its glass chandelier and water fountain. Arran decided to adjourn to the spa bath and experience a rainforest Swiss team shower in one of the Italian marble bathrooms. Water was a valued commodity in his home country; perhaps that why the Bellagio held such attraction for him.
Putting on one of the provided robes, he settled in the solarium with additional water features and thought about the young woman downstairs. He had been intrigued by her,; attracted to her unusual coloring and her earthy, yet elegant sense of style. Her coloring would be unheard of in his country; a land of vivid colors and outrageous wealth. She was subtle and classic in a sophisticated way. He longed to put expensive dresses on her and have her upon his arm.
He put his thoughts aside for the time being, h. He was here on business and had no time for chasing women. Even so…
Chapter Two
Gabrielle was an orphan and had been on her own since she escaped the last foster home at seventeen. Eye-catching in appearance, she’d had to fend off more than one undesired male, including the very male in the household who was supposed to be protecting her.
She was street smart and highly intelligent, so she learned quickly. She had managed to support herself, picking up odd jobs and getting her GED. She paid her way through college, working as a waitress in the evenings. She excelled at everything she took on and her driving goal was to be independent. She never wanted to be a part of the system again; not in any sense or at any time.
Las Vegas had called to the girl from small town Iowa. The weather was an improvement, but the plentiful amount of jobs for a girl who looked like her was even more inviting. The biggest draw, however, were the people who she could meet. She was going to maximize her potential and then look for the contacts that could give her the kind of exciting life she really wanted. She made up her mind she would not fall for the first good-looking guy who promised her a white picket fence. She wanted to earn things her own way; she didn’t want anything given to her. When you accepted gifts, you had to deal with the strings that were attached. That wasn’t for her.
After a series of small part-time gigs, she’d gotten her foot in at the Bellagio. She had her master’s degree in business management and the Bellagio would be the perfect place to plant it. She knew she could use a bit more of the sophisticated polish they would want, but she was here to learn.
The accident with the tray had been the result of seeing someone come into the bar that looked very much like one of her foster fathers, Carl Smithers. Oddly, he had only been a few years older than her. His wife was eleven years older than him and they had taken in foster children for the extra money. Gabrielle was a looker, in his opinion, and he’d tried to crawl into her narrow, lumpy bed one night when his wife was passed out from cheap gin. Gabrielle had screamed and that had started the other kids screaming. He scrambled out but his wife had finally realized what was going on and thrown him out of the house. She didn’t care if he slept with others; she just didn’t want to risk losing the foster income. As he packed his suitcase, he threatened Gabrielle that he’d track her down and have her when she was “legal.” He walked with a crooked leg and had pock-marked cheeks. Dropping the tray had created a diversion and she’d never gotten a chance to verify whether it was Carl, or not. She would be careful from now on, sticking a small knife in a pocket she’d sewn into her bra.
Gabrielle was rather grateful to the dark-eyed sheikh who had put in a good word for her. She was mad at herself for having made such a mess of things. That little incident could have put an end to her dreams. Once you got fired from one hotel, you would have tremendous difficulty finding a position at another. It had been a close call and she wouldn’t repeat it.
***
Arran made his phone calls as soon as he arose the next morning. The businessmen were to be meeting in his suite. It provided a casual, and yet appropriate atmosphere, and his guests could spend some time in the casino afterwards. He knew his guests would be more amenable to his demands if they were thinking ahead to the winnings they would enjoy downstairs. He’d taken a swim in the pool and exercised for an hour before lunch. Dressed in business casual, he decided to grab lunch downstairs and headed directly to the Russian Bar in search of his green-eyed enigma named Gabrielle.
Sure enough, she was working. He took the same seat at the bar as he had the previous evening and waited for her to notice. She eventually did and simply nodded, but did not come any closer. Arran suspected that she was avoiding him because she couldn’t repay the cost of the ruined gown. He had checked with the front desk and the replacement had cost $2,500, which was less than he’d expected. It was still a great deal of money for a waitress, though, and he needed to figure out some way to get the money to her and still preserve her pride.
Arran walked out to the gambling floor and purchased two $2,500 chips. Pocketing these, he went back into the bar and when Gabrielle’s back was turned, he motioned to the bartender, Ben, that he wanted to speak with him. He explained briefly that Ben could earn one of the $2,500 chips as a personal tip if he saw to it that Gabrielle received the other, anonymously. Ben was to tell her it had been a tip from one of her customers and so far, Arran had not been one,
so she wouldn’t suspect him. He warned the bartender that he had a way of checking and from the look on his face, Ben believed him.
Arran left then and went back to his suite to welcome the first of his business associates. Later that afternoon, Ben called Gabrielle over and gave her a glass cup with coins, a few bills and the chip. “Your tips,” he said vaguely. She noted the chip and her brows went up.
“Hey, you got a nice ass,” he commented with a grin and Gabrielle stiffened, but said nothing. She’d taken the tips, dumped them into her apron pocket and went about her business as if it were an every-day occurrence. Inside, however, she was shaking. Who would have given me a tip like that? she tried to reason. Carl couldn’t have scraped up that kind of money in a year. It must have been someone who won big and was too drunk to cash out his chips, she told herself. At least this would put her even with that sheikh whatever his name was. She didn’t like owing anyone.
When Arran had concluded that days’ meetings, he adjourned to the solarium to relax. The butler brought him an envelope. “This came for you, sir, while you were in meetings.”
Arran opened the envelope and smiled. There was two thousand dollars in crisp twenties and a note that read, “Paid in Full – GS.”
He tossed the envelope on the table next to him and made a call. When he hung up, he had all the information the hotel had available on Ms. Gabrielle Standish. With one additional call, he would have a dossier within 48 hours for whatever the hotel didn’t know.
That evening he didn’t enter the bar. Instead he went down the street and entered some very exclusive, expensive shops. Some of his favorites were Coach, Christian Louboutin, Charlotte Olympia and Burberry. He stopped by Fendi, Giorgio Armani, Kate Spade, Mulberry, Versace and of course, Cartier. In each shop he requested their on-staff designer and showed them a picture of Gabrielle he’d surreptitiously captured with his cell phone. It showed her general size, assets, and of course, her unique coloring. He had everything he’d ordered delivered to one of the suites on the same floor where he was staying, and had that room put on reservation for the next two weeks. He was baiting his line, and Ms. Standish would be worth every penny.