“Not bad. I might have gone with the one about stars in your eyes.”
“That’s a good one. But, why not go for the true reward right off the bat? ‘Kiss me if I’m wrong, but Dinosaurs still exist, right’?”
This time, Autumn threw back her head as peals of laughter rang out. Her midnight curls hung to her shoulder blades and they bounced merrily, calling out to my fingers. I wanted to feel those soft strands in my fist as I devoured her sexy mouth.
I didn’t want to seem to creepy-stalkerish, so I tore my eyes away from her to look at the machine she’d been playing. “Nickel slots? I think you can do better, sunshine,” I joked.
She shrugged with a grin and gestured to the screen, showing three cherries on a line of five fruit. “I don’t want to lose too much money, just have a little fun. Besides, it says right there that this machine pays out 97%!”
“Don’t you know? Slots have the worst odds.” I looked around before leaning in conspiratorially and stage whispered, “I’ll let you in on a little secret.” Autumn giggled and moved closer so our foreheads were almost touching. “Technically, yes, this machine pays out 97% over the course of play. But, we have no way of knowing the odds of this slot machine. The program assigns each symbol a certain number of stops. Without knowing that information, the odds of hitting three symbols in a row or the jackpot can vary from .16% to 0.001%. Instead, it pays out small amounts at a time, just enough to keep you playing and hoping you’ll eventually win a larger amount and losing more in the long run.” I tipped my head to the side and gave her a wry smile. “House edge.”
Autumn’s eyes had widened a little during my explanation. “Well, that doesn’t seem fair.”
“Right?” I agreed in a teasing tone, then shook my head like I was so disappointed. “Those casino owners, a bunch of motherfucking bastards.”
I was rewarded with her laughter once again, causing warmth to bloom in my chest. “You’d be better off at the tables. If you’re new to gambling, I’d suggest Blackjack.” I pointed toward the back cluster of tables. “It’s one of the easiest games to play, you’re just looking for a number that beats the dealer’s without going over twenty-one. Plus, it has the best odds of winning since the house edge is usually only about one percent. And, you’re playing the dealer, not a bunch of seasoned gamblers like you would in poker.”
Autumn looked duly impressed and I had to physically stop myself from preening like a fucking peacock. “Wow. You know a lot about this stuff.”
I opened my mouth to tell her I owned the hotel but for some reason, the words got stuck in my throat. I’d tell her eventually, but for the night, I just wanted to be a regular guy. “I work here. Plus, I’m from Vegas, born and raised,” I answered. “It’s kind of inevitable that you know a lot about gambling and casinos.”
Autumn nodded in understanding as she sat back up on her stool. “Like being from L.A. and knowing all about the movie industry.”
“Exactly.” I openly perused her from head to toe, making her blush again. How far down did that blush go, I wondered? “I guess sunshine is a fitting nickname for a surfer girl from L.A.”
She raised a black brow and looked down her nose at me, her eyes narrowing impishly. “What makes you think I surf?”
I let my smile turn a little wolfish as I responded. “The long-toned legs in those tiny fucking shorts might have had something to do with it. Or maybe it’s just because you’re so easy-going.”
Autumn chuckled before putting her hands up in a surrender pose. “Guilty as charged. Though I haven’t had much time to hit the waves the last few years.”
“Breaking the heart of every guy who missed out on seeing you in a bikini,” I teased. “What kept you away?”
“Med school and then residency.”
I whistled with appreciation. “Dr. Autumn, huh?” I could only imagine the wicked expression on my face when I said, “If you only knew how many dirty fantasies that just conjured up…”
“Hmmm.” She licked her lips and leaned in closer. “You want to play doctor?”
I almost fell off my fucking stool as blood drained from my brain and shot south. My cock was hard as stone and my body practically vibrated with desire.
“I most definitely want to be your patient, sunshine” I croaked. “But, how about we start with dinner?”
Her face fell and my breath froze in my lungs. After the easy, flirty banter, it hadn’t occurred to me that she would turn down my invitation.
“I wish I could, I really do,” she said with genuine regret, which eased some of the tension in my body. “But, my conference starts at seven in the morning and it’s already”—she glanced at a slim, silver watch on her slender wrist—"damn, almost eleven.”
Feeling like a scrawny teenager asking out the hot, older girl, I tried again. “Tomorrow night?” I suggested hopefully.
She beamed at me and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Absolutely.” Then she stood, and since I was still sitting, it brought our chests to an even height. She bent her head and brushed a light kiss over my cheekbone. I felt it down to my bones, a deep awareness of our chemistry and the close proximity of our bodies. My hands balled into fists where they rested on my thighs. It took every ounce of my restraint I could muster not to grab her and kiss the motherfucking hell out of her.
“I’ll meet you in the lobby at six?” she offered.
I nodded, unable to speak, for fear that she would hear the raging lust in my voice.
With one last sweet smile and a saucy wink—so fucking adorable—she turned, and I watched her delectable ass sway as she sashayed out of the casino.
For several seconds, I just sat there in a daze, lost in Autumn’s spell. Eventually, the ringing bells and loud voices finally broke through the fog and I stood up. My first instinct was to follow Autumn to her room and seduce her, but I searched deep and found some of the patience I usually had in spades.
Determined to get my mind off of her, I made my way back to my office and attempted to bury myself in work. I wasn’t successful since my mind kept drifting to the gorgeous woman I couldn’t stop thinking about.
I didn’t know what it was about Autumn, but I’d never felt this kind of deep need and overwhelming desire for a woman. I briefly wondered if all I needed was to fuck her out of my system, but my mind and heart instantly rejected the idea. No, it was clear that Autumn was different, special. And, our story was just beginning.
Chapter Four
Autumn
I was supposed to meet Drew in the lobby in less than five minutes, and I was second-guessing my decision big time. It wasn’t that I wasn’t ready to head down since I’d already changed out of my boring khaki dress pants and button-down blouse that I’d worn all day for my conference. I hadn’t brought anything date-worthy with me on this trip since it was supposed to be all business. Luckily, I had my favorite pair of jeans and a cute top that I’d packed for the trip home. It was the shoes that saved the outfit. The kick ass pair of heels notched it up from super casual to worthy of a first date in Vegas, as long as we didn’t go anywhere too fancy.
But the clothes situation wasn’t the reason for my hesitation. It was Drew and my reaction to him. He had me acting completely out of character. I couldn’t believe I agreed to meet him for dinner in the first place, but I’d been overwhelmed with disappointment when I’d realized it was too late to do anything other than go up to bed last night. Alone. And, I’d done some serious imagining of what would’ve happened if I’d asked him to join me in my room...which was another example of me not acting like myself. And then there was the fact that I’d seriously considered skipping out on one of my workshop sessions this afternoon to go shopping for a different outfit.
I’d been laser focused on my goals for a long while—undergrad, med school, residency. Guys didn’t interfere with that. Period. And yet here I was, skipping out on a networking opportunity to go on a date with Drew after thoughts of him had wreaked havoc on my concentration all day long. But I knew
Bailey would ask me for details about my trip and if I told her about Drew after bailing on the date, she’d talk her husband into driving her and the kids from Nebraska to LA just so she could kick my ass.
“So I don’t really have a choice,” I muttered as I grabbed the handle to my hotel room door and wrenched it open. Although it was true, I was rationalizing the decision I wanted to make anyway...and that was fine by me since it meant I’d spend time with Drew.
Decision made, I was relieved to spot Drew as soon as the elevator doors opened on the bottom floor. Even more so when his attention landed on me and his blue eyes darkened a shade as his fingers stopped playing with a poker chip and slipped it onto his pocket. Then he strode purposefully towards me while I walked towards the lobby.
“I was starting to wonder if you’d changed your mind.”
I almost had, but it’s not like there was any way for him to know that. “I’m right on time.”
He tapped the face of what looked like a super expensive watch. Whatever he did for the casino must pay well. “You’re thirty-five seconds late, sunshine.”
“Thirty-five seconds?” I sputtered. He sounded worse than the Chief Resident had been about timeliness during my first year of residency. “That’s not even a thing.”
“It is when you haven’t been able to get the most gorgeous woman you’ve ever met off your mind all night and day.” The deep rasp of his words sent a shiver down my spine, and goosebumps broke out on my skin when he bent his head to brush his lips across my cheek. His hand went to my waist, and the heat of it burned through my top. “I’ve been kicking my own ass for letting you walk away from me, even though I got you to agree to dinner.”
Considering how much time I’d spent thinking about him today, I was incredibly touched by his admission. It meant I wasn’t alone in what I was feeling. My relief prompted me to confess, “I spent an awful lot of my day thinking about you, too. It’s a good thing the conference offers recordings of the workshops since I wasn’t paying attention like I should’ve been.”
“Recordings?” His hand slid from my waist to my lower back as he guided me around the corner to an elevator that stood by itself. He slid a key card into a slot to the right of the doors, and they opened. When they closed behind us, he pressed the top button before tugging me into his side. “Now that I know they’re an option and your mind is on me instead of your conference, I’m going to push hard for you to skip out on work and explore Vegas with me instead.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I don’t let men interfere with what I want to accomplish as a doctor.”
“I’m not just any man.” His hold on me tightened. “And I refuse to spend even a second thinking about how you might’ve been with anyone else. Not when I set this up so I have you all to myself.”
His declaration was a lot to take in, but I lost the ability to think clearly when the elevator doors opened. “We’re on the roof?”
Drew flashed me a satisfied grin at my gasp. “You deserve the best, baby, and you can’t beat this view anywhere else on the strip.”
He led me past a table covered with a crisp, white table cloth that had two place settings with silver domes most likely covering our dinner. In the middle of the table, there was a vase filled with lilies and two unlit candles. Off to the side, there was a wine chiller on a floor-length stand. The set-up was beautiful and demonstrated that he’d put quite a bit of effort into our date, but it was all blown away by the view. The strip was spread out in front of us, with all the sparkling lights, fountains, and people.
“This is amazing.” I tilted my head back to stare up at him. “A private dinner on the rooftop of the Lennox hotel is well outside the usual first date options. How’d you manage to pull it off?”
“I’m not without connections in this town.”
His response was humble, and I had the impression he was downplaying the extent of his network. “They’ve more than outdone themselves tonight.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet, sunshine.” He led me back to the table and got me settled into my chair before taking the one across from me. When he lifted the silver dome off the plate in front of me, there was a filet mignon, asparagus, and roasted cauliflower puree underneath it. “I plan to pull out all the stops when it comes to you.”
I smiled and leaned forward to whisper, “Want to know a secret?”
He swept the cover off his plate, set it to the side, and reached out to grasp my hand. “I want to know everything I can about you.”
“Although I plan to eat every delicious morsel on my plate, I would’ve been fine with an animal style burger, fries, and a shake at In-N-Out if that’s where you’d decided to take me instead.”
“Gorgeous, smart, and familiar with the not-so-secret menu at In-N-Out?” His thumb brushed over my knuckles. “You’re the perfect woman, sunshine.”
“Not hardly,” I laughed.
“You’re going to have to work hard to convince me otherwise.”
I cut into my filet and speared the first piece with my fork. “Would knowing how much I wish there was some hot sauce on the table to go with my steak change your mind?”
“Hot sauce on filet?” He took a bite of his meal, chewing while he thought about it. “It’s unusual, but definitely not a deal-breaker.”
“Even if I eat it on my eggs, too?”
“The last thing I’m ever going to bitch about when I’m having breakfast with you is how you take your eggs.” His blue eyes heated. “I’m more than willing to serve them to you in bed with as many bottles of hot sauce as you’d like if that’s what it takes to get you there.”
I almost choked on my piece of steak, and Drew took it as a signal to back off a little while we finished our meal. He guided our conversation to more talk about favorites—the usual first date fare of colors, movies, books, and music.
“Rock-n-roll, huh?” He pushed his plate away, and I followed suit. “You wouldn’t happen to be a fan of Griffith Thorne, would you?”
That question was a no-brainer. The rock god with the blond faux hawk and sexy tattoos was one of my favorites. “Duh. Of course.”
Drew rose from his chair, stalked around to my side of the table, pulled me out of my seat with a gentle tug, and proceeded to kiss the heck out of me. My lips parted on a startled gasp, and he took full advantage as his tongue swept inside to tangle with mine. When he finally ended the kiss, his eyes held a possessive gleam as he looked down at me. “As long as I keep that freshly kissed look on your face, maybe I won’t feel the need to punch him when I take you backstage to meet him after his concert.”
“You’re taking me to Griffith Thorne’s concert?” I clapped my hands together in excitement.
“I hadn’t planned on it but if you want to go, then that’s what we’re going to do.”
“I do. I really do.” I shook my head and sighed. “But there’s no way we’ll be able to get tickets, let alone backstage passes. I checked about a month ago, and it was completely sold out.”
“Like I said, baby, if you want to go then I’ll make it happen.”
He sounded completely confident, but I refused to get my hopes up as we headed down to the lobby. I didn’t want to be disappointed after such an amazing dinner. Not when he’d already given me the best first date of my life. “Wait here for just a second,” he instructed before striding over to the concierge’s desk.
After less than a minute’s worth of conversation, the guy was handing an envelope over to Drew. The smug grin he flashed at me told me he’d managed to accomplish the impossible. Wow. He really hadn’t been kidding about those connections.
Chapter Five
Drew
As I strode over to the concierge desk, I realized that I was already at a point where there wasn’t much I wouldn’t do to make Autumn happy. Even if that meant introducing her to a good-looking (panty-melting, according to Knox’s sister, Belle) rockstar. I’d contracted Griffith Thorne for a month-long gig tacked onto the end o
f his latest world tour. We’d become good friends, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t kick his ass if he tried anything with Autumn.
I escorted her to the large concert arena attached to the back of the hotel and took the back way up to the seats reserved for me and my guests. Autumn looked a little shell-shocked as she took in everything around her. Her dark, expressive eyes held admiration but were also full of questions.
I opened my mouth to explain about being the owner of the hotel, but was cut off when the lights suddenly went out and an electric guitar started to play a low intro.
Autumn shrieked and clapped with everyone else, her attention riveted on the stage. The band entered, and I sat back to enjoy the show, though I watched Autumn more than anything else. Damn, she was fucking incredible. Gorgeous, smart, funny, energetic…I could go on and on.
The concert ended, and I stood next to Autumn as she clapped loudly before putting two fingers in her mouth and letting out an ear-splitting whistle. My mouth split into a grin. This girl was fucking awesome.
After the crowd calmed and started to disperse, Autumn spun around and threw her arms around me and planted a kiss squarely on my lips. My hands fisted in her shirt at her lower back and my head tilted to the side, changing the angle and deepening the kiss.
A few catcalls from the seats around us broke the spell, and I reluctantly tore my lips from hers. “Come on, sunshine,” I encouraged as I grabbed her hand. We made our way down to the backstage entrance and I nodded to security as they stepped aside to let us through.
“Wow. You didn’t even have to flash a badge or anything?” Autumn observed with muted curiosity. I shrugged without comment and continued to lead her through the hallway, down to the green room. When we walked through the door, Autumn came to a dead stop and I laughed at the frozen expression of disbelief on her face. “Holy shit,” she gasped. “I’m in the same room as Rising Phoenix.”
It's Vegas, Baby: A Vegas, Baby Novella Page 2