by Helen Cooper
“Can I run the card ma’am?”
“Yes.” Holly’s voice was small and tight. She didn’t want to give the handsome devil behind her any more reason to look down at her. Please don’t get declined; please don’t get declined, she thought.
“Okay ma’am. Here are your room keys.”
“Thanks.” Holly tried not to make a comment about being given multiple keys. She wasn’t going to allow the front desk clerk to have one up on her. “Enjoy the rest of your day. It must suck to have to work on a Friday night.” Take that, bitch, she smiled to herself.
“Actually I was off ten minutes ago.” The girl stared straight into her eyes.
“Oh.” Holly grabbed her keys and walked away swiftly. She was trying so hard to avoid looking at the handsome man that she didn’t watch where she was going and bumped into a trashcan. She banged her knee, dropped her backpack, and fell on the ground. “Ow,” she cried out.
“Need a hand?” A silky warm voice spoke as a very masculine hand reached down to her. She didn’t have to look up to know who had come to her aid.
“No.” She growled and tried to jump up. She lost her balance halfway up and fell down again, hitting her ass hard. “Ow.” She cried out again involuntarily.
“Let me help you up.” The voice smirked, and this time his hand wasn’t taking no for an answer. He grasped her clammy hand firmly and pulled her up as if she were as light as a feather and not the 150lbs that she actually weighed.
“Thanks.” She mumbled, and she stared at him from under her lashes as she regained her balance. “I don’t know what happened.”
“You weren’t looking where you were going.” He replied snarkily. “You can usually avoid bumping into objects and falling if you keep your eyes ahead of you.”
“Why I didn’t know that.” She huffed out and grabbed her bag. Her arms were shaking, and she took a deep breath.
“Let me help you to your room.” His voice was soft as he touched her shoulder, and she looked into his vivid forest green eyes in surprise. He was a lot more handsome close up than she had realized earlier, and her breath caught as she studied his face. Now this was the sort of guy she went for. He had dark brown hair that almost looked black, and he was the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome. He even smelled good. Too good. She knew that she had to get away from this man quickly, or she was liable to say something she would regret.
“I’m okay.” She pulled away from him quickly and almost ran to the elevator. She looked down at her keys to see her room number as she waited for the elevator, and she hoped that her cheeks weren’t burning as red as she thought they were.
“And we meet again.” The man was next to her again, and as she looked up, she held in a groan.
“Yeah, it’s a huge surprise.” She rolled her eyes. “Imagine us meeting at the elevator like this.”
“Wow, clumsy and irritable. Aren’t you just a bright star?” He replied sarcastically. “I can see why you’re here alone.”
“Who says I’m here alone?” She muttered, disgruntled at his rude but accurate comments. Did she look like some sort of loser?
“I heard you saying you were alone.” He looked at her with a smirk.
“You sure see and hear a lot. Are you with the CIA or something?” She continued with her sarcastic rant. “I’m glad to hear my tax dollars are paying for your worthwhile services, Mr. President. Mr. President, all is clear with the single women in Las Vegas. You can go to sleep now.”
“I’m sure if I was with the CIA, I’d have you locked up by now. Did you escape recently or something?”
“I’ve never been to jail.”
“I meant from the mental institution.”
“You what?” Holly screeched and looked up trying to hide a smile. She had to admit that she was acting like a crazy woman. “Funny.” She laughed and shook her head. “But not funny enough for me to pay to see your show tonight.”
“My show?” It was his turn to look confused.
“Aren’t you the entertainment at the comedy club tonight?” She peered at him curiously. “I thought you looked familiar. Your name is Bozo, isn’t it?”
The man burst out laughing and ran his hand through his gloriously soft and silky looking hair. “Well, I have to admit that was a good one.”
“Well, see ya.” Holly breathed a sigh of relief as the elevator finally arrived. The man was starting to grow on her, and the last thing she needed was a small-time crush on some guy she would never see again. She was already wondering what he looked like under his expensive Armani suit. She was pretty confident that his body was just as good as she expected it to be, and she didn’t need visions of him haunting her in bed every night.
“It’s not a goodbye just yet.” He walked into the elevator with her, and she groaned at her idiocy. No wonder he thought she was slow. “What floor?”
“The 10th, please.” She smiled and looked down at her bag. Please do not say anything else to me, she thought to herself, but she was slightly disappointed when her wish came true. The bell dinged as they arrived at her floor, and as she walked out of the elevator he called out to her.
“Stay safe.” His voice seemed to be laughing at her, and she didn’t bother turning around to thank him.
“Pompous ass.” She muttered to herself as she opened the door. She walked into the room and grinned to herself. The room was large and luxurious. There was a king-sized bed in the middle of the room, facing a gigantic flat screen TV. She dropped her bag and jumped up onto the bed. She snuggled into the pillow and sighed with happiness. Before she knew it, she had fallen into a deep sleep and was only awakened when her stomach started to growl.
She rolled over and grabbed the booklets on the nightstand and checked the menus out to see what she wanted to eat. She was debating between a filet mignon and lasagna when her phone rang.
She groaned and rolled over. “Hello?”
“Holly, where are you?” Lacey giggled.
“I’m in my hotel room.”
“How did you get a key?” Lacey hiccupped. “Lewis, stop it. I’m on the phone.”
“I gave the front desk clerk my credit card.” Holly was annoyed.
“Oh. Why didn’t you just come and join us?”
“I don’t know where you guys are.”
“I sent you a text. Oh, wait, I think I meant to send you a text, but we went to a bar and started playing pool. And guess what, Holly? I beat Lewis!”
“Yay for you.” Holly sounded anything but happy for her friend.
“I’m sorry, Hollllly. Let me and Lewis come and pick you up, and we can go for dinner.”
“You guys can’t drive!”
“Lewis will get a limo! We owe you, and we can go party on the strip.”
“I don’t know.”
“Please. It’ll be fun.”
“I don’t know. I’m not in the mood.”
“Holllly, we have to have fun this weekend. We’ll go dancing.”
“Fine. How long will you be?”
“About an hour.”
“An hour? Lacey, I’m starving.” Holly sighed.
“Have a shower, get sexy, and dinner will be on us.”
“You better be taking me somewhere fancy.”
“Will McDonalds do?” Lacey laughed, and Holly giggled.
“Lacey, I better be as drunk as you are in two hours, or I am going to go off on someone.”
“Don’t worry, hun. You’ll be a lot drunker.” Lacey laughed and hung up, and Holly jumped up. She turned on the clock radio next to her bed and searched for a station playing some Top 40. As soon as she heard Katy Perry screaming that she had kissed a girl, she stopped turning and started dancing around, singing to herself. She walked to the bathroom and let out a loud exclamation at how luxurious it looked. This life she could get used to. She looked at the time and decided to have a bath instead of a shower, and as she relaxed in the bubbles and closed her eyes, the face of the man from the elevator popped into her min
d. She groaned to herself and allowed herself to daydream about him for a few minutes. As she found her hand reaching for her breast, she quickly sat up and started scrubbing herself. Now was not the time to be indulging to fantasies, she told herself and tried to erase the man’s glinting eyes from her mind.
Chapter 3
To: Holly Craven
From: Spencer Giovanni
Day and Time: Friday 8:30pm
Ms. Craven,
This is a reminder that you should be in the office at 7:00am sharp. I have scheduled a call with the London office for 07:15am and will not be happy if you are not settled in, with your coffee, by then.
Spencer Giovanni
Holly rolled her eyes as she read the newest email from her boss. He was really starting to get on her nerves, and she had a nagging feeling that she should start looking for a new job. She could only imagine how old and crotchety he was. He was most probably nearing retirement and would go on and on about how hard he had to work as a little boy in the early 1900’s. Maybe he’d throw in a story about his family emigrating from Italy. She sighed - she could already imagine how boring and exhausting the job was going to be. But at least it paid well. She had to keep thinking about the paychecks. She had been offered a starting salary of $70,000, and she felt like she was on her way to being a millionaire. She had never made so much money in her life before. She could finally start paying off her student loans. She deleted the email without replying and grinned at the hot girl she saw in the mirror, reapplied some red lipstick, and got ready to leave. She was glad that she had freshened up and gotten dressed up for the night because she knew she looked sophisticated and sexy. She was going to have some fun tonight and forget all her other worries.
“Hey, Lacey, I’m going to the front lobby now. I can’t wait to see you in a few minutes.” Holly left a message on Lacey’s voicemail, grabbed her bag, and swayed out of her hotel room with very definite pep in her step.
As she waited for the elevator to arrive, she tapped her foot to the silent beat she heard in her head. She was ready to hit the dance-floor and dance the night away. Her stomach growled, and she realized that she was also in desperate need of some food, and she was laughing to herself when the elevator arrived.
“Why, don’t you clean up well?” A voice drawled, and she nearly groaned as she looked up and saw the man from the lobby standing there waiting for her.
“Are you spying on me?” She hissed, trying not to notice how smart he looked in his black suit.
“I have better things to do with my time, my dear.”
“Yeah, sure, like going to a business meeting?” She looked him up and down, and he laughed at her disdainful look.
“I suppose all the men you know spend the evening in jeans and a T-shirt?” He scoffed at her, and she felt her face burning.
“If you mean I date down-to-earth guys, then yes, I do.” She rolled her eyes at him and started playing around with her handbag, pretending to be looking for something, so that she could ignore him.
“Big date tonight?” He cocked his head, and she felt his eyes run over her body. Her nerves tingled at his slow, deliberate gaze. His eyes rested on her partially exposed breasts, and she watched as he licked his lips. She briefly wondered what it would feel like to have his lips on her, and she shook her head, annoyed at herself.
“No.” Her reply was no-nonsense and abrupt.
“But surely you have big plans for the night? No?” He looked at her curiously. “You don’t seem to be the sort of girl who would get this dressed up just for some dinner at Applebees.”
“Excuse me?” She gasped. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He chuckled at her indignant tone. “Well, most girls like you….”
“Like me?” Her voice rose. “What sort of girl am I?”
“You tell me.” He sidled up next to her and whispered. “Are you the sort of girl that I could pay to have dinner with me tonight?”
“What?” She frowned, and as realization dawned on her and she figured out what he had just said, she gasped and pushed him away from her. “How dare you, you insufferable brute.”
“Oh, I dare very much so.” He grinned at her and leaned in towards her face. She felt his green eyes bore into her, and there was a challenge in their glint. She felt her lips tremble as she realized just how close he was to her. She could feel the warmth of his chest against her breasts, and if she moved one inch forward, their lips would be touching. “How much for the night?”
Holly gasped and was about to reach up and slap him, but he caught her arm before she was able to. “Or should I say, how much for the weekend?”
“I’m not a prostitute, you asshole.” She screeched at him.
“I never said you were.” He laughed and moved back from her.
“And even if I was, what does that say about you – that you would be willing to hook up with a hooker?”
“Do I look like the sort of man who needs a hooker?” He laughed and ran his hands through his silky, glistening hair. “I have supermodels on my speed dial and actresses begging me to take them on dates.”
“Yeah, right.” Holly faked a look of disbelief even though she believed what he said. The man was gorgeous, oozed sex appeal, and was obviously extremely wealthy. She knew that there were many women who would put up with him being an ass just to be with him. Even if only for one night. She would never date a man like him though. He was too cocky, too rude and arrogant, and he made her blood boil. She tried to ignore the fact that she was intensely attracted to him and that her body ached for his touch. She was mad at her body for her betraying her and finding him attractive. She knew that he was able to see the perkiness of her nipples and the throbbing in her throat, and she could feel her face flush red. Damn her body for feeling horny right now. She knew, of course, that she was only horny because she hadn’t had sex in ages. It was not because he was irresistible. Definitely not. He was just an arrogant prick. And no, she didn’t want to see it either.
“What’s your name?” He asked her huskily. She looked up at him to see if she could see desire in his face, but all she saw was mire. He looked like he was laughing at her, and she frowned.
“None of your business.”
“I suppose names aren’t really important in your world, are they, Vixen?” He purred, and she was about to turn around and give him a taste of her best curse words when the elevator arrived at the ground floor. She hurried out as dignified as she could in her high heels and prayed that for once Lacey would keep her word and would be waiting outside in a limo with Lewis.
It was bound to happen; it was nature’s way of telling Holly that everything could go wrong would go wrong, and as she tripped on her own feet and went falling to the ground, Holly closed her eyes and prayed that the ground would swallow her up.
“I do believe you’re trying to get my attention, aren’t you?” His voice mocked her, and she felt his warm, strong hands helping her up.
“Why would I want your attention?” She glared at him and pulled away as she regained her balance.
“Maybe because you’re trying to make a move on me.”
“You wish.”
“Would it be so bad?”
“Would what be so bad?” She sighed, not knowing what he was talking about. She was starting to feel light-headed and irritable.
“Spending the night with me?” He cocked his head and stared at her with a half-smile as she took in what he had said.
“Are you joking?” She paused, unsure of what to say. Maybe this was fate, she thought to herself. Maybe I’m meant to have some hot sex with this man and just get it out of my system.
“Do you want me to be joking?”
“I don’t even know you.” She spoke slowly, unsure.
“But you’re attracted to me, no?”
“No, I don’t know.” Her voice was soft, and she looked around to see if anyone was watching them. “I don’t even know your name.” She looked up at him expectan
tly, and he smiled.
“Do we really want to exchange names, Vixen?”
“I think I already know yours, Don Juan.” She rolled her eyes and pulled her phone out of her bag. “Look, it was nice of you to help me again, Mr. whatever-your-name is, but I have to go.”
“So quickly?” He looked surprised, and she wanted to laugh. She wouldn’t have been surprised if she was the first woman to turn him down. She had to admit to herself that that knowledge gave her a certain thrill.
“See ya.”
“Until you trip again, Vixen.” He chuckled after her, and she made sure to walk carefully as she left him standing there. Score one for me, she thought happily though she felt a bit disappointed that he hadn’t come after her and tried to persuade her to spend more time with him. It wasn’t that she wanted to sleep with him or anything, but there was a certain satisfaction in having a hot man desire her. And that was one thing Don Juan had going for him: his sensual, handsome looks. You could forget his arrogant personality while you were in bed with him, being pleasured by him. She groaned at her thoughts. She needed to forget the man with his come hither eyes that screamed out to her inner woman.
Holly’s phone started ringing, and she answered it quickly, hoping that Lacey was telling her to hurry up. “I’ll be right outside. I tripped, and this insufferable brute came to help me. But he was mocking me more than helping, and he….”
“Holly, I’m so sorry. We are running late.” Lacey interrupted her, giggling. “We got offered free tattoos, so we decided to….”
“You what?” Holly’s voice rose in anger. “Do you know how hungry I am?!”
“Don’t be mad. You can get one as well.”
“Lacey, I couldn’t care less that you got a tattoo. I’m hungry, bored, and upset, and I have been waiting on you all evening. How could you be so selfish?” Her voice was loud and full of disgust as she leaned against the wall outside the hotel. She turned slightly to the right, and she saw Don Juan and groaned. He was staring at her with one eyebrow raised, and he mouthed something to her. She glared at him and turned away and lowered her voice. “When are you going to be here?” She hissed as her stomach grumbled again. “And by the way, I am really upset right now, so don’t say an hour.”