All In (Casino Nights #2)

by Melanie Jayne

  “You cooked, too.” He continued clearing.

  “Remy, I don’t think unwrapping the foil from the potatoes and mixing up a salad counts as cooking.” She was enjoying herself. They’d worked well together in the kitchen. She stopped insisting and followed him into the kitchen, laying the dishes on the counter top. “Why don’t you deal with your grill, and I’ll take care of the dishes?” She laid her hands on his chest to push him backward out of the kitchen, or that was her intent. However, her hands slid upward, around his neck, and she stood on tiptoe and kissed him.

  His hands dropped to her ass. “Too bad about the shorts.” He squeezed one ass check and then the other, flashing a sexy grin.

  Even with the drawstring pulled tight, the shorts had ridden so low on her hips she’d decided to go without. His t-shirt hit mid-thigh, and it was just the two of them... “I can put them on, but every time I move I have to hold them up.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t bother. I like this. In fact, I’m trying to figure out how to get your panties off, too.”

  She snickered. “Go deal with your grill, and then we can think about panties-off time.”

  “I like the sound of that.”

  Not long after the dinner clean-up was complete, and she was sitting beside Remy on his patio watching the sun set. She had a cold beer in one hand, and her feet were draped across his long legs. “This is nice.” She sighed contentedly.

  “My neighbors either don’t stay in their places much, or they never come outside. So, it’s quiet back here. I like to sit and have a beer to unwind.” He ran his hand down her smooth leg.

  “About a year ago, I realized that I went days without ever stepping outside,” she confided as she let her head rest against the back of the loveseat.

  “In the summer, I don’t blame you one bit.” He continued stroking her leg.

  “True, but I’ve let a lot of life pass me by. Now, I try to make time to go out for a walk after dinner. Sometimes, I make Hadley or one of the others go with me. We usually end up discussing business, but at least I’m getting fresh air.”

  He arched an eyebrow. “Babe, air on the Strip isn’t exactly fresh.”

  “After I got back from my first trip to meet my mother’s family, I considered buying property around Brownstown. A little place to get away, but realistically it’s too far to travel.” She had loved the lush green grass and the velvety night sky in the rural farmland.

  “You could get a place outside of your city. A guy I know from college has a fantastic spread out in the middle of nowhere. It’s two hours away from the Strip, but it feels like he’s miles away from anything.”

  “I’ve thought about a vacation home. If I had one, then maybe I’d take time off and go there.” She knew it was never going to happen, but at least she’d finally accepted she needed to get away from The Red Rose every now and then.

  “You could buy a house and move out of the tower,” he said it quietly.

  She gave a rueful smile. “I moved into the tower when I separated from my ex. It was supposed to be temporary, just until we got divorced. My plan was to move out once everything was over. Then I was working so much, and it was so handy to take the elevator upstairs, that I never left.”

  “So, what’s stopping you now?”

  “All of the time it takes to go look at properties, and then you have to deal with the closing bullshit. I’d have to hire someone to decorate because I don’t have any decent furniture, and I suck at that anyway. I’d have to find somebody to deal with the yard. And then with all of the hours I’m putting in, would I even be there?” She sounded pathetic to her own ears. She had no life and no home, and she wasn’t sure how to change it.

  He squeezed her knee. “You are your own boss, Frankie. You want more time for yourself. Make it happen.”

  She kept silent and sipped her beer while watching the sun fade. She would never say the words aloud, but she knew the main reason that she hadn’t bought a house was that she wanted it to be a home. One she shared with her man and maybe a kid or two. But she had enough trouble trying to fit a boyfriend into her life. How would she ever manage a family? “I blocked out time to go with you to Denver next month.” That came out sounding defensive. She frowned.

  He grunted. “Glad to hear it. I want you to meet some of my friends, and for them to meet you.”

  She gave him a smile, glad he’d let her divert from the conversation about her lack of movement on finding her own place. Besides, she was looking forward to the trip. She’d called her personal shopper who’d found a gorgeous dress to wear to the party.

  “I just hope that nothing comes up so you have to cancel the trip.”

  She stiffened. That had sounded like an accusation. Alarms sounded in her head. Was he saying that she had better not cancel on him? She started to reply with a multitude of explanations about what could come up at work, but she paused and thought about it a moment longer. What was he really saying?

  Realization tingled through her. Inviting her to meet his friends wasn’t a casual thing for him. Was this his way of signaling he was ready to take the next step in their relationship? Was she even ready? Suddenly, she wanted to be. “I know this is important to you, so it’s a big deal to me.” Her throat was dry, and her voice had gone rough. “I want to meet your friends, and I…I want to be there with you.” She could feel her body shake from nerves. Being open with him was still difficult.

  Suddenly, Remy pushed her legs off of his and stood up. He pulled her to her feet beside him. “Bed.” His smile was full of mischief.

  “Wait, what?” He was towing her behind him.

  He stopped and turned to face her. “I want you Francesca. I want to be inside of you. So, let’s go to bed.”

  She smiled while staring into his eyes. God, she was a total idiot. She wanted to see that look on his face every day. Too fast, a voice in her head warned. She didn’t care, she wanted this so much.

  Remy led, pulling her up the stairs behind him. He wanted to pump his fist in the air in victory. His inclusion in her plans for this trip was a sign that she accepted that they were a couple. She was still worried; there were difficulties, but they could be dealt with. This was an important first step. At the top of the stairs, he drew Francesca into his arms and kissed her. He couldn’t get enough of this woman. He ran his tongue along the seam of her lips.

  He growled, and she opened her mouth, her tongue tangling with his. He walked her backwards to his room. “Bed,” he said against her lips.

  She pulled back and whipped her—well, his—shirt over her head.

  He placed his hands on her full breasts, kneading their softness. He kissed her cheek, then nibbled on her jaw.

  When they neared the foot of his bed, he lifted her and tossed her face down on the bed.

  “What the hell?” She looked over her shoulder and raised her eyebrows.

  He dropped onto the bed next to her side then shifted, so that she was trapped beneath his chest with his arms on either side of her ribs. He kissed the nape of her neck and shoulders, and then, holding most of his weight on his hands, he licked down her spine.

  He felt her tremble beneath him. When he reached the top of her panties, he pushed himself to his knees, inserted his fingers into each side, and tugged them down her legs. “Up on all fours, Frankie,” he commanded.

  She crawled forward on her knees. “I think I’m going to need to hold onto your headboard.” She glanced over her shoulder. “You seem pretty intense.”

  Holding her gaze, he yanked his shirt over his head, pulled the condoms from his pocket, and dropped his shorts. He gave her ass a light push and moved behind her. “That scare you? Make you uneasy?” Raw lust rode him now. He’d been dying to fuck her since he’d picked her up.

  “Pfff, hardly.” She shot him a flirty look. “Come on Remy, give me all you got. I want you inside of me.”

  Oh man, he was so in love with this woman. He reached and placed her hands shoulder-width ap
art on his headboard. “This is going to be hard and fast, babe. I’ve been thinkin’ nonstop about having you naked in my bed for the last week.”

  She leaned back into him and turned her head sharply, signaling she wanted a kiss.

  Impatient now, he gave her one, but it was hard and short, and then he straightened. He tore open the foil packet and rolled the condom onto his hard cock. He stroked his hand over her back, and she pushed her hips backward.

  Smiling tightly, he ran two fingers along the outside of her pussy, barely touching her. She was dripping. He’d seen the moisture on her inner thighs as she’d had crawled across his bed. He pushed his fingers into her and was overwhelmed by her heat.

  Francesca made a noise deep in her throat as he pumped his fingers. “Please Remy,” she whispered as rocked her hips in time with his plunging fingers.

  “Had to make sure you were ready, babe. Never want to hurt you.” He kissed the spot between her shoulders.

  He pulled his fingers out of her channel, and with his other hand, he repositioned her body, tilting her hips toward him. She was so beautiful like this. He moved his cock to her opening and slowly pushed inside.

  She dropped her head forward as he entered her. “Yes,” she hissed.

  He pushed until he was buried in her heat then pulled all of the way out.

  “More, Remy,” she demanded.

  He entered her again, using every ounce of control he could muster, then pulled out. He concentrated on this slow rhythm, enjoying every inch of her.

  Francesca panted. “Honey, please.”

  He let loose an evil laugh, tightened his grip on her hips, and increased the speed of his strokes.

  He fucked her with short, hard strokes that pushed her toward the headboard. He moved his hand to her breast and pulled on her nipple, stretching it between his fingers.

  She made a noise that drove him insane, a loud purr. “Remy, you feel so good.”

  He put his lips to the back of her neck and moved his hand to her pussy. He used his index finger to stroke her clit.

  She moaned. “Christ, I’m going to come.”

  He made a slight change to the angle of his hips, and she cried out. Her body tensed, and she repeated his name.

  He loved hearing his name when she came. He pumped into her three more long strokes then felt his balls explode.

  When his brain unscrambled, they were lying with their bodies entangled. “I think you killed me,” he murmured.

  He felt her body shake with laughter. “I’m pretty sure it was the other way around.”

  He ran his hand along her side. “I missed you, Francesca.”

  She moved her head and kissed his chest. “I missed you, too.”

  Chapter Three

  A few weeks later...

  Remy’s excitement surged when he saw the number flash on the office phone’s screen. “Hey babe,” he said as he pushed his office chair back and stretched his legs.

  “Hey. How’s your day going?”

  Her voice rolled through him, making him yearn to see her in person, to touch her soft skin. “Much better now.”

  “Same here. Hopefully, it’ll be a quiet night. I have about eighty e-mails to get through. I keep telling the managers that they don’t have to copy me on every little thing, but they still do.”

  “I’m sure that your team can handle anything that might happen while you deal with paperwork.” They spoke every day, sometimes for twenty minutes, and other times, a few stolen moments.

  “Did you get a chance to talk to your friend about the party next week?”

  He found it cute that she was really nervous about meeting his friends. “Anything you wear will be perfect.” And that wasn’t a platitude. Francesca always looked beautiful. But she’d been worried about whether the party was formal or semi-formal. He didn’t get the point of asking how dressy the party was going to be.

  “You wouldn’t understand. It’s a woman thing.” She made a small huffing sound. “I want to look nice. Maybe I should call the bride myself. I hope that your friends like me.”

  One side of his mouth kicked up in a half smile. “They’ll love you. I won’t be able to leave your side, or one of them will put the moves on you.” He knew his friends, and they would flirt with her just to upset him.

  “Whatever.” He pictured her rolling eyes. “Rico wanted me to assure you that I will be in Denver no matter what’s happening here. They want me to list our dates on the whiteboard in the hallway, so that they can make sure I get on the plane.”

  That brought a smile to his face. “Tell Rico—no, tell the entire team—that when I see them, dinner is on me. If they can get you on the plane and keep the calls to a minimum.” When they were visiting her family, she was interrupted by calls from The Red Rose. The irritating part was that the questions didn’t seem important. After patiently listening, Francesca would advise the caller to contact her team.

  “I’m not telling them that. They’ll set up a trip for you just so they can eat.” He could hear the laughter in her voice.

  “I’m looking forward to seeing you.”

  “Yeah, uhm... I, uh...”

  His gaze narrowed as he cocked his head to the side, trying to read into her stammers. Francesca was tongue-tied and hesitant, which was unlike her. “What’s up, babe?”

  “I was thinking that maybe we needed to talk about this.” She paused.

  He could feel her discomfort through the phone. “What Francesca?” he asked, making sure his tone was gentle.

  “Condoms,” she spit the word out.

  He ran his hand through is hair. “Frankie, I’m not tracking. What about condoms?”

  “It’s just that I’m not seeing anyone else. I went to the doctor and had her test me, and I’m clean. No problems or diseases,” she paused. “I thought maybe, if you wanted, we could stop using them.” She rushed through the last sentence.

  He pushed his chair up straight and felt his smile stretch. “Go on.”

  “If we were, you know, uhm exclusive—I’m on the pill—then we wouldn’t have to deal with them, condoms, that is, anymore.”

  The very confident and competent Francesca Luchetti sounded tentative and a little fearful.

  “God Francesca, you take my breath away.”She cared. He knew that this was hard for her. She was so fiercely independent and had always been resistant to even the idea of entering another relationship. Her offer now was another sign she was willing to move forward.

  “That’s good, right? I should have done this over Skype. Sometimes, I can’t read your tone.”

  “Babe, it’s great. There’s nobody else but you. I’m overwhelmed you would do this for us, give this to me. I mean it.” His voice went soft as he felt his heart expand.

  “Okay, good. Yeah, that’s good.”

  He chuckled. “I’ll get to the doctor before I see you in Denver.”

  “That’s next week.”

  “I know, and I can’t wait to bury myself inside you bareback.” At the thought, he felt his cock stir.

  She sighed into the phone. After a pause, she said softly, “I hope I don’t do anything stupid in front of your friends.”

  “Wouldn’t matter to me if you did,” he assured her.

  His secretary knocked on his door, stuck her head inside, and mouthed the name, “Bennett.”

  “Fuck, something’s come up.”

  “Hope it is nothing big.”

  He loved that about her—she didn’t get shitty if his work interrupted their time.

  “Francesca, thank you.” He meant it.

  “Talk to you tomorrow, Remy.” And she hung up.

  ***

  Denver’s airport was very bright. Between the blue skies and the bright sun streaming through the windows, Francesca felt like she needed to put on her sunglasses as she walked to baggage claim. She let out a loud sigh of frustration. She’d broken one of her travel rules and over-packed. She’d had to check her bag, which meant a wait.


  She found the correct carousel and pulled out her phone to text Remy.

  Made it! I’m waiting for my bag and will find a cab. I’ll be there soon.

  Once in the cab and on the way to the hotel, she checked her phone again. Remy had sent his response.

  I’ll meet you at Registration.

  She had no doubt that he would meet her at the front door. He had no problem making her feel appreciated. He held her hand, kissed her in public, and pulled her close when they were sleeping. For such a big, bad, alpha male, he treated her with so much tenderness. It was one of the many reasons she really liked him. And because she really, really liked him, she’d rearranged her schedule to travel to Denver, and she did everything in her power not to miss their daily phone calls.

  She tucked her hair behind her ear and slowly shook her head as an inner voice started to enumerate her many concerns about her and Remy. Getting involved in any relationship wasn’t a good bet. She had to get her own life in order. She was still working too many hours and on call twenty-four hours a day. When she was first promoted to a management position, she’d felt as though she had to work harder than everyone else because she was Jimmy’s daughter. As she rose through the ranks, people started to depend on her and her availability. Now, it was a foregone conclusion that she was as married to the job as her dad was.

  Her real friends didn’t agree. Last week, Rico took her to breakfast and told her she had to learn to say no, echoing Hadley’s advice.

  She leaned back on the cab’s seat and let out a deep sigh. Her closest friends and co-workers could see that she was overextended, and yet, she knew that she couldn’t change things on her own. Once again, she was going to have to have a meeting with Jimmy, and then with Team 2. She couldn’t keep up this pace.

  She was exhausted and nervous about meeting Remy’s friends. If she could get eight hours of uninterrupted sleep maybe she could handle things.

  Great, her first night with Remy, and she was thinking about telling him she needed to go to bed early. Yeah, she wanted to go to bed with Remy, but not to sleep. Lordy, she needed to take a breath. He would understand; it was freakin’ weird how in tune he was with her. She swallowed and counted to three. I’ll be honest and tell him that I’m pooped. She nodded her head at her decision. Suddenly, her shoulders didn’t feel as tense. Wow, now I feel so much better.