by J. Saman
It hasn’t worked. Not even a little.
I did try to conclude if she was using the suite since then, but short of pounding on her door or stalking her after she gets off work, that wasn’t possible. And since I am still not known as the CEO, I can’t exactly ask housekeeping. It’s creepy. And definitely stalkerish.
I have, however, joined her for a run three other times. We have this unspoken competition going on. It’s fantastic. I’ve never met a woman who can keep up with me, but not only does she do that, she pushes me harder. I feel like I’m back in the Army when I run with her. And hell, does that turn me on. Then again, everything about her does.
We talk, but never about anything personal. She doesn’t reveal anything about herself. She doesn’t ask a lot of questions about me, either. But she does let me get close to her. She even laughs at my jokes occasionally. She’s far from impervious to my flirting and has yet to switch up her running routine in an attempt to avoid me. She likes me. I know it. It’s there in the way she watches me when she believes she’s unobserved. In the smiles she reserves solely for me, because they are most definitely different than the one she gives anyone else.
When I came in tonight, wondering why I was chasing a girl for the first time in my life, she smiled at me, again, her cheeks warming to the loveliest shade of pink I’ve ever seen, and I knew the answer to my question. This girl…Hell. Sometimes she can be impossible to navigate, and then she does something like that. Making my world just a touch more vibrant with her sweet innocence and addictive vulnerability.
I’m the guy who can’t get enough and she’s my drug of choice.
My warm and fuzzy moment didn’t last long, though. Brent, who is evidently still in town, interrupted it. Ten. Days. No one stays in Las Vegas this long. No one. He’s still trying to gain access to my girl. Every time she spoke to that cocksucker, my fists clenched, and my jaw ticked. And when she wasn’t looking, he threw me smarmy smirks and knowing winks. I had to remind myself time and time again he wasn’t worth getting arrested over, otherwise I would have kicked his ass. Yeah, I can be immature and juvenile when I want to be, but I rose above, and for that, I deserve brownie points. That guy, Brent. Shit. He’s good. I’ll give him his player dues because he’s working her hard. He watched her all damn night.
Never took his eyes off her.
And whenever he spoke to her, that charm was spread on thicker than frosting and just as sweet. She sees through it. She has to.
Mia’s shift ended when everyone else’s did, and she slunk into the backroom.
I linger, much the way I did the last night I worked here, but tonight, I am determined not to miss her. My intention is not to follow her for snooping purposes. I just want to make sure she gets back to her room safely.
All day, hell, for the last ten goddamn days, I’ve fought the urge to look her up. This is Las Vegas and I have access to one of the best in-house security systems and teams in the world. A background check is nothing. It doesn’t even take very long. A few hours at most for a basic one and that’s all I need. Enough to know if she’s a missing person. Enough to know some of her history. But I fought it. Have been fighting it.
Even though it’s tempting as hell, I won’t invade her privacy like that. I’m already overstepping with that suite. With the food I had placed in there and the expense account I set up. Probably the running, too, if I’m being honest. After all, I don’t know her. Nothing real at least. She could be a fraud. She could be a con artist. A swindler. A thief. A criminal.
But she’s not any of those things. I feel that deep in my blood. I have spent enough time with her now to know, but if I’m wrong about her, about that, then I deserve the repercussions, because she’s sold me on her sad side. On the scared, homeless girl who just needs to feel safe. I’m not a hero. I’m not a saint and I’ve done my share of things wrong in this world.
I lie to nearly everyone everyday about who I am and what my purpose here is. And honestly, I’m okay with that con. I’m okay with that lie as it serves a greater purpose and that greater purpose is securing the futures of Turner Hotels and its staff.
But I can help this girl. I can make her feel safe. I can give her a place to sleep and some food and anything else she requires to get through whatever it is she’s trying to get through. I can run with her in the mornings so she’s not alone. I can do that. If she never gives me a second glance and we never become real friends or lovers or more, I’m okay with that too. Even if it’s not what I want from her. She’s become part of my purpose. I don’t even know how it happened, but I will not let Brent fuck with my purpose. I will not let that asshole use her the way I know he wants to.
I mean, hell, who stays in Las Vegas this long if they don’t live here?
Mia exits the back room and I follow.
“You’re not staying for a drink with everyone else?” I ask as I reach her side. She doesn’t so much as glance in my direction, her focus is locked on that exit door.
“No. I see you’re not, either.”
I grin, walking closely by her side. She lets me. She doesn’t even try to adjust her position. “You’re the only reason I stayed this long.”
She lets out a derisive snort. “Diamond said you don’t date a lot. How come?”
I can’t stop my laugh. “Why the hell are you asking me that?”
“I don’t know,” she laughs in return, shaking her head, pausing to peek up at me. “She said when you do date, you get bored quickly. Am I just another woman you want to get bored of, Jake? Once the thrill of chasing me is over, of course.” It’s as if something shifts in her, her question goes from teasing and conversational to something resembling interest. It’s that spark in her eyes. It’s such a small thing, but when you spend a lot time observing someone, you get to know them. Understand their facial expressions. Mia is telling me that my answer matters.
I shake my head slowly, because as I take her in, I don’t think she’s someone I could ever be bored with. It’s been more than three weeks and my mind is nothing if not occupied with her. And really, what the hell is Diamond talking about? I haven’t dated any women in this bar. I’ve fucked none of them. In fact, if we’re throwing down facts, I haven’t fucked a woman since I came to this town. I’ve been way too preoccupied. Besides, the only women I meet work for me in some sort of capacity. So, I’ve kept my dick tucked securely away like the smart man I sometimes am.
“I just don’t get it, is all.”
“Well, I don’t get you, either.”
“Touché. I’ll stop prying.”
“You can pry as long as I get to return the favor.”
“What is it you want with me, Jake? I thought I already made my position clear. Yet you keep coming back for more and more.”
“You like my more and more. You like me working with you. You like running with me and spending time with me. I know you do.” She sighs, shifting her weight and pivoting away from me. She’s not denying it. “I think your position on us needs amending.”
“Amending,” she half-laughs the word, crossing her arms over her chest and peering up at me in the dim lighting with those forest-green eyes that make me forget how to breathe. “What precisely needs amending?”
“For starters?” I ask, and she groans. “The friendship part. And definitely the breakfast part. We should go have a very early breakfast and then watch the sunrise.”
She shakes her head, but she’s trying really hard to hide her smile.
“It’s late. I just want to go to bed.”
“With me?” I point to my chest. That was a softball I couldn’t resist. My lips quirk into my most charming smile so she knows I’m kidding. Well…
“No.” She laughs. “That’s not what I meant. I’ve seen you interact with the other staff and I get it. Everyone likes you. You’re fun and easygoing. You make me laugh and know more about me than I’m comfortable with. But I don’t know you, Jake. Not really, anyway. And that’s all I care about.”
I don’t skip a beat. “I’m single. Never been married. I’m right handed. I graduated high school, college and business school with honors. I like electronics and hate business. I was in the Army for two years and my father is recently deceased. I grew up in Baltimore, well, sort of, and I absolutely love baseball, particularly the Oriels. There. How’s that?” I take a small measured step. Just enough to let her know I’m interested in whatever she’s willing to give in return, without coming across as intimidating. “You’re safe with me, Sunshine.” She blinks, her eyes becoming glassy and wide as if startled by my declaration. “It’s just breakfast and a sunrise. That’s all.”
A rush of air parts her lips, like she had been holding her breath that entire time and couldn’t stand it a moment longer. She doesn’t respond. A single tear breaches the ridge of her eye, slowly gliding down her soft cheek. Reaching out, I brush it away. She lets me, not even the slightest of flinches, and I have the greatest urge to kiss her. To close this insignificant distance and take her mouth with mine. To wrap her up in my arms and feel her warm softness against me. To lose myself in her sweetness. To let her know I mean everything I say to her.
She’s always safe with me.
“I’m not safe with anyone,” she says it on the quietest of breaths. Her voice the barest of whispers that it takes me a couple of beats to comprehend what I think I heard. And when I know I’ve got it fully, when I accept she couldn’t have said anything else, I’m rattled out of my lust-filled haze with a cold, hard slap. The power of her words drops an anchor straight through me, mooring me to the floor. Like a sailboat in storm waters, my insides turbulent and ill at ease.
I stare at her, unable to formulate words. All I want to do is come up with something epic. Something that will blow her away and change her life and make her realize she is safe with me. But there are no words for that sort of thing. Nothing that can instill trust in a woman who’s already had it shattered. That I’ll have to show her.
“Come have breakfast with me, Mia. We can talk. I’ll tell you anything you want to know about me. Anything at all.”
Now it’s her turn to be silent. She’s tempted. I know she is. I affect her as much as she affects me. There is no hiding this sort of connection. It’s intrinsic. Unable to be faked, ignored or shutdown.
“It’s late,” is all she can manage as she twists back towards the door and hastily exits. I follow again because that seems to be what I do where she’s concerned. I might just follow her anywhere, which is ironic considering I’ve never chased a woman in my life. I won’t lie and say I don’t love the challenge. I do. Any man who says he doesn’t is a liar. But she’s more than that. She’s got this something else… This indescribable attribute that hits me in my core. That knocks me off balance and has me desperate for even just the smallest bit of her attention. She pauses again when she notices me following her, spinning around to face me once again, exasperation punishing her beautiful features.
“You don’t need to come with me. I can manage on my own.”
“I know you can,” I say, because that’s what she’s been doing up until this point. Managing.
“Then please don’t walk with me.”
“All right. I won’t walk with you. Have a good night, Sunshine.”
“You too, Jake.”
She sinks her teeth into her full bottom lip, shifts her weight again like she wants to say more, but doesn’t. She turns away from me, tossing her dark locks over her shoulder and marches off. I watch as she gets to the end of the hall and then I step out after her. I don’t need to walk with her, but I sure as shit am going to follow her.
Stepping into the corridor, I move quickly, afraid of losing her before she reaches the elevators that lead to the guest rooms. I get halfway down the hall, but my attention is diverted the moment I step past a group of drunk bachelorettes.
Brent. What the motherfuck? And when Mia notices him standing there, waiting on her, everything about her disposition changes. I can’t hear him as he approaches her, but I know he’s talking to her. The cocky bastard sifts his gaze to me for the briefest of seconds, like he knew what I was up to following her, and the challenge is clear as day. I told him to leave her alone that night in the hall when he cornered her. That was forever ago. But this guy is not getting the message.
He’s not the one she’s running from. I know this. She didn’t even know Brent when he first started making his move. No. He’s not the guy, but he is a threat to her all the same.
I move slow, unsure of what my next move should be. She asked me not to walk with her and if I intercede, again, well, I don’t know how she’ll react. But if he pushes her, even a little, hell, if he so much as touches her, I’ll end him. Thick waves of consternation surge from her, filling the space between the them with a visible uneasiness.
Mia says something to him that has the prick smiling and shrugging. He leans in and hugs her. Actually fucking hugs her, her body squirming in his embrace and my feet start moving before they stop just as quickly. She pushes him off and he steps back and then she steps back. She gives him a tight smile and a small half wave. Brent doesn’t offer much back. He just watches her walk off, same as I am.
The asshat turns to face me and just…stares at me. He does this for no longer than a few seconds, but it’s long enough for me to read him loud and clear. He’s telling me to back off. He’s telling me she’s his and he’s a man on a mission to win. Finally, he smirks at me and saunters off like he doesn’t have a care in the world, hitting one of the exits that branches off this long hallway.
I take off into a sprint, my eyes scanning everywhere for Mia. She’s nowhere. Goddammit! I run in the direction of the elevators that go up to the guest rooms, but she’s not there either.
No way she could have gotten this far. No way.
Spinning back around, I drag through the casino, my head whipping in every direction, looking at everyone, until I find her, standing against the wall on the edge of the casino floor, clutching her worn backpack, her chest rising and falling to an exaggerated rhythm. Her body trembles, doing everything she can to maintain her composure, but it’s slipping quickly.
A rush of adrenaline bursts through my veins as sweet relief prickles my skin. I’m panting. Hell, I’m fucking hyperventilating. But I found her, and this bullshit is done. I’m her hero. I’m her fucking knight. And I’m the one who is going to make it all better.
Tears fill her eyes, falling down her cheeks one by one until they turn into rivers of anguish. She takes off, but it’s without purpose or proper vision because she slams directly into me. “I’ve got you,” I promise, wrapping my arms around her and holding her up against me.
“Jake?” She pauses, frozen in my arms for a half- second before she throws herself around my neck, practically jumping up into me. “You’re here,” she cries, shaking with equal parts panic and relief. “You came back for me?”
“I was following you when I saw you running away from Brent,” I admit. “I waited. I was giving you space. I wasn’t going to walk with you.” For some reason, this makes her cry harder. “What happened? What did he say to you?”
She just shakes her head in the crook of my neck. I guide her off to the side, into a small alcove and then before I can even process my actions, I press my lips into the top of her head, breathing in the fragrance of her floral shampoo and holding her so close to me I wonder if she can breathe. I have no idea what I’m doing, but I also know nothing has ever felt so right before.
She loses all control. A heartbreaking sob passes her lips as she sinks into me, barely able to stand as whatever this is overpowers her. I whisper soothing words into her hair. Comfort her as best I can. She clings to me like I’m her talisman. Like I’m the dividing line between lost and found. Between salvation and destruction.
I’ll straddle this line with her. She’s got me. It’s the craziest thing, but she does. She had me the moment I picked her up on the side of that deserted road. She
had me the moment she looked up at me with those big green eyes of hers.
“Mia?” I speak softly into her hair that feels as smooth and glossy against my fingers as it looks. “What did he say?”
“Nothing,” she wails. “He didn’t say anything. It’s me. It’s all me. I’m a mess. You should have left me on the side of the road. I can’t do this anymore.”
I have no idea what she’s talking about, but the hopelessness in her cadence scares me. “Come on, baby. Let’s get you upstairs.”
“What?” She pulls back, wiping her eyes and the ring of mascara beneath them. My words startle her, snapping her out of her mini panic attack. She thinks I’m talking about her room, when really, I’m talking about mine. But at some point, I need to tell her. Not yet. It’s too soon for that declaration. There are too many unknowns between us.
“Breakfast and the sunrise. I live here.”
I’ve never brought a woman up there. In all the time I’ve been living here, I never wanted to. It felt like too much of a risk. There are too many questions, a million implications, that come with that step. Trust in another human can be a real motherfucker. It’s not something I give away freely, but I want to bring her up there. I want to earn her trust as much I want her to earn mine.
“You live here?” Her cheeks are tear-stained and rosy. Her lips are crimson, her eyes bright and clear. God, she’s so pretty.
“I do. Can I trust you?”
Her eyes volley back and forth between mine, a crease forming between her pinched eyebrows. “I don’t believe in trust anymore.”
Wow. That’s probably the most heartbreaking thing anyone has ever said to me. How does something like that happen to someone like her?
I cup her cheek and cover her mouth with mine. Because sometimes there are no words to fix broken, only actions. She resists me, her posture wooden, but she doesn’t pull away. My lips meld to hers, my tongue demanding access, and ever-so-slowly, her defiant mouth surrenders to mine. Our lips and tongues move together, leisurely at first, like she’s testing me out, making sure I won’t take more than she’s offering. I don’t. I kiss her like she’s the most precious thing my hands have ever held. My tongue brushes against hers as I gently press our bodies together, extorting the most perfect whimper from the back of her throat that I greedily swallow down. She smells like tragedy and tastes like tears.