He had nothing better to do until evening, nothing of pressing importance, and somehow he ended up in Diamond’s car, questioning his sanity as they cruised down the strip.
“Where are we going? Does Pax know you planned on kidnapping me? I do have to work tonight you know.” It hadn’t occurred to him earlier, but now he was half afraid they were going to end up in California on Ruby’s doorstep.
“You’ll see soon enough. I didn’t kidnap you, you came willingly, and you will be back in plenty of time to work.”
“Hmph.” It was all he said, but her answers did give him some peace of mind, or as much as one could have when one was plotting to claim the girl of their dreams, and one happened to be a confirmed bachelor who was more than a little afraid of commitment. Petrified was more like it. “Are you sure this is a good idea? Your sister and I? It’s okay to have second thoughts, you know. I won’t be offended. I know Ruby deserves the best.”
“It’s a great idea, Jase. The best I’ve ever had. And I’m not having second thoughts, you are.” She gave him a long side-eye as she turned off the strip and parked on the shoulder of a side street in front of a small shopping center with a group of offices attached. “Last chance to back out,” she informed him as she put the car into park. “Either get out now and walk towards the future that you both deserve or you change your mind, we turn the car around and you go home with your tail between your legs knowing I’m never going to look at you the same way again.”
He cut her with a hard look, but his hand was already on the door handle. “Nothing like emotional blackmail, huh?” He exited the car, and waited for her on the sidewalk, offering his arm as she joined him. “I’d lead the way, but I don’t know where we are going.”
“Follow me.” Diamond gave him a sneaky grin, as she sauntered towards the offices, dragging him with her. When she finally stopped in front of a glass door, he read the words with a questioning incredulous look. “Victoria Ashley. Las Vegas Real Estate.”
Her grin grew wider as she pulled the door open. A smartly dressed woman stood waiting, and Diamond greeted her with an air kiss, before making the introductions.
“Victoria, this is my husband’s best friend and business associate Jase Oliver. Jase, this is Victoria Ashley. She’s going to help you buy a house.”
Jase stumbled his way through a handshake, barely registering the woman’s smile as she leaned forward, and said quietly, “Otherwise known as Mistress Vic. I met Diamond last week at Rojo. We became fast friends.”
He could only nod, and was fully aware that his plastered on smile was fake as he spoke through gritted teeth, “It’s so nice to meet you, Victoria. Would you please excuse us for just a sec?”
He didn’t wait for her nod as he jerked Diamond to the corner of the room, out of the woman’s earshot. “You brought me to buy a house? That’s your big plan? Have you lost your damn mind?”
Diamond jerked out of his grasp and glowered at him. “Nobody knows Ruby better than I do, Jase. Believe me, I know this is crazy. It’s the grandest of grand gestures, I get it. But buildings and the things that go in them happen to be my sister’s love language.”
“I just bought out Pax. I can’t afford to buy a house on a lark for a woman I barely know.”
Diamond shrugged, and he could see that she was unfazed by his answer. “Suit yourself.”
She walked off then, and he had no choice but to follow her, even though he was scowling as he did so. He reached the two ladies just in time to hear Diamond say the words he had been dreading.
“I’d like to buy a house, please.”
She barely got the words out before he dragged her away again as an amused Victoria watched in silence.
“What do you think you are doing, young lady?”
Her eyes shot daggers at him. “Don’t you young lady me, Jason Oliver. I don’t answer to that for anyone but Paxton, no matter how highly I think of the person. And for your information, I’m buying a house. Perhaps as a gift, or maybe I’ll keep it for myself. I really haven’t decided yet.”
“You’re not buying a house as a gift.” Especially not for me, he thought, but that part went unsaid. He knew there wasn’t much he could do to stop her, short of giving in and buying a house himself. There wasn’t even anything Paxton would be able to do about it in theory. Diamond had her own money, and lots of it.
She knew he was stuck; it was evident in her pseudo innocent smile as she gazed at him, waiting. With a low growl, he grabbed her arm once more and pulled her towards the waiting Victoria. When they approached, he spoke first.
“One of us will be buying a house. Which one of us it will be is yet to be determined.”
Victoria nodded smartly, keeping her mouth shut. Diamond beamed. He growled.
“All right, let’s go then. I have ten picked out for you to look at, so let’s get started.”
Victoria turned and exited the building. For the second time in less than an hour, there was nothing for Jase to do but follow. So that was what he did.
It was after nine when Ruby got home to her childhood bedroom that night, and she was dead on her feet. For the first time in her entire life, she thought that if someone said words like, lamp, rug, ambiance, or sconce to her, her head might legitimately explode.
Collapsing on the bed, clutching the bottle of wine, and the box of cereal she had snagged from the kitchen on her way up, she kicked off her shoes and groaned. She didn’t even have the energy it would take to shimmy out of her work clothes and into something more comfortable. Thank god for cheap wine and screw top wine bottles and thank god for her father’s housekeeper Maria who knew her tastes, and had added things like cheap wine and corn pops to her shopping list and made sure the kitchen was well stocked with both. She unscrewed the top, and chugged the sweet red straight from the bottle, while digging into the corn pops with her other hand.
She could feel her stress levels diminishing as she swished a swig of wine around in her mouth before swallowing, quickly following the wine with a handful of the pops, continuing the pattern as she went over tomorrow’s to-do list in her head. File her monthly hours and receipts. Wine. Pick up her favorite suit from the dry cleaners. Pops. Take back another set of pillows that Mrs. Van Doyle had changed her mind about. This was the fourth set, and that was if you were only counting the living room. More wine. More pops. She finally felt like she could breathe again, and the hunger ache that had been nagging since early afternoon had finally dissipated. With a relieved sigh, she cast aside the box of pops, and leaned back into her massive pile of pillows, still clutching the bottle of wine.
Her phone buzzed, and seeing that it was Mrs. Van Doyle, she threw it face down on the bed so she wouldn’t have to look at it again. She needed a change, and badly.
Change was scary, but she knew it could also be rewarding. And she didn’t have to dive in head first, she could wade in from the shallow end. She just had to decide what her first step was and take it.
The phone buzzed again, vibrating against the mattress, and she stared at it, quizzically. If it’s Mrs. Van Doyle, I quit my job. If it’s Diamond, I take a trip to Vegas. If it’s Trevor, I find a BDSM club or event in the area. It it’s anyone else, I stay here and wait for things to get better.
Plan set, she reached for the phone, flipping it over just in time for the missed call to register on the screen. Mrs. Van Doyle. Without giving herself a second to think twice, she picked up the phone and called her boss.
When Jase opened the door at ten o clock at night, Diamond was the last person he expected to see standing there. “I’m on my way down to the club,” he stated gruffly.
“I looked for you there first. I have the best news!”
He stared at her suspiciously. The last time she had said anything like that, he had spent eight hours looking at houses to buy. He was mentally and physically exhausted and he still had to work a six-hour shift. He had nothing left besides sarcasm, and she was just going to have to deal with
it. “You realized how fricking crazy your idea was, and you decided to let it go and let me be free to fuck up my life in whatever way I prefer?”
It had to be said. Buying a house had never been on his radar. He loved hotel life. He had the ultimate bachelor pad, and it didn’t cost him a dime. Now not only was he considering buying a house, but with the intention of using it to win over a woman who in reality he didn’t know that much about even?
Diamond who was used to sarcasm, and quite skilled at employing it herself, ignored his negative vibe, and grinned. “Even better! But I hear what you’re saying, Jase, I really do. When we got back home, I was so drained and I was thinking my plan was crazy, and how in the hell could I get it to work? I mean you and Ruby both are stubborn as hell, and I can only do so much, you know?” She was talking a mile a minute and Jase was staring at her like she was a bomb about to explode, but it didn’t faze her one bit as she continued her tangent. “Anyway, so here I was thinking that maybe it was too much, and that I should let you give up if that’s what you really wanted, and then the phone rang. And now I know, Jase, that this is what was supposed to happen. This is the right path. We need to just trust the plan and take a leap of faith!”
“Di… What in the ever-loving hell are you talking about? You’re not making a lick of sense. Trust the plan? Take a leap of faith? Did the hippies we saw on the way home invade your body and perform some sort of strange ritual?”
“Very funny, Jase. But you’ll get it. When I tell you what’s happened, you’ll see!”
He very much doubted that. “Okay. Then tell me.” He held up one finger to silence her, and grabbed his jacket from the hook near the door. “Tell me while we walk. I have to get to the club.”
Diamond waited impatiently, bouncing from one foot to the other as he closed the door behind him, and strode off towards the elevators. When they finally reached the elevator, and were safely contained inside, Jase turned to her.
“What’s your news?”
“Ruby quit her job!” she squealed, grabbing his arm as she bounced up and down. “Isn’t that the best?”
He silently pondered how this could possibly affect their plan in a positive way and came up blank. “I’m not making the connection. She’s a decorator, right?”
“Interior designer, Jase. For this huge up and coming design firm in Hollywood. She’s been there for three years.”
He shook his head slowly. “You’ve lost me. And possibly your marbles as well.”
She ignored the insult. “Interior design is Ruby’s passion! She loves it! She can’t not do it, and she’s had it working for these snooty bosses! She’s decided to start her own business! Isn’t that great?”
“Good for her. Still not seeing the connection.”
“She’s freaking out, Jase. Freaking out. She’s going to need clients. And she’s not going to be turning anyone away! I have a plan.”
“Another plan?”
“Well, the house thing? It’s great, and all, but what we really need now is a big fish to reel her in. And I have just the thing!”
If it didn’t include him spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a house he wasn’t sure he wanted, he was all ears. “I’m listening.”
“Aubergine. It needs a makeover. We start simple. Just the club. Small potatoes. Once she finishes that, maybe one of the restaurants. Then the lobby. Your suite. Whatever. We keep dangling projects in front of her. And in the meantime, you get to work with her. Things keep going well, we do the house as our grand finale.”
Jase nodded slowly, grinning. “Let’s do it.”
Chapter 16
She had a beautifully decorated store front, office furniture, and business cards, ads in all the major newspapers and several magazines and a portfolio of her work up to this point. What she didn’t have were clients.
So, she sat in her office day in and day out, sipping overpriced lattes, eating fancy salads from the deli across the street, and poring over design catalogues. Every time someone walked by the window, she braced herself for them to come in. Latte on desk, smile in place, catalogues at the ready. They always walked on by. Interior design wasn’t really a walk-in type business, she told herself. People would call and make appointments. The phone never rang.
One day, as she was wiping the remnants of a particularly overdressed salad from her face, the door opened. Her heart beat fast, and she smiled, praying to god there was no spinach stuck in her teeth, or ranch dressing lingering on her chin.
Her smile quickly faded when she recognized her sister. Her eyebrows furrowed in curiosity as she frowned up at her. “What are you doing here? You didn’t tell me you were coming. I was working today. I hadn’t planned on taking time off, and I’ve already had lunch. I wish I would have known. I’d have waited.”
Diamond smiled, and shook her head. “I’m here on business. I’ve brought you your first client.”
Before she had a chance to question Diamond or get excited, the door opened, and Jase strode in, looking fine as fuck in faded jeans, a white t-shirt and a sports jacket over the top. Designer sunglasses hid his eyes, but his smile blinded her. His eyebrows raised above the tops of his glasses, and she just knew there was all sorts of wickedness hidden behind the lenses.
“Miss me, Red?”
She ignored him, turning her gaze to her sister, who had sat down in an open chair, and was poised innocently watching the scene unfold. “I hate you,” Ruby mouthed silently in her direction.
Diamond ignored her remaining unfazed, in full ice princess mode. Ruby hated how easily she could do that. Seeing that her sister planned to be absolutely no help, Ruby turned her attention back to Jase.
“No, I didn’t miss you,” she seethed. “I’m not sure what the hell bull you two think you’re trying to pull here, but I’m trying to run a business. I have no time for shenanigans.”
“There’s no shenanigating going on here, princess. You provide a service, and I happen to be in need of that service. I want to redecorate the club. It’s got the Old Vegas vibe to it. It desperately needs to be modernized. I’ve been putting it off for years.”
“Well, kudos to you. I’m sure there are plenty of interior designers in Vegas. Probably ones much more accustomed to working with the Vegas vibe. I’m used to working with a classier clientele. Vegas vibe and Hollywood vibe are quite different. I’m sure Diamond can recommend someone. After all, she didn’t use me for the design on Rojo.”
That finally got a rise from her sister, who stood quickly and joined them around the desk. “Don’t even go there, Roo. I came to your firm first, and your boss said no, because she didn’t want you working such a large project long distance. She needed you to be available here. I sought your advice on every single decision, and took it as often as possible. And Rojo turned out fabulous because of that fact. Personally, I’m jealous as hell that Jase gets to be your first client. Why couldn’t you have quit your job a year ago when we first started the redo, huh?”
Ruby had no answer to that. All she could do was shoot a death glare in her sister’s direction.
“Either way,” Jase stated, moving the conversation along. “I need a decorator. Excuse me, a designer. And I want the best. And who says you can’t travel for jobs? Do you really want to limit yourself like that? The way I see it, being willing to travel opens you up to a world of possibilities. And starting in the hotel circuit can’t be bad for business. So, what do you say?”
She wanted to say ‘bite me,’ but she knew he had good points. Really good points. Damn him, he had come prepared. And she knew exactly who had prepared him. The traitor.
“I say… fine. But this is purely business. And I need full creative license. We’ll do one or two initial consults and then I will need the freedom to do my own thing without having to run every single decision by you first. I can’t have you hanging over my shoulder or pulling out your Dom act every time I turn around. I’m the boss here.”
She fully expected him to
argue, maybe even change his mind. Wanted him to even. But he knew that. He only nodded.
“Thank God. I don’t have time to obsess over every single decision. That’s why I need a professional.”
She didn’t have a comeback for that, so it was her turn to nod in agreement.
Jase grinned. “So, it’s official then? You have your first client and I have an interior designer? When do we do this consult thing you mentioned? Over dinner, tonight?”
She glared at him. “Don’t you need to get back to Vegas? I figured we could do it over Skype sometime next week.”
“Skype, you say?” He mused, thoughtfully, stroking the stubble on his chin. “I’m not sure that will work for me. I’m not very techy. And I much prefer to work in person. Unless of course, you’re scared you won’t be able to control yourself around me?”
Oh for fucks sake. She opened her mouth to retort, but Diamond beat her to it.
“Doing an initial consult via Skype isn’t a very professional way to run your business, Roo. Besides, don’t you usually like to go scope out a place, get a feel for it, take pictures? Seems to me like you need to come to Vegas and as soon as possible. It’s not good business ethics to keep your most important client waiting.”
“He’s my only client,” she growled, watching the joy on their faces as they backed her into a corner.
“Exactly. That’s what makes him so important. And we know you have no other pressing jobs to attend to, so there’s no reason you can’t come to Vegas as soon as possible. Jase drove, but I’m sure he’d be willing to drive us back to Daddy’s and wait a bit while you grabbed a few things.”
“I would indeed.”
“Fine!” Ruby’s agreement was half yell, half sigh, as she began slamming around design books, making a pile of things she would need from around the office. Jase held out his arms, and she slammed items into them before grabbing her jacket, purse and phone, and stalking towards the door, glaring at them both.
Claimed (Vegas Nights Book 2) Page 16