Power Play: Jodie and the Billionaire (2 page)

“Worst
four years of my life.” Lauren went into one of the stalls but she didn’t stop
talking. “At least I met my husband there, so I guess it was good for
something.”

“What
does he do?” Jodie felt weird, keeping up the conversation, but it felt weirder
to stop. She peed, grateful she didn’t have nylons to deal with, and the dress
was so short, it came up easily enough.

“He’s
an engineer.” Lauren’s toilet flushed in the next stall.

Well,
that explained the fifteen-hundred dollar dress, Jodie thought, standing to
pull up her panties. The toilet flushed automatically behind her as she grabbed
her clutch off the ledge.

“What
about you?” Jodie inquired, going out to wash her hands at the sink beside Lauren.

“I’m
a nurse.” Lauren went put her hands under air dryer. “Was a nurse. I quit after
I had my daughter though. Do you have kids?”

“No.”
Jodie ignored the stab of pain at the thought. She and Jason were supposed to
get married, supposed to have kids. It should have been part of her immediate
future and, instead, it was just a faraway dream. “Not even married.”

“But
aren’t you engaged?” Lauren raised her eyebrows as Jodie shook off her hands in
the sink and went over to use the other air dryer. “I thought Kimber said you
were planning a wedding?”

“I
was.” Jodie didn’t meet her eyes, rubbing her hands together under the warm
air. “I found out just before I left for this trip that he’s been cheating on
me. For the past six months.”

“Oh
no.” Lauren’s eyes widened in horror. “No wonder you’ve been so…”

Her
voice trailed off and Jodie gave a short little laugh. Apparently her
bitchiness had been obvious.

“I
didn’t want to tell Kimber and ruin her bachelorette party, but I know I haven’t
been much fun.” Jodie reached for her little purse, sitting on top of the hand
dryer, and felt her phone vibrate. She opened it and saw Jason’s name on the
front of her smartphone. “Jason again. He’s been texting me every hour how
sorry he is.”

“Well…
maybe he is?” Lauren offered.

“He
hasn’t stopped talking to her on Facebook.” Jodie made a face, closing her
clutch. “I have his password but he doesn’t know.”

“Ah.”
Lauren glanced up as a woman in a very short-skirted uniform—one of the
waitresses—came into the bathroom. “So what are you going to do?”

“Get
drunk and try to forget about him.” Jodie headed for the door.

“That’s
a good plan for now,” Lauren agreed, following her out.

The
casino’s cacophony of noise and lights invaded Jodie’s senses as she came out
of the bathroom. What she really wanted to do was go back to her room and
sleep. The alcohol had made her tired and dealing with Jason every hour, along
with trying to keep her secret from Kimber, was exhausting.

“Hey,
please don’t tell Kimber,” Jodie said as they weaved their way through the
tables.

“Oh
I won’t.” Lauren jogged left, pointing. “Come on, let’s get one of those Long
Island Iced Teas. They’ll give you a nice buzz.”

“That’s
okay, I’m already buzzed.” Jodie followed her anyway, halting at the bar when Lauren
stopped to slide up onto a stool. “Besides, the margaritas are free.”

“Oh,
I’m paying.” Lauren smiled at the bartender as she ordered two Long Island Iced
Teas, handing him over her credit card when he put them down on coasters in
front of them.

“So
what do you do?” Lauren asked, sipping her drink through a straw.

“I’m
an editor.” Jodie played with the little umbrella, ignoring the buzzing from
her clutch sitting on the bar. She couldn’t believe he was still texting her.
Glancing around the casino, she wondered what Jason would think of
Vegas—neither of them had ever been—and kicked herself for thinking
it.

Stop
thinking about him!

Might
as well ask herself to stop breathing.

Her
gaze skipped over the slot machines, past the big roulette wheel, coming back
to rest on Lauren, who was almost done with her drink. Jodie had barely
started. She sipped through the long straw, people-watching. There was a young
couple at the end of the bar that made her think of Jason. She ignored them.
There was a guy in a suit sitting alone just a few stools from her on his cell
phone.

“Oh
yeah? Freelance?” Lauren asked.

“No,
for Simon and Schuster.” Jodie watched the guy pocket his cell phone, calling
the bartender over with a snap of his fingers.

“Wow,
really?” Lauren perked up, clutching Jodie’s arm. “Oh my god, I bet you hear
this a lot but… would you read my book?”

“You
write?”
Ugh, of course she does.
And here Jodie had thought Lauren
actually liked her.

“I
used to write in college. But then, you know, school. And the wedding. And then
the baby.” Lauren gave a nervous laugh. “But now that my daughter’s a little
older, I picked it back up again.”

“What
genre?” she asked, watching the bartender deliver a martini to the guy two
stools down. She glanced at Mr. Martini, trying not to be obvious. He had
answered his phone again, giving low, one-word answers.
Yes. No. Two weeks.
He had turned slightly toward them and he caught her eye, raising an eyebrow
when he saw her looking at him. Jodie flushed, sipping her drink.

“Young
adult,” Lauren told her.

Oh
right, they’d been talking about books.

“I
can take a look,” Jodie offered. She didn’t really want to, but she felt kind
of backed into a corner.

“You
don’t have to.”

“It’s
the least I can do for someone who loaned me a fifteen hundred dollar dress.” Jodie
smoothed her skirt self-consciously, somehow feeling Mr. Martini watching her.
She glanced over and found her intuition had been correct. He was still on the
phone but his gaze was definitely pointed in their direction.

Lauren
laughed. “My husband is going to kill me for buying it. We don’t make the kind
of money they do.”

“Yeah,
neither do we…” She swallowed, correcting herself. “I mean, neither do I.”

“I
just wanted to fit in.” Lauren shrugged. “But they’re kind of snobby aren’t
they?”

“Yeah,”
she agreed. “I love Kimber. She’s been my best friend forever. But…”

Lauren
nodded. “Yeah, we’ve kind of grown apart too.”

The
little clutch Jodie had borrowed vibrated on the bar. Jodie grimaced, reaching
for it, knowing it was him. Of course it was.

“I’m
going to throw this phone in the garbage, I swear to God,” she muttered, seeing
Jason’s text on the screen. More apologies, as if he could make up for in
volume what he lacked in loyalty.

“Want
me to text him back and tell him he’s a giant dick?” Lauren glanced over her
shoulder at the phone. “You look so awesome, you should take a selfie and send
it to him.”

“Ha.
No.” Jodie opened the clutch again, ready to drop the phone in, but Lauren had
grabbed it from her hands.  

“Yes!
Show him what a great time you’re having!” Lauren had already opened the
camera. “Hey! I have an idea!”

“What
are you doing?” Jodie gaped at Lauren motioned to Mr. Martini, waving him over.

“Hey!
You!” Lauren smiled and waggled her fingers at him. “Can you do us a favor?”

Jodie
got her first full-on view of the man and nearly fell out of her chair. She’d
never had a reaction like it before. Her heart lurched in her chest, her mouth
went dry, her hands got clammy and she was pretty sure her nipples got
instantly hard—but she didn’t want to look down and call attention to
them by checking.

She’d
never seen such a beautiful man in all her life, outside of a magazine.

“Can
I help you?” His voice was smooth, like velvet, as he approached.

Jodie
thought her reaction couldn’t get more embarrassing, until he got closer and
she caught a whiff of his cologne. Or something. Whatever it was, he smelled
all-man. She felt like that cartoon she-wolf with her eyes popping out of her
head and jaw dropped, and turned back to her drink for something else to do
with her mouth.

“Hi,
listen…” Lauren smiled, cocking her head at him. “Wow, you’re cute. You’ll do.
We just need a teensy weensy little favor.”

“Lauren,”
she warned, holding her hand out for her phone. Jason had texted
again
.
She could see his name on the screen.

“I’m
always willing to help a damsel in distress.” He looked between the two of
them, bemused.

“Well,
the thing is, my friend, Jodie, here.” Lauren threw an arm around Jodie’s
shoulder. Suddenly they were best buds. “She just found out her fiancé is
cheating on her.”

Jodie
didn’t even have a chance to chastise her newfound friend.

“Oh
wow.” Mr. Martini looked fully at Jodie, brow knitted. “I’m so sorry.”

“So,
could you just pose for a picture with her?” Lauren held up the phone,
mimicking taking a picture. “Put an arm around her, act like you’re standing
next to the most beautiful girl in the world.”

“Sure.”
He gave her a strange, bemused smile, already sliding an arm around Jodie’s shoulders.
“That won’t be difficult.”

“You
don’t have to do this,” she pleaded, feeling herself shrinking against the
man’s side. He was a head taller than she was and she had to crane her neck to
look up at him. His hand on her shoulder felt strange—no man but Jason
had touched her in years—and kind of hot, burning like a hot iron through
the fabric of the dress.

“It’s
my pleasure.” He smiled down at her and she instantly felt her knees go weak.
Oh my god, what a smile! He had perfect, even teeth and his bright blue eyes
smiled too.

“Say
cheese!” Lauren snapped a photo, grinning at the two of them.

“Take
one more.” Mr. Martini said, turning toward Jodie. She looked up, up into his
face, smelling the alcohol on his breath, knowing he must smell it on her too.
“Please don’t smack me.”

She
blinked up at him, puzzled, but she didn’t have to wonder for long because then
he was kissing her. Jodie vaguely heard Lauren squeal in delight, clicking
away, but it was far, far away. Everything was far away—the sound of
coins dropping into slot machines, the flash of the lights—except the man
holding her in his arms, mouth pressed to hers.

It
was a very sweet, chaste thing, his kiss. Something a brother might give a
sister. His hands were at her waist, nowhere inappropriate at all—if a
perfect stranger kissing you in the middle of a casino could be, in any way,
said to be appropriate. So the poor man couldn’t have been blamed for what
happened in the very next moment.

One
minute, she was standing there, shocked, letting a strange man kiss her while Lauren
snapped pictures. The next minute, her brain lit up, neurotransmitters being
re-routed in entirely new, exciting ways she’d never experienced before. She
didn’t understand it, couldn’t comprehend what was happening—she just
reacted.

Jodie
moaned softly against his mouth, arms going around his neck. His lips were so
soft
,
so
different.
It had been ten years since she’d kissed another man. Her
body melted against his, mouth opening in a gasp. He started to pull back, clearly
surprised by her reaction, and she was too. But not enough to stop. Her tongue
touched his and she shivered—no need to check the front of her dress now,
she knew her nipples were rock hard. She could taste his martini, even the
olive, their mouths opening wider as the kiss deepened.

The
hands at her waist fell to her hips, then moved slowly downward as Jodie
stretched up on her toes—even in heels, she was tiny next to him—to
press her body more fully to his. Her hands moved in his hair and it curled around
her fingers, the scent of him making her feel so weak she thought she might
pass out, and might have, if he hadn’t been holding her.

It
wasn’t anything chaste anymore, and it wasn’t just her kissing him like a
desperate, drowning woman—now he was kissing her too, hands moving over
the shimmering fabric of her dress, hands clutching her ass as he pulled her
against him so hard, his long, lean lankiness almost hurt. She should have been
shocked, appalled, horrified. Instead, she was instantly wet.

Aching,
throbbing, sopping
wet.

And
she wasn’t the only one turned on. Mr. Martini was wearing a suit and couldn’t
hide the heat of his cock pressed against her, their bodies perfectly fitted
together, the world completely gone in that one moment, that one kiss.

It
was the sound of her phone in Lauren’s hand that startled Jodie, forcing her to
break their connection. She remembered—where she was, who she was, who
this man holding her was. Or wasn’t. She opened her eyes, feeling how flushed
she was, cheeks burning. His color was high too, his eyes darker with a sort of
hunger she recognized. It both excited and scared her.

“Excuse
me. I have to get that.” Jodie grabbed her phone out of Lauren’s hand—the
woman stared at them, mouth dropped open, and she couldn’t blame her. She
couldn’t think of anything else to do but run away, so that’s exactly what she
did. She ignored Lauren’s shock and Mr. Martini’s—well,
everything—and bolted.

She
avoided the bathroom, afraid Lauren would look for her there. Instead, she found
an out of the way corner, sliding into a chair in front of a slot machine,
trying to calm herself. Her hands were still shaking as she looked at her
phone, ignoring the text from Jason and clicking through to her photos.

And
there they were, she and Mr. Martini, lip-locked, making out for everyone to
see. Lauren had snapped half a dozen photos—including one with his hands
on Jodie’s ass. She blushed just remembering it, her fingertips going to her
lips. They burned too. Her whole body was on fire.

“Send
it to him.”

Jodie
looked up, gasping, and found Mr. Martini leaning against the slot machine,
looking down at her.