Vixen in Vegas (Sinful Novellas) (6 page)

Just after 3pm, we rolled into Vegas and drove straight to The Venetian. It wasn’t what I had expected. Hell, I don’t know what I expected. I just kept thinking that I was one step closer to BE. We opted for valet service at the door. While I was handling that, Jolie headed straight for the front desk. She had made all the reservations citing that I had so much more to do, given that I was a homeowner. In retrospect, she and BE were probably in cahoots about this, but at the time, I was really grateful to have one less item on my plate.

Key cards were handed off to us and we headed to the elevator with the bellhop not far behind. When we reached our door, she opened it and left it wide for my approval and I nearly choked on my own spit, I gasped so hard. I had clearly not been paying attention during the elevator ride. Knowing that The Venetian was an all suite hotel, I didn’t even consider that this was the Penthouse until I realized…
this was the Penthouse!

I started to object. I certainly had not agreed to whatever the cost of the suite was. I turned to face her, to question our location. Instead, I realized that she was busy tipping. Once the door closed, I started to object. “I can’t afford this!” I argued.

“You don’t even know how much it cost,” she said playfully.

“Well, unless it was free, I want another suite,” I complained. “I’m trying to live this amazing debt-free life. After all my mother went through, I’ll never make that mistake, living beyond my means, struggling paycheck to paycheck. I’m trying to get ahead. And I’ve done really well. I don’t want to blow it in Vegas!” I was frustrated.

“Look at this place! Look at the view!” She smiled as she walked toward the bank of windows, through the sunken living room. Her hand passed over the keys of the piano, enough to make them move slightly under the weight of her touch, but not enough to emit any sound.

She knew me so well. I wanted to play. I was drawn to that piano. The most civilized thing my mother had ever done was teaching me how to play piano. It was one of those skills that had served me well through the years. When others turned to alcohol or drugs, I turned to music. I knew where there were pianos in every city we had ever lived, free pianos…pianos I wouldn’t need to tune or move or dust.

Here we were, in an incredible suite in Vegas, and there was a piano just for me. For a moment, I stood frozen to the spot. Then I saw it. There was a tray on the coffee table with a bottle of sparkling wine chilling. It was a vineyard I was unfamiliar with: Everly Winery.

Jolie had wandered over to me, eyes shining with happiness and mischief. Honestly, I was starting to hate feeling so out of the loop, so left out. BE and I were supposed to be the ones with the secrets together, not BE and Jolie!

She reached over and took the bottle from my hands. “I’ll open this. You just work on reading the card. We need to hurry down to the pool if we want to grab some take out from Riva. They close at 4pm.”

“Okay,” I began. “I’ll open the card, you open the wine, and we’ll order the food before we change.”

We really did have this traveling down to a science. I didn’t bother sitting down yet. I knew that I would be sitting plenty when I was relaxing poolside. Pulling back the flap on the envelope, I then eased out the card.

See you soon. Rest. Relax. Just BE.

“Did you tell him my nickname?” I asked Jolie with a giggle.

She smiled. “I may have mentioned it.”

I held the card to my chest for a moment then headed to grab the suitcase and bring it to a room. Jolie stopped me before I had made it two steps.

“There’s no time for that. We’ll move the luggage later. I thought you had on a bathing suit under that outfit,” she said.

“Well, I do, but I thought…”

“Whatever you thought, think again. We’re calling in food and heading out the door.” She took off her shorts and tank, grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her waist.

“That’s what you’re wearing?” I asked. “We’re in Vegas.”

“Who do I have to impress? You look great. I’m dialing. Let’s go.” She picked up the hotel phone and called in a food order without even consulting me.

Normally, I would have been annoyed, but at the moment, I was marveling over all the incredible gestures. In return, I had done nothing. Soon enough that would change. I was certain I knew at least one way to say thank you. Glancing over at Jolie talking on the phone, I thought to myself…
I might even know two!

With a smile on my face, I brought the wine glass to my lips. I had never been formally trained to appreciate wine. I wasn’t sure I had the palate to recognize the flavors in it…oaky, buttery, honey, peachy, peppery…they were all the same to me. Sure, I knew what I liked. I felt that way about every aspect of my life. I liked my wine sweet, like me.

Sipping slowly, I savored the sweetness as the liquid coated my tongue. It was good. It was perfect. Everything was perfect. Just because he suggested it, I would relax the next few hours. I would just be.

With all the other little surprises along the way, it should have been no shock that we had another waiting for us at the pool. We had just left the pick up window at Riva’s and arrived poolside only to be taken to a fully stocked cabana by our very own cabana boy.

“Here you are, ladies,” he said as soon as he deposited us there. “Let me know if you need anything.”

He had laid our food out on the table neatly for us, pulled out some drinks and left us before we could do much more than smile and nod. There was a beautiful fruit platter to go along with the salad and pizza we had ordered.

Looking at Jolie from across the table, I said, “Damn, a girl could get used to this.”

Nodding, she agreed. “BE knows how to say ‘I love you’ about a million ways from Sunday. I hope you are listening.”

Then, before I could comment or counter her claim, she stood, yanked off her towel, and headed straight for the pool. I watched her go, wishing I had half her grace and at the moment, all of her confidence. Jolie was my hero, always had been. She had this apology free life. She never seemed to suffer through the drama I did, or if she did, she was silent and managed alone. We never had to up and move because of her choices. I swallowed hard. Now there would be no more up and moving. She had made that clear.

Looking around, I tried not to wonder how long this could last. I tried not to consider that this might one day end. Instead, I focused on the good stuff. We were staying in this incredible room. That’s right…the room.

“Hey,” I called to her as she swam closer. “The room?”

Smirking, she responded, “BE, just BE.”

There was a message in there. I was sure of it. For once, I wasn’t going to question. I would try, do my best to just be.”

It didn’t take long for me to discover that I wasn’t very good at just being. Soon, I was checking the time on my phone over and over again. Time was dragging by. I would have thought that last half hour at the pool would have flown by, but once again I found myself utterly aware of every second. It scared the hell out of me. What if I was building this up to be something so much more than it was? What if this was going to be just another week of fun in a fabulous location? What if he didn’t want me like I wanted him? What had happened to me?

I closed my eyes and tried to quiet the doubts, tried to drown out the fears with positivity, tried to tell myself that no matter what, I’d be fine. Only…I didn’t want to be fine. I wanted to be happy…blissful, glowing happy. I was ready to be in love…with him.

Finally I stood. “I’m going to the room to get ready,” I announced to Jolie as she lay on the cushioned lounger.

“Sure,” she said. “I’ll come with you.” Gathering up her towel and phone, Jolie was soon by my side, as always, ready to support me as needed.

Looking at her sideways, I was forced once more to consider how much she knew. “Is everything okay?” I asked as casually as I could manage.

“Yeah. Of course. Just figured I’d get cleaned up from the pool. It’s after 6pm. I may take a nap…” Her voice trailed off.

When we entered the room, I realized that our luggage had disappeared. “Huh,” I said. “Wonder where the luggage disappeared to.”

“This is the Penthouse, baby. I’m sure that the maid just moved us in,” she said with a smile. “We should check out the rest of the suite.” Looping her arm though mine, she walked me to one room off the main living area. “This is my room.”

I glanced about. It was really nice…high end everything. So much nicer than your average hotel. Walking through it, I realized that she had her own private bath. The confusion must have been showing on my face.

“Your room must be on the other side,” she said with a knowing smile.

The excitement was mounting as we walked back out to the main living area. I went to the door we hadn’t opened yet. Slowly, I turned the handle, pushed it and found this incredibly luxurious room with a king sized bed. It was amazing. I flopped on the bed and giggled. It was soooo perfect.

“This room is amazing. Did you know?” I asked her with narrowed eyes.

Shrugging, she said, “Yeah. He didn’t want me to be alone. He felt badly about hogging you during the cruise, so he reserved the Penthouse for us because it has two bedrooms. I swear, you lucky bitch, that I will kick your ass if you mess this up! I would reconsider my stance on sausage for someone like him.”

With that, she turned on her heels and walked out of the room. I was left to lie on the bed and ponder all she had said. She was right, of course. He was incredible. How I had happened upon a man like BE was a sign or fate or sheer dumb luck. Regardless, I knew I was lucky.

There was a knock and the sound of the door opening. I shot off the bed, wondering who could be here. For all I knew, it was room service and BE had sent more wine or a snack. Instead, Jolie and I were greeted by the bellhop. He had more luggage.

“Oh, there must be some mistake,” I said. “We have all our luggage already.”

Laughing, Jolie pushed me aside. “That goes in the master,” she said confidently. Then she shook her head at me as he passed.

“Wait!” I shrieked. “Is that…oh my god! He’s here!”

Rushing from the room, I stepped out into the hall. The door closed behind me. Crap. I could knock and have Jolie let me in since I had no phone, no key card, no purse. It was pretty much just me. Ah, but if I rushed downstairs to the gondolas, it could be just me and BE!

So, I hit the button on the elevator. I was close to thirty minutes early. It didn’t matter. We were spontaneous. He would be thrilled to see me early. He would probably even forgive me for only wearing a sundress and lip gloss. He had seen me wear less…makeup and clothes.

I exited the elevator in the lobby and made my way to the gondolas. There were tons of people around, everywhere. They were shopping and eating. They were sightseeing and buying tickets. There were crowds just getting in my way. I had to keep excusing myself. I had to keep pressing forward and darting around.

Finally, I was at the gondolas. I looked about, imagining that he would be here…right here…right now. His luggage was upstairs, after all. So, I glanced about. I could pick him out of any crowd. I was dying to make contact with those gorgeous blue eyes once more.