Quick Dirty Luck: A Love Between the Pages Novel Read online

  “Where are you taking me?” I demanded indignantly.

  “Somewhere quiet where we can talk this out like adults. You are going to hear me out if I have to tie you up to do it.”

  “You’ll do no such thing!” I huffed though part of me was nodding enthusiastically and saying, Yes, please.

  “There isn’t much I won’t do when I’m determined, Alexis. It’s best if you learn that now.”

  “Jesus Christ,” I muttered. “Fine. I’ll give you ten minutes, sans restraints, to let you plead your case. Then I’m outta here.”

  The doors slid open, and he pulled me inside, his hand still gripping my elbow. I began to worry when he punched the button for the top floor of the hotel. There’d better be a hospitality room up there.

  When the elevator doors opened again, it was to a foyer of an extremely large suite. Windows were everywhere, giving a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree view of the city. It was phenomenal. I turned in a semi-circle, trying to take everything in. It was… amazing. Black paper with satiny black stripes covered the walls, gold trim lining the ceiling and floorboards, all retro-Vegas to a T. Even the low-slung kidney shaped sofa and armchairs sang out about smoky cigars, playing cards, highballs of whiskey, and S-I-N. There was even a leather-rimmed poker table with a green felt top near the windows. I whistled involuntarily.

  “This must have set you back a few pennies. What do they call this room? The Sinatra Suite?” I grinned when he started to chuckle, my ire giving way to the charm of not just the room but the man next to me. Why did he have to look so damned hot when he smiled?

  “No, though I might suggest it to the management. This is the owner’s suite, Alexis.”

  All thoughts came to a screeching halt in my head. Kent was the owner I’d been trying to reach all day? The jerkoff who couldn’t be bothered to handle a guest complaint? In the back of my head, I knew my concerns were probably small potatoes to the CEO of a hotel, but I really wanted to come back to Andrea with a win for her company, and since I was doing my first sponsorship as Reina Dare, I wanted the signing to be extra-kick ass.

  “Wait, Kent Kingsley? The man I’ve been leaving messages for all day?” I blurted out.

  “You know me?” he asked, the surprise written all over his face.

  “No, I don’t know you, I just know of you. I’ve been trying to get hold of you to discuss a business matter. But now I have to reconsider since you seem to think you can impress me by bringing me here to seduce me with your big fancy suite and your title. I don’t think so, Mr. Kingsley. I’m not easy, and it takes a lot more to impress me than your wealth and power.” I was in full-on bitch mode. Though I hadn’t been overly agreeable in the first place, this little display offended me. “You can shove the entire Kingsley Hotel and Casino right through your sphincter!”

  “Please, don’t misunderstand. I only brought you here because I knew it would be quiet,” he replied, hands in front of him plaintively.

  “Right. I believe that about as much as I believe in fairytales,” I said, the irony of the statement not lost on me. “Have a good night, Kent,” I said as I walked back through the open elevator doors and stabbed the button for the lobby.

  Three

  Kent

  Saturday morning arrived far too early, and what I mean by early was ten o’clock. I’d stayed out until four in the morning, drinking one vodka tonic after another until I resorted to drinking straight out of the bottle. Alexis had left me in my room the night before with angry words and a disdainful glance which did nothing to discourage the boner in my pants. If anything, it made me want her more. She had a fiery temper that strangely turned me on. I didn’t know what sent her running again or worse, try to maim me with those sexy shoes, but I needed to get another glimpse of that fire. She’d probably stomp my balls if I ran into her again, she was so angry—venomous even. It’d be worth it though. I’m sure she’d unman me while wearing those open-toed shoes. Fuck me, those heels could make even a man like me think about worshiping at her feet.

  I rolled my eyes at my insanity. She was just another hot blonde, nothing to go losing my mind over and start thinking preposterous thoughts about licking her toes while wearing those shoes… Fuck! I shouted in my head. Get over the goddamned shoes, Kingsley!

  Heaving myself up from the bed, I shuffled bleary-eyed into the kitchen to fire up the Saeco—which was really just an overpriced word for coffee-maker. I would have done just fine with a Hamilton Beach, but my baby sister, Tallulah, the interior decorator, would hear nothing of it. I’d conceded to her bratty insistence like I always did. No one in the family could ever say no to her, and when it came down to it, all that really mattered was there was nothing standing between me and that first hit of caffeine every morning.

  I stood at the granite counter as I all but inhaled the first six ounces like a coke-addict would an eight-ball. My head was throbbing from the over-saturation of alcohol. I’d bet if you poked me with a needle, Belvedere would flow right out. I shook my head, trying to clear the fog as I poured a second, larger cup. Nearly staggering over to the balcony door, I had a fleeting thought standing on a platform elevated twenty stories in the air was probably not a wise decision for someone in my condition. Ever the risk-taker, I slid the solid glass door open and stepped out into the frigid air of February in Las Vegas. Goddamn. In the summer, it was hotter than Satan’s nutsack, but the winter was as cold as Alexis’ blue eyes last night. Rather than go back inside like a sensible human, I threw myself onto one of the luxuriously padded lounge chairs that graced the balcony and flung my arm over my eyes. Who cared if I finally froze to death? I’d already been devastated by a blonde in ruby slippers.

  I was instantly assaulted with images of her—those wicked eyes as she all but told me to fuck myself as she left my room last night. I’d been trying ever since to douse the fire she’d ignited in me. I wanted to see those eyes glittering with lust, preferably as her face hovered over my cock, but I’d settle for just across a table over lunch.

  I didn’t have one fucking clue why she was affecting me like this or why she seemed so convinced I was a dirtbag. Well, I kind of was if you asked any number of other women, but I hadn’t done anything to give her that impression. Except by shamelessly ogling her. Then having to ward off an old one-night stand. Minor details, I thought dismissively.

  With a disgusted sigh, I told myself over and over she was just another girl. I’d cross paths with another, hotter one and Alexis would be less than a memory. Yeah, asshole. And we’re going to pilot the first manned mission to Mars. Sometimes, I really hated my inner-voice—he was a bigger dick than me.

  Sitting up and slurping loudly at the last of my coffee, I tried to reason out how I could go about finding her again. She’d said she was from California. Trying to track down a particular woman named Alexis in the state with the largest population of the whole United States sounded like even too big a job for me. Suddenly, the caffeine kicked in, and my mind cleared. She was staying in my own goddamned hotel! Rolling my eyes at my diminished mental function, I bounced to my feet, which was a bad decision. My head throbbed in protest at the rest of me being upright and mobile. My body desperately wanted me to crawl back into bed and assume the fetal position for the weekend, but no, not today. Kent Kingsley was still in the game.

  After a quick cold shower—where I may or may not have had more lewd thoughts about Alexis and her shoes—I was a new man. I dressed with care, though I went for the casual look—faded, blue denim jeans, a white, linen button down, and brown, woven leather loafers. I ran my hands through my wet hair and was ready to go. I was going to find our hotel manager, Geoffrey and have a little chat with him. I would gently coax him into violating the privacy of a valued guest—a female guest, no less—with my persuasive charm. That or beat him mercilessly until he gave me the information. Either/or—I was ready for anything.

  As the elevator doors opened onto the bustling casino floor, I came face-to-face with my younger
brother, Jasper. He looked at me with that cocky grin he always wore—the one that made me want to punch him in his million-dollar smile. It usually meant he was going to give me shit for something I probably wanted to forget. My left hand twitched in anticipation.

  “Feeling okay this morning, brother?” he teasingly sneered at me with that annoying lift of his eyebrow and voice just a half-decibel too loud.

  “I’m just fine, Jas. What are you doing up so early? Didn’t I see you sneak off with Jasmine in the wee hours of the morning?” I brushed past the little fucker—well he wasn’t so little, he was at least an inch taller than I was—and set off toward the lobby with a determined stride. “I would have thought the entire nineteenth floor would still be treated to the sounds of you both moaning ‘Jaaasssss’ to each other.”

  Jasper snorted and punched me in the arm. I gave him a look that said his death was imminent, then made a show of dusting off my bicep.

  “Jasmine is back in her room, her virtue still intact,” he replied.

  “Virtue? Are we talking about the same Jasmine?” I asked as I picked up my pace. If I couldn’t get him to stop staring at me with that smug, know-it-all expression, maybe I could do a left-fake and lose his ass as we rounded the dollar slot machines. No such luck. Jasper was a tenacious bastard when he wanted to be. A typical Kingsley trait.

  “Don’t you have somewhere to be? Take work, for example?”

  Jasper wagged his head from side to side slowly. “It’s Saturday, bro. I’m off all weekend,” he said with a cheeky smile.

  “Well, I’m the boss, and I say you have to work. If I say so, you have to comply. Otherwise, it’s insubordination. Don’t you know what the company manual says about the consequences of insubordination?” I wasn’t above threatening him.

  “What are you going to do, fire me?” he asked, raising that stupid eyebrow at me again.

  “That or simply search for a place to dump your dead body,” I said dryly.

  The little douchebag laughed. Why my siblings rarely took me seriously, I didn’t know. I made a mental note to fire them all. Just as soon as I found Alexis. I was at a near run now, yet Jasper matched me stride for stride

  “Where are we going, anyway?” he asked.

  I slowed down to glance at him. If I continued to press my terrible luck, I’d mow down some little old lady on her way to the penny slots if I let my eyes leave the concourse. I didn’t need a lawsuit on top of everything else.

  “If you must know, I’m going to visit Geoffrey to find out which room one of our guests is staying in.” Jasper looked surprised.

  “Is one of our guests in debt to the casino?” he asked.

  “No, nothing like that.”

  “Well, what then? It’s got to be serious if the CEO is paying a visit in person.”

  Serious? The only thing serious about this predicament was the case of blue balls I was sporting. Just thinking about Alexis had left me almost constantly hard for the last sixteen hours. I was near embarrassing myself.

  “It’s nothing. It’s just a social visit. A high roller I need to convince to drop a bundle of dough in the casino.” It wasn’t entirely dishonest. After all, Alexis didn’t have any hesitation in playing with high stakes last night.

  Jasper eyed me suspiciously. I could see the gears turning behind his eyes. He was a clever prick, I’d give him that. If I wasn’t careful, he’d figure out my agenda. Maybe not with who, but definitely that I had a conquest in mind.

  Coming to a stop at the reservations desk, I saw Geoffrey hovering over the check-in clerks. I didn’t really know what his job duties were since he was one of my dad’s hires, but every time I saw him, he was standing aside, staring at the asses of the female agents. He was a sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen. Hadn’t he heard of #MeToo? I made another mental note to look into cross-training Geoffrey to housekeeping, maintenance, or something else equally distasteful so he’d quit and save me the formalities of firing him.

  I motioned him over while silently willing Jasper to become bored and wander off. The famous Kent Kingsley bad luck was alive and well this morning. That was why I never gambled. I was sure to lose even in my own casino. Geoffrey sauntered over, his elitist air wafting over us.

  “How can I help you, Misters Kingsley?”

  “Oh, I don’t need anything, Geoff. I’m just here to keep an eye on my brother,” Jasper replied with a smirk. I silenced him with a murderous look but not before he started chuckling.

  “I need your help,” I began. “I need to locate a guest in the hotel.”

  “Would you like me to page him, Sir?” he asked. “Who is it?”

  “Paging won’t do much good. I don’t know, er, the last name.” I tripped over the subtle lie. What was happening to me? Normally, I wouldn’t hesitate to bend the truth if it got me what I wanted. “Can you do a search in the hotel’s database using only a guest’s first name?”

  “I’ve never tried,” Geoffrey replied with a pretentious sniff. “I’m quite sure it’s possible, but if it’s a common name, we’re likely to have an abundance to sort through.”

  Nothing about that woman is common, especially those motherfucking shoes.

  “It’s not as common as Mary, but more common than Roxanne,” I said. “The name is Alexis.”

  “A man named Alexis?” Jasper mumbled as I elbowed him into silence.

  Geoffrey shooed away an attendant who wasn’t currently helping guests and assumed his position at one of the terminals. His fingers flew over the keys. Geoffrey was never one to shy away from scoring points with the management—ass-kisser.

  “Surprisingly, there is no one named Alexis,” he said. “Twenty-two Alexanders, but not one Alexis.”

  What the hell? She’d said she was a guest here, hadn’t she? After making him double and triple check, I thanked Geoffrey, then turned to Jasper, trying to squash my frustration. I had to find her.

  “You want to go grab some breakfast, Jas?” If I wasn’t going to get rid of him any time soon, I may as well take advantage of his company. If nothing else, I might be able to convince him I needed to sit in the security control booth all day, looking for signs of Alexis without him thinking I’d lost the plot.

  “You realize it’s past lunchtime, don’t you?”

  “Don’t even pretend you got up early. Let’s go,” I said as I turned and walked in the direction of the buffet. I was still a bit low in the caffeine department, and in addition to a wide specialty coffee menu, they served a delicious array of eggs, breakfast meats, and pastries all day long. That was my brother Dustin’s idea, and today, I was grateful for it.

  Jasper fell in step beside me, hands in his pants pockets, his gaze down at his feet. If he wasn’t careful, he’d end up walking into a wall.

  I knew my brother well enough to know he was deep in thought. I was close with all my siblings, but Jas and I were closest. We were only eighteen months apart in age whereas I was eleven years older than Dustin and thirteen more than Tallulah. Our parents had married young, well before my father had built his empire in the hospitality industry. How he managed to amass the capital to start his first hotel, a small place in Arizona where we were originally from, mystified me to this day. It isn’t often you hear of a twenty-something-year-old man with a wife and two small kids working his way to billionaire status, yet my dad had done it. I knew he had contacts who’d invested in him, but he’d always been very quiet about who they were. I knew for a fact he’d bought them all out years ago. I always wondered whether the investors’ businesses might have been on the shady side. Dad would never say one way or the other, and if they were, it was a secret he was taking to his grave. Snapping out of my own musings, I returned my attention to my brother.

  “What’s on your mind, Jasper?” He looked up at me with a grin.

  “I’m trying to figure out what you’re up to with this mystery guest. I know there’s something you’re not telling me.”

  Jasper was on the sce
nt like a freakin’ bloodhound. Fuck my life.

  “You really are an asshole, you know that, right? Leave me alone.” He just chortled smugly as we got in line for the buffet, each of us loading up on the food like we hadn’t eaten in a month. Did I mention I loved the fact my family owned hotels?

  Just as I was scooping the last of my eggs into my mouth, I caught sight of a head of shining blonde hair walking through the buffet line—Alexis. Without thinking, I immediately dropped my fork and stood, starting in her direction like I was caught in a tractor beam. I vaguely heard Jasper ask where I was going, but I brushed him off with a distracted wave.

  I probably looked like a zombie shambling toward her, all conscious thought having packed up and left. This woman had a pull on me though I didn’t know why. I’d been subconsciously telling myself it was the killer pair of heels, but now she was wearing a simple pair of ballet flats, and my cock was as hard as ever. Sometime over the previous night, it had become more than just wanting to wet my dick with her sweetness. She’d captivated me. I’d had a sense of it when I watched her body language as we chatted over our drinks. When I really thought about it, I knew I was hooked when she spat her disapproval at me and injured me in the high-stakes room without a second thought. Women never did that with me. I was always the one walking away. Alexis was a spit-fire who would be a pleasure to tame. I doubled-down on my commitment to seeing her on her knees, begging for me. Soothing her prickliness would make it that much more satisfying.

  I came up next to her as she was eyeing the pancake station. The servers offered large stacks of the fluffy hotcakes with any type of garnish you could imagine, from the savory to the decadently sweet. I heard her ask for the plump strawberries and extra whipped cream. I knew it was horribly cliché, but I almost moaned aloud at the thought of spreading the cream all over her and sucking the strawberries out of her…