The Little Black Dress (Love in Las Vegas)

14. You’ll Have to Take Your Chances

Jared

Idon’t like the way she’s looking at me. Like the cat who swallowed the canary and has zero regrets.

But I’m more than ready to pick up whatever gauntlet she’s throwing down. This woman is irritating to the extreme, and it’s time she gets knocked off her high horse. And I’m just the man to do it.

My lips curve upward as I consider the possibilities. This could actually be fun.

Sophie gasps, and her face turns impassive. Completely emotionless. It’s frustrating and intriguing in equal measure, wondering what’s going on in that head of hers.

“I say we give it a shot,” I say smoothly. “The job is yours.”

“Thank you so much,” she says, her mouth lifting into a venomous smile. “You won’t regret this…sir.”

My mouth goes dry at that last word. I close my eyes, willing my twitching cock to settle the fuck down. There is no damn way I can be attracted to this woman. Sure, she’s beautiful. But she’s also annoying as fuck and more than a little vindictive.

I’m going to have fun with her, but not that kind of fun. No way.

“I need coffee,” I say, my eyes daring her to deny me.

“Of course,” she says, her sweet smile fake as hell. “How do you take it? Black? Like your soul?”

I bite back the laugh that threatens to erupt from me. Oh, this kitten has claws.

“Just call down to the coffee shop in the lobby,” Scotty cuts in before I can respond. “They know how he likes it, and will send it up.”

Sophie nods at him, her feral expression disappearing, replaced by a real smile. I clear my throat, and Scotty gets the signal, ushering her out of my office without a backward glance. Any satisfaction I’d felt while forming my plan to bring her down a notch or two has disappeared.

I grumble curses under my breath as the door closes behind them. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. My control over my reactions has completely disappeared. It’s not like me to show so much emotion. And I’ve definitely never let a woman get under my skin like this. Not since…

No. Not going to think of her.

Besides, this is different. Sophie Jameson is nothing but a thorn in my side. I’d never even consider dating her, much less let her get close enough to decimate me the way she did.

Shit. Now I’m fucking thinking of her again.

I lean back in my chair with a sigh as I open the floodgates and let the memories pour in.

I was twenty-six, and Victoria Davis was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. We met at a charity ball in the fall of that year, and her dark red dress with the plunging neckline drew my attention almost immediately. Her smile encouraged me to approach her. Her soft, husky voice warmed my blood.

By Thanksgiving, I was in love. By Christmas, she was living with me. And by February, I’d bought a ring.

I planned to propose on Valentine’s day. I didn’t care that it was terribly cliché. I was in love, and I wanted the holiday to mark the first day of the rest of our lives together.

I went home early that day to set up a romantic dinner, knowing Victoria had a spa appointment that would keep her out of the house most of the afternoon. I was so fucking excited, I almost missed the light thumping sound coming from the direction of my bedroom.

Curious, and more than a little disappointed she was home and would ruin the surprise, I went to find her. My steps slowed as I reached the hall leading to the bedrooms, then I froze, altogether.

The thumping sounds were louder, and from where I stood, I could hear the moans. Female and male.

The blood drained from my extremities as I shuffled forward on autopilot. They hadn’t even shut the fucking door. Moving into the opening, I stopped, unable to breathe.

My live-in girlfriend, the woman I’d intended to make my wife, was bent over the end of our bed, getting fucked from behind by one of my regular whales. He comes into the casino every weekend, dropping millions at the tables, and Victoria and I had even had dinner with him a few times.

“Your greedy little cunt loves my cock, doesn’t it, Vicki?” he growled, and I flinched as she moaned louder.

She never liked it when I talked dirty, and she told me the second we met to never call her Vicki.