I roll out of bed, wincing at that ache between my legs, and stumble toward the bathroom. Claire is already on the phone ordering room service by the time I’m undressed and have planted myself under the luxuriously hot shower.
The hot water helps immensely, and I’m grateful for Claire’s Daddy’s credit card. For a moment, I even forget about my predicament.
Just for a moment, though. As I step out and look in the mirror at my severely hungover face, a sense of despair washes over me again.
What the hell am I going to do?
Luke
“Care to explain yourself?”
Something hits me in the chest, and I grumble as I peel open my eyes. “Brock, what the fuck, man? Get out of here with that shit.”
Officially, Brock’s my PR representative. He does way more than that, though. He’s my go-to guy—handy dude, has gotten me out of a lot of scrapes over the years. But right now he’s looking pissed.
He gestures at what he’s thrown at me. I lift it up and peer at it through bleary eyes—a garish tabloid newspaper.
He doesn’t give me a chance to read it.
“What happened last night? Who is this woman? I told you, if you were seeing someone, you were supposed to tell me. In fact, anything happens in your life, you tell me.”
I shrug nonchalantly. “Whatever happened to privacy?”
He sighs in frustration and crosses his arms, like a teacher reprimanding a wayward kid. “You lost your privacy the moment Forbes printed your face on the cover. Cosmopolitan called you ‘the most eligible bachelor in the country’. Well, until last night, apparently.”
I chuckle. I’m rich enough that I could get anyone I want to do my PR for me. Hell, most of the top PR firms would work for me for free, just for the exposure.
But I like Brock. He calls me out on my shit and doesn’t let me get away with anything, and that’s the kind of guy I need. Especially when things get a little . . . wild, like last night.
I met her in the Bellagio, down in the casino. She was sitting at the bar, alone, well on her way to being drunk.
I’d admired her gorgeous hourglass figure from behind for a few moments, before sitting next to her and flashing her the old, time-honored Luke Alder smile.
Never fails. And if it does, well, the billions of dollars and ripped abs usually do the trick. And if they don’t work . . . well, shit, I’m not exactly lacking for confidence, either. I can talk a woman into bed just as easily as I can impress her with my other gifts.
Nah, safe to say I was pretty confident about bagging this girl.
I was expecting her face to light up as soon as she saw me. Almost everyone I ever meet recognizes me as soon as they see me.
Having your face splashed all over the tabloids on a weekly basis kind of has that side effect. There’s no shortage of beautiful women falling all over themselves to get me into bed, and I am more than happy to oblige.
This girl was different, though. When I sat next to her she looked me up and down, and although I could tell that she liked what she saw, there was no spark of recognition in her eyes.
“What’s a gorgeous woman like you doing drinking alone? Care for some company?”
She shrugged, playing it cool. “Sure, why not? My so-called friend has found her hook-up for the night, so it looks like I’ve got to make my own fun.”
I grinned at her. “I like the sound of that. And hey – this is Vegas; no shortage of fun to be had around here.”
Her eyes lit up at that, and my heart skipped a beat.
Holy shit, this girl is stunning.
“I know, right?! I did so much research before I came here, scoped out all sorts of fun shows and stuff, but all my friend wants to do is hook up with strangers.”
I ordered a whisky on the rocks, and shrugged. “There’s no shame in that. Hooking up with strangers is a lot of fun. In fact–”
My bad attempt to seal the deal was cut short as she interrupted me. She was looking me straight in the eye, earnest and serious. “You got any plans this evening?”
Yep, as a matter of fact I do. Getting you into bed and fucking your brains out.
“I dunno, maybe play some cards, shoot some dice? I’m easy.”
She scoffed at that, rolling her beautiful brown eyes. “Gambling? Is that as far as your imagination stretches? There’s a whole city out there, just full of stuff waiting to be explored. Limitless opportunities, crazy possibilities…and you want to just sit in this smoky casino and gamble?”
She drained the last of her drink and stood, giving me the first proper look at her body. She was wearing a strappy little red cocktail dress, and it hugged her curves in all the right places. I could feel my cock stirring by just looking at her.