It’s Vegas, Baby - Vegas, Baby

2

Autumn

I’d been more than a little irritated when the hotel employee at the check-in desk had told me that my reservation had somehow been lost. Traveling, even the small distance between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, always left me feeling a little discombobulated. When you added in the fact that this trip was for business and not pleasure, it was easy to understand why I’d already been feeling off kilter. All I wanted was to get up to my room, kick off my heels, get out of the clothes I’d worn for the flight, take a hot shower, and hit up the slot machines so I could get my promise to my best friend out of the way.

No room meant I couldn’t do any of that because I’d be stuck trying to find one in a different hotel, which would’ve majorly sucked since the conference I was in town to attend was being held at the Lennox. It was why I’d booked it in the first place.

But my irritation had quickly turned to appreciation when the woman had explained that they’d upgraded me to their best suite to make up for their mistake. I’d figured it was a scripted response they used for any hotel guest who’d been inconvenienced and that I’d been moved to a room with maybe a small living area to make it a suite.

The first indication I’d been wrong was the thousand-dollar credit they’d given me to go along with the upgrade. It was more than the total cost of my room for the entire weekend. Then there was the fact that I’d had to insert my key card into the elevator in order to get it to go up to the penthouse level, where my room was apparently one of two on the entire floor. But neither of those warning signs had prepared me for the magnificence of the Silver Suite.

I pushed open the door and promptly lost my breath. The suite was utter perfection with its silver raffia wallpaper, luxurious furnishings, and floor to ceiling windows lining the wall opposite the entryway. “Whoa!”

The place was huge. As I rolled my carry-on bag through it in search of the bedroom, I found a fully-stocked bar, living room, kitchen, and dining room. The bedroom had a king-sized bed and attached bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub and walk-in shower. The tub was so inviting that my plan for a hot shower quickly changed to a long bath, and it was almost two hours later when I finally made my way back downstairs to hit up the slot machines. Bailey, my best friend, had made me promise that I’d take the time to gamble at least once while I was in town for the conference since it was my last chance before I headed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to join Doctors Without Borders for a year.

“Only she never imagined I’d have a thousand dollars to play around with,” I mumbled to myself as I approached the cashier cage in the middle of the casino.

“Hello, miss.” The guy working at the window I approached offered me a small smile that grew wider when his eyes swept down my body and filled with masculine appreciation. “How can I help you today?”

There was enough innuendo in his tone to let me know he wasn’t just willing to help get me set up so I could gamble. But then his face paled and his expression turned one hundred percent professional. I figured maybe one of his bosses was near and he didn’t want to get into trouble. I was relieved since it meant I didn’t have to acknowledge his interest and shoot him down, which would’ve been super awkward.

“There should be a credit on my account.” I slid my room key and driver’s license across the counter towards him.

“Yes, ma’am.” He jerked his head towards his computer screen so quickly, I was almost worried he’d end up with whiplash. “I’ll be able to load it onto a loyalty card for you.”

“Thank you.”

His eyes widened in surprise and he gulped before he leaned forward to peer more closely at his computer screen.

“Is there a problem?”

“No, ma’am. No problem.” He shook his head, avoiding my eyes when he looked up after inserting a card into a slot and tapping a few buttons before removing it. “I was just double-checking the amount of the credit because I didn’t want to make a mistake.”

“Okay,” I drawled. I couldn’t help but think that whole encounter was super weird, but I shrugged and shook it off as I walked away. Rubbing my hands together, I scanned the available slot machines until I found the perfect one hidden among the higher stakes slots, a fruity five-line nickel slot with $1500 jackpot. It was probably an odd choice considering how much money the hotel had given me to play with, but I couldn’t picture myself playing a high-stakes game no matter whose money I was using.

I inserted my brand new player card into the slot on the machine, pressed a few buttons to set the betting rate at the minimum, pulled the handle, and watched it spin. I won a few credits here and there, but mostly lost. I had only played about a dozen times before I felt a tingling at the back of my neck. It made me feel like someone was watching me, which didn’t make sense because I was surrounded by a sea of gamblers. Glancing over my shoulder, I scanned the surrounding area to see if I could figure out who was looking at me.

The guy I spotted after about thirty seconds would’ve caught my attention even if he hadn’t been staring right at me. He had dirty-blond hair that made my fingers twitch with the need to run them through it. His tanned skin made me curious to know if he sun-bathed nude or if his butt was pale from wearing swim trunks. His blue eyes were brighter than the crystal-clear water I’d seen off the Na Pali Coast of Kauai during a vacation with my parents after I’d gotten my bachelor’s degree. He had a beard that was cut close to the skin, giving him a slightly rugged appearance. He was tall, probably about six-foot-tw

o, with a lean, muscular build. His custom-tailored suit looked like it cost more than the contents of my entire closet back home. Even the way his long fingers were fiddling with a poker chip, rolling it back and forth over his knuckles, was intriguing.

In a nutshell, he was too sexy for any woman to miss. Me included. I’d been too busy between med school and my residency to pay much attention to men over the past seven years, but my sleeping libido came roaring back to life when I caught sight of the mystery man whose attention was squarely on me.

He stalked towards me, and anyone in his path hurried out of the way. Not that he even noticed since his gaze held mine the entire time, never straying from my face. By the time he reached me, I had goosebumps running up my spine, my panties were damp, and I was wishing I hadn’t changed into jean shorts, a T-shirt, and flip-flops before I came downstairs. This man was so far out of my league, but at least it wouldn’t have been quite as obvious if I was still wearing the dress and heels I’d had on from an early morning meeting before my flight. Although with the way his blue eyes were devouring me, he didn’t seem to mind. Not even a tiny bit.