Baby Cakes - A Vegas, Baby Novella

He took a couple of steps back, tugging me along with him. Then he opened the door, laced his fingers through mine, and walked me towards the front of the parlor. We stopped at three stations, and he introduced me to each of the tattoo artists. He’d been right about nobody saying anything bad, but I did get a lot of curious stares. When we made it to the reception area, Wendy flashed me a big grin and gave me the thumbs-up sign before we headed out to the parking lot.

I started to head to the left, but Maddox tugged me to the right. I pointed at my car and protested, “I need my car in the morning so I can get to work. It makes more sense for me to follow you to your place.”

“Nope.” Maddox kept on going, and I practically growled at his one-word answer. It wasn’t until we got to his black Dodge Challenger and he opened the door that he added, “I want your ass in my car the first time you come to my house.”

“Then you’re going to be stuck waking up super early to drive me back here,” I grumbled as I climbed inside his car.

He chuckled and shook his head. “Like I would let you get up and leave without waking up, even with your car in my garage.”

“Let me?” If he wasn’t so hot and waking up with me wasn’t a nice thing to do, I’d almost be mad at him, I thought to myself after he closed the door and rounded the car to get in the driver’s side.

“Do you drive all your girlfriends to your house the first time?” I snipped.

“Never taken a woman to my house,” he said as he started the car. I didn’t know what to say to that, so I just settled back in my seat and enjoyed the warmth that bloomed in my chest from his words.

The rumble and vibration of the engine had me drifting off to sleep before we were a mile down the street. I didn’t wake up again until Maddox nudged my shoulder as he pulled into his neighborhood. “Wake up, baby. We’re almost there.”

After he pulled into the garage, he gave me a quick tour of the place. It wasn’t at all what I expected for a bachelor pad. The two-story house was in a small subdivision near Red Rock Canyon, about twenty-five minutes away from the Strip. It had a nice sized yard in back and was decorated in mostly blues and greys, with hardwood floors and touches of chrome. It had a masculine vibe, but it was so well put together that it was obvious he’d put a lot of time and thought into it. “Your home is gorgeous.”

“You like it?” His eyes gleamed with pleasure.

It felt like my opinion about his place really mattered to him, which made butterflies swirl in my belly. “Yeah.”

“Good, that’ll make things easier. If you’d hated the place, I would’ve had to call my realtor so we could go house hunting tomorrow instead of just having the movers bring your stuff over.”

My head jerked back in surprise. “Realtor? Movers? I feel like I missed something here.”

“I’m going to move you in with me tomorrow. I’d do it tonight, but you wore me the fuck out.” He grinned before bending his head to brush his lips against mine and then added, “And I’ve already got you here, so it’s not like one night will make much of a difference.”

Was that why he was worried about me liking his house? Because he wanted me to move in with him? Tomorrow?!

“Do you even hear what you’re saying?” I paced over to the French doors looking out on his back yard and stared at the incredible view of Red Rock Canyon in the distance. “You shouldn’t be thinking about how you’re okay waiting one night before I move in when it’s the very same day that we met!”

“I know exactly what I’m saying.” He prowled over to stand behind me, wrapping his arms around my body and resting his head on the top of mine. “Did you already forget the part where I told you that you’re mine and you agreed? Because I’m more than willing to demonstrate that fact again if you need me to.”

I tilted my head to the side, giving serious consideration to his offer even though I was a little disturbed by the lightning speed at which he was moving. But I didn’t think any hot-blooded woman would blame me because of all that was Maddox Holt. The tattooed, sexy, bad boy on the outside who was also an artistic genius and owned a successful business. Had a beautiful home. Was unafraid of commitment. And gave mind-blowing orgasms.

However, just because he seemed to be the perfect man—at least for me—didn’t mean that I should jump into living together less than twenty-four hours after we met. Or let him distract me from what we were talking about. No matter how tempted I was. “I don’t need a demonstration. Not when I’m a little sore from…um…you know.”