by M. S. Parker
“Mirage Talent.” I gave her a charming smile.
“Right. Of course.” She turned her attention back to the computer and tapped in the name. “Three suites on the top floor. They’re next to each other, but they don’t connect.”
Okay, definitely a point in DeVon’s favor. If he’d been trying something with this trip, he would’ve put us in the same suite, even if there were two bedrooms, or at least adjoining suites. I took one key, Landon the other and I told the clerk that the third party would pick up his own when he arrived that evening.
In the elevator on the way up, I asked Landon if he was ready for lunch.
“Only if we can eat by the pool,” he said. “I really want to work on my tan.” He lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “And check out the hotties.”
“The next time my friend Carrie comes to visit, you have to meet her,” I said. “And if she brings her boyfriend, even better. Gavin is smoking hot.”
“You miss her,” Landon observed. He might have liked joking around and flirting, but he didn’t miss much.
“We’ve been friends and roommates since college,” I said. “But she was moving in with Gavin and changing jobs. We were both looking at new directions, so I came here. We’re still close, but...” I let the words trail off.
“Nothing wrong with going off your own way,” he said. He let me step off the elevator first. “I’m just glad your new direction brought you to LA.”
I was still debating whether or not I agreed with that sentiment when I stepped into the suite. Holy shit. It was gorgeous, better than the room I’d been renting back in LA before I got my apartment. Easily as nice as the room Mirage had gotten for me during my interview.
I frowned as the image of DeVon and the two naked women he’d been with flashed into my head. I didn’t want to think about that. Right now, I just wanted to go down to the pool and hang out with Landon.
I changed into my deep purple bikini, grabbed one of the beach towels and walked over to Landon’s room. He answered the door in a pair of swim trunks, his towel over his shoulder. I didn’t even try to pretend I wasn’t ogling his sculpted chest and he grinned at me.
“I don’t know who’s going to get more attention, you or me.” He held out his hand and I took it.
It was nice to be able to just walk with a guy and not constantly be wondering how he was going to take everything I said or every move I made. I didn’t have to worry if he was using sunscreen as an excuse to try to grope me, or if I touched him, he’d think I wanted him to make a move. I felt more relaxed with Landon than I had with anyone since Carrie had left LA.
The pool was absolutely gorgeous. There were chairs lining the cement around clear blue water. The palm trees didn’t offer much shade, but this time of year, the sun was warm enough to swim, but not scorching. There were also places for kids to play at one end and something that looked like a river, complete with waterfalls. Landon headed straight for the pool itself, dragging me along with him. I caught more than one woman giving me a dirty look as he pulled me into the water and I let myself enjoy it.
He flirted openly with the women who approached him, but always kept them at arm’s’ length, never taking it that extra step that would mean he’d selected one of them over the other. Except with me. He never shut me out and always made a point of including me in his conversations. He could work a room almost as good as DeVon. The only difference, of course, was that none of these women stood a chance of fucking Landon. The hot Hispanic guy sitting in one of the chairs, however, did. I wasn’t sure if he was eyeing me or Landon until we got out of the water, and his eyes followed the actor instead of me. It was all good, though. I didn’t want to deal with anyone hitting on me today. I was having too much fun to even think about anything like that.
Chapter 10
DEVON
As I walked into the MGM Grand, I sent a text to Krissy’s phone asking for her and Landon to meet me in the lobby. Since this was a business trip, I knew she’d have her phone with her. There was always the possibility that she and Landon had gone somewhere else, to a casino or shopping or something like that, but when I’d told Landon about the trip, he’d been almost as excited about the Grand’s magnificent pool as he’d been about the fight. I had a pretty good idea of where Landon and Krissy had spent most of their day.
“Mr. Ricci, it’s great to see you again.” The man behind the desk gave me a warm smile.
The staff here loved me. I always tipped generously, and despite the decadence of the parties I threw, I never let things get out of hand. On the rare occasion they did, I never just paid the bill, I also provided gifts of apology for the people involved in cleaning up the mess. I respected hard-working people, no matter what job they did.
“I see that your other two guests have already checked in,” the man said. He looked puzzled for a moment, but it was immediately replaced by a business-like mask.
I didn’t need to ask why he was confused. I could count on one hand the number of times I’d checked in here by myself. And while I wasn’t technically by myself, the fact that I had three separate rooms made it clear that I wasn’t sleeping with either of my guests.
“DeVon!”
I heard Landon call my name.
“Speaking of my guests.” I turned towards my client...and faltered.
I didn’t know why it shocked me to see Krissy in a bathing suit. I’d been expecting her and Landon to come from the pool. Still, seeing her walking towards me in a modest, but sexy, dark purple bikini, her wet hair sending drops of water sliding over her exposed skin...
I swallowed hard and gave her what I hoped was just a polite smile and then turned to Landon.
“Looking good.” I grinned at him. Of all of my clients, Landon was the one I actually enjoyed spending time with. It was one of the reasons I’d thought this celebratory weekend was a good idea. Other clients, I might’ve sent on a little trip or given them a bottle of champagne to celebrate, but I rarely spent additional time in their presence.
“You, too.” He clapped me on my shoulder. “Still seems a shame I can’t convince you to play for my team.”
As I laughed, I caught a glimpse of a slightly shocked expression on Krissy’s face. I knew she’d figured out Landon was gay. You couldn’t spend hours with him and not know, especially when some of that time had been around wet, half-naked men. She was surprised that he joked with me like that and I felt myself relax just a bit. This was what I wanted. Her to see me in a different light, not so I could seduce her, but so that she could see I wasn’t always the asshole she thought I was.
I realized that I’d missed something Landon had been telling me because my eyes had slid back to Krissy and that amazing bikini.
“Everything okay?” Landon asked, concern in his voice.
“Great!” I smiled at him. “Just hungry.” I angled my body so that it was obvious Krissy was included in the conversation, but I didn’t look at her. “One of the things I always do before a fight is get a steak. Las Vegas has the absolute best steakhouse in the country.” I risked a look at Krissy and was relieved to see that she didn’t look annoyed at me. I really didn’t want her to think that I was proposing this dinner to try to mess with her head. “Be ready in an hour and we’ll go straight from the dinner to the fight.”
“You know me,” Landon said with a wink. “Always game for a good piece of meat in my mouth.”
Krissy laughed and the sound made my stomach twist as I joined in. Employer, employee, I reminded myself as the bellboy came over to pick up my bag.
“Not necessary,” I said as I reached into my pocket. “If I can’t carry one bag, I should give back my gym membership.” I handed a fifty to him. “But I appreciate the thought.”
I picked up my bag and started towards the elevators before the kid could do more than stammer his thanks. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Krissy’s look of surprise, and then her eyes narrowing in suspicion. I really hoped she didn’t think I
’d tipped the kid because she was there.
“I swear, DeVon,” Landon said. “If you tip here like you do everywhere else I go with you, I’m surprised they don’t have a statue of you in the lobby.”
I shrugged, grateful for Landon taking care of a possible issue. I knew him. There was no way Krissy would think I set him up to say anything – and I hadn’t. He was just that kind of nice, intuitive guy who knew when to keep quiet and when to speak his mind.
I stood to Krissy’s right as the elevator doors closed. Landon was on her left, whistling along with the canned music, but he might as well not have been there. My entire body was tense, memories of my last time in an elevator with Krissy flashing through my mind. Based on how stiff her body was and the way she kept staring straight ahead, she was thinking about it, too. By the time the door opened on our floor, the air was so thick I could barely breathe.
She walked off first and I motioned for Landon to follow. I shifted my bag so that it hid my body’s response to the last few minutes, and I stepped off of the elevator. Platonic, I reminded myself. I wanted to show her that I could be just her employer, someone she could work for, and work with. Maybe, just maybe, we could get to a sort of friendship, kind of like what I had with Melissa, but that’s all I wanted. Nothing more.
I kept telling myself of that as I watched her disappear into her room, and hoped by the end of the weekend I could convince myself as well as Krissy.
Chapter 11
KRISSY
I looked at the three dresses on my bed, but I wasn’t really seeing any of them. I was still trying to wrap my head around how different DeVon had been in the lobby. Joking with Landon. And unless Landon was in on it, DeVon was always this way around him. He’d barely looked at me, and his gaze had been nothing but friendly when he had. That should have made me happy, but instead I was trying to figure out what it meant.
Had I just been another notch in his bedpost, or had it been all because of me being at Carter’s? Was that all he saw now when he looked at me? And what if it was? Hadn’t I been the one who’d wanted to get him out of my system and move on? He wasn’t acting like a jerk anymore, and if he kept this up, I couldn’t see a problem with us continuing to work together. Wasn’t that what I wanted?
I frowned. I didn’t want to think about this. I wanted to have a fun weekend without complications. Landon was great and DeVon seemed like he was being decent on the trip. I picked up the black dress and tried not to wonder what DeVon would think of me in it as I put it on. It was just business, after all, and I had to make Mirage look good. If he took it the wrong way and crossed the line, I’d say something.
The dress fit like a second skin, which meant a thong to match my black strapless bra. The hemline hit me mid-thigh, which meant it was too short for my stockings, but it was long enough that I wouldn’t have to worry about flashing anyone on accident. The straps were thin, more for decoration than to hold anything up, and the neckline was barely a centimeter above the top of my bra, showing off considerable amounts of cleavage. If it hadn’t been so tight, I might’ve worried I’d fall out of it. These were the kinds of dresses I loved, the ones that walked the very thin line between sexy-classy and trashy-tramp. I kept my make-up understated and didn’t put on any jewelry. I didn’t want to take any attention away from the dress.
“Krissy!” Landon called as he knocked on my door. “Are you ready?”
I opened the door and he let out a whistle, his eyes widening. “Wow. Darling, if I wasn’t into men, I would so ravish you.”
I laughed, grateful for the release of some of the tension I was feeling.
“Seriously though,” Landon continued as I stepped into the hallway. “If you in that dress couldn’t turn me, nothing could.”
I heard DeVon clear his throat and looked over to see him coming out of his room. As always, he looked amazing. His clothes were perfectly tailored, showing off his broad shoulders and trim waist. I didn’t look any lower, not wanting to see how well his pants hugged what I knew he had to offer. I quickly brought my gaze back to his face. For a moment, I thought I saw his eyes darken, but I passed it off as a trick of the light when he gave me a cordial smile.
“You look lovely, Krissy.” He looked at Landon. “As do you.”
I turned to Landon, realizing that I’d been so preoccupied with how I looked, and then how DeVon had looked, to bother with Landon. Lovely was an understatement. If he’d been straight or bi, I would’ve dragged him back into my room and done all sorts of wonderful and naughty things to him.
“Shall we?” DeVon gestured towards the elevators.
“Krissy.” Landon held out his arm and I was strongly reminded of how DeVon had done the same thing the first night we’d...
I took Landon’s arm and the two of us followed DeVon. The elevator ride down to the lobby was less tense than it had been on the way up. I wasn’t sure if it was because this was the second one or if it was due to me holding Landon’s arm. Either way, it was easier to slip back into more relaxed roles as we made our way through the lobby to the front of the hotel where a limo was waiting.
By the time we reached the restaurant, the three of us were talking and joking, though most of it was us to Landon more than us to each other. Still, it was nice to not have to worry about every little thing starting a fight or triggering some inappropriate comment. DeVon was the perfect gentleman. He didn’t even try to take my hand or put his hand on my back to steer me through the restaurant. Landon did that while DeVon kept himself a half step ahead of us, enough to make the distance comfortable, but not so much that it looked like he was trying to avoid me. I wondered how many times he’d done this.
“What can I get you this evening?” The waitress was tall, thin, blond, and obviously interested in both men. She didn’t seem too picky about which one responded to her attentions. She was polite to me, especially when neither man touched me in the universal sign for “I’m taken, leave me alone,” but all of her focus was on them.
After we ordered, DeVon proposed a toast, wishing Landon a long and successful career. Landon responded in kind, and I could see that both men had a mutual respect for the other. DeVon wasn’t pretending to like Landon, and it wasn’t all business either, I realized. He genuinely liked the young actor. There was a relaxed quality to his posture when he talked to Landon, a slight lowering of his defenses.
“You sure have come a long way from Hollow’s Bay,” DeVon said.
“What’s Hollow’s Bay?” I asked.
“Hollow’s Bay was this trashy little theater bar where I worked when I first came to LA,” Landon explained. “Basically, I waited tables on an eight hour shift, then did a two hour performance of whatever play we had going that week. It was shit.”
“My car broke down.” DeVon continued the story and I was surprised to hear nostalgia in his tone. “And there I was, in this part of LA I’d never been to, with no car and a phone with a dead battery. I’d started Mirage just a couple weeks before and was still looking for new clients, but I’d meant to go to this indie theater someone in the industry had told me about. Instead, I ended up outside Hollow’s Bay. It was the safest looking place around, which wasn’t saying much. So I walk in to ask if I could use their phone and it’s right in the middle Hamlet’s big speech. You know the one. ‘To be or not to be.’“
I nodded. Everyone knew it.
“You’ve got this roomful of drunk, rough-looking patrons who should’ve been breaking bottles over people’s heads or something, and they’re all sitting and staring at this kid doing Shakespeare.”
“To be fair,” Landon interrupted, “a lot of them were so drunk that I’m pretty sure they thought I was Shakespeare.”
I laughed, touched not just by the story, but by the way it had made me see DeVon. I knew him now, a thirty-three year-old man, cocky, confident to the point of arrogant, controlling. Landon’s story made me think of how DeVon must’ve been then. He’d seen something in this young man and had hel
ped him become the person sitting next to me.
“Your steaks,” the waitress interrupted.
I bit back another laugh when she brushed her hand against Landon’s leg. I didn’t find it quite so funny when she repeated the gesture with DeVon. To my surprise, however, he didn’t take the bait. In fact, he did something that I never would’ve expected.
He looked at Landon, smiled, and leaned across the table, covering Landon’s hand with his. “Happy anniversary, honey.”
I almost choked.
“Happy anniversary to you, too,” Landon said without missing a beat. He glanced over at me, his bright eyes twinkling with laughter. “And thank you so much, sweetie, for your anniversary gift.” He reached his free hand over and put it on my leg. “You won’t regret it, I promise. And next time, we can do one of your fantasies.”
