2
Will
Whoa.
I stopped in my tracks as I came around the corner from my office into the lobby. The most beautiful woman I’d ever seen was standing in front of the reception desk. She had long, wavy, golden hair that floated around slender shoulders and high, round tits. My mouth suddenly filled with saliva, and I swallowed hard, hoping I wouldn’t start drooling. The rest of her was lithe and willowy but curved in all the right places. Her bee-stung lips were painted bright red. If that alone hadn’t caused my dick to come roaring to life, it would have been the fire sparking in her deep blue eyes.
Fuck. I hadn’t reacted to woman like this in… well…ever. I’d never been so instantly drawn to someone or so completely consumed with lust. When she held up her hand and yelled about her lack of husband, my heart skipped a beat in relief while my dick pulsed in appreciation.
My assistant Chad was shrinking back under her wrath, and I almost laughed. Couldn’t he see how magnificent she was? Actually, scratch that. I was glad he didn’t see her that way.
“It’s okay, Chad. I’ve got this.”
He bobbed his head and grabbed a clipboard with some paperwork. Then he scrambled over to the other side of the room where my next clients waited.
“How dare you!” she seethed. She was so fucking gorgeous all fired up like that. I surreptitiously stepped to the left in order to hide my hard-on behind the front desk.
“And you are?” I asked patiently.
“Aurora Dawson,” she grumbled. “I run The Chapel of Dreams at the Lennox, and you can’t just move in around the corner from a place where I make dreams come true and then try to ruin all my hard work!”
I cocked a brow and studied her but stayed silent, waiting to see if she was finished with her rant. Apparently, it was the wrong reaction because Aurora suddenly swung around to face the couple who immediately cowered in the corner. “And you! You should be ashamed of yourselves!”
It was definitely time to step in. I discreetly adjusted myself, then closed the distance between us and gently took hold of her arm. “Maybe we should discuss this in my office.” The skin under my fingertips was silky and warm, and when I felt her break out in goose bumps from my touch, I couldn’t help smiling. She might be pissed, but she certainly wasn’t immune to me.
Pivoting back, Aurora glared at me, and I quickly hid my smile under a frown. “I don’t need to discuss anything with you, Mr—” She looked around, clearly searching for my name.
“Scott,” I informed her. “Will Scott.”
“Well, Mr. Scott, I suggest you find somewhere else to rip people apart and stay away from my couples.” Her eyes narrowed, and she stepped forward, clearly trying to be intimidating. Considering she was at least five feet eleven, I imagined she succeeded with most people. However, I wasn’t most people, and I found it adorable. Plus, she didn’t belong to any of them. But she was going to belong to me.
Aurora waggled a finger in my face, and I fought the instinct to slip my tongue out and taste it. “I can make life very difficult for you, Mr. Scott”—why did I find it so fucking hot when she called me that?—“I know people. Dangerous people.”
I bit my lip and tried to look as though I was duly intimidated by her not-so-veiled threat. “I’ll keep that in mind.” My tone was as neutral as I could muster, but I obviously didn’t do as good a job as I thought because she narrowed her beautiful blue eyes and studied me suspiciously. “Can we speak in my office?” I requested again, giving her my most charming smile. I hadn’t released her arm, so I let my hand slide down to take hold of hers. I did a mental fist pump when she failed to suppress a little shiver.
However, before I could lead her to a more private space, she stepped back and tugged her hand away. I frowned and closed the distance between us. I wasn’t going to let her go so easily. But she glared at me with a renewed anger that seemed to be about more than her complaint over my job and location. So, I hesitated, not making a grab for her quite yet.
“Have dinner with me.” Shit. It had just popped out.
Aurora’s glare darkened into a scowl that would send a lesser man running in the opposite direction. “Not in a million years,” she seethed. Then she spun around and stormed out. Unfortunately, I was too distracted by her spectacular ass to keep her from leaving.
As tempted as I was to go after her, I had clients waiting, but at least I knew where to find her. When I faced the couple, I clocked the “groom’s” gaze glued to Aurora’s ass as she passed by the glass front of my office and disappeared around the corner.
My hands clenched into fists, and a growl escaped my lips. The fucker’s eyes swung back to me and widened in fear when he saw my expression. I wanted to put him in the ground, but years of martial arts training had given me the ability to control myself. I inhaled deeply, and on my exhale, I relaxed my hands and plastered a fake smile on my face.
“Please fill out those forms, then Chad will bring you back and we can get the paperwork signed and witnessed. Then we’ll file them with the courts, and you’ll receive a copy of the final decree in the mail.”
The couple nodded and bent their heads over their clipboards. I stalked back to my office and dropped heavily into my chair. Wiggling my mouse, I woke up my computer and found my way to the website for The Chapel of Dreams. Aurora managed the chapel and coordinated weddings. There was a photo of her and two other women listed as her sisters. I recognized one of them as the wife of rock god, Griffith Thorne, and the other was married to Maddox Holt, who owned a famous local tattoo parlor.
Staring at Aurora’s gorgeous face, I relived our moments together and got hard all over again. I promised myself that the first chance I got, I was going to track her sweet ass down and make her listen. I had reasons for doing what I did. I wasn’t in the business of ripping dreams apart; it was more like disaster prevention.
Just then, Chad escorted the couple from the front into my office. I was forced to focus on my job for the next few hours since I had back-to-back appointments. By the time my last client left, it was after five. I wondered if Aurora had a wedding that night. I was determined to track her down, and while my first instinct was to simply throw her over my shoulder and take her home, I didn’t think she would be okay with that. At least, she wouldn’t allow herself to be. I could tell she wanted to be swept off her feet, though, and let someone else be in control for a change. I was willing to bet that romancing her would be more effective than caveman tactics—outside the bedroom anyway—and I had no problem going down that route to a certain point. If Aurora was too stubborn to open her eyes to our future, I wouldn’t hesitate to give in to the Neanderthal and drag her back to my cave.
I needed to find some leverage, and to get that, I needed to know more about her. I was pretty sure I knew the right source for that. I picked up the phone on my desk and dialed a familiar number.
“Lennox,” the man on the other end answered.
“It’s Will,” I informed Drew Lennox, the owner of the hotel that leased out my office space and housed The Chapel of Dreams. We’d known each other from college and had stayed in touch. He’d been there for me at a dark time in my life. Then, one day, he offered me the chance to start over.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“Aurora Dawson. What do you know about her?” With the exception of pulling her background, Drew was most likely my best bet for finding out more about my woman. Well, it was his wife who had the information, but I had to go through Drew to get to Autumn.
To my surprise, he burst out laughing. I sighed and waited for him to calm down. Eventually, he caught his breath and replied, “She was in your office for all of what? Ten minutes?” A female voice said something muffled in the background, and Drew chuckled again. “And yelling at you the entire time?”
“How do you know that?” I sputtered.
“A little birdie told me.”
I shook my head even though he couldn’t see it. “I don’t reme
mber you being such a gossip in college.”
“I didn’t have a wife who tells me everything in college,” he said dryly.
“Touché,” I conceded. “But how did Autumn know?”
He sighed. “From what I’ve been told—I can’t believe I’m actually going to explain this like a fucking high school girl—Aurora went to her sister’s bakery to fume over your meeting. Ariel mentioned it to Becket’s wife Lia when they met for lunch. Then Lia bumped into Belle, Aurora and Ariel’s other sister, at the gym. Then Belle called Autumn to get the scoop on you. And of course, my wife told me.” Drew’s tone had been deadpan as he explained, and I could practically see him checking off each thing on his fingers.
“Impressive,” I heard Autumn murmur to him.
“Thanks, Sunshine. You going to reward me later?”
I cringed at his insinuation. Drew was like a brother to me, making Autumn like a sister. I did not need images of their sexcapades in my head.
“Yes, yes. You’ve honed your gossiping skills and will soon grow a pussy and turn into an old woman,” I grumbled.
“You want me to tell you about Aurora or not?”
“Fine, you’re practically Bruce Wayne; now tell me what I want to know.” My patience was at its end, and I snapped out the last words.
“If you promise to be nice, so I don’t have to kick your ass, I’ll let you talk to Autumn.”
I promised and waited for a minute until I heard Autumn’s voice over the line. “Hey, Will.”
“Autumn, lovely, will you please help me out?” I pleaded. “I need to convince Aurora to spend some time with me. To explain my past and current job and make her realize we belong together.” If it had been just about anyone else, I wouldn’t have added that last part, but Drew and Autumn had fallen in love the instant they met, so I knew she wouldn’t balk at me.
“You’re lucky I know you so well, Will. And I think you’d be really good together.”
I audibly sighed with relief. Now I was getting somewhere.
“First, I should warn you, her overprotective brother is our head of security. He’s likely to try to kick your ass if he knows you’re sniffing around his sister.”
I scoffed at her insinuation that I couldn’t handle this guy. I might look like a nerd, but my black belt in multiple disciplines, as well as the numerous MMA titles I held, said otherwise.
She went on to tell me more about Aurora, and I soaked up every word. By the time Autumn was done, if I hadn’t already been head over heels for my girl, I would’ve fallen right then. She was sweet and spicy, strong and independent, while still remaining a hopeless romantic.
Then Autumn gave me the most important piece of information I needed. “If you want to win over Aurora, or even have a chance at it, you’re going to need help from her sisters.” She gave me some advice about how to accomplish that feat, and I thanked her enthusiastically before saying goodbye and hanging up.
Autumn had also mentioned that there was a wedding at the chapel tonight, and it would be over around eight. Armed with everything I’d learned, I closed up the office and ran a few errands before arriving at the chapel a half hour before Aurora would be finished for the night.
Either I had great luck, or Autumn had done me another favor—for which I would owe her more than I could ever pay back—and warned Aurora’s sisters that I was coming. They were waiting for me in the front vestibule and quietly motioned for me to follow them. We ended up in a back office that was meticulous, with everything in its place. I grinned, knowing instantly that it was Aurora’s workspace. I couldn’t fucking wait to get her messy and seduce her into giving up control.
“So,” Belle, the brunette, started. “Autumn told us you’re interested in our sister and gave you quite the recommendation.”
Yeah, I officially owed Autumn a lifetime of eternal servitude. Although the only woman I would actually be serving was my wife.
“I knew the second I saw her that we were meant for each other.”
Ariel, the slightly taller redhead, eyed me up and down. “I don’t know. No offense, but you’re kind of stuffy. I think Aurora needs someone who is her opposite. Someone who will break her out of the wall she’s built around herself. You seem a little too straight-laced and buttoned up.”
I raised a brow and cocked my head to the side. “You’re saying that if I were less clean-cut”—I used air quotes to make my point—“you’d be more likely to see me worthy of your sister?”
Ariel shrugged. “I guess you could put it that way.”
“Would the Harley in my garage convince you? Or the fact that my MMA skills mean I could kick your brother’s ass? Or how about these?” I rolled up the long sleeves of my white button-down to reveal the ink that covered every inch of my arms from elbow to wrist. They actually went to my shoulders, but the fabric wouldn’t roll up that far.
Both women gaped at me, their jaws gone slack. It was pretty funny, and I grinned, used to this reaction when people learned what was under the glasses, suit, and clean-cut appearance.
Just then, the door to the office swung open, and both girls jumped when it slammed into the wall. I pivoted to see a furious Aurora glaring at me. “What the hell are you doing here?” she snapped.
I was momentarily distracted by how fucking hot she looked, and it cost me. Her mood blackened, and she let out a little growl as she stomped around me to stand behind her desk.
My body followed her movement, turning so that I ended up facing her. I was grateful there was a chair in front of her desk and put my hands on the back and leaned in, hiding the evidence of how she was affecting me. “I’m here to convince you to have dinner with me. To let me explain some things.”
Aurora sniffed haughtily and put her hands on her hips. “I have no interest in anything you have to say to me.”
I opened my mouth to argue but was interrupted by Ariel. “Hey, sis?”
Aurora’s eyes flew to the side of the room, clearly just registering the presence of her sisters. “What?”
Ariel smiled, a little bit of evil lurking in the curve of her lips. “I double dog dare you to have dinner with Will.”
3
Aurora
I glared at Ariel, clenching my teeth to keep myself from screaming as I gritted out, “Tell me I’m imagining things, and you did not just do that!”
“Who me?” Ariel widened her eyes and pressed her hand against her chest.
“Yes, you,” I huffed, barely resisting the urge to stomp my foot in frustration.
“What? I thought I was helping!” she protested, as though she didn’t see anything wrong with how she’d just thrown me under the bus.
“Helping?” I pointed in Will’s direction. “How in the heck did you think it would be helpful to use a double dog dare for this guy’s benefit? He opened a quickie divorce office around the corner from our wedding chapel!”
Ariel gave up on the innocent act and shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t blame me. It’s all her fault”—she pointed her thumb in Belle’s direction—“since she’s the one who double dog dared me to move in with Maddox. I just wanted to get in on the action, and this seemed like the perfect chance.”
“Perfect chance?” I echoed in disbelief. “Belle double dog dared you to do something you would’ve done anyway. She just hurried the process along a little bit.”
“And your point is what exactly?” Ariel asked.
“That you’re daring me to do something I never would’ve done because I have no interest in going on a date with him!”
“I am standing right here, you know,” Will drawled dryly. I ignored him and kept on ranting. I wasn’t being one hundred percent truthful because I absolutely, positively would’ve jumped at the chance to go to dinner with Will...if he hadn’t been a divorce lawyer whose office was located in the perfect spot to give my clients an out to their marriage. Unfortunately, my sisters knew me too well. Ariel made a tsking sound and looked at Belle who shook her head and sighed, “
It’s sad, really.”
“Yeah, I think Shakespeare said it best in Hamlet—the lady doth protest too much, me thinks,” Ariel agreed.
“Oh, for crying out loud,” I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose between my forefinger and thumb while taking a deep breath.
I dropped my hand and turned to stare at Will when he jumped back into the conversation. “It sounds to me like you and your sisters have a long-standing verbal contract in regard to double dog dares. As a lawyer, I have to advise you to come to dinner with me so you don’t violate the terms of the agreement.”
“I…You…” I sputtered. I couldn’t seem to get a full sentence out, and I blamed Will for it. He’d just amped up his sexiness factor even more with how smoothly he’d taken advantage of the door my sisters had opened for him. Smart, witty, and hot were a lethal combination.
“Look at her; she’s speechless,” Belle whispered to Ariel.
“Yeah, if I hadn’t already double dog dared her to go out with him, I would now.”
“Right? It’s so rare for anyone to get the better of Aurora,” Belle laughed. “I’m liking this guy more and more for her.”
I swiveled my head and narrowed my eyes at my sisters. They grinned at me, not even the tiniest bit bothered by my irritation. “Alright, you two. I think you’ve ‘helped’ enough.” My glare turned a little evil when I added, “Don’t think I’ll forget this. I will get even with you two.”
“I guess that’s our cue to leave.” Belle tugged on Ariel’s arm when it looked like she wanted to stay put and watch the fireworks between Will and me.
“Fine, I guess we’ll go,” she grumbled.
When the door closed behind them, Will started to say something. Striding over to the door, I interrupted him. “Hold on a second.” I yanked the door open. Ariel almost fell into my arms, and Belle crashed into her back.
Vegas, Baby: Complete Series Page 28
