by Avery, Lark
“Glad you worked up an appetite.” I murmured before staring down a couple of frat boys eyeing Scarlet like she was a tender piece of meat. Apparently, the restaurant’s name was not only a commentary on their menu.
We took seats at the bar where a waitress dressed as a cowgirl took our order. The whole place was designed to look like an old western saloon. This place mixed the industrial and cowboy theme. Judging from the crowd, this worked well.
A different cluster of frat boys at the other end of the bar catcalled to passing women. Las Vegas was certainly a beacon for boorish behavior. However, money was money whether it came from a saint or sinner. And clearly, there was lots of money to be made in Vegas.
There was a section in the middle that was fenced off for mechanical bull riding. Currently, a ring of patrons circled it, urging a skinny blond with fake tits to give it a try. She’d had several drinks already judging by how she stumbled. That was not going to end well.
That was when I noticed the wood floor was covered in a fine layer of sawdust. It was easier to absorb whatever liquid needed mopping up. I wondered what my brothers were thinking of their research assignments.
“Tell me about your research method. I never get to talk shop.” Scarlet’s eyes shone with excitement. She sipped her newly delivered margarita, made a face, and pushed the drink away. “Watered down.”
“I’ve read the research reports I ordered already. I wanted to see for myself what was doing well here.”
She nodded. To her, it was common sense to scout things out herself. It was my inclination too, but distance prevented me. As a result, I’d paid the research firm a serious chunk of change for their findings. Judging from their first suggestion, I suspected I’d wasted my money. I was sure if I asked Scarlet, she’d give me an exact breakdown of the adult toy market.
Might be fun to hear about the next time I had her naked. For her, “merger” and “acquisitions” might be dirty talk.
“What’s your Boston place like?” She broke through my thoughts.
“It’s an Irish theme with great food, drinks, and music.”
She signaled the bartender. “I’d like a gin and tonic.”
After the bartender left, she said, “I’m giving them another chance.”
She counted on her fingers. “You’re going for busty Irish lasses serving corn beef sandwiches and drinks with Bailey’s Irish Cream. And all of them love you as a boss and offer to kiss your Blarney Stone.” She cocked her head, eyeing me. “How’d I do?”
She was so fucking adorable. We should skip this tourist trap and go back to the hotel and order room service. But first I’d give her a chance to try the new drink.
“We have male and female waitstaff. We only serve corn beef in March. Bailey’s Irish cream is not allowed on the premises.” I leaned forward, resting my hand on her bare knee. “And you can kiss my Blarney Stone anytime.” I inched my hand up her thigh.
Scarlet wet her lips with her tongue.
Fuck.
I hoped leaving the hotel would distract me. My plan didn’t seem to be working. I was usually laser-focused on my business. Now everything was all turned around.
On the other side of Scarlet, a young man wearing a cowboy hat leaned against the bar. “Hey Beautiful, want to ride my bull?”
Was this guy actually hitting on Scarlet right in front me when I had my hand inching toward her pussy? I wasn’t sure if the cowboy didn’t see or didn’t care.
“No thanks,” she said without turning her head. “My boyfriend here is the jealous type. He’s already punched one guy out tonight. You might want to try your bull elsewhere.”
I stood up, but kept my hand on Scarlet’s thigh. I was a good head taller than this guy even with his hat on.
“Excuse me.” He raised his hat to us then sidled off.
I threw some bills on the bar. “I’ve seen enough. Let’s get out of here.”
“Where to next?” She hopped off the bar stool.
“I’m open to suggestions,” I said, hoping she’d want to return to the hotel.
“There’s a magic act at the Enchantment that’s supposed to be good. And they have a new menu I haven’t tried.”
“Lead the way.”
A short cab ride later, we were at the Enchantment Nightclub and Casino. It was one of those places that went for the retro vibe. The interior was dark with red leather booths and chandeliers. In the corner, a male vocalist with blue hair and a gold lamé suit belted out Frank Sinatra tunes. If I didn’t turn my head, I’d think he really was Old Blue Eyes. My Dad was a huge fan, and I’d grown up listening to his songs way too much for my taste.
“My friend Mindy works here. Maybe we can sit up front.” Scarlet’s enthusiasm was sweet. I’d been in two bars with her and each time she’d been hit on. I knew she could take care of herself, but damn she was a wisp of a thing. I didn’t like the thought of her out in the world with a bunch of wolves. So although I wasn’t a particular fan of magic shows, I was willing to give it a try for her.
Mindy wasn’t working, but her name was enough to get us a table for two right off the stage. We ordered drinks and steaks while I cast a glance around the dimly lit room. The patrons here were couples and therefore less rowdy than the Meat Market. They were looking for a little excitement in their lives before returning to their hotel rooms hoping to get lucky.
“How come you don’t have a boyfriend?” I thanked my lucky stars that Scarlet didn’t, but I couldn’t help but wonder how this good fortune fell into my lap. Literally.
“It’s hard to have a boyfriend when you’re on the road forty weeks a year. I’ve got frequent flyer miles and hotel awards in spades. I won a trip for two to Fiji. I’ll probably go alone.” She brightened. “Maybe I’ll meet a hottie on the beach there.”
“The fuck you will.”
“Did you just growl?” She straightened.
“You’re a workaholic,” I said smoothly to cover my outburst. “Unless you’re looking to sell sex toys in Fiji, you’ll keep working.”
“You’re dead wrong. Besides, we just met. You don’t know me.”
“I know you well enough. And I recognize a fellow driven soul.”
“Ah.” She relaxed.
Nice going, Idiot. Stop freaking her out.
“What’s your story?” She asked.
“Mom died when I was young. Dad spent most of my childhood in the neighborhood bar. I have two younger brothers. I wanted a stable family business to keep my eye on my family. I worked my ass off to buy that neighborhood bar and turn it into something special.”
“A bar seems an odd choice for a family business.”
“This coming from the woman with a suitcase full of dildos.”
She nodded and smiled. “Touché.”
She had a great smile. It radiated warmth with her curved lips making my heart rate pick up.
“It was what I knew,” I said.
“Same.” She raised her glass in a toast. “To family. And business.”
No sooner had she set down her glass than her phone vibrated. While Scarlet read the message, a frown formed across her brow. It turned into a scowl.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s from the realtor I’m meeting tomorrow. The property I’m interested in has an offer. But the viewing is still on because the buyer will consider multiple offers.”
“I haven’t met with a realtor here yet. It’d be great to see what’s available unofficially. Can I tag along?” My gut had tightened at her phone call. I had a bad feeling. Something I learned to follow at an early age or suffer the consequences.
“You don’t have plans?” She asked.
“A tee time that can be easily rescheduled.” I didn’t mention it was at the most exclusive private golf course in Vegas. I’d been looking forward to playing that course for six months. Now for the life of me, I couldn’t remember what excited me about it exactly. “Seriously, you’d be doing me a favor letting me tag along.�
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Scarlet cocked her head to one side, considering me.
I hoped I wasn’t giving off my creepy stalker vibe. I was loathe to let her out of my sight for any reason especially when I had a bad feeling.
“I don’t think so. I work better alone,” she said.
I felt like she punched me in the gut. Suddenly my time with her had a very real and fixed end point.
And at the same time, I was one hundred percent certain Scarlet was The One.
I had my best friend Kevin to thank for that. We’d known each other since we were six-years-old. When he met his now wife, he told me after their first date that he was going to marry her. Of course, I told him he was crazy, and I teased him without mercy. Then I was best man at his wedding. Now I’m Uncle Braden to their two boys.
I owed Kevin an apology. Later.
“You ok?” Scarlet asked. “You’ve got a funny look on your face. I didn’t mean to sound harsh about the realtor. I’m used to working alone.”
“Got it. I just remembered a phone call that I needed to follow up on next week.”
“I hear you. Work never ends, right?”
“Spoken like a fellow workaholic,” I said.
“You know, you need a hook,” Scarlet said as the server delivered our steaks. I loved that she didn’t order a salad then stare at me hungrily while I ate my dinner. It’d happened on more than a few dates back home.
Now I had a hard time concentrating on her words. My brain was busy churning over a realization. For the first time in my life, I wanted something of my own. Only it wasn’t a thing. It was Scarlet.
Every time I looked at her, “mine” flashed through my mind. Did she just say hooker? Did she want to do some role-playing back in the room? Had I lost my mind?
“You have the whole Irish angle covered.” She cut into her steak. “But nothing about Las Vegas is subtle. You need to hit ‘em over the head with a dildo, so to speak. You need something to draw them in, and then they discover all the great things about your place. Just serving good food and drinks isn’t enough out here. If they wanted that they would’ve stayed home. They came to Vegas for fantasy.” Scarlet tucked into her steak while she spoke.
Now that I was here, I could see she was right. The Las Vegas market was unlike any other I’d experienced before back east. But that was what made it a challenge and, therefore, interesting.
And it was what was giving me the opening I needed.
“Remember when you asked what I wanted in return?” I set down my fork. I could tell the steak was overcooked. Besides, I had more important things to negotiate. If all went well, I could tell our grandkids someday the entertaining story of how I wooed Grandma.
Scarlet watched me warily.
“You know, back in the room when I took your vir—”
She blushed and glanced at the tables near us. “I was there.”
“I need a guide,” I said.
“A guide?”
“Or a consultant, if you prefer. You just said so yourself. My restaurant needs something to make it distinctive. And you can help me figure out what that is. Clearly, the research analysts left a few things out in their reports.”
“Let me guess.” She speared another piece of meat. “You want to come to the realtor’s tomorrow.”
Among other things.
I smiled, trying to appear as innocent as possible.
“Now you really look like a serial killer. Are you going to eat that baked potato?”
5
Scarlet
The houselights dimmed. The show was about to start. Here’s a little-known fact about me. I was a sucker for magic shows. I knew there was no actual magic, but part of me was a secret romantic. I couldn’t help but love the idea of something unseen and powerful that drew people together. It seemed especially important to keep that part of me alive when I spent most of my time as a sex toy CEO.
The announcer’s voice boomed overhead through the speakers in the darkened room. “Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we have a very special guest. The Amazing Marco is home sick with the flu.”
The audience groaned at this announcement.
Disappointment washed over me. I’d heard all about the Amazing Marco from Mindy. I wanted Braden to enjoy something outside the hotel room.
I glanced at him in the dark. He was totally gorgeous. My mind churned over his offer. Having grown up in Reno, I’d been coming to Vegas for as long as I could remember. Dad used to bring Mom and me when he came here for work. I knew the city as both a Nevada resident and a businesswoman. I could absolutely give him accurate advice on setting up his club here.
Was he asking purely for professional reasons? Or was he thinking of something more? My heartbeat picked up at the thought of the second option. Regular hookups with Braden would be so very nice.
My thoughts were jarred by the announcer speaking again.
“Please welcome all the way from North Dakota, the Spectacular Shirley!” A spotlight roamed the stage just a few feet away. The velvet curtains with sequins fluttered, catching the stage lights. A gangly young man stepped onstage and tripped over his own feet.
For someone prone to the same thing, it was clearly not part of his planned act, and it was painful to watch. My first impression was this guy was a second rate Carrot Top, and I was not a fan.
“How’s everyone doing tonight?” Shirley’s voice cracked. He was just barely out of adolescence with that gangly puppy look of not quite fitting his body.
The room was quiet except for the clink of dishware and hushed conversations. Assholes. I could guarantee everyone in this room had a sucky first day at a new job. But no one was going to give Shirley a hand.
I cupped my hands even though our table was just a few feet away. “Awesome!”
The magician shot me a grateful smile.
Beside me, Braden winced. “Don’t encourage him.”
“Be nice,” I shot back.
“Let me guess, you feed strays too?”
Luckily, the house lights were still down so that the blush creeping up my neck was hidden. He had no way of knowing about the cat food for the striped tiger that showed up on my doorstep semi-regularly.
“I’m Shirley.” The magician pointed to himself. “Named after my great-great-grandfather back when it was a man’s name. Now though it mostly gives me trouble at airports or anyplace I use my credit card because it’s assumed to be stolen. But hey, enough about me! Who here is visiting from out of town?”
The room was silent again.
I gave Braden a light kick under the table. I jerked my head toward the stage.
He gave a slight shake no.
“He’s visiting Vegas for the first time.” I pointed to Braden.
The magician clapped his hands together in glee, or more likely desperation. “A Las Vegas Virgin! You can be my lucky assistant.”
“Nope. Sorry. We really should be getting back to her mom and the kids. Ready, Honey?” Braden stood up and held his hand out to me.
I bit my lip. Damn it. Braden was so fucking appealing. It would be easy to go on following his lead. But I didn’t get to where I was in business by doing what others wanted me to do.
Besides, I hadn’t finished my steak. And I hated to bail on Shirley.
“Scarlet, your mom is probably asleep, and the kids aren’t.”
The whole room was hushed now, listening to our pretend marital drama.
“They’ll be fine for a little bit longer.” I stood up, reaching out my hand to coax Braden back to his seat.
Shirley pulled me up on stage fast. I teetered a bit, but didn’t fall over. “We have a new volunteer!”
Fuck. I walked right into that.
Glancing back, I could see Braden’s lips were set in a hard line. He was not happy. He sat down slowly, folding his arms across his massive chest with his long legs stretched out before him.
I’m not sure how Shirley wound up replacing the regular headliner, but I’m pretty sure i
t had to do with desperation because what followed could only be described as a painful display of amateur illusion.
First, Shirley failed to select the correct card from the deck. Then, no coins materialized from my ears. By this time, I was deeply thankful Shirley’s act didn’t involve live animals or sharp objects.
True, I’d started out the show meaning to be supportive. Now I felt like I had only prolonged this poor guy’s agony. I wasn’t sure how much experience Shirley had in his magic career, but the future was going to be short-lived.
But my concerns for the bumbling magician evaporated when he pulled out a set of handcuffs. “Now I’m going to handcuff my lovely assistant to myself.”
“Not happening.” Braden was out of his seat and next to me in seconds.
Thank God!
“This is part of the act,” Shirley whispered furiously.
“The only one getting handcuffed to her is me.”
I flashed Braden a smile.
“This isn’t how I usually do my big finale.”
I glanced into the crowd. Even with the stage lights shining in my eyes, the now empty seats were obvious. No one seemed to care about Shirley’s final act.
“It’s her and me or nothing.” Braden laced his fingers with mine.
I gave his hand a grateful squeeze.
“For my last illusion, I’m going to handcuff this couple together. Then using my magic spell I’ll open the lock without using the keys.” Shirley snapped one cuff around my wrist and the other around Braden.
The snap of cold metal around my wrist was jarring, but being handcuffed to Braden made it rather exciting. Though I’d sold countless pairs of cuffs, this was the first time I ever had them on.
I snuck a glance at Braden.
He winked at me.
I wanted to tell Shirley to hurry it up, I had things to do, but he had one more illusion. I could wait out the remaining few minutes. I was the one who got us into this mess after all.
“Now, I will swallow the key.” Shirley tossed it in his open mouth in one gulp.
Fuuuuuck.
This was not how I envisioned this night going. I was pretty sure the fire department would be cutting Braden and me apart.
