by Cat Miller
A jolt of something that felt strangely like panic shot through Luc. Gone? Had she changed her mind and fled back to Colorado with Mills after all?
“Did she leave a message?” Damn it! Luc didn’t even have a phone number for Everly.
“No, sir, Ms. Everly is out with the big cowboy. I don’t know when she’ll return.” Isa told him as she returned to her vacuum.
The big cowboy must be her brother. It had better be her damned brother. Fuck! That savage flash of jealousy had to stop! She was not his. Everly would be leaving him. They’d agreed to enjoy each other’s company while she was here. That was it. He had to smother this need to keep her close. He had to stop thinking of her as his woman. She’d go home to her family and life would go on. Mills was likely trying to talk her into leaving now. If not, he’d have gone home already.
Everly was totally screwing with his head whether she meant to do it or not. Now that he was standing there in her rooms, Luc felt vaguely like a puppy chasing after its new, sexy as hell, little master.
“I’m almost finished, not that there’s much cleaning for me to do in Ms. Everly’s suite.” She smiled fondly at this. “Ms. Everly is very tidy. I told her she doesn’t need to clean up, but she does it anyway. She even washes her own dishes.”
Luc raised an eyebrow at the motherly-looking maid who took such good care of his home. She was a longtime employee who knew him very well. He didn’t understand her comment. Everly did the dishes?
Isa giggled. “Yes, she does most of the cleaning before I get here. All of the staff is buzzing about her. She cleans, and she works in the casino for free. I’ve heard she makes good tips, though, because the regulars love her. She’s so polite to everyone. It’s not what we’ve come to expect from,” Isa paused to find a polite word, “your lady friends. Of course, you’ve never kept one of your ladies in house before. The rumor is that you’re falling in love and can’t stand to be away from her.” Isa beamed up at him.
Luc felt like someone had kicked him in the nuts. The breath was knocked right out of him. Love? No, this had nothing to do with love. It was a business arrangement. Pure and simple. He was letting his dick rule his mind for the first time in his life and he was going to put a stop to that immediately. She wasn’t his girlfriend. She wasn’t his at all. Keeping her in his guest suite was a mistake. People talked. He didn’t like gossip, especially about him. It was time to step back and remember why Everly was here in the first place. She was after something. She had to be. No one sacrificed so much for nothing in return. She would go home when her time was up and have nothing to show for her time in Hell. There had to be some ulterior motive. He couldn’t forget this wasn’t about him. He just hadn’t figured out her game yet. Fuck! He had to get out of there.
Luc left Everly’s suite before she could come back to find him waiting for her like an idiot. He had business in California. It could wait, but why put it off? He needed to put some space between Everly and his weak-willed libido.
* * *
It was getting very late, and Everly was getting sleepy, but she wanted to wait up for Luc. He had been in California on business for two days, and she hadn’t heard from him the whole time he was away. Rourke had informed her that Luc was out of town. He hadn’t even bothered to say goodbye. She only knew he was back because she’d overheard Dolce mention to Rourke that he would be back after a dinner meeting, and Dolce planned to have a long, sisterly talk with Luc in the morning.
Everly was finding it difficult to keep track of her own emotions. She was angry that Luc hadn’t said goodbye or contacted her in days, but she knew she had no right to expect it of him. She missed him terribly when he was gone. He obviously hadn’t even thought of her. If he had, wouldn’t he have called? She wanted more from her relationship –if it could be called a relationship– with Luc than just sex, but she knew she’d be going home in a short time. How would that even work? What would her family think of her falling for the man they felt had tried to ruin them? Her head spun with all of the ‘what ifs’.
Luc should be getting home from his business dinner any time now. Home? She frowned at herself. This was not her home. She didn’t really belong there. It was Luc’s home, and she was just a guest. No matter how much she wished otherwise. There was absolutely no denying it; Everly was falling hard for Luc. She’d already taken a nosedive. It was too late pull up now.
She was acting like a school girl with her first crush, and she knew it. She sat in the hall outside her door with a book in her lap, waiting for Luc to appear and let her know how much he missed her. She wanted him to explain that he was just so busy he hadn’t had time to call. She wanted him to say something, anything to stop the sick feeling in the pit of her belly and the incessant thought that she was just one of many women he’d used and discarded.
She and Luc were getting closer and closer. She knew more about him than most people. He’d opened up and shared his story with her. She’d told Luc all about her family and her home. They talked about how difficult it had been when her mother was killed. He’d lost his Gran who had raised him from birth. Sadly, they had that in common. After a long night of loving and talking, Everly want to think they really could have something more than this short time together. After she’d seduced him in his office and convinced him they could enjoy their time together, because he was nothing like his father, and she was no victim, she’d been even surer the passion between them had grown into more. Much more. Then he’d up and disappeared. She didn’t know what to think of that.
The elevator finally dinged, and Everly’s heart leapt. She jumped to her feet and hurried toward the doors that were just sliding open with a broad smile on her face. Luc hadn’t stepped out, so she peered into the private elevator.
It was Luc, but he wasn’t alone. There was an elegantly styled and perfectly coiffed brunette hanging from his lips. Her delicate arms were wrapped around Luc’s neck. His big hands cupped her perfect ass, holding her against him hip to hip.
The smile melted from Everly’s face. Her heart dropped and her stomach flipped painfully. She blinked disbelievingly at the couple who was oblivious to her presence. They were all but fucking in the elevator. The woman’s hands slid from around Luc’s neck and down his abdomen making a beeline for the bulge in his pants. He groaned, seemingly pleased by the beauty’s stroking fingers. Their kiss grew violent as they nipped and sucked at each other’s lips.
Everly backed away quickly hoping Luc wouldn’t notice her in the hall. What a perfect fool she’d been. Why did she keep forgetting that she meant nothing to Luc? It was just sex for him. Why couldn’t she get that through her thick skull? She was, indeed, just paying off a debt. Her idiotic heart thudded painfully in her chest, and the sound of it reverberated in her ears.
She made it to her door before Luc and his clingy brunette could stumble out of the elevator together. They were all hands and tongues. Everly stilled, trying not to draw their attention. Luc practically carried the woman to his door and fumbled for the key card in his wallet, while the brunette worked frantically to unbutton his shirt. Everly was going to be sick. Luc finally got the door open, and his date for the evening hurried inside, tugging him behind her. No wonder he’d been so closed mouthed about his trip. He had personal business he didn’t plan to explain to her. She doubted it was even a business trip. More like a lover’s getaway.
Luc turned to close the door and made eye contact with Everly. She stood frozen with her heart in her eyes. Her face and ears burned with shame and embarrassment. Luc looked blank, uncaring. He blinked once, gave her a pitying shake of his head and pushed the door shut. The sound of the lock engaging was like a gunshot echoing down the hall.
How could Luc take this very expensive looking, quite lovely, and very shapely woman to his bed after the time he’d spent with Everly? It seemed he could do it with ease, and why not? Everly was nothing to him. She’d let herself forget for a short time that this was a punishment, not a relationship. She was his ready whore f
or the price of a ranch and her self-respect. Nothing more. Why would a gorgeous, eligible, and extremely wealthy man like Luc Christianson want a simple country girl like Everly? She had nothing to offer him. Seeing him with the kind of woman he actually enjoyed had crushed something inside of her. She couldn’t compete with a woman like that. She wouldn’t even try.
Everly staggered into her suite to escape the sound of feminine laughter coming from behind Luc’s door. She slammed her own door and fell against it, sliding to the floor when her weak knees would no longer hold her up. She blinked against the tears burning her eyes. She wouldn’t let them fall. No, she would not cry over a man who thought so little of her. Nor would she sit pathetically idle in her room.
Everly got to her feet and squared her shoulders. She was a single woman in Las Vegas. Even hopelessly silly country girls who trusted far too easily could find oblivion in Sin City. She gathered her pride like a blanket around her and went to her closet. It was time to get out and have a little fun.
A short while later Everly stepped off of the private elevator that now smelled like expensive perfume. Christ, how much did that woman wear? She was striding across the lobby on a mission to forget the last few weeks when Dolce crossed her path.
“Everly, honey, you look stunning. Do you and Luc have a date? I know he was due back this evening.” Dolce smiled happily at the notion that Everly and Luc would be getting out for a night on the town together.
Everly flinched. The very sound of Luc’s name was painful with the image of him disappearing into his suite with another woman still fresh in her mind. She wouldn’t cry. She wouldn’t.
She looked down her body at the shimmering black mini-dress and stilettos she’d bought with her tip money from waiting tables. The heels made her look as though she had legs far longer than they actually were. She’d given herself a messy up-do that was held in place by sparkling combs. Somehow the hairstyle turned out looking as if she’d taken time to look artfully disordered when the truth was she’d been too upset to do any more than she had with the mass of red curls. She did take her time painting her face. Make-up was like armor. It was a mask, and Everly was desperate to hide behind the veneer.
“Luc is a bit too busy for his whore tonight, Dolce. I’m heading out for the evening alone. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.” She stepped past Dolce who stared at her slack-jawed.
“Everly, I need you to tell me that man did not call you a whore.” Dolce jogged after Everly on her super high heels. Really, the woman must not have any nerves left in her feet. Who could run in shoes like that without crying?
Everly stopped walking, “No, he didn’t say it in so many words. So you can stop looking murderous.”
Dolce looked relieved.
“I came to understand what he thinks of me when he took another woman to his bed tonight. He and his girlfriend fell off the elevator practically fucking already.” Her voice had crackled a bit at the end. She recovered her composure. Dolce was back to looking murderous again. “I’m going to go have a little fun tonight. I’ve been pretty much stuck in this hotel for weeks. I see now how foolish that was.” She gave a little self-deprecating chuckle. She was a fucking idiot for allowing herself to fall for that man. “I’ll decide what to do next tomorrow. I’ll be honest, Dolce, I can’t be with him again after this.” Tears filled her eyes, and she fought them down. “I was of the understanding that we weren’t seeing other people until this was over. I guess that rule was just for me. So unless he’s willing to allow me to . . . work off the debt in some other way, this . . . arrangement is over. I’ll deal with the consequences, whatever they may be, but he won’t be crawling back into my bed.”
Dolce blinked a few times. She was clearly as stunned by Luc’s behavior as Everly had been. She nodded and gestured for Everly to proceed out of The Inferno. “My shift just ended. Mind if I join you? I know a great place. Total meat market with very expensive meat. Only the finest cuts.”
Dolce winked at Everly as she shrugged out of her jacket to reveal a slinky red camisole she wore underneath. She handed her jacket to the doorman with directions to have it sent to her room and order them a car. It looked like it was going to be a girl’s night out. Good. Everly hated to drink alone.
Everly found herself seated at the bar of Harlot, a club unlike any she’d ever seen with a drink in her hand and her heart on her sleeve. She tried to relax and forget the entire last three weeks but it wasn’t working. She looked around the posh establishment at the women wearing slinky but tasteful dresses and men in sharp suits, and she had to wonder exactly what Dolce’s idea of a meat market was. There were neatly dressed waiters carrying trays of drinks to comfortable seating areas and high top tables all around the dance floor where couples danced to instrumental versions of popular music played by an actual band with orchestra pieces and a piano. Harlot was a place for the elite to see and be seen. Everly couldn’t have felt more out of place.
The music was just amazing though, and it was the only thing Everly could really enjoy about the evening with her life in such shambles. She’d been expecting the distraction of thumping club music, overpriced drinks, and gyrating bodies. The drinks were sure to be pricey, given the obviously affluent clientele, but they weren’t watered down. Everly had had only two drinks so far, and she could feel her cheeks beginning to get warm from the liquor.
She ordered a third drink while trying to ignore the man eyeing her at the other end of the bar and prayed one more Long Island iced tea would numb the burning ache in her chest. Tears filled her eyes at the thought of Luc, and she dipped her head to hide the evidence of her stupid broken heart. The image of Luc’s hands all over his sophisticated date, her mouth sucking at his, and the look of pity he’d given Everly when he realized she’d been waiting for him in the hall like a lovesick teen, was burned there in her memory for all time.
The bartender quickly served up her drink and scurried down the bar to take the next order. Everly circled the rim of her glass with one finger and stared into its highly alcoholic contents. She knew it wouldn’t ease the pain of losing Luc no matter how desperately she prayed it would.
She scoffed at herself. How can you lose someone you never had? Luc had done everything he could to remind her that they weren’t a real couple. He left when he was done with her, or at least he had until very recently. He didn’t include her in his life in any way other than the sex. He’d told her about his mother and father to scare her off, and he seemed shocked when she didn’t run. When she’d pushed for more of a relationship, he’d taken off for days without a word. What in the world had made her believe he was after anything other than what he was already getting, a short term sexual relationship.
Sure, he confided in her about his past, but that was likely just something he needed to do. Getting all of that hurt and guilt off of his chest had been therapeutic for him. He wasn’t the kind of man who would go to a psychiatrist, and he’d never burden Dolce or Rourke with his troubles. No, Luc would keep it to himself, letting it fester and eat at his soul. Everly was the perfect person to confide in. She wasn’t really an employee. She wouldn’t be around for long. And she was pretty sure he knew she’d never share a word of his sad story with anyone. Why not use her as a therapist as well as a whore while he had her at his beck and call? She’d been nothing but a receptacle for his passion and his troubles. God, she’d been such an idiot to believe a man like him would ever want her, a country girl who dropped out of college.
Everly sipped on her drink and turned away the third man who’d asked her dance. She was fighting the urge to crumple into a pool of tears under the bar. Her determination not to cry over Luc was quickly dissolving. She wanted to be the kind of woman that didn’t fall apart over a man and moved on when it became clear she’d been wronged, but her heart didn’t care what she wanted. It was going to take some time for Everly to get over this hurt.
Dolce gave her a sad look. Dolce could tell Everly was struggling to hold her
self together. Everly did her best to give Dolce a small smile. Everly didn’t want to ruin the night out for her too. Dolce squeezed her hand supportively before she turned back to the men who’d gathered around her. Dolce was like a queen holding court, and her courtiers were legion. Lord, half the men in the bar had made their way over to speak to her.
Everly looked up and found the shady looking guy still watching her from the other end of the bar. He was dressed expensively, like everyone else in the room, but there was something off about him. He looked rough around the edges, dangerous in a way that couldn’t be hidden by his fancy suit or the Rolex she was sure he was flashing her on purpose. He watched her so intently it made Everly wish she hadn’t worn the low-cut dress. She could feel his eyes on her breasts.
She turned on her stool to face the other way and looked out over the dance floor with a weary sigh and hoped Dolce would be ready to return to the hotel soon. This was a bad idea. The notion of going out on the town instead of sitting in her room imagining Luc with another woman had merit, but it wasn’t working. She was still picturing him in bed with the woman he’d had his hands all over.
Tears filled her eyes again, and she fought them back. It was time for her to go home. Not just to the hotel, but to Colorado. She couldn’t go on with Luc like this. Against her will, she’d fallen in love with the King of Hell. Staying close to him for more than a week and wondering if he’d expect her to fulfill her contractual duties would make her even crazier. She never wanted to see him again. Never. She’d just have to hope Luc would allow her family to keep the ranch, or at least the ranch house, as he’d promised.
The contract between her and Luc wasn’t enforceable, and he knew it as well as she did, but he was holding her to it because he did have the legal contract with her father that made Luc the sole owner of Parker Ridge. Everly needed to read that contract over again, because she planned to hold him to the fidelity clause. If she had to be tested for STD’s, be faithful, and be on birth control so he could ride bareback, then it was his responsibility to keep her safe by not exposing her those same diseases by sleeping around while they were together. Right?
