Enticing Winter

by Sherelle Green

  Winter laughed as she handed her luggage to the taxi driver. “I agree! I love living in Chicago, but I always figured when I moved away from the East Coast, I would move someplace warmer. Not someplace equally as cold.”

  When their luggage was loaded, Winter gave the driver the address to the hotel they were staying at in Vegas.

  “How many times have you been here?”

  “Hmm, probably about five. What about you?”

  “I think it’s my fifth time, too, but Vegas never gets old.”

  They drove in comfortable silence for the first five minutes of the drive until they got closer to the Strip.

  Taheim tore his gaze from the mountains in the distance to glance at Winter. “I’m not sure what you said to my mom, but she really likes you.” He would have gone to the booth after his mom left yesterday and checked on Winter, but she’d left with her sister shortly after.

  “I really enjoyed talking to your mom. She’s blatantly honest, but the best part of our talk was hearing the love in her voice when referring to you and your siblings.”

  “Yeah, she’s one of those moms who loves to brag on her kids.” After his mom had spoken with Winter, she’d told him not to mess up the possibility of a relationship with her.

  “She seems great, although I meant to ask...where was your dad?”

  “Right now he’s in Saint Louis overseeing the opening of a new restaurant.”

  “Wow, your parents are movers and shakers.”

  “Much like their children,” he said with a wide smile.

  Their conversation was stalled when they arrived at their massive casino hotel smack-dab in the middle of the Strip. As they walked to the check-in concierge, Taheim couldn’t help but entertain the idea of them sharing the same room. Ten minutes later, he wondered if while he was doing all that thinking, Winter had slipped the woman who had checked them in an extra twenty bucks to guarantee they would be as far away from each other as possible.

  “Okay, so the lingerie theater performance is in three hours. How about we meet down here in two hours and take a taxi together. It’s taking place at a hotel at the beginning of the Strip.” She stepped on an elevator opposite the one he’d be taking since their rooms were on separate wings of the hotel.

  “Sounds like a plan. I’ll meet you in the lobby.” As Taheim made his way to his room, he thought about the fact that this was the first time he’d been to Vegas with a woman. The other four times had always been with a group of male friends for a bachelor party or birthday, with the exception of the last time he was there—to celebrate a friend’s divorce from his cheating wife.

  He entered his room and immediately dropped his luggage and walked over to the window to check out the view. There were many reasons why he loved Vegas, but he had to admit that the view was definitely high on his list.

  They were going to be in Vegas for only a couple days, but he definitely wanted to make the most of it.

  * * *

  Taheim glanced at his black watch with blue-and-silver trimmings, satisfied that he had made it to the lobby five minutes early. He knew it wouldn’t make up for the being extremely late the first time they went out, but he hoped she noticed his punctuality.

  Unsure of how to dress for the night, he’d settled on dark jeans and a white button-up that he paired with an indigo blazer and black loafers. His entire outfit was from his Collegiate Life clothing line, which begged him to ask the question, I wonder if Winter will be wearing some of her own lingerie pieces underneath her outfit. In fact, he was pretty sure that she probably wore only pieces that she made. “Thinking about what she wears under her clothes is going to make the night drag,” he whispered to himself.

  There were plenty of ladies out today and he was getting more than enough attention. But his mind wasn’t on any of those women. Mainly because ever since he’d caught Winter in his bedroom, his mind hadn’t had much room to think about anyone else.

  He whipped his head to the side of the lobby at the sound of a person jumping up and down near a slot machine.

  Hmm, maybe I need to get in a little time at the slots. Tonight was the performance and tomorrow they would be at the trade show all day, so the trip didn’t really allow much time for gambling.

  Mind made up, he began walking toward the slot machines when he heard Winter calling his name. He took a couple more steps before he turned around to the direction of her voice, ready to tell her that he’d actually arrived early. But the minute he turned around, any thought he had was gone.

  “Shit!” How in the world am I supposed to focus with her wearing that? Winter walked with grace and style across the lobby to meet him. The gentlemanly thing to do would be to meet her halfway. Unfortunately, there was nothing gentlemanly about him right now. Not his demeanor, not his body’s reaction and definitely not his thoughts.

  When she got closer to him, his mouth watered at how the strapless mint-green lace dress hugged her every curve like body paint. He assumed the white garment draped across her arm was a jacket, but his eyes didn’t linger long enough to truly notice. He was too busy making his way down her toned legs to her feet, covered in matching mint-green heels.

  Her makeup was flawless as usual and her brown curls were pinned to one side of her head, showing off her long elegant neck. A neck he wanted to nip...and bite...and suckle. Lord. Have. Mercy. He wasn’t going to be able to survive the night.

  “Were you heading to the slot machines?” she asked when she reached him.

  “Um, yeah, I was.” Keep it short and sweet, he thought. That way you won’t have to formulate too many words.

  “Did you still want to play the slots? We have about fifteen or so minutes to spare.”

  “I’m good. Let’s just head to the show.”

  She squinted her eyes, clearly picking up on his strange behavior. She comes down here in a dress like that, yet she’s looking at me like I’m the crazy one. He was irritated. Sexually frustrated. Pissed that he couldn’t touch her. Confused as to why he couldn’t touch her. Mad that he couldn’t claim her in front of all the other drooling men around them. Hell, you name it, he felt it.

  After they’d gotten in the taxi, arrived at the show, claimed their prime-location seats and gotten backstage passes so that Winter could see her friends before the show, he still felt irritated.

  “Nick. Brian. How are you guys?” Winter said excitedly as she made her way through all the people backstage and raced toward two men who were both shirtless.

  “Damn, you look good, girl.”

  “You do, too, Nick,” she said, returning his hug.

  “Mmm, I guess Chicago is doing you good, huh?”

  “It’s great, Brian,” she said, giving him an equally friendly hug.

  Man, she’s hugging them awfully tight. Taheim had never been the jealous type, but watching Winter fawn all over two shirtless men was enough to make him want to punch something. Especially since he was inwardly giving his soon-to-be blue balls a pep talk.

  He grabbed a water bottle off a nearby tray and was glad to feel the liquid slide down his throat and cool him off a little.

  “Nick, Brian, this is my friend Taheim Reed.”

  “Oh, wait, the Taheim Reed of Collegiate Life?” Brian asked.

  Okay, maybe they’re not so bad, Taheim thought. “Yes, that’s me.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, man,” he said, shaking hands with Taheim. “I’m Winter’s ex-boyfriend.”

  Nope, still don’t like the dude. Taheim’s ears perked up with awareness. “Ex-boyfriend?”

  “Yes, we dated during the second half of her junior year of college.”

  “Oh, did you, now,” Taheim said, glancing from Brian to Winter.

  “Yup, but that was only after Nick here dated her the first half of her junior year in coll
ege.”

  What the hell? “Oh, so you both dated Winter in college.”

  “It’s a funny story,” Nick said.

  I doubt it, he thought. “What is it?” he asked, instead.

  “I think I may walk around a little to get a feel for the show,” Winter said, slowly backing away from the three men.

  First she introduces me to two ex-boyfriends and then she leaves me to chat with them? There was one thing he knew for sure. He’d been experiencing numerous firsts since he’d met Winter.

  “Well, Winter actually dumped me for Brian,” Nick said as he gripped Brian’s shoulder.

  “Yup, but then she dumped me because she said I reminded her too much of Nick.”

  Scratch that—I did need to hear this story. “So she dumped you both during the same year?”

  “Sure did. Ultimately, I think it was because she and I were getting too close,” Nick said. “Winter’s not exactly the best at commitment.”

  “Meaning she cheated on you?”

  “Oh no, never that. That’s one thing Winter Dupree is definitely not. She and I had a lot of fun together.”

  “Then what did she do?” Taheim asked as he took another swig of water.

  “Let’s just say we were better off as friends. I should have known that our relationship was platonic when we posed nude to paint each other, but didn’t end up having sex afterward.”

  Taheim began coughing uncontrollably, cursing the fact that he’d chosen that moment to drink water. “Sorry, it went down the wrong pipe. You were saying?”

  Brian and Nick looked at one another before looking back to Taheim.

  “Listen, if you choose to date Winter, all you have to know is that she’s extremely loving and extremely loyal and is definitely one of the most creative people I’ve ever met in my life,” Nick said.

  Taheim looked at both men. “Then why didn’t either of you ever get back together with her after college?”

  “Should we tell him?” Brian asked Nick.

  “I think that’s best,” Nick replied.

  Brian turned to Taheim. “Well, Nick and I met at a bar and began talking about how we had both been dumped. Nick months before, and me more recently. After comparing notes, we realized it was by the same woman.”

  “But we both learned something valuable that night,” Nick added as he looked at Brian before looking back at Taheim. “Being with Winter helped us both open up in ways we’d never imagined. She just has that effect on people.”

  Nick nudged Brian in his side. “And probably the most valuable lesson we learned that night was that we were both more attracted to each other than Winter.”

  Taheim wasn’t sure how his face looked, but a deer caught in headlights seemed like a pretty accurate guess. “Oh,” he said, trying to find more words and coming up short.

  “The three of us have been good friends ever since, and now Nick and I, who were always made for Broadway, have our own show right here in Vegas,” Brian said as he glanced at his phone and read a text message. “And speaking of friends, we told Winter that we were down a man yesterday and she just texted me that you may want to be in our show if we can guarantee that we will have an entire show dedicated to nothing but the T.R. Night collection you’re releasing early next year.”

  “We sell out our 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. shows every night and there are three hundred seats at this venue, so the exposure would be phenomenal.”

  Taheim glanced around backstage, barely able to process everything that was being thrown at him. “Where is Winter?”

  Just as the question left his mouth, his phone dinged with a text from her. She let him know that she had gone back to their seats and told him that it would be great exposure for his new line if he agreed to be in tonight’s show.

  “What exactly would I have to do?”

  “Not that much,” Brian said excitedly. “You’ll only be in one scene and you just have to follow the other animals walking around and do what they do onstage.”

  Follow the what? “Did you just say animals?”

  “People in animal costumes,” Nick clarified.

  Taheim looked from one man to the other, thinking the entire night seemed like one really big joke. On one hand, the opportunity was an extremely great one. But on the other hand, he didn’t really know the details of the show and he really couldn’t jeopardize his image doing something too outside the box without thinking it through first.

  “Will my face be covered?”

  “Completely. You’d be wearing an animal-print mask.”

  “So no one will know it’s me under there?”

  “No one except for us and Winter. That’s it. And we won’t say a word about this. We can even draw up disclaimer forms before you go on if it would make you more comfortable.”

  I can’t believe I’m actually contemplating this. The only other time he’d done something this crazy was when one of the guys he’d gone to college with had wanted everyone in his wedding party to dress up like zombies. It had been like playing a part in The Walking Dead throughout the entire wedding and reception.

  “Okay, I’ll do it. As long as my identity is concealed.”

  “Excellent!”

  When Brian grabbed him by the shoulders, shuffled him into a dressing room and pulled out some tiny tiger-print briefs and a tiger mask, it took all his energy not to run in the opposite direction.

  “Um, where is the rest of this costume?”

  “Oh, it’s right here,” Brian said as he handed him some cuffs and other accessories with the same tiger print.

  “No additional clothing?”

  Brian gave him a confused look. “Winter told you this was a lingerie show, right?”

  “Yeah, she did. I was just hoping for a little more...material to cover the goods.”

  “No can do. There is an audience full of men and women waiting to see your goods, so that’s the last thing we want to cover,” he said as he tilted his head to the side before his eyes roamed over Taheim.

  “Almost forgot,” Brian said right when he got to the door. “Don’t forget to growl while you’re onstage. There’s no need to crawl like you’ll see some of the others do, but you’ll have to growl.”

  As soon as the door closed, Taheim dropped to the nearby stool and ran his fingers down his face. “Shit just got real,” he said to himself as he tried to figure out exactly how he’d gotten himself into this mess.

  Chapter 10

  “Oh, and the best part was definitely when you started clawing at the sky like all the other animals and let out that loud growl before you left the stage.”

  “Listen,” Taheim said as they continued walking around the trade show. “Aren’t you tired of talking about me prancing around onstage last night in that costume?”

  Winter looked up to the ceiling and placed one finger on her chin as if she were really contemplating his question.

  “Um, nope. I’m definitely not done talking about it.” Teasing him was way too much fun. Especially since she’d never thought that he would actually go through with it.

  She would also never let him know that the first thing she’d felt when he walked onstage hadn’t been laughter at all.

  “Even if you didn’t enjoy your performance, Nick and Brian thought you did a great job.”

  He smiled at her. “Thanks. They’re cool dudes. But I definitely didn’t know we were going to a show that was being planned by your ex-boyfriends.”

  She gave him a shy smile. “Given the fact that they are obviously more attracted to each other than me, I didn’t think it was necessary to tell you. Besides,” she said as she playfully hit him on the arm, “I didn’t know they were going to tell you that I’d dated both of them, and had you not been so busy trying to hide the fact that you
were jealous, you would have noticed their interaction with each other.”

  She stopped walking when she noticed Taheim was no longer walking beside her. “Why did you stop walking?”

  “Do you see this face?”

  She laughed at the stern look on his face. “And your point is...”

  “My point is, this conversation is done. I’m glad Nick and Brian will have an entire show dedicated to T.R. Night nightwear, but that was my first and last time ever participating in a theater show. What I participated in last night doesn’t get back to Chicago, are we clear?”

  “Yes, sir,” she said, saluting him and holding back another laugh.

  They had been at the fashion trade show for four hours, and although the event had offered some great networking opportunities, she wished she could take a nap before they reached their destination.

  “So, we’re going to a fashion show?”

  “Yes, a friend of mine is performing for a world-renowned European designer. He used to be a rock singer, but now he’s a music producer in London.”

  “Ah, so it’s another he.”

  “Aww, is that a hint of jealousy I hear in your voice?”

  “Not at all,” he said, shaking his head with a laugh. “I just wasn’t aware that I was accompanying you on a trip to visit all your exes.”

  She laughed along with him. “Well, I assure you that Rocco and I only went on a couple dates...nothing serious. And he’s happily engaged now to a beautiful woman he’s been with for four years.”

  “Are you talking about Rocco Channing?”

  “Yes, but of course, when I knew him, he was performing in bars and cafés here in the States. Have you met him?”

  “Actually, I have,” Taheim said as Winter handed their tickets to the woman standing outside the door for the fashion show. “I attended a fashion event in London with a few classmates right after we graduated and he was seated at a bar in the host hotel right by us. The introductions were short, but he talked to our group for a few minutes before my friend Grant pulled him aside to talk his ear off about starting a future in music.”

  “That sounds like Rocco,” she said with a laugh. “Always making new friends.”