Quinn flicked the radio off. “Holy hell. This is some vision-board shit coming true right here. Can you wish Henry Cavill into mine?”
“You have to go. Have to,” Paige said.
I glared at her. “It’s your freakin’ birthday. I’m not supposed to be on duty, and I’m so tired of going on these stupid meeting date things for her. Besides, we’ve got plans.”
Paige slapped the back of the seat. “Hell yes we do! We’ll all go, then. He won’t know we’re there, and it’s the perfect place to grab drinks before our night out. We’ll just get ready a bit earlier.”
Their excited faces told me I’d have the support I needed to get in and then GTFO. I breathed a sigh of relief. “That would be perfect. Thank you, thank you.”
“See, now we can spy on you and save you when you give us the signal.” Paige gave herself a pat on the back. “You’re welcome.”
CHAPTER SIX
Ace in the Hole
HOURS LATER, AFTER we’d checked into the Cosmopolitan, I’d gotten a full makeover from Paige, including a smoky eye to go with the blue dress she’d forced me to wear that was about ten inches shorter than I preferred. It’s like the Pantsless Metro ride all over again, I thought, pulling at the hem.
Paige tousled my loose curls around my shoulders. “Stop fidgeting.”
“I can’t help it. I’m showing my bum.”
“You’re not showing your bum,” she mimicked in my accent, and then she stepped back to inspect her handiwork. “Okay, lip gloss, and then you’re set.”
“And here are your shoes, properly scored so you don’t fall on said bum.” Ryleigh set down the not-quite-three-inch heels—as high as I would allow—and then flopped on the bed. By contrast, her heels had to be double the size of mine. How she walked in those, I had no clue, but she could probably run a marathon in them and be fine. It wasn’t normal.
“Okay, so let’s go over the signal again,” Quinn said as she emerged from the bathroom looking like an assassin goddess. That was the only way to describe the diminutive strapless leather dress that looked like she’d have to get peeled out of later. Maybe that was the point.
“If he starts any baby talk, if he puts his hands in places you don’t want them, or if you’re at the point where you want to throw your drink in his face and smash the martini glass over his head, make sure to do this first and we’ll come regulate.” Quinn balled her fist, held it up to her cheek, and then rubbed the line of her jaw with her thumb.
My eyebrows shot up. “Yep. Got it. Not conspicuous at all.”
“Won’t be if it’s done right,” Quinn said, handing me my purse.
“Did you put mace in here too?”
“Watch it, smartass.”
Now, it just so happened we were staying at the same hotel that the meeting with Ace would be taking place, so after the girls went down to assume their positions, I waited for five and then punched the elevator button for the level I needed.
Ugh, why did Val do this to me? My stomach always flipped with nerves every time I had to go on one of these “meet-dates,” as I called them. And knowing I was about to meet someone I’d watched in movies? Not intimidating at all. Really.
By the time I arrived at the Chandelier, my stomach was in a chokehold so tight it was on the verge of tapping out. For Pete’s sake, it wasn’t like I’d never met a celebrity before. I once saw Tom Hanks at the farmers’ market down the street, and when he smiled at me and said “Hi” as he walked by, I still didn’t pass out.
So I could definitely handle Mr. Big and Brawny.
Ace wasn’t at the top bar, so I headed down to the second floor, studiously ignoring my friends as I walked by where they were positioned at the main bar. When a wolf whistle sounded behind me, my heel skidded across the slick floor, my arms going windmill in an effort to stop the crash. Residual wobbling as I tried to stay on my feet and then…safe.
Bloody hell, that was close.
On an exhale, I tossed my hair over my shoulder, and that was when I saw my potential client. Had to be. A heavily muscled figure sat in a roped-off area hidden in amethyst shadows and blocked by a couple of bodyguard types. As I approached, they moved to the side, and I heard, “Miss Callahan,” as one opened the rope.
Ace stood as I entered, and he wasn’t nearly as tall as I thought he’d be. In my heels we matched each other pretty damn close, though I had no doubt he could bench-press me in a hot minute if his tires for biceps were any indication of strength.
“Thanks for meeting me, Miss Callahan,” he said, as he shook my hand, his grip firm. “I’m Ace.”
“Nice to meet you. And call me Shayne, please.”
He motioned to the plush chair across from him and waited until I sat down before he took a seat. “I wasn’t sure what your poison was or I would’ve ordered ahead.” Then, as if on cue, a waitress was let inside the rope.
“Oh, that’s okay,” I said, taking the drink menu that was offered and quickly scanning over it for something sweet. “I’ll have a Violet Femme, please.”
“Excellent choice,” the waitress said, before turning to Ace. Her ample cleavage was on display as she angled herself so that he’d have the best view. “Another bourbon for you, sir?”
“Keep ’em coming.” Even though the woman was giving him permission to enjoy the view, he didn’t so much as glance at her chest—or her bare legs in a skirt inches shorter than mine. When she didn’t get the response she was hoping for, she frowned and exited the way she came. Then he unbuttoned his suit jacket and shifted back in his seat, as if ready for me to give him a spiel of some kind.
I hadn’t been given a lot of intel on this meeting—okay, strike that, I’d been given none—so I wasn’t quite sure what he was looking for exactly. I was about to, to use Paige’s repulsive expression, “pull it out of my ass.”
“Val said you had a meeting earlier this week,” I said, crossing my legs. But as soon as I did, I could feel a breeze against my bum, so I readjusted so that they were crossed at the ankles instead.
No blowing bum breeze now. Perrrrfect.
“That we did. You came highly recommended by a friend of mine.”
“Well, Val’s done a great job of—”
He wagged a finger. “No, not Val. You.”
“Me?”
“I heard you’re the brains behind this whole operation, so I wanted to meet with you personally to see if you’re—and I don’t mean any offense by this—as good as I’ve heard you are.”
Oh…oh wow. Swallowing hard, I tried to formulate a response to what he’d said, but the words refused to come out.
People in his circle knew about me? That was more than a little mind-blowing. I briefly wondered if I’d unwittingly helped any supermodels find love lately, but please. Like a model needed help finding a boyfriend. Which raised the question…what the hell did Ace Locke need me for?
“I thought we could help each other out,” he said, as if he’d been privy to my thoughts.
My brain finally snapped back in gear, and I nodded. “Right. Of course. And I know how much our company could benefit from working with you, but I have to admit I’m curious what we can do for you?”
He grinned. “So you’re aware of my prior dating history.”
As tempted as I was to play dumb and clarify what he meant, I wouldn’t be half as good at my job if I didn’t keep up with couplings, especially those in the spotlight. “I’m not sure how accurate the reports are, but I think I have a handle on what you may be looking for.” That was about as polite as I could make it, because somehow I didn’t think “skinny blondes who take off their clothes for a living and consume nothing but cigarettes, champagne, and Ex-Lax” would be as PR—even if it was the truth.
He took a long swallow from his drink, and when he set it on the arm of the chair, his finger circled the lip of the glass.
“The thing is, Shayne, I’m looking for someone a bit…different than my usual.”
“Differen
t how?”
“Well, now that’s the question.” Again with rimming the glass. Heh. Rimming. Paige would have a joke about that. “I thought maybe we could get to know each other first before we get into the business stuff.”
Oh… “Um, I’m sorry, I didn’t bring my credentials, but they’re posted on our website if you’d like to—”
“No, no, I meant tell me more about you. Your accent is…British?”
“Australian, actually. Although it’s nowhere near as strong as my family’s. They tend to call me a traitor to the country I was born in. Nice, right?”
“So you’ve been here a while, then?”
“About ten years, yeah. My family moved here when I was eighteen, and then after I’d finished uni they decided to go back. So it’s just me here now.”
“Must get lonely.”
“Nah, we Skype a lot and I’ve got a great group of friends. And I love my job, of course.”
“I understand that.”
My head cocked to the side as I studied the solemn expression that kept peeking out when he wasn’t forcing a smile. “I’m sure it gets lonely traveling so much. Always on location for movies or tours.”
“It does, it does. I’d like to find…someone. You know? Not that I expect anyone to want to pack up and go with me all the time, but…” He shrugged. “It’d be nice.”
The waitress came back with our drinks, and once again I couldn’t help but notice he didn’t pay her any attention. She was tall, thin, blond, and busty—exactly his type. Maybe he wanted to make a good impression by proving he wasn’t just after a hot piece of ass.
We continued the conversation, and he told me about how he’d gotten into the movie business, about his strict Catholic upbringing, and how whom he dated seemed to have a big impact on his career. His specialty was action movies, and he explained that his handlers told him having a pretty young thing on his arm helped to boost his attractiveness to the female audience and had guys wanting to be in his shoes.
But even as we laughed about that, something passed in his eyes. Something tired, something pained…
Now, normally I wouldn’t drink more than a glass of something if I was out with a client, but this wasn’t an ordinary meeting, and hello—Vegas.
“A pair of lemon drops,” a deep voice said, and I looked up to see a seriously attractive waiter holding a shot glass lined with sugar and a lemon out to me. I guessed blondie’d had enough rejection.
“I can’t believe you’re not making me do something I’ll need a chaser for.”
Ace winked. “Hey, these look like tequila but taste a helluva lot better.” As he took his shot from the waiter, he pulled out a bill from his pocket, his fingers lingering when he handed it over. Then Ace flashed the guy a broad smile. “Thanks a lot.”
Okay, hold up a second…
Even though I was beginning to feel the effects of the two drinks I’d already had, I knew I wasn’t imagining what I’d just seen. And Ace wasn’t hiding the way he watched the guy leave, though I doubted he would’ve been so obvious if anyone else had been with us. I was hyper-attuned to everything he was saying and doing as I tried to figure out just what he was looking for, so you better believe I just caught the message he was sending me.
My gaze followed his, and I had to admit, the way the waiter’s tight black pants fit his ass was worth drooling over.
“I think we might need another round of shots soon,” I found myself saying.
Ace’s eyes met mine, a mixture of relief and something else I couldn’t quite name swirling in them. He sounded cautious when he spoke. “Is that okay?”
I nodded and held out my shot for a cheers. “Most definitely okay.”
After we’d downed the sweet and sour, we fell back into a casual conversation, but my mind was spinning. Several questions went through my head, but it seemed Ace wasn’t quite ready to open up yet. Still, it had me wondering what my role in all of this would be.
Did he want our company to help him come out?
Did he want our company to help him find someone to keep on the down-low?
Wait, no, that couldn’t be it. It was to be a mutually beneficial relationship, which meant he’d need to be seen with…
Ohhh. A woman on his arm and a man in his bed, maybe?
Yes, that could definitely be it. And while it wasn’t something I had experience in, surely there were women out there willing to cover for someone like Ace.
“So would you like to meet when we get back to—” I stopped dead as Ace reached for his drink. Just past his shoulder I could see that the girls had moved down the bar and were now directly in my line of view, but they weren’t who had caught my attention. Standing next to Quinn was someone completely unexpected, and I swear if it was possible for eyes to bulge out of your head from shock, mine would’ve been rolling across the floor already. Because just behind her was Nate.
Nate Boxer Briefs. Nate Target Aisle. And now Nate…Vegas.
No way. It couldn’t be.
I squeezed my eyes shut to clear the obvious hallucination from my brain and then opened them again.
Nope. Still there.
And not only was he there, but from the way Ryleigh was excitedly gesturing toward his back once she saw I was watching, he was with our group.
“Sweet fuck,” I said under my breath.
“Is everything okay?”
In those frozen seconds, I’d completely forgotten about Ace sitting there, and his voice made me jump halfway out of my seat.
I sat up and flashed a bright smile, putting my PR Shayne mask back on. “You bet. So would you like to meet at my office, or—”
“Do you know them?” he interrupted, inclining his head in the direction of my friends. The moment our gazes hit them they all spun around and pretended to be focused on the scenery.
Way to be stealth, guys.
Focusing back to Ace, I said, “Never seen ’em before in my life.”
He chuckled a bit and took a sip of his bourbon. “Never, huh? That guy seems to disagree.”
I looked back up to see Nate watching us with interest. When he had my attention—and let’s be real here, when did the guy not have my focus if he was around—he lifted up his drink to us, much like he’d done at The Vortex.
Though I tried to keep my face unemotional, my heart felt like it was going to explode. What were the chances he’d be here and that my friends had run into him? A snowball in hell would’ve stood better odds.
And it made me squirm in my seat to think he probably had the wrong impression of what was going on between Ace and me. Probably thought I was on a date, and my friends were just Peeping Toms. The latter was right. And really, I shouldn’t care, because both times I saw him, it didn’t end so well.
Maybe I should insert my foot in my mouth and leave it there when I saw him coming.
God. Why did the guy cause my stomach to flip-flop and my body to break into a cold sweat every time he was nearby? I mean, those physical symptoms are usually associated with someone you don’t wanna see. With dread.
Not with…lust. Because that’s what it was. It had to be. Dirty, dirty lust. But looking at the guy, could anyone blame me? No. No, they could not.
“Shayne?” Ace’s voice cut through my inner monologue. When I looked at him, he smiled and said, “I’ve got to get going soon, but maybe another shot for the road?”
“A shot? Oh. Yes, great idea.”
Well, I’ll be damned. Ace was shaping up to be a non-douchebag. I was surprised to find I actually liked the guy. Not in a sexual sort of way—too much waxing going on for my tastes—but he was down to earth and seemed genuine.
Then again, he was an actor.
Hottie waiter came back to hand us repeats of the lemon drops, and then one of Ace’s bodyguards approached and gave him a nod.
“And that’s my cue,” he said. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Shayne. I’ll be in touch soon if it’s a go on your end?”
“
Definitely a go. We’d love to work with you.”
“Well, uh.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “If it’s all the same, I’d rather work with just you. Val is a little…”
“Eccentric?”
“‘Fucking crazy’ are the words I’d use.”
“Then I’ll make sure to work with you directly,” I said with a wink.
A wink? I totally winked at Ace Locke. How come this guy didn’t make me ramble and stutter all over the place, but twenty-four-year-old over there had me falling over and lashing out at every turn? It made no sense.
After we said our goodbyes, I waited until he was out of eyesight to go meet up with my friends, who no doubt wanted every last detail of what went on. Imagine my surprise when they didn’t immediately bombard me with questions, but instead ushered me over to where Nate was standing with a group of guys.
With his face cleanly shaven, he looked younger than he had with the scruff covering his chin and jaw. But still ridiculously attractive. It made me want to kick him in the shins.
“There you are,” Ryleigh said, linking her arm through mine. “Would you look who we ran into as we were walking inside? Isn’t this such an awesome coincidence?”
Leave it to the happily attached woman to set her friends up so they’d be “happy” too. Wasn’t that supposed to be my job?
As much as I wished I could avoid meeting Nate’s eyes when I came to a stop in front of him, his gaze was insistent. I gave him a tight smile. “And he’s fully clothed today. Miracles happen, I suppose.”
“I don’t have to be,” he replied, and then he handed off his beer to one of his friends and began to take off his suit jacket. And wouldn’t you know, he had on a pair of damn suspenders underneath.
Fuck me, I’d never resist him if those were unleashed.
“Keep your clothes on, Romeo, this is a respectable establishment,” I said. “And let me guess. You put a tracking device on me last night?”
“I was trying not to be so obvious about it, but…” He gave me a cocky smirk before grabbing his beer and taking a swig. “So…”
Hooker (L.A. Liaisons Book 2) Page 6
