by Tiana Cole
Not that James was a prude, but he valued his relationships. Far too often the women he met offered themselves to him with the goal of snagging a rich husband. Attractive women, clever women, seemed to consider rich bachelors as relatively interchangeable entities, and that bothered him. Fortunately, he found most gold diggers easy to spot early on. Their basic tactic, being seductive, going well beyond flirting, and making it clear that he could have them if he wanted them, long before he even knew who they were, was fairly obvious—unless you were drunk, of course. Last night he’d been way too drunk.
Even though being defensive and suspicious reduced his opportunities for fun, they also prevented mornings like this from happening. Clearly he’d let his guard down. He’d screwed that up big time. Although last night wasn’t the first time he’d ever drunk too much, it was the first time he woke unable to remember what he’d done, and that frightened him. And it was the first time he’d ever awakened to find himself naked and in bed with a woman he couldn’t even remember. That didn’t sit well with him, and she was clearly a woman worth remembering.
The realization of what he’d done made him tense, and the tension twisted his stomach into knots. He fought back the urge to throw up.
This trip to Vegas was important to him. It wasn’t the biggest deal he’d ever tackled, but it meant a great deal. He’d wangled an introduction to Shen Liang, a Chinese industrialist, to talk about partnering on a deal. He’d wanted to talk with James about representing Liang’s interests in the United States. Shen Liang’s people had called him!
The money would be good, excellent, actually, but the exciting thing was the chance to work with Liang and be part of his circle of associates. Few people knew who the man was. He deliberately had a low profile, and stayed almost invisible despite being the power and money behind several giant tech companies. Using interlocked dummy corporations, his control remained out of sight. And his life remained private.
James had studied his career and knew the man had incredible instincts for where and when to invest—when to pack it in and run away. Best of all, the man was scrupulously honest. That appealed to James—it was how he liked to do business.
For a year he’d tried to get Liang’s companies interested in working together. Then, out of the blue, Shen Liang’s assistant asked him for a meeting in Las Vegas. Liang had decided to focus on some investments in Africa for a time. “I wish to take some risks there and that will require careful attention, all of my attention,” Liang said. “I have reliable help in Asia but I need someone I can trust implicitly to run my US operations. Someone who can operate independently to grow the seeds I’ve planted.” And he had called the people he was considering to a series of face-to-face meetings in Las Vegas.
James considered it an accomplishment that he’d made the short list. The initial meeting had gone well. Liang saw each candidate separately, insisting they be available to suit his schedule. That was difficult, but James had arranged it, and so far he’d felt that they’d hit it off. Not that they were great pals or anything, but it seemed that he and Liang saw eye to eye on business matters. He liked what the man was trying to do, and was confident that Liang was seriously considering him for the job. Liang’s eyes suggested he liked what James brought to the table. All the signs told him they were close to signing a contract.
That was when he messed up.
After a full day of talks, he and Liang ate dinner together in the hotel. “I will be out of town tomorrow,” Liang said. “I am going to Lake Havasu to meet another candidate. When I return depends on how that goes, but it won’t be for at least a day.”
He remembered that. He could almost see Shen Liang’s unwavering gaze as it continually measured him. The pressure of feeling it had worn him down.
Now he needed to remember what had happened next. Had he made an ass of himself in front of Liang? That would suck big time. Could it be that the girl was a hooker who Liang had fixed him up with? He’d heard of that sort of thing happening and for a moment the idea gave him hope, but that didn’t wash. The man wasn’t at all the “hire a hooker to close a business deal” type of guy. He was an old school conservative.
No, he had to hope that the girl had shown up later, that he’d met her after Liang had gone to bed.
Whoever the fuck she was, this sexy woman beside him.
He watched her, unable to resist starting at her lovely ass, its enticing curve. He wracked his brain, trying to recall the night. The dinner had been wonderful.
They’d had a little wine with an excellent lamb meal. The memories were vague but coherent. He’d been sober then and pleased with himself. Yes, he remembered that Liang’s attitude made James feel he was seriously in the running. He could remember sitting at the table and Liang standing. He’d made his excuses, something about calling Hong Kong to catch his secretary first thing in the morning.
James stayed at the table to finish his wine. He was still sober then, still riding the high.
The girl coughed in her sleep, catching his attention. He ran his gaze over the line of her jaw and face. He’s kissed those lovely lips…he must’ve, but he couldn’t remember the way they felt on his. Damn.
He remembered that Alan had been there, at the hotel. After Shen Liang left, James had paid the bill and left the restaurant. It opened out onto the casino floor to spare customers the terrible fate of missing out on a chance to gamble away their money.
Surrounded by the machines, he stopped. The sight of people playing the crazy assortment of games the machines offered mesmerized him. He wasn’t a gambler, not that kind, anyway. He’d never tried games of chance, but the flashing lights and sounds intrigued him, the fact that they actually lured people to put their money into them confounded him. He’d stood there, like some primitive gazing at the skyline of a great city, seeing but scarcely believing what he saw. He stared at the machines trying to figure out the point of the games. They were complex video games with odd names and promises of large payouts. He’d watched a man whose hand trembled as he poked buttons that made a machine come to life, with numbers flashing, and then muttering curses. James watched until he heard someone call his name. Then he turned and saw Alan standing behind him with a drink in his hand and a smile on his face.
“Fancy meeting you here,” he said.
The man’s appearance was more than a simple surprise. “What are you doing here?” James asked, curious.
Alan seemed pleased to see him, and he wondered why. They’d had some good times together, worked together, but they’d never been close. Alan looked a few years older, he’d lost more of his thin hair and gained some weight, but otherwise seemed exactly the same as before.
“I’m here trying to hustle some new business, of course. Same as always.”
The shock of him appearing began to settle on James. After all that time, to see Alan pop into his life again in such a casual encounter was almost laughable. After years of not seeing each other, two men who weren’t gamblers reconnecting on the floor of a casino—what were the odds of that happening? How unusual was it to run into an old pal this far from home when you hadn’t seen him in so long?
He didn’t really know Alan, but they went way back, all the way to his first job. Right out of college they’d both been trainees at the same finance company. Colleagues for a few years, then they’d both become consultants, and friendly competitors. In fact, the last time he’d seen him, he beat Alan out for a contract. It had been a fairly big one and completing it had made James’s reputation.
And now, waking in his room, he remembered the coincidence of meeting Alan clearly because it had been such a surprise. A surprise that changed the course of the night.
Of course, you didn’t run into an old friend, or even an acquaintance and not catch up a bit.
He asked the polite question. “Where the hell have you been lately? You disappeared.”
Alan gave him a big grin as if he knew some secret. “Working in Singapore. I dropped out of t
he consulting racket and took a job with an international bank. I needed something that paid a real salary for a time. I picked up a few new tricks and ideas and finally quit a few months back. Now I’m on my own again and here trying to nail down a potential client.”
As tired as he’d been, James suddenly felt the night seemed young. It turned out that they had the next day free but hadn’t finished their business. That too was business as usual. And it pleased Alan immensely.
“Then we are free to celebrate.”
“I’m not much on partying.”
“So I remember. How about we got to bar for a couple of drinks and swap stories? My treat. After all, who knows when we’ll see each other again?”
As enthusiastic as Alan was about their reunion, it seemed churlish to refuse, so off they went. In the bar they ordered drinks and swapped stories. The alcohol snuck up on James. He remembered that he’d been having a lovely time and then realized his thinking was getting muddled. He’d had too many fucking drinks, but Alan was in an exuberant mood—happy at the fine accident of running into James. “Even us being in the same casino is a hell of a coincidence.” And it was. An amazing and happy coincidence.
Normally, when he hadn’t been drinking, James didn’t care much for coincidence. He wasn’t even sure he believed in them, but this was Las Vegas. The rules were different here, or so people said.
He took a break from trying to recall things, and eased himself into a sitting position. The change made his head throb painfully.
Okay, I deserve that. Let it come.
He’d get through pain. He could use it as an anchor. But his memory was getting vaguer. At least Shen Liang had already left when the rest of it, whatever that was, happened.
Next to him the girl snored softly, only her shoulders moving with her breathing. Again he reflected on how pretty she was and how it was the kind of beauty that appealed to him. Every man had a different vision of beauty, and this one…even with her face a bit puffy with sleep she was an ebony princess. She was young, probably in her early twenties, with dreadlocks.
He almost chuckled at the situation, but suddenly his stomach churned violently and he fought back the urge to puke.
As the nausea subsided he turned his attention back to the girl. She was a lovely distraction from the pain. Like something out of a dream. He did laugh then —at himself and his bizarre romantic streak. He wasn’t normally romantic, but this situation…he woke from a dream to find a girl who was his fantasy woman. Whatever else was going on, that alone was enough to make him wonder, for she had been the woman of his dreams even before he’d laid eyes on her.
It went way back to when he was young. He and his friends had played a game where they imagined what their perfect woman would look like. Most of them just decided to pick variations on movie stars or other celebrity women, knowing the others would agree with them. How could you tease someone for thinking a celebrity was hot?
For some reason James had taken the idea seriously. Long after the game was over he gave this woman a lot of thought. What attracted him to a woman? What did he want her to be like? What made her special? He’d found his fantasy girl to be remarkably consistent.
Over the years, whenever he wasn’t in a relationship, he continued playing the game, thinking that if he kept her image alive, one day he might meet her.
And what had him rattled was that his dream girl slept naked next to him now. A further irony was that he’d apparently fulfilled his fantasy—he’d made love with his dream girl, but he couldn’t remember one minute of it. Not even that first, special kiss.
He took long breaths and slowly his head cleared, although his pulse throbbed in his temples. After a bit, he was able to trust his ability to stand. Maybe he could even make his way to the bathroom without even throwing up.
Driven by the idea that if he got himself in the shower the water might restore him, that maybe he could remember more, he struggled vaguely upright.
He looked at her as he stood and watched the room spin slowly around him. Maybe she’d be awake when he got out. If she woke up, they could order up breakfast. He’d explain that he was hazy about the night. Then she’d laugh and tell him all about whatever had happened that night. Of course, she’d laugh. Drunk as he had to have been, he’d probably been a laugh a minute.
As he stood, he noticed two used condoms lying on the nightstand next to the clock. Once again he almost laughed. Apparently one of them had been thinking, had acted responsibly last night, at least. It sure as hell probably wasn’t him, and he owed her. That was one thing to feel better about.
He moved slowly, shuffling his feet. He was glad he had the day off to figure out what had happened. He couldn’t force himself to remember, it would all have to unravel slowly. With that unhappy thought, James made his unsteady way the bathroom.
* * * *
Lying still, but wide awake on the cool, damp sheets, Deja heard him snort when he sat upright. She resisted the urge to turn over and smile at him. Instead, she lay still and kept her breathing calm and steady.
I’m not faking sleep because I can’t face him. I’m just giving the man some time, a chance to get his bearings, a chance to take stock. That’s only fair.
Given how drunk he’d been she was certain there was no way he’d remember much of what had happened. He would need time to piece the events together. She worried that if she said something to him, it might all flood back at once and overwhelm him. Then who knew how he’d react? Bad enough if it dribbled back a little at a time. And, if he didn’t remember what happened, she really didn’t want him badgering her to walk him through the events of the night. Even though some parts had been spectacular, there was no way to guess whether he would be pissed or delighted.
She was in no rush to have a confrontation with him.
Once he came awake on his own and had a chance to sort things out, she’d be able to judge his reactions. Right now he was obviously in pretty bad shape. If nothing else, that gave her a great excuse for stalling, push back the inevitable confrontation a little bit.
The night had been filled with surprises, for her as well as James. In the beginning she hadn’t been sure she’d go through with the plan, and once she worked up her never, she’d had doubts any part of it would work. After all, there was no guarantee he’d even like her. He might want to dance and then leave. But he had liked her. She almost laughed at how nervous she’d been, wondering if she could pull off getting him to like her. That turned out to be the easiest part. From the moment he saw her, he was all over her. The attraction was clear from the moment he’d approached her in the club and asked her to dance. Once she agreed, she couldn’t have gotten rid of him if she’d wanted to. He’d taken to her completely.
Just as she’d been told he would.
As the rest of the night unfolded, she never had much of a chance to reconsider what she was doing, where it was going. She found him good company, and that surprised her. It didn’t fit the image she had of him. He was good-looking, and seemed nice—foolish with drink at the time, but she could see through that somewhat.
If the night had just happened as James thought it had, if she had just been there in the club and he’d come up to her that way, so pleased with her, she’d have been delighted with the way things went. She’d have called it lust at first sight. Because it had been arranged, because he arrived tipsy, some of the magic was lost. It might have been wonderful.
The dancing had been great and she loved the way he held her in his arms during the slow dances. He’d been aroused, and he excited her too. If he’d asked her back to his room right then, she would’ve gone gladly. It had been a long time since she’d been with a man, and he was a good one.
And then, later, even though they weren’t drinking, he seemed to get drunker. She assumed the drinking he’d done earlier with his friend was catching up with him. When he started acting like any old drunk, things weren’t as nice. The only good thing was it made doing the next par
t easier—urging him on, smiling as if she was delighted, the pretense.. It was a lot more what she’d expected the entire night to be like, but it made her feel she’d lost the charming man she’d danced with earlier. It was also the part she was being paid for.
When they’d finally come back to his room, he surprised her again. For a brief time he seemed to really see her again. Almost as he’d done when they danced, he acted as if he truly cared about her—as if they’d known each other well. And he’d wanted her. He’d been passionate, and rather tender. Even more surprising, despite the booze, he turned out to be an incredible stud. It had been a shock to find that he not only could get it up, but that he had incredible stamina.
As they stripped off their clothes and got into his bed she found the sex was better than good. She hadn’t had to fake any enthusiasm—everything he did was hot and exciting. He knew how to make a woman feel good.
So it had become a mixed night—successful in the terms that mattered, but the deception was shitty. Her part in the prank made her feel bad about herself. That she liked the flashes of the real man she saw, coupled with the great sex, made her guilt worse. She’d never come so hard and she hoped for more. But now she had to see what the morning light brought. If he figured things out, he might never want to see her again, much less make love to her. That he seemed to be basically a good sort had made the night easier, but might make the morning harder.
The hell of it was she had to play this game for a whole week. She had to do what she could to keep him liking her, despite everything. That would work a lot better for them both if she liked him, but that also made her feel bad about what she was doing.
It is a matter of life and death. Keep focused.
She looked forward to seeing what he was like sober, meeting the real James Andrews, the man she’d glimpsed in flashes. At the same time she dreaded it. There was that dangerous mix again. She hoped that heavy drinking wasn’t part of his normal behavior. If he drank that way all the time, things could get boring. Drunks weren’t her favorite people. As slowly as he was moving this morning, as much distress as he seemed to be in, she didn’t think he made a habit of it. Besides, he was supposed to be some big deal businessman. He wouldn’t be successful if he stayed drunk all the time.
