by Odell, Roxie
One Night In Vegas
Roxie Odell
Contents
Find Roxie Odell
Description
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Copyright
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Description
The kiss was innocent.
Just a gesture to help out a pretty girl losing her mind. And yet, it set in motion a firestorm I can’t stop.
Not that I want to. With my life in shambles, this crazy woman who showed up at my casino might just be exactly what I need.
As a gambling man, I’m willing to put everything on the line for love.
Even my reputation as a bad boy. But she’s worth it.
Addictive. Adventurous. So hot it hurts.
And yet, to her, this affair is the start of a game, one I might get burned playing.
But I refused to back down.
It might have started with one night in Vegas, but I’m going to make sure it lasts for a lifetime.
Chapter 1
Most people didn’t go to Vegas to confront their fears, but Corrine Smith wasn’t most people.
She shuffled toward the glass elevator of the Tresor Hotel like a death-row inmate approaching her last meal. At least I’ll look hot if I get so scared I faint.
Despite her anxiety about riding the huge transparent elevator, Corrine felt sexy in her two-hundred-dollar Quinn Hahn shoes and fifty-dollar knockoff Calvin Klein little black dress. The trip to Vegas wasn’t about finding a man—far from it—but dressing up in an eye-catching outfit gave her a much-needed confidence boost.
In part, riding the fabled elevator in the brand-new hotel was just an excuse to treat herself to a weekend in Vegas. Corrine was nursing an aching heart. Breaking up with Kyle a few months back had left deep scars that hadn’t fully healed yet.
She was glad he was gone, but the jerk had blindsided her cruelly when he ended things abruptly. It left lingering doubts in her mind. If an asshole like Kyle hadn’t wanted her, was something wrong with her?
Facing her fears often helped ease her troubled mind. She’d already checked off most of the fear-conquering items on her bucket list, but she wasn’t back to herself one hundred percent. So when she heard about the crazy elevator at the newest casino in Vegas, she knew she had to ride it.
The Tresor easily topped the Luxor when it came to the most intense exterior glass elevator in Sin City. It gave riders a perfect view of the neon bustle below. The ridiculous elevator was supposed to rival any amusement park ride. Just the thought of being so high up in a fragile glass box made her heart pound with terror.
After spending a small fortune at a dress boutique and a shoe store, she’d purposely booked a room on the top floor. She hoped the ominous ride would be therapeutic, helping her put the recent wreck of a so-called relationship firmly in the past for good.
As long as she didn’t pass out or puke on the way down.
Corrine pressed the button to call the elevator and fidgeted while she waited. She’d chickened out when she first arrived, unable to ride the elevator up to her room. Her cowardice forced her to carry her suitcase up the endless flights of stairs to her room.
Now, she was going to ride it down, whether she had the courage to or not.
She wished she had someone to share the moment with. In a building packed with people and a town bustling with tourists, she still felt very much alone. None of the strangers passing by had any idea what a big deal that moment was—that she, Corrine Smith, was about to face one of her worst fears.
As silly as it might seem to other people, it mattered to her. As she stood there waiting for the doors to whoosh open, she had serious second thoughts about riding down thirty-some floors, plummeting in plain view, encased in glass.
Finally, the doors opened, and she quickly stepped in. She needed to commit to the ride before she could change her mind. Committed? Yeah, I should be.
Fear gripped her stomach, and she broke out in a cold sweat. Instinctively, she pressed her back against the wall by the elevator doors, keeping away from the floor-to-ceiling windows looking out onto the city.
Six other people got on with her. Even in a normal elevator, that would have made her quite nervous. She was absolutely certain they were too heavy. Every elevator scene from every disaster movie she’d ever watched flashed through her head.
Panic gripped her.
Maybe I should have waited for a less crowded one. She shook her head. If I did that, I’d never work up the courage to ride this bastard. Damn it, Corrine, get a grip!
She estimated the ride to the bottom floor would only take a few seconds. Then she’d be on solid ground again, feeling like a goddamn rock star for overcoming her fear.
She tried to comfort herself with those thoughts as she glanced at the other people. A heavyset man stood beside two women, along with an older couple, but the other person in the elevator really caught her eye. He was a gorgeous man, and like her, he seemed to be alone.
Money, she thought as she checked out the loner. And power, too. Everything about him seemed perfect. His suit looked expertly tailored to fit his broad shoulders and slim waist. Not a single hair on his head looked out of place. She felt the impulse to muss up that flawless hair and even loosen a button or two on his shirt.
In spite of the eye candy, Corrine was anxious. She held her breath, visualizing a calm, uneventful ride down to the lobby.
Then the elevator car slammed to a halt.
The whole thing jerked, jarring the passengers against one another. Corrine tumbled forward, and the well-dressed man caught her shoulders with his strong hands, keeping her from falling on her face. His touch sent warmth fluttering through her. For a second, everything going on around her disappeared.
Then one of the women on the other side of the car whimpered in fear, and Corrine’s desperate situation came slamming back to her.
She mumbled a thank you as she pulled away from her hero. The man’s hands had felt magical, but her stomach was twisting into knots. She didn’t know which prayer she wanted answered first. The one about not plummeting to her death, or her desperate hope that she didn’t get sick in front of the gorgeous guy standing across from her.
The last thing she wanted to do was puke all over his designer shoes.
Corrine looked out the glass walls and was relieved when she saw that the elevator was only about a story above the ground. The situation still wasn’t ideal, but if the elevator dropped all the way now, she imagined she would survive. Then again, with so much glass shattering around us, who knows? What the hell was I thinking?
The hot guy in front of her placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He must have seen the panic in her e
xpression. It was a welcome, calming connection.
Corrine stared into his warm gaze. His eyes were as blue as a summer sky. A truly luscious distraction. They were so bright and so brilliant, and they held a silent promise that he would keep her safe, no matter what.
“We’ll be fine,” he said. His deep, confident voice loosened the knots in her stomach. He reached around her and picked up the emergency phone.
After two rings, a man answered. “How can I help you?”
“Yeah, this is Derrick Quinn,” the man said in a commanding tone. “I’m stuck in the west exterior elevator… with guests.”
The voice on the other end responded frantically. After a round of embarrassed apologies and a few noisy clicks and pauses, the elevator jolted but didn’t start moving otherwise.
Corrine’s body tensed like an electric shock had run through her. Against all odds, the elevator she’d boarded to overcome her fear of elevators had malfunctioned. She shook her head. Just my damn luck.
All the pent-up fear inside her came out in a flood of tears. Derrick grabbed her shoulders and brought his head toward hers. She was too flustered to know what he was doing.
His lips brushed against hers, gently at first and then more demanding.
At first, she was self-conscious that they had an audience, but the warmth his kiss awoke inside her was intoxicating. Within seconds, she didn’t care where she was or who was watching, as long as he didn’t stop.
Derrick’s scent captivated her. She had never met a man who smelled so good. His lightly scented cologne swirled together with his natural musk, acting as a potent aphrodisiac, sending tingles through her entire body.
And he was kissing her!
Finally, he pulled away from the unexpected kiss and grinned confidently as he looked into her eyes. “Feel better?”
Corrine was speechless, her breath and words utterly stolen away. The man lit a fire in her. After that kiss, she definitely felt better. Hell, she was ready to climb into bed with him, even if it was just for a one-night stand with someone she didn’t even know. His kiss, his scent, and that body of his were absolutely disarming, and she wanted more of him.
Then air filled her lungs again and reality set back in. He had only been trying to help. He’d wanted to distract her, and it worked.
Corrine blushed, feeling silly about acting like a baby, even if she had good reason to be afraid.
“Just a glitch,” he softly assured her. “New construction. It’s not the first time, and it won’t be the last. Lots of kinks to work out still.”
“Not the first time?” she asked. “So, this has happened before? Why do you let people ride it, then? Shouldn’t it be fixed first? Aren’t there safety regulations or health codes or—”
He held up a hand to stop her. “They’ll take care of it as quickly as they can. The owner feels bad about this. He meant to shut the elevator down, but they didn’t get to it in time.”
Even the other riders grumbled.
“And how exactly do you know all this?” she asked with agitation. She had a really nasty habit of being very snippy when she was afraid, and just then, she was terrified. She wanted so badly to take back her tone, but she couldn’t. It wasn’t this guy’s fault the elevator was broken, and the fact that he knew something about the owner of the hotel was easy to explain.
The hotel owner, Gil Frosh, seemed to get as much press as the Tresor itself. He was a publicity-seeking playboy, accused by many of squandering his fortune to build the outlandish mega-resort. He was in the news so much, in fact, that he made the Kardashians look like yesterday’s headlines.
Before Derrick could respond, she continued. “If the bastard paid half as much attention to the details of this new hotel as he does to his social life…” Corrine shook her head.
Derrick recoiled, clearly caught off guard by her animosity.
Corrine clamped her lips together firmly, realizing her harsh criticism was a bit over the top. She decided to save the rest of her rant for a scathing letter, something she’d always been quite good at penning.
Derrick pointed to his broad chest. “You know you’re talking about me, right?”
“You?” she scoffed. “But you aren’t Gil Frosh.”
“No, but I am his attorney, Derrick Quinn. In fact, I’m general counsel for all things Frosh.”
Corrine cringed. “Well, Mr. Attorney, you should know better, then. Please don’t touch me again.” She didn’t mean a word of it. Like the lyrics of that well-known song, his kiss was still on her lips, lingering there and tempting her to forgive him, urging her to want him.
Of course, she wasn’t in the habit of kissing strangers, but she really did not want him to leave her alone, even if he was a lawyer for one of the sleaziest businessmen in the country.
Just in the nick of time, the car moved properly this time, and Corinne and her handsome stranger were jolted back to their senses. They shifted gears as if nothing had happened between them, and as soon as the grand doors of the elevator opened, they were greeted by a wall of hotel staff, all of whom addressed Derrick formally and showered him with apologies.
“Is everything okay, Mr. Quinn?” a manager asked urgently.
“I’m fine,” Derrick replied. “Get everyone’s names and contact information. Comp their stays, meals, amenities, everything.”
Corrine, afraid to move, was slow in exiting the car until Derrick clutched her arm firmly and guided her out.
“You’re okay,” he assured her. “I told you we would be.”
“Well, I’ve learned not to trust lawyers,” she hissed, looking on as the other guests moved with the staff to the hotel office.
“Hey,” he whispered when they were finally alone. “I’m truly sorry if that was too forward back there. I only wanted to calm you down. It helped, right?”
The kiss had been so amazing that Corrine couldn’t quite bring herself to lie. It certainly wasn’t normal to let a stranger maul her in front of other strangers, but she knew she would treasure the moment forever. Just the thought of it made her hot all over again. Nevertheless, she did her best to scold him. “Yeah, well…” She trailed off. That was all she could muster.
“I really am sorry. I’m not sure what I was thinking.” His apology sounded sincere. “Let me make it up to you.”
Derrick could have simply led her to the office so she could give them her info, but instead, he became Corrine’s special escort as she meandered through the lobby. Her knees were still unsteady, both from the close call in the elevator and his stunning kiss. He grabbed her hand in his and didn’t let go.
“Don’t wander off just yet,” he said. “At least not until you tell me your name.”
“Corrine Smith,” she rasped, knowing full well he was asking for himself, not for official hotel business. Her throat became dry from all the excitement, and she felt like she’d swallowed a gulp of sawdust.
“This way,” Derrick said firmly.
Corrine hesitated, a little frightened by the effect Derrick had on her.
“Please?” he asked, charming her nearly off her feet. He pulled out his phone and entered her name in his contacts. “Can I have your number?”
The request took her by surprise, almost as much as his kiss had. Everything was happening so fast, and she wasn’t sure it was smart to reveal so much, so soon.
“Are you asking, or is the hotel asking?” she inquired boldly, trying to confirm his motives.
“I’ll send the info to the hotel so they’ll know you were on the elevator,” he replied.
“Hmm. Tell me, Derrick, do you plan to put the other riders’ names in your phone as well?” She arched an eyebrow at him.
Derrick paused a moment, a slight smile curving his amazing lips. “Let me just call you. That way, you’ll have my number in case you need anything.”
“Thanks,” she answered quickly.
“Your stay will be on the house, so we just need this info,” he insisted.
“My entire stay?” she clarified. “Is this the same deal the others are getting?”
He grinned. “Of course. How long do you plan to be here?”
“Just for the weekend,” she replied.
“Well, I think the Tresor can handle that,” he said. “It’ll be my last act as general counsel.”
“You’re changing jobs?” she asked, struggling to hide her disappointment that their connection would be lost.
“I may have to.”
“Why?”
“As you said, I’m an attorney, and I should’ve known better, but there might be a strong policy in place against hotel employees making out with guests. In fact, I know there is because I wrote it.”
“I was panicked, and you reacted,” she replied nonchalantly, even throwing in a shrug. “You said so yourself.”
“I don’t think the other guests will see it that way,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll be looking for work when they report that I grabbed you, if not fending off a sexual harassment suit. The press is going to gobble this up.”
They don’t know I’d like to gobble you up. Corrine suddenly felt bad for him. Sure, his forwardness was out of line, but it did the trick and really didn’t cause her any harm.
“If anyone asks, I’ll just lie,” she said. “I’ll say I kissed you, that it was a reflex because I was scared.”
Derrick laughed. “You’ll have people walking around in scary Halloween masks, forming a line,” he said. He put his phone away and gently placed his hand on the small of her back. “I suppose I’ve interrupted your evening long enough, but I can escort you to the tables if you’d like.”
