One Night In Vegas

by Odell, Roxie

Sean laughed as if he’d told the greatest joke in the world. Little did he know that he had officially overstayed his welcome as he sputtered, “Just teasing, man.”

  Derrick didn’t like that Corrine was uneasy about his presence, nor that the guy had just barged up to their table, but he ultimately managed to calm himself down, deciding it was her call to tell him to go.

  “Anyway, it was nice to meet you,” Derrick finally said, hoping that would give the guy a hint that the conversation was over.

  “Sean, would you like to join us for dinner?” Corrine asked, much to Derrick’s chagrin and dismay.

  Derrick pressed his foot against her leg to signal his objection, but she ignored him and broke out in a smile. Teasing him might be wrong, but it would be fun. Most likely it would end with her in trouble and getting a spanking from the hot guy giving her a warning.

  The very thought moved her smirk to a belly laugh that confused the heck out of Sean, who accepted the invitation eagerly.

  Derrick smiled faintly, feeling a hot flash of jealousy prickle his skin. Now, he found himself covering dinner for three, just so some idiot could hone in on the woman he needed like breath itself.

  Corrine shot Derrick a wicked, playful glance, and he grinned as he realized why she was enjoying the geek’s company. It had nothing to do with the newcomer, himself.

  For Corrine, it was a total tease, a game to get Derrick’s blood running hot. She struggled to control her laughter, and Sean was oblivious to being a pawn in their sexual game.

  Derrick texted her quickly, as discreetly as possible, “You’re going to be spanked for this, young lady.”

  Her telephone lit up, and her hand crept toward it. While she pretended to pay attention to Sean, a mischievous grin painted her face. She knew it was Derrick texting her, but she had to play it cool.

  She seemed to love torturing him, moving her hand as slowly as possible to her phone to read the text. “Excuse me, guys. Business. I promise to turn the thing off after this.” Her eyes flared with delight as she read his sensual threat. She drew in a deep breath and released it, trying to adjust to the rush it caused.

  Again, Derrick’s insides warmed with desire for her. Even Sean, as clueless as Derrick estimated him to be, seemed to catch on, realizing the obvious current flowing back and forth across the table, something he wasn’t part of.

  “Thanks for the invite,” Sean said awkwardly. “It kinda sucks being here all by myself.”

  “Surprise,” said Derrick acidly.

  Corrine nudged him under the table.

  He suppressed a chuckle and picked up his phone again. This time, he texted the waiter to come to the table to take their order. “Being GC here has its perks,” he said with a grin. “I’ve got the whole staff on speed dial.”

  “GC?” asked Sean cluelessly.

  “General Counsel,” said Derrick, mistakenly thinking that was enough of an explanation.

  “Derrick is the lawyer for the Tresor,” Corrine elaborated.

  Sean made a face, the first non-goofy expression he’d worn all night, one that indicated something very near anger. “Must be nice,” he said.

  “Well, it didn’t exactly happen by accident,” Derrick said, clearly offended at the insinuation that he’d just lucked out. “I didn’t exactly win the position at a blackjack table.”

  Corrine glared, scolding him silently.

  “Hey, no offense, buddy, but hanging out in the lap of luxury all day long and eatin’ dinner on the house ain’t the same as hammering nails or working concrete,” replied Sean.

  “I agree that it’s not the same kind of heavy lifting,” said Derrick. “But a lot rests on every word of the contracts I draw up, including our dealings with contractors and construction crews. This business feeds the families of a lot of employees. You worked on the Tresor, and that gig was only available to you, in part, because of what I do. As for everything being on the house, it’s not.”

  Sean accepted the answer, but his resentment was obvious, and the atmosphere around the table grew awkwardly tense.

  “Well, this is pleasant,” Derrick said.

  The waiter arrived to take their order, and Sean continued his trend as an obnoxious guest by being curt to the waiter. He mispronounced a word from the menu, one that wouldn’t have baffled anyone with half a general education. When the waiter asked for a bit of clarification so he could get the order right, Sean snapped at him rudely.

  Derrick couldn’t sit idly by in the wake of such mistreatment of the staff that was always so amazing to him. He intervened to translate for the waiter. Then, despite his earlier promise to Corrine to buy a bottle of expensive wine, he settled for the cheapest one on the menu, a fact that was not lost on her.

  “Hey,” she said in mild complaint.

  Now, it was Derrick’s turn to take delight in this game. He grinned triumphantly and prepared to text her to tell her expensive bottles were for good girls, not ones who invited third parties to dinner unexpectedly. Before that, though, he asked, “Are you a sommelier, Sean?”

  Derrick knew full well he was again making a fool of the fool.

  “A what?” Sean asked.

  “A wine lover,” Derrick said, smirking.

  “Oh, nah, not really,” Sean replied. “I have a beer once in a blue moon, but that’s my limit. Thanks, but I think I’ll pass on the alcohol.”

  “A sommelier isn’t a wine-lover. It’s the waiter responsible for the wine.” Corrine looked over at Derrick with an I-told-you-so expression on her face. “Looks like we’ll have to drink this lovely bottle of watered-down wine all by ourselves.” The smile on her face told Derrick she was joking around.

  Derrick winked at her and then gave her a shrug.

  When the food came, he was only able to tolerate the meal because of the covert love-fest going on without Sean’s knowledge. Derrick and Corrine played a flirtatious game of footsie under the table.

  The steak he ordered was delicious, but even tastier was Corrine’s struggle to maintain her composure as he stroked her thigh with his foot. Above the tablecloth, he seemed cool, calm, and collected, but below the surface that held the food, he was anything but, and it was driving her crazy.

  She gazed at him, begging for mercy with her eyes as he sensually, slowly, fed himself the ridiculously tender steak. By the end of the meal, he had gotten very good with the control and aim of his foot, and he expertly traced the sensitive insides of her thighs with his toes while Sean chowed down.

  “Man, this is good,” Derrick remarked. “How’s yours, Sean?”

  “It’s okay,” he replied reluctantly.

  “Just okay?” Derrick asked in surprise. “What’s the problem?”

  The annoyingly jovial guy who had first walked up to their table was nowhere to be found now. Instead, a whiner and complainer sat in his place. Derrick realized he was somewhat biased, but in Vegas, all competitors needed to be on top of their game, and the Tresor was no exception. Theirs was a five-star establishment, and they staffed some of the best chefs in the world. Thus, Sean’s harsh critique was as foolish and childish as it was off-putting.

  “A little dry,” Sean whispered, scrunching up his face.

  Derrick looked down at his plate and rolled his eyes. Even from across the table, he could see that the meat was so moist it was almost obscene. Nevertheless, he tried to be the bigger man, the responsible host, and make it better for his uninvited guest. Of course, he did it more for the Tresor than for Sean, as well as the fact in his mind, everything he did would somehow translate into more heat in bed with Corrine, if that was even possible.

  “What can we do to fix it?” asked Derrick in his best customer service voice.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Sean scoffed. “It’ll do. It isn’t your problem to clean up. You didn’t cook it, right? I’m just not much for chicken.”

  Speechless, Derrick just stared at Sean, wondering how he could offer such a stupid answer. Corrine squeezed his ankle with
both her feet, warning him to behave, which was a good thing. If he wasn’t having so much fun playing their secret game under the table, he would have gladly let Sean know how dumb he thought he was.

  What he really wanted to know was why a person who wasn’t “much for chicken” would order chicken in the first place. The more he thought about that, the less he could avoid mocking the man passively.

  “Yeah, I’m not much for chicken either,” he said. “That’s why I always order steak. Sometimes, I go for a burger, but I’m trying to watch my weight.”

  “Watch your weight? You sound like a chick.” Sean snorted, clearly not one to mince words.

  Derrick’s face grew hot with rage, and he was ready to clock the guy.

  Corrine could only laugh discreetly into her hand, pretending to cough. Sean was a touchy man, and she had to admit that she thoroughly enjoyed watching him squirm.

  “So why are you in costume again?” he asked her bluntly.

  “No reason,” Corrine replied gently. Then she took a purposeful sip of water to try to contain herself. “Just… fun.” She shrugged.

  Sean scrunched up his brow at her. Clearly, the whole thing was over his head. “I don’t see what’s fun about a grownup playing dress-up,” he said snarkily.

  At that point, Derrick had had enough of him. He broke his promise to himself to let Corrine handle her own client and took matters into his own hands.

  “Well, Sean, I’m very sorry you weren’t pleased with your dinner,” he said, ready to wrap it up. “To make it up to you for all the hard work you did on the Tresor, I’d like to offer a night’s stay on us. How does that sound?”

  “Thanks,” Sean said, sounding rudely unimpressed by the generous offer.

  “You’re welcome,” said Derrick in the same tone. Then he cast Corrine a get-him-outta-here-before-I-kill-him look.

  “Thanks for your business, Sean,” Corrine said, finally in Derrick’s corner because she had seen that his patience had been stretched as far as it was going to go. “If you go to the front desk on your way out, they’ll give you a voucher for one night’s stay.”

  “Hmm, sounds like you’ve earned a lot of free nights yourself,” Sean said suggestively, darting his eyes between the her and Derrick.

  It was almost impossible to not take the bait, but Derrick somehow managed. He just wanted the guy gone so he could be alone with his delicious dinner date.

  Finally, Sean got the message and pushed away from the table. “Well, it was nice to meet you, Derrick, and it’s always good to see you, Corrine,” he said with a sleazy chuckle. “I’m off to collect my free mini-vacation, I guess.”

  “Enjoy,” Derrick said with phony graciousness.

  As soon as he was out of earshot, Corrine put her hands up, feigning innocence. “Don’t look at me,” she said.

  “He’s your client,” said Derrick. “I would punish you, but I think having that bastard for a client is punishment enough.”

  “When we worked together, he was completely professional and very grateful for the work I did,” she said proudly.

  “Just how grateful?” Derrick asked, arching a brow at her.

  “Not that grateful,” she said, rolling her eyes at him.

  “Well, you’re lucky because if he had acted like that while he was my client, I would’ve dropped him,” said Derrick.

  “I can’t afford to be so selective about clients, to just drop the annoying ones,” she replied politely.

  “Well, I’d drop him, all right.” He softly butted his closed fist against the palm of his other hand, punching lightly. “Right on his thick skull.”

  “So macho,” she purred. “First, you text spanking threats, and now you’re ready to beat someone up? All that rare steak must be doing something to you, Mr. Neanderthal.”

  “Damn right,” Derrick replied with a smirk. He didn’t consider himself the overtly macho type. In business, he could be very competitive and cutthroat, and Corrine couldn’t deny that he’d come to her rescue before, but mostly, he was more brain than brawn. At least, until brawn was needed. Then, he was more than happy to get physical.

  Derrick reached across the table and took her hands in his. He was overcome with emotion or lust or a nice mixture of both, and all he could do was stare at her, soaking up her beauty and all she meant to him.

  “What?” she asked, smiling but seeming confused.

  “You’re just amazing.” The soft words tumbled out before he could even stop himself.

  “Uh, thanks,” she said, a bit taken aback by the sincerity in his tone. “You too.”

  He texted the waiter to put the check on his tab, making sure to add a twenty-dollar tip. Then, in a flash, he was up from the table, holding Corrine’s chair.

  “Come,” he said softly. “We have an affair to tend to upstairs.”

  His post-divorce living arrangement was convenient, to be sure. He took the suite indefinitely as part of his contract so the hotel wouldn’t lose out on the deal, and everything else, he paid for out of pocket, including Sean’s dinner. What he spent on food and other amenities, he saved on transportation, since his commute was literally nothing more than an elevator ride.

  “That we do,” Corrine agreed softly. “We mustn’t keep the affair waiting.”

  Working where he lived, Derrick had to be careful about mixing his personal life with his professional life. Lots of the Tresor staff socialized there, but he never knew when one of the guests could become a potential business associate. However, exercising restraint was really tough while strolling around with the hottest woman on the planet. As they made their way to the elevator, their shoulders brushed a bit more purposefully than accidentally. The two danced more than walked, wildly flirting with each other in anticipation of the things to come.

  Just to keep things interesting, Derrick detoured to the glass elevator where they’d first met. Corrine was a little quirky, quite nervous, and almost phobic about many random things, and elevators were one of her phobias.

  When she first braved a ride on the famed glass elevator to conquer her fear, the damn thing had malfunctioned. Derrick had the pleasure of coaxing her through that difficult challenge.

  Now the elevator was something that stoked their excitement, but she always experienced momentary nerves each time they rode up. She huddled closely into him, and Derrick found that sweet and erotic. He loved feeling like her protector. Sometimes, he even pushed the emergency stop button, leaving them suspended many stories above ground, a thrilling experience that seemed to make their wondrous chemistry all the more powerful.

  When he did pause in midair, with only the see-through glass walls between them and the outside world, it was like a shot of adrenaline that made for intense, unforgettable sex.

  Derrick would never do anything that would upset her, and they always respected each other’s boundaries, so he had to gauge each situation carefully. This time, stopping the car was not even necessary. All Derrick had to do was extend his arm like he was going to hit the button, and Corrine let out a squeal.

  They both moaned as they leaned toward each other, pressing their mouths together. He kissed her slowly and sensually. The lights of the elevator car zipped by them in their peripheral vision while his tongue moved in ultra-slow motion. It felt like they were the only two people on the planet.

  By the time the elevator reached his floor, their souls were practically on fire. He could feel Corrine’s heart pounding in her chest. He reached his arm around her slim waist and touched the soft skin of her swelling breast with his fingertips.

  He growled. There was nothing more to be said. They had moved way past words to soft animal noises.

  Derrick dropped to his knee and leaned into her so she would naturally and willingly drape over his shoulder. He rose and sauntered to his hotel room, prepared to carry Corrine across the threshold of his hotel suite. She was the least diva-like woman he’d ever met, but she had no problem being ported around like a princess, nor
did Derrick have any problem obliging.

  She was a tall woman but weighed next to nothing. It was easy and lots of fun to manhandle her. Her hip pressed against his cheek as he hunched to work the key into the slot. He took advantage of that position to feel her up. He cupped the top of her thigh, his fingertips pressing into her delicate flesh. He splayed his fingers so he could steal a generous touch. Corrine could do nothing to stop him because if she squirmed too dramatically, she would cascade off his broad shoulder and land on the carpet below.

  “Whatever you do, don’t get up,” he warned as he stepped inside. “You’ll get a bump on the noggin.”

  “Oh, I have every intention of getting a bump or three tonight,” she said seductively.

  Something about the feel of her body in his arms, the way her curves pressed against him and warmed him, and their blazing-hot chemistry drove him mad. An otherworldly link connected them, something so indescribably amazing that it made carrying her an experience he cherished.

  He let her down, making sure the front of her body slid against his. Her dress hiked up to the tops of her thighs as she found her footing. She wrapped her arms around his neck as if they were finally, really, alone.

  He smiled at her and laughed softly. He never tired of gazing into her beautiful face.

  “What?” she asked with a nervous chuckle.

  “I’m sorry. It’s just… Well, I’m afraid I have to agree with that doofus client of yours.”

  “About what?”

  “That getup is quite eye-catching,” he said, grinning. Then, in an instant, the smile left his face. He experienced a moment of clarity, discovering that part of the reason he couldn’t stand Sean was because he was really, truly jealous. The realization made him erupt in a deep laugh, but he really didn’t think it was funny.

  “What?” she asked again, not following him at all.

  “You’re not gonna believe this,” he confessed. “It just came to me that I, uh… Look, Corrine. I really hate sharing you with anyone. When that little gnat came buzzing around our table tonight, I saw red. I had a little fun playing while he was there, but I really hated the intrusion. That was our time.”