Kiss Me, Baby Page 2

  “See? Crotchety.” She winked at me, and I pursed my lips to keep from smiling. “And, of course, I’ll be there when you kick the bucket.” I raised a brow, and she just smiled innocently. “I was referring to your lack of companionship in your old age.”

  Delia’s expression turned serious, and she reached across the table to take my hand. “Really, Daddy. I just want you to be happy, and you need someone besides your daughter to share your life with. You’re amazing. I’m not gonna lie, I’ve loved having you all to myself for seventeen years, but sometimes, I felt guilty wondering if you weren’t dating just because of me.”

  I shook my head and was about to interrupt when she waved me off and kept talking. “Over the years, I noticed how your eyes never looked at women with any interest”—she grinned and tilted her head to the side—“or guys. And I did wonder.” I laughed, and she shrugged. “It was a logical assumption, considering your lack of enthusiasm for female companionship.”

  I couldn’t fault her logic.

  “Anyway, I eventually accepted I wasn’t holding you back, and that you just hadn’t found anyone worthy of your attention.” I nodded at her correct assessment of the situation. Then thoughts of my mystery woman filtered in and how she’d immediately brought to life feelings and physical needs that I’d thought were dead. Delia’s lips slid into a sly smile as she studied me. “Does this mean someone’s caught your eye?”

  I grinned and released her hand to sit back in my seat and resume eating. “Possibly.”

  Delia squealed with delight and bounced in her seat, making me chuckle. “Is she hot? Is this a relationship kind of thing or just sex?” She mock-gasped, “Have you slept with her already? You seem awfully chipper today.”

  I shifted uncomfortably. No secrets were one thing, but I wasn’t a progressive enough dad to discuss my sex life with my teenage daughter. So I cleared my throat and gave her a basic answer. “Yes, it’s serious.”

  “That’s awesome, Daddy,” she gushed. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

  The thought of my two girls meeting and growing close brought a smile to my face. For a moment, I did wonder if my beauty would have an issue with my being a single dad of a teenage daughter. But I’d cross that bridge when I came to it. First, I had to get my hands on her and convince her that we belonged together. Once I made her fall in love with me, she wouldn’t care that I came as a packaged deal. She’d be too busy screaming from the persuasive tactics of my mouth, fingers, and cock.

  3

  Amelia

  “Hello, Miss Flores. This is Drew Lennox.”

  I couldn’t think of a single reason the billionaire owner of the Lennox Hotel & Casino would need to call me. Our group had splurged on a big suite and a party tonight at one of the on-site restaurants, but there was no way that what we were paying warranted his attention. Not when there were bigger spenders on the floors above us and the private gambling room we’d passed a few times.

  The headache I’d been dealing with all day—after getting virtually no sleep because I’d tossed and turned throughout the night as dreams about my mystery man plagued me—ratcheted up another notch. My voice was weak as I croaked out, “How can I help you, Mr. Lennox?”

  “Call me Drew,” he smoothly instructed.

  “O-okay,” I sputtered. “And I’m Amelia.”

  “I’m afraid I have some bad news, Amelia. There was a bit of a mishap with your group’s reservation this evening.”

  “Oh.” My gaze darted over to where Maria and her friends were gathered at the wet bar, pregaming for tonight’s celebration before we started getting ready. The hangovers they’d struggled with this morning hadn’t stopped them from gulping down mimosas with breakfast and sipping frozen cocktails at the pool all day long. I dreaded having to tell her that the dinner she’d been looking forward to was canceled. “You’re right; that’s not good.”

  “Mistakes like this rarely happen at the Lennox,” he assured me. “When they do, we work hard to make it up to our guests. I was hoping you’d be willing to move your party to a private VIP room at The Crescent Moon, next door at The Artemis. Everything will be on the house, including an open bar.”

  “Wow,” I breathed, stunned by his generous offer. “You really do go above and beyond when someone on your staff makes a mistake.”

  “I hope this means you’re okay with the new plan?” he asked.

  Thinking about how much alcohol this bachelorette party could suck down in a short time, I laughed. “I’d be a fool not to. Although, you may come to regret offering to cover everything once you see the final bill.”

  “No worries there,” he chuckled. “As long as you’ll be at The Crescent Moon this evening, feel free to go hog wild.”

  He seemed completely unconcerned, but I guess the cost would be pocket change for a billionaire. “I’m sure the bride will be more than okay with the change in plans. Thank you so much for taking care of this.”

  “It was my pleasure,” he assured me before we said our goodbyes and ended the call.

  Walking over to the bar, I announced, “Change of plans! There was a little mix-up with our reservation, so the hotel is springing for a VIP room at a restaurant in the hotel next door. And the best part is...the whole thing is covered, including all the liquor you can guzzle down.”

  “VIP room?” one of them screamed, jumping up and down in excitement.

  “Open bar?” another bridesmaid asked, her eyes going wide in surprise.

  “Oh my gosh, Amelia! You’re a miracle worker.” Maria rushed over to hug me. “I can’t believe you got them to pony up so much for such a small mistake. This is why you’re the best maid of honor ever!”

  I squeezed her back. “If you’re happy, I’m happy.”

  “You know what’ll make me happy?” She leaned back and flashed me a sly grin. “If you let me pick out your clothes again for tonight. I packed lots of extra outfits with you in mind.”

  Thinking about the halter top and skinny jeans she’d talked me into wearing last night, I mentally groaned as I pasted a smile onto my face. “I’ll look at what you brought, but I’m not making any promises.”

  “You better like one of the dresses I brought because we’re going VIP tonight.” She dragged me into the bedroom where she was sleeping and flung open the closet doors. “We need to look the part.”

  “Looking the part” turned out to be code for trying on a half dozen dresses until I found one I felt semi-comfortable in. It was the stereotypical little black dress with a sheer illusion neckline that gave a peek of my cleavage and a ruffled high-low hem that hit right above my knees in front and behind them in the back. Then we spent three hours primping—showering, shaving, blow-drying, hair curling, and applying makeup. By the time we walked to the hotel next door, I’d been forced to do the whole shebang. It had been intense, but even I was willing to admit I looked better than I ever had before. And much more comfortable than I’d been the night before since Maria okayed my black wedge sandals.

  It added some extra confidence to my stride...right up until I almost tripped over my feet when I spotted my mystery man standing next to a booth in the far-left corner of the restaurant.

  “Hey, isn’t that—?”

  I practically shoved my cousin into the private VIP room the hostess was leading us to. “Shh,” I hissed. “He might hear you.”

  “Why is that a problem?” she asked as she made a beeline over to the bar set up on the opposite side of the room.

  In a hurry to get away from the open door and windows that looked out on the main part of the restaurant, I stalked after her. “Then he’d see me.”

  “Again, I don’t see the problem,” Maria said with an eye roll.

  “I went up to him on the street, out of nowhere, and flung myself at him! If he sees me here, he’ll probably think I’m crazy.” I glanced over my shoulder to scan the restaurant in search of him. “Like I’m stalking him or something.”

  “You’re the furthe
st thing from a stalker,” she snorted, shaking her head. “But he’d be lucky if you did decide to stalk him. You’re a catch, Amelia. Smart, pretty, and nice.”

  Moments like this reminded me why I loved my cousin so much. Our personalities were opposites, but we were always there for each other. Even though it sometimes involved her pushing me outside my comfort zone. Like last night, when I kissed a stranger. My mystery man.

  And there it was. Every thought I’d had since then had led to him. I caught myself starting to turn toward the interior windows again and bit down on my lip. No matter how badly I wanted to see him again, it was bound to go horribly wrong. He was sure to think I was crazy after the stunt I’d pulled. Although he had pulled me in for another kiss after I’d backed away…

  I shook my head in an attempt to clear my thoughts. No amount of wishful thinking was going to change how we met and give me a real chance with the only man I’d ever really wanted. I just had to survive this party without him seeing me, and then I could try to forget about what happened. I was upset enough by the idea that I downed one of the shots Maria was handing out and almost choked as it burned going down.

  The bartender handed me a glass of water as my cousin patted me on the back. “Damn, Amelia. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you take a shot before. If I’d known that Vegas would bring out this side of you, I would have dragged you here sooner.”

  I just shook my head as I sipped at my water, refusing to give her any encouragement.

  “Hello, ladies. My name is Kimberly, and I’ll be your server this evening.” We all turned to smile at the young woman who walked into the room. “If you’d like to take your seats, I’ll start with your appetizer orders. Unless you’d prefer for me to just do a variety of our best sellers since my boss is covering everything? Then you could sit down when then food is ready.”

  Figuring it was going to be like herding cats to get everyone to the table, I answered, “Please go ahead and get us whatever you think we’d like best.”

  “Will do,” she chirped before swiveling on one foot to head back out the door.

  It wasn’t until the waitress was gone that my brow wrinkled as I realized that she had said her boss was covering our meal and drinks. I was confused because The Artemis wasn’t a Lennox property, and Drew had said he’d set this all up since they’d messed up our reservation for tonight. Maybe she’d gotten it mixed up? Or the owners of the two resorts had a reciprocal arrangement when situations like this came up?

  As Maria shoved a frozen cocktail into my hand, I shrugged my shoulders. Which billionaire covered our tab wasn’t important. Avoiding my mystery man while celebrating my cousin’s upcoming wedding was what mattered.

  4

  Zack

  As I entered the restaurant from the kitchen, I checked my watch for the millionth time. Finally seeing that it was time for the bachelorette party to arrive, I exhaled a deep breath. I’d spent all day going over the details of the party with my staff. My head chef, Deke, and I discussed their meal and snacks, and I instructed him to only give their food to Kimberly, the waitress I’d assigned to the girls. I wanted to make sure Amelia and her friends were safe and no one had the opportunity to tamper with their food. With the open bar and the wildness I’d seen the night before, they were bound to end up plastered, making them easy prey. Not that we’d had a problem with people trying to slip drugs to our customers, but I wasn’t willing to take any risks when it came to the woman I already considered mine.

  I gave the same instructions to Kimberly, knowing they were in excellent hands with her. She was Deke’s granddaughter and had started as a hostess when she was eighteen. I’d been concerned with her lack of maturity and had almost fired her a few times for inappropriately flirting with male customers. However, I didn’t want to lose the best chef in Nevada, so I’d had a talk with Deke, and he’d had one with Kimberly. I didn’t know what he said to her, but within a couple of weeks, she’d done a complete one-eighty. Then, over the past several years, she’d grown into my best waitress and was on her way to being promoted to manager.

  Lastly, I chose a bartender for the party… Technically, I could’ve been in trouble for taking sexual orientation into account when considering someone for a position in my hotel. But I didn’t have any female bartenders working tonight, and if a guy was going to spend the night serving my girl alcohol, he was sure as fuck going to be batting for the other team.

  As the girls arrived, I headed back to the far-left corner of the room. I had a VIP to check on and figured it couldn’t hurt to give the ladies a chance to have a few drinks before I arrived.

  Julian Storm, a friend and the headlining magician at the Lennox, had requested a special experience to celebrate an anniversary. He’d just helped his wife, Anna, slide into the booth as I approached. He was leaning over her, and she reached up to kiss him before saying, “You’re adorable, you know that?”

  I snickered and teased, “Awww, I agree. He’s completely adorable.”

  Julian glared at me as he stood back up. “Don’t you have somewhere else to be, Parker?” he groused.

  My eyes darted over to a room with the bachelorette party, and I searched for a glimpse of my Amelia through the large glass windows. I spotted her after a moment, and as though she could feel me watching her, she suddenly turned and looked in my direction. Seeing my intense stare, she blushed and whipped back around.

  Facing the couple once again, I grinned and nodded. “As a matter of fact, I do. But I always like to check on my VIPs personally if I can.”

  Julian cracked a begrudging smile after Anna elbowed him in the side and whispered, “Don’t be a Neanderthal.”

  “Everything is perfect. Thanks,” he assured me. We shook hands, and I congratulated them before stalking over to the entrance of the party room.

  I pulled the door open and sauntered inside, adopting a professional smile. “Hello, ladies,” I greeted. “I’m Zack Parker. Welcome to The Crescent Moon. I trust these accommodations are satisfactory?” My eyes swept around the room, looking for my woman as I received a chorus of approvals. The corners of my lips began to drop when I didn’t immediately spot her.

  When I finally found her, I didn’t know whether to laugh or be annoyed that she was hiding from me. Amelia was trying to disappear by staying behind two of the taller girls at the party. She was doing her best to pretend she wasn’t hiding even though that was clearly her goal. I narrowed my eyes and kept them trained on Amelia. There was no way in hell that she didn’t feel the pull between us, so why was she running from it?

  “Aren’t you that sexy guy my cousin made out with yesterday?”

  Amelia hissed and smacked the girl who asked the question on the arm. “Shut up, Maria!” Her brown eyes sparked with fire as she glared at her, and it only took me a second to realize that her attitude stemmed from jealousy. I smirked smugly, reassured that she was feeling the same emotions rolling through me.

  “As a matter of fact,” I drawled, “I’m most definitely your cousin’s man.”

  Other than Amelia’s quick inhale, I was met with silence.

  “Her man?” the cousin, Maria, suddenly shouted. Then she started clapping and jumping up and down as though I’d just told her she’d won the jackpot.

  “Yes, and I’d like to steal her away from you ladies if that’s alright.”

  Maria spun around to face Amelia with a big smile. She was frantically shaking her head and backing up until she hit a wall. “Vegas Amelia would,” Maria quipped with a wicked grin.

  Amelia finally looked my way with wide, confused eyes. “Are you crazy? I could be a stalker or serial killer or something?”

  I chuckled and shrugged. “I’ll risk it, beautiful.”

  When she didn’t respond, I mentally sighed, wondering what it was going to take to get her to leave with me. Then an idea popped into my head. It had worked for several of my friends…

  I prowled around the table and across the room until I was stan
ding right in front of my girl. Then I bent down and put my shoulder in her stomach and one hand on her ass, before standing back up with her in a fireman’s hold. I glanced at her cousin, who was giving me a sloppy grin, and promised, “Don’t wait up. I’ll have the staff provide you with my contact information so you can check on her later.” Then I pivoted and stalked toward the door.

  “Stop! Put me down, Zack!” she sputtered. Hearing my name on her lips for the first time sent shockwaves of lust straight to my dick. I was already hard from my hand on her juicy ass, and now I was sporting a big, steel cock that there was no way for me to hide in my suit pants.

  “What are you doing?” she snapped.

  “Kidnapping you,” I responded lightly as though I’d simply informed her that it was a beautiful day outside.

  “What?” she shrieked. Luckily, we’d entered the kitchen by that point, so I didn’t have to worry about customers calling the police.

  “You heard me,” I said in the same tone, but I added a gentle slap to her ass. She gasped, sounding outraged. However, I felt the shiver that wracked her body, and a grin split my face.

  “Put me down. What about your job, Zack?” she asked, apparently trying another tactic.

  I was curious where she was going with this, so I played along as I left the kitchen and entered a back hallway. “What about it?” I nodded to the security guard who returned the gesture, barely sparing a glance at Amelia.

  “Aren’t you worried about being fired? What if the owner hears about this?”

  I almost stopped in my tracks but managed to stay on course and refrain from reacting to her comment. She didn’t know who I was. I thought back over my introduction to her friends and realized I hadn’t referred to myself as the owner. This was an interesting turn of events. I knew I should tell her right away, but the little devil in my head suggested I keep quiet about it. I was sure Amelia wasn’t a gold digger, and I tried to explain that to the evil little voice. He argued that it couldn’t hurt to make sure she would want me whether I owned a hotel or not.