SWNOVELS What Happens in Vegas: Chapter 3
Fucking fuck, fuckity fuck!
I gathered my things and made a beeline for the door without making further eye contact with Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome. What in the world was he doing here?
This was supposed to be my chance for a fresh start.
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. What a crock of shit! It was supposed to be my free pass. My one night of erotic exploration.
Now I had to work with him? Hot or not, this situation couldn’t be worse. What was I supposed to do? Share coffee in the break room with him like I didn’t know about the tattoos on his arms or the monster hiding in his pants.
I plopped down in my chair and buried my head in my hands. What a ginormous clusterfuck. The events of last Friday played over and over in my brain like a porno I couldn’t hit pause on, and I was the fucking star.
Oh my god!
He’d seen me naked, and not just naked but completely exposed. The things we did that night… I didn’t want to think about it, but now I couldn’t stop thinking about it. My panties got wet, and my nipples hardened.
Stop it! Just stop it!
“How was your meeting?”
My head snapped up to see Penny peeking in through the door. I needed to pull it together. Be professional, I reminded myself, forcing a smile. “It was good. Mr. Dorsey wants us all to brainstorm ideas to improve the hotel. Maybe after lunch you could give me a tour and fill in some details for me.”
“Sure.” She stepped into the office, closing the door behind her, and leaned against it. “What did you think of Mr. Dorsey?”
I cocked my head to the side. “He was fine. He definitely knows what he wants, but I have a feeling he’s more bark than bite.”
She scurried forward and sat across from me. “You didn’t find him intimidating?”
I shrugged. “He’s my boss. So far, so good.”
Penny slapped her palms on her lap. “Great, because he wants to see you in his office.”
“Now?”
Her head bobbed and she looked at her watch. “In three minutes to be exact.”
My assistant’s nervousness made me wary, but regardless of her uneasiness, the man gave me no reason to be apprehensive. “Lead the way,” I said, standing from my desk.
I straightened my spine and followed Penny, hoping to exude confidence I didn’t quite feel. A pit sat at the bottom of my stomach like a two-ton boulder. I pushed the feeling aside, sure that this meeting was routine. After all, I was a new employee.
My assistant stopped short of an office made of opaque glass and spoke with who I assumed was another PA. “Tom, this is Ms. Romano.”
He was a gangly guy wearing a brown sweater-vest and glasses that kept falling down his nose. If he was a day over twenty-one, I’d be shocked. “Hi, Penny,” he said enthusiastically, then nodded at me. “Ms. Romano. You can go in; Mr. Dorsey is expecting you.”
“Thank you, Tom.” Here goes nothing. I twisted the knob and entered an enormous office that overlooked the gaming floor. From this vantage point, it was quite the sight to see. The chairback faced me as Mr. Dorsey gazed at his empire. I cleared my throat to let him know I’d arrived. “You wanted to see me?”
The chair spun around with none other than Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome sitting there smugly with his elbows on the armrests and his steepled fingers tapping together.
A quiet “fuck” left my lips.
“Hello, Ms. Romano.”
I didn’t know what type of game he was playing, but I wasn’t interested in being a timid rabbit waiting for the wolf to pounce. I threw back my shoulders and stood taller. “I was told I was meeting with Mr. Dorsey.”
His lips curled up in a wicked grin I wanted to slap off his gorgeous face. “We haven’t formally met. I’m Trent Dorsey, Head of Public Relations and Marketing and COO.” Waiting a minute for me to digest that information, he added, “Also, your new boss.”
A distinct swishing sound filled my ears as all the blood drained from my head. There were two Mr. Dorseys. Penny’s words finally made sense. Sure I was going to pass out, I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Schooling my face, I sat across from him. “And when did you discover I’d be working here?”
“Are you asking if I knew who you were when Brett and I ate your pussy and fucked your brains out Friday night?”
I cringed. Although his crassness was a turn-on in the bedroom, I found it less appealing now. “That’s what I’m asking.”
“Not a fucking clue. You were supposed to go home, not show up in my office.”
I popped out of the chair and leaned on his desk. “This is my home as of last week. And you approached me, not the other way around.”
Trent stood and mirrored my stance. “Obviously, we have a problem.”
“It’s not a problem for me. Is it a problem for you?”
“Not a damn bit, as long as you don’t become a stage-five clinger.”
I seethed. “I wouldn’t worry about that. Now that I know what an asshole you are, I wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire!” I slapped a hand over my mouth. “Oh, my god.” I hadn’t even been here a day and I was gonna get canned.
“Sit down, Ms. Romano,” Trent said through clenched teeth.
My butt hit the chair.
“Are you done?”
I nodded, still shocked about the words that flew out of my mouth. “Am I fired?”
He sat down and let out a huff. “No. Needless to say, this situation is a surprise to both of us. However, if you can agree to be professional, so can I.”
Professional. There was that word again. “Absolutely. I’m sorry about my outburst.” The guy might be a jerk, but he was still my boss.
“Apology accepted and appreciated.”
That was it. No apology of his own. My teeth clenched together so hard I was afraid I would chip a molar.
“Tell me about your job in Wau-kee-gan,” Trent said, stretching the word out like it felt foul in his mouth as he leaned back in his chair.
“I’m from Waukegan, but I worked at the Onyx in Chicago,” I corrected.
He waved a hand in the air. “Same thing.”
“Not really. While Waukegan is part of the Chicago metropolitan area, it’s much more industrialized, with hardworking people not afraid to get their hands dirty. The city of Chicago is more of a hub for finance, commerce, and technology. The cultures of the two cities are vastly different.”
The fucker let out a yawn, making a big show of it. “While your geography lesson was fascinating, it didn’t answer my question. What did you do at the Onyx?”
Trent Dorsey was beyond rude and frustrating. “I was the event coordinator. I planned shit,” I gritted out.
“Well, shit is not on the agenda here at Mystique. What kind of shit did you plan? You’ll have to be a little more specific.”
I took a deep breath and sweetened my tone with a smile for the condescending prick. “I planned business conferences, wedding receptions, baby showers, and charity events.”
He leaned forward and tapped a pen on his desk. “While we don’t have many baby showers at Mystique, the rest I can work with. We also host a variety of shows here: musicians, comedians, Cirque du whatever. Are you going to be comfortable with people like Sarina Lewis and Dale Keyford?”
His attempt to intimidate me fell flat. “This is starting to feel a lot like an interview, Trent. Did daddy ask you to do this or are you going rogue?” I stood up. “You know what? If Mr. Dorsey is concerned with my qualifications, I should speak to him myself.”
His jaw ticced, assuring me I hit my target as intended. “It’s not an interview. I’m just trying to get to know more than your bra size. If my father thinks you’re qualified, then I’ll have to trust his judgment. Please sit back down.”
I did an internal fist pump over the small victory. “Fine. How about you give me a chance and if I screw up, then you can rake me over the coals.”
“Fair enough. You’ll be reporting directly to me. All ideas and events go through me first. Nothing happens at Mystique I don’t know about.”
“Understood.”
“I’m not trying to be a dick, but if something turns into a public relations nightmare, it falls on me.”
I cracked the first true smile since walking into his office. “With great power comes great responsibility,” I quoted the famous line from Spiderman.
His eyebrows rose. “Cute, but also true. I’m not fucking around, Ms. Romano. If shit goes sideways, someone has to pay the price.”
“Is that what happened to your last event coordinator?”
“Not exactly.”
I cocked my head to the side. “Then what did happen? Teresa said they left abruptly.”
“That’s not your concern. What is your concern, is the huge spring fundraiser. We need a charity and an event. The goal this year is five million,” he said, spinning a pen around his fingers like a baton.
My eyes bulged. “Dollars?”
“I’m certainly not talking about pesos.” The pen stopped spinning and he pointed it at me. “You’re not in Waukegan anymore, sweetheart. Welcome to Las Vegas. I want a proposal on my desk by the end of the week. Any questions?”
My head was still swimming. Five million? “Not yet.”
“One more thing. I emailed you a copy of the employee handbook and highlighted the sections you should pay particular attention to. I highly suggest you read it. You’re dismissed,” he said as if I were a pesky child who was wasting his time and turned his attention back to his computer.
I guessed that was it. Our meeting was over. I replayed our conversation as I walked to the door. With my hand on the knob, a particular detail stuck out in my mind. “I do have one question.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“What’s my bra size?”
“Excuse me?”
“You said you knew my bra size, so let’s hear it.”
Trent’s perusal of my body made me feel naked all over again as he scanned me from head to toe. “Thirty-eight double D,” he said without hesitation. “At first, I thought you were a triple D, but you cheated with a padded bra. Anything else?”
I rolled my eyes and left his office, slamming the door behind me. The man was hot as hell and dangerous as the devil himself.