Sienna took in the man-made beauty outside the window, her eyes wandering over the neighboring hotels and their opulent, perhaps ostentatious, displays. Taken with the water shooting into the air from the fountain directly across from their window seat, the stillness of the room caught up with her, and she suddenly felt nervous. Should she bring up last night? As it turned out, she didn’t have to.
Carson took her hand in his, turning it over and running a finger around her palm. “Listen, I never really like spending the night with anyone, so when you asked me to leave last night, I did. Then I got back to my hotel, and I realized I made a mistake. I wanted to stay with you even if I didn’t want to admit it to myself. I should’ve insisted on staying, Sienna. I don’t think it was very considerate of me to leave, especially after what we shared, and I was a fool. I’m sorry.” He brought his other hand up to wrap her delicate hand in both of his.
She shook her head. “You don’t need to apologize. I understand. I wasn’t sure what to do when we were done, and so I chose the easy way out. I felt a little lonely with you gone. Actually, a lot. You and I both know it was for the best, though, right? Where can all this go? Last night was really great, but I don’t think it’s wise for us to get too attached,” she said, no clue where the false confidence was coming from.
“I disagree. I went along with you asking me to go last night. I thought maybe that was what I wanted, too. But what I’m saying is that felt all wrong after what I did. You may be inexperienced, Sienna, but I’m figuring out things just like you are. Now I realize that leaving was wrong, and the truth is, I want to get a little attached. Know you. The real you.”
Red flag, red flag!
Sienna wanted to run, but she didn’t move. She only stared at the man across from her. “But my life is crazy. I’m a stripper. I dance all night, get caught up during the day, and do it all over again. You don’t live here, and I really don’t like to travel. I just don’t see how this can go far,” she said, trying to gently salvage her precious memory from the night before.
Carson gave her a half smile. “Well, lucky for you, I travel, don’t require much sleep, and enjoy watching you dance. And I like spending time alone with you even more.”
I’m completely and royally screwed.
CARSON HAD no idea where all the sincerity was coming from. He’d literally never spoken words like those before in his whole life.
Boy, I changed my tune since the last time we had coffee.
Even worse, he could detect a small amount of panic in Sienna’s face as he kept sharing his thoughts of their making a go of whatever this was. He knew she liked him, so what the hell was with the little look of fear? Was it leftover embarrassment from the night before? Perhaps, the paparazzi scaring her off? Or something altogether different, as in someone else?
He didn’t fucking know, but he did want to know why. And he wanted to know her, all of her, and he was going to no matter what. His head and dick were in agreement at the moment, and they both wanted more now. It was a heady combination he’d never experienced before, yet for some reason, he was going to run with it.
Sienna had barriers, obviously, but he was going to break them down. He was in the middle of telling her how he would make this work, how he would do the work and it would fall on him, all while her phone kept dinging with text messages.
In his experience, that was never a good thing. It must be urgent the way the phone kept dinging repeatedly.
“Go ahead. Get it,” he said to a shell-shocked Sienna, who currently had both of her hands in his, her fingernails digging into his flesh. He knew she didn’t realize how tight she was gripping him.
She pulled her hands away to reach for her phone, and swept her delicate finger across the screen. Without realizing it, Sienna read the texts aloud as she went down the list of missed ones.
Asher: YOU spotted in parking area of Palace?!?!? WTF, Sie? I’m sick.
Mike: 25 different people tweeted & posted about you being on Strip. Were you going to tell me? Is your man with you?
Asher: Paps posted exactly where you are! Mike’s been eyeing Cowboy Sam. He’s staying down the Strip. Heading your way. Do not move. Wait for Mike.
Mike: Stay put, Sienna. Trailing the cowboy. Wait for instructions to meet Petey out back.
Carson’s thoughts whirled. Who was Cowboy Sam? The reason why Sienna wouldn’t get close? He rubbed his palms over each other, feeling the tiny nail marks his woman had left there. Shoving jealous thoughts to the back of his head, he reached across and held Sienna’s hand while she read through the texts one more time.