He ignored my comment, “We’re dating.”
“Well, I don’t date my boss, so…” I closed my eyes, wanting the car ride to be over. Hoping that if I just closed my eyes maybe all the lama drama would just go away.
I heard him sigh; it was an angry sound. His legs were still pressed against mine and I could feel the warmth of him through our layers of clothing.
My eyes were still closed when I asked, “Why didn’t you tell me who you were?”
“I did. More than once.”
I released a slow breath before countering, “You know what I mean.” I lifted my lids and met his subtly seething gaze. “You knew I didn’t know, that I misunderstood. Why didn’t you correct me?”
His eyes flashed with blinding intensity behind an irascible mask. When he spoke his tone was severe: “Would you have stayed with me, at the concert, if I’d told you? Would you have let me kiss you? Would you have gone out to dinner with me? Stayed at the park?” His eyes were narrowed and my stomach dropped to my feet when I saw his expression slide, with each word, further into a mask of indifference.
I shook my head slowly and answered honestly, “No. No I would not. But you knew I was going to find out eventually.”
He looked away from me and straightened his tie, smoothing his hand down the blue silk, his tone sodden with superior sarcasm, “I’d hoped, by then, it wouldn’t make a difference.”
The car slowed and stopped. I swallowed a giant lump in my throat. I didn’t want to ask the next question but I needed to know, it was better to know; “What are you going to do now?”
His voice and his face were devoid of emotion, he almost sounded bored, as he responded, “What do you mean?”
“I mean, do I still have a job?”
He flinched as though I’d slapped him, his lips parting and his dark brows lowering over eyes which seemed to be suddenly shooting fire in my direction, “What?” for a moment he looked truly stunned.
I lifted my chin, grabbing fistfuls of my jacket at each of my sides in order to steady my hands. “Do I still have a job?”
The car door opened and my eyes moved automatically to the light. To my escape.
When he didn’t move or respond I reluctantly focused my attention on him again; he didn’t look quite so severe. Rather his gaze had softened considerably. If possible, the quiet understanding of his expression troubled me more than the cold stoicism he’d employed earlier. I sighed and shifted along the seat toward the door, lying to myself that I wanted to forget this car ride, forget that Quinn was ever anything but my boss.
I exited first and walked toward the trunk, hoping to grab my bag and disappear into the large casino lobby. I might even cry. Limo #2 was maneuvering into the casino but was still some distance away.
I felt Quinn hovering behind me, felt his hand close over my arm just above my elbow, the heat of his words on my ear and neck made me shiver despite the warmth of the Las Vegas sun.
“I’ll find you later.”
I turned toward him but he’d already released my arm; he was walking away, towards the hotel lobby, and away from me.
CHAPTER 18
I was, basically, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
Except, instead of a blinking red nose, I had a crimson blush. Quinn Sullivan made my light blink on and off. You could guide a sleigh by it, or a private jet. It was a beacon of embarrassment, mortification, pleasure, turpitude, awareness, frustration, and, yes, anger.
At present, however, I was a normal shade of whitish-beige. I was listening with all outward attentiveness to Quinn finish up the presentation our team put together for the meeting: an overview of the security in place for Outrageous, a schematic of the new club in Vegas overlaid with identified weaknesses in current operations, a comparison of approaches to security management of the entire property, casino included, and so forth. It was a strong presentation. I knew it by heart.
And, partly because I knew it by heart and partly because it was Quinn delivering the presentation, I didn’t hear any of it. I spent the entire half hour trying to appear attentive to the content and rather than the fine, agile movements of the speaker, the cadence of his voice, the depth of his cobalt eyes, the shape of his...
I blinked, with purpose, and shook my head just a little in order to re-direct my thoughts. The room was dimmed for the presentation and for that I was thankful.
The afternoon up to this point had been somewhat of a blur. After Quinn left me standing outside by limo #1, Steven, Carlos, and Olivia’s limo pulled in behind ours. Carlos didn’t seem surprised to find me there by myself and warmly folded me into their group, helping me navigate hotel check-in. Really, all I had to do was follow him into the casino, he did everything else. He even handed me my key, told me what room number was mine and how to find the elevators.