be a couple of days, or… longer, maybe.”
“Wow… well, just take care of yourself.”
“I will. You too.”
“I’m not the one in Sin City with a guy who thinks I bonk so good he’s putting fifty G’s in my bank account.”
“Anh!” I half-laughed, half-shouted.
“Have fun,” she said sweetly. “Make sure you give him his money’s worth.”
I shouted at her in playful outrage for a couple more seconds, and then we said our final goodbyes.
9
Dinner was amazing.
Hell, the whole evening was amazing.
It all started off as Connor got dressed and I was putting on my makeup.
“Where do you want to eat?” he asked as he buttoned up an expensive blue shirt. “I’m starving.”
“I don’t know anywhere in Vegas.”
“You’ve never been here before?”
“Oh, I’ve been… once. I just don’t think you want to eat at the $8.99 prime rib buffet.”
“So let’s splurge and go for the $12.99 one down the street.”
“What’s funny is, to you, that’s a joke. To me just a week ago, that was extravagant.”
“We’ll save it for another night. I’ve got something in mind, but we’ll need to go shopping beforehand.”
“For what?”
“For you.”
I suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious as I stood there in my bra and panties in front of the mirror. I looked over at my rumpled clothes still lying on the bedroom floor. “I… do I have to get new clothes to go out to eat?”
“No, but it’ll be fun.”
“Maybe we should just order in…”
“Oh no. We’re going out.”
“But if you’re starving – ”
“Room service is sending up a small snack. I’ll be fine.”
“But – ”
“Get dressed,” he commanded. “We’re going out. That’s final.”
10
The small snack turned out to be a bottle of white wine, some amazing cheese and fruit, and a bunch of light-as-air crackers.
Connor made a phone call as Johnny and I had a bite to eat. The wine was amazing – a light chardonnay with hints of pear and vanilla. But Johnny wouldn’t take a sip, no matter how much I tempted him.
“I’m on duty, Lily.”
“It’s just a glass.”
“No.”
“Half a glass? A fourth of a glass?”
“You’re a bad influence, you know that?”
I pulled back, suddenly feeling that I was being cruel. “Just on you, or on Connor, too?”
Johnny laughed. “No, I’d say you’re actually a good influence on him.”
I felt a little bit better after that.
Connor came back into the room groaning.
“Did you call Steven?” Johnny asked.
Steven was supposedly Connor’s other assistant... or the assistant to Sebastian, I forget which. I’d only heard him mentioned briefly before, when Sebastian was going off on a mini-tirade about how wonderful he was.
Just to be clear, that was Sebastian going off on a mini-tirade about how wonderful Sebastian was. Not Steven. Steven was third-class all the way in comparison to Sebastian.
According to Sebastian, anyway.
“He couldn’t get me the reservation I wanted,” Connor said.
I drew my head back in mock horror. “Oh no! Whatever shall we do?!”
Connor gave me a dirty look, but I refused to be cowed.
“I guess it’s the $12.99 buffet,” I shrugged with an Oh well! smile.
Connor kept the dirty look going. “I don’t think so.”
Johnny frowned. “Didn’t Steven just drop your name?”
“Yeah, isn’t that the magic word?” I asked saucily.
“Apparently not. Although ‘Connor Brooks’ seems to work pretty well on some people,” he smirked.
“Agh – you! – ” I yelled and threw a cracker at him.
He dodged it and laughed, then looked at Johnny. “Dare I…?”
“Dare you what?” I asked, a little fearful of retaliation for the cracker.
Like tickling, say.
Although some tickling might be nice…
“Just appeal to his need to be important to you. You do that, he’s putty in your hands,” Johnny advised.
Sebastian.
They were going to call Connor’s regular assistant.
“Oh, come onnnn!” I protested.