RYAN
She’s gone when I wake in the morning.
The scent of her shampoo lingers in the fabric of pillows and I close my eyes, remembering how it felt to hold her while she slept. Then my phone begins to vibrate on my nightstand and I’m forced from my imaginings. I look to see who is calling me at this early hour and realize that it is after 9am. It’s pretty unheard of me to sleep past 7am so the fact I’m two hours further into the day than I thought has me taken aback.
It’s Dr. Humberside.
I stare at the phone. I know why he’s calling and I don’t want to hear anything he has to say. I don’t know why he keeps persisting in trying to get me to change my mind. He forgets that I have first-hand knowledge of the issue and don’t need the so called expertise he’s trying to shove down my throat. I send the call to voicemail and throw the phone down onto the bed next to me.
Fuck this.
I don’t need people in my life who want to tell me what to do. I’m a grown fucking man. I know my own mind. This phone, while I have it, is always going to ring. It’s always going to link me to my world. I can’t escape. Not while I’m here in this house. Not while I’m still checking my emails and answering my cell.
There have been moments in my life when I’ve known that the decision I was making was going to have a profound impact on what happened next. The day I got my first big investor for the company. The day I walked past Corina in the street and decided to invite her out for dinner. As I lay in my bed I know that this thing that I’m considering is going to change everything for me.
I reach for the phone and call my PA. I can hear her scribbling down my instructions. There is a lot for her to organize in a very short stretch of time but I don’t worry that she won’t get it done. I pay her double the average PA salary because I can’t live without her.
Once I leave my plan in her capable hands, I pick up the phone and dial Jessie’s room. She picks up after the third ring, her voice soft and surprised.
“Hello.”
“You left my bed, Jessie. You left without saying goodbye.”
“I’m sorry, Ryan,” she says. “I needed to use the bathroom.”
“I have a bathroom in my suite, Jessie.”
She laughs softly. “I know you do, but I wanted to freshen up a little.”
“So you were planning on coming back, were you?” I tease.
“I would have been there already if I hadn’t been interrupted by a very bossy man,” she says.
“Bossy man says get your ass back here right now.” I practically growl the sentence and she laughs out loud.
“Yes, sir!” she says is a mock military tone.
“I have plans for us, Jessie,” I tell her.
“That sounds ominous.”
“Not ominous, Jessie. Exciting.”
“Well. You better let me get off this phone then,” she says and I smile.
“But I like the sound of your voice,” I say. There is something very lovely about talking to her like this, knowing that she’s in the next room.
“Bye, Mr. Bossy,” she says and I hear the phone click.
I’m just about to slip out of bed to freshen up a little myself when there’s a soft knock at the door.
“Door is open,” I call, and then she’s there like a ray of sunshine on a dull and cloudy day.
“Hey,” she says. “You rang!”
I smirk because I seem to have fucked some sass into her and I like it. “Are you trying to be smart, little miss Jessie? Because smart girls need a firm hand.”
Her beautiful sky blue eyes flash at me. “A firm hand?” I nod, as she walks closer, seemingly unconcerned about my hand and its potential firmness. “I’m not that interested in the hand,” she says. “I’m interested in the excitement.”
“Ah… the lady wants to know about my exciting plans?”
She takes a seat on the edge of the bed and smiles. “Well, that is how you lured me back into your lair,” she laughs.
“My lair?”
She raises her eyebrows as if to say, ‘get on with it, Ryan,’ so I do.
“We’re going out of town for a while,” I say.
“Where?” she asks.
“Well… a few different places. First stop is Las Vegas. The rest you will have to wait and see.”
“Las Vegas,” she says with so much excitement in her voice I want to hug her.
“Yeah, baby,” I say. Sin City seems like the perfect place for me to start to let my hair down.
“So I need to go pack?”
“I’ll send Geraldine to take care of it,” I say. “She’ll know what you need and we can always pick up anything you’re missing as we go.”
“Okay.” She looks uncertain and I have to remind myself that she’s not used to having people do things for her.
“Geraldine is an experienced assistant with extensive styling experience. You’ll have everything you need, Jessie.” I take her hand and slip my fingers between hers, pulling it up to my mouth and kissing it gently. Her lids lower and her breathing changes. “You don’t need to worry about a thing now,” I say.
“For twenty-seven more days,” she says softly.
Fuck. The deadline is creeping closer. Less than a month now. I’m determined to make this a month for her to remember for the rest of her life.
“Let’s make them the best twenty-seven days ever.”
She swallows and nods and then leans forward to kiss me. It’s soft and sweet and chaste but I still feel it my balls. I could fuck her again right now, but she’s fresh and we don’t really have time to do it justice. Waiting to indulge in your favorite treat only makes it sweeter, at least, in my experience.
“Shall I send for breakfast,” I say, all the while gently kissing her lips.
“Uh huh,” she says, sliding in a little closer.
“How hungry are you?” I ask.
“Pretty damn hungry.”
“Tell me what you want, Jessie. Anything and I’ll get it for you.”
“Anything?” she teases.
“Anything your heart desires.”
She looks thoughtful. “Well. I do have a thing for Eggs Benedict.”
“Your wish is my command.” I reach for the phone and put her order into the kitchen.
“Coffee,” she mouths while I’m ordering my own breakfast. Pancakes, just the way Jessie had them. They are certainly not what I’d usually indulge in. My personal trainer would have a coronary, but I find that I don’t give a fuck right now.
“Anything else, princess?”
She purses her lips in mock disgust. “Chocolate covered strawberries,” she suggests. “And French toast.”
“Yes ma’am.”
She grins as I tell the kitchen. When I hang up she shakes her head. “You could literally tell them anything and they’d deliver it, wouldn’t they?”
“Of course,” I say.
“But what if they didn’t have strawberries?” Jessie asks.
“They’d send out for them.”
“But wouldn’t that take a long time?”
“Donovan is very fast on his motorcycle,” I laugh.
“Wow.” Jessie shakes her head.
“It’ll be served in fifteen minutes,” I tell her. “Why don’t you go and finish getting ready then we can eat here while Nolan organizes the car?”
She agrees and after she’s left I make a quick phone call to Geraldine.
With everything in motion, all that I need to do it take a shower myself. I’m dressed by the time Jessie returns looking absolutely gorgeous in a floral maxi dress and gold sandals. She’s braided her hair loosely to one side and looks perfectly bohemian. We eat the breakfast that is delivered to my suite while Jessie asks questions about Las Vegas. It seems to be a place she always wanted to visit but has never had the chance. I don’t tell her that we’re going to stay in my hotel because she doesn’t need to know. All she needs is for me to show her a good time. The next twenty-seven days are going to be all about escapism, and when it’s done I know that the memories will keep us both company.
We ride to the airport with Darryl and Freddie, my security team. Jessie’s been unaware of them since her arrival but I’ve been reckless with our safety. No more. This woman is my responsibility and I’m going to take the best care of her while I can.
My jet is waiting on the tarmac and we are in the air so quickly I can tell that Jessie is a bit overwhelmed. Champagne in hand we sit side by side. She’s quiet but I don’t press for conversation. I know what it’s like to need the space to just be in your own thoughts.
I’ve always been a nervous flier and my team knows this. The jet is set up to help me avoid triggers. I sit without a view of a window. Soft classical music plays that my hypnotist has used as a trigger to make me feel calm. The pilot won’t make any announcements unless it’s an emergency. I try not to show any visible signs of my anxiety. I grip the seat beneath me on the side furthest away from Jessie and use it as my anchor.
When we near McCarran airport she moves to take a seat near a window. “Look, Ryan.” Her hand reaches out to wave me over. “Look!”
I know what it looks like from looking at magazines. The landscape is beautiful because of its barrenness. “I know,” I say softly. “You enjoy.”
“It’s amazing,” she says. “Nothing as far as the eye can see and then…”
“You wait until we’re on the ground,” I tell her. I know a lot of people who find Las Vegas tacky, but there is nowhere else like it in the world.
The scale.
The drama.
The sheer excess.
I love it for all the reasons some people hate it and I’m hoping Jessie will too.
We’re transported by limousine to the hotel. I spend a lot of the journey looking out the window, noting what has changed since I was last here. A new hotel has been completed. Extensions to others. A big refurbishment. Nothing stays the same. Jessie sits close, also gazing out of the window. I hold her hand in mine because it just feels right and she doesn’t object so it’s all good.
As the limo pulls in my personal concierge appears immediately to arrange for our luggage to be taken to my suite and to greet Jessie and me. She’s so gracious, eyes wide, taking in the spectacle of the hotel entrance and the vastness of the casino floor.
Crawford’s. I adopted a new name when I started my company. Something more serious than Gosling.
It’s bright inside; something I made sure of when I was working with the designer. Bright and exciting. Gambling doesn’t have to be seedy and dingy. Jessie looks towards reception as though she’s expecting us to stand in line. When we breeze through towards the elevators she seems confused.
“Don’t we need a key?”
I pull a key card out of my pocket and she shakes her head.
“How did you manage that?” she asks.
“Wait and see,” I say.
The elevator is so fast that my ears pop and I see Jessie reaching for hers. “Which floor are we on?” she asks.
“Top,” I say. Her eyes widen. “Isn’t that where the most expensive rooms are?”
“You don’t need to worry about that kind of thing,” I say.
She seems to study me. “This hotel is stunning. There is something familiar about it.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“There is something about it that reminds me of your home.”
I shake my head because this girl is so perceptive. I used the same designer for my residence as I did for the hotel and they were completed within a few months of each other so it isn’t really surprising that there are similarities between the décor. What is surprising is that Jessie has picked up on it.
“Mmmm,” I say in a non-committal way. It’s not so much that I don’t want her to know that this is my hotel. I’m not worried about her finding out about the extent of my wealth. In the days of google nothing is secret. I guess I just want to be able to relax here without her looking at everything through different eyes. Right now we’re just guests and I like that.
When the doors open I hear her intake of breath. It is spectacular up here. Everything you would expect from the hallway to the most exclusive of suites. I take her hand and walk us quickly down the hallway to the entrance to mine. Inside the first thing you see is the view down the strip. It’s spectacular from this height and with the floor to ceiling windows framing it perfectly.
“Oh my god,” she gasps and then she’s off. She doesn’t seem to take in anything about the gorgeous living space that still almost takes my breath away. She stands so close to the window I feel a little woozy. I’m not good with flying and I’m worse with heights. I know it seems ridiculous to have a penthouse with vertigo, but it’s expected when you’re the owner and if I stay away from the edge I’m okay. “Get over here,” Jessie gasps, turning and frantically waving me over.
“You’re okay,” I say. “I’ve seen it before.”
Jessie narrows her eyes thoughtfully. “Are you scared of heights, Mr. Bossy?”
I can’t help but smile slightly. If she’s not careful I might have to put her over my knee and really show her how bossy I can be. “Not scared as such, Miss Sassy.”
Jessie smirks. “So if we’re not going to be gazing out of the window at the amazing view, what are we going to do while we’re here?”
I raise my right eyebrow. Fuck. There are so many things I could do to this woman. So many she wouldn’t know what’s hit her. We could stay hold up in this suite for days, and while that seems like a pretty tempting option, sex isn’t the only thing I want to be doing with our remaining time together. I have things to tick off my list and we’re going to start right now.
“Get your purse, Jessie. We’ve got plans.”