Jimmy

“I really outdid myself with this one, Ross.”

“Figured you’d toot your own horn at some point in time, Jimmy. Surprised it took you so long.”

“Long? We’ve only been here ten minutes,” I said.

“A record for as long as I’ve known you.” Ross chuckled.

“How’s everything looking?”

“I don’t know. We’ve only been here—what did you just say—ten minutes?”

“I’ve been here long enough to comment on how grand this hotel is, but we haven’t been here long enough for you to start your job? You’re slipping, buddy.”

“Let me go check on the kitchen and make sure all the waitstaff has arrived for the party,” Ross said.

“Then check and make sure all the rooms in the hotel are actually booked up. I made sure to stress to the general manager that this hotel was mine for the next forty-eight hours.”

“Every single room?” Ross whistled. “You really did go all out this time.”

“I told you it was going to be big. This company has been working overtime for the past nine months. It’s about time they were able to party as hard as they worked.”

“Your parties are the only reason most of the staff stays. You can’t imagine the complaints I field on a daily basis,” he said.

“Ah, well. They can burn off some steam tonight. A little food, a little booze, a really nice room to fall into with a beautiful person in their arms. They’ll be fine. I’m sure of it,” I said.

“Didn’t you invite the employees and their families?” Ross asked.

“Yes?”

“Then why would—you know what? I don’t even wanna know what sorts of creepy familial fantasies are rolling around in that head of yours.”

“Trust me. You most certainly do not,” I said with a grin.

I threw three distinct parties throughout the year for my company, one to kick off the New Year, one to celebrate Christmas, and one around summertime to celebrate the milestones the company had made thus far. My employees worked around the clock for me, so it was only fitting I provide for them a weekend outlet to do what they wanted with whomever they wanted without judgment. I provide the food, the drinks, the rooms, and the dancing, and they made the debauched romance for themselves. I allowed them to bring anyone and everyone they wanted, and room keys were to be handed out like candy at a child’s play party.

And this party would be no different.

Several milestones had been made at Big Steps. We surprised the one-billion-dollar mark in gross sales, we exceeded the half-billion-dollar mark in gross net profit for the year, and we reached the point where our orders were exceeding our ability to produce luxury products. Whatever you wanted, we sold. If someone wanted a personalized limousine? We made that. If someone wanted a blacked-out yacht with chrome detail? We made that too. If someone wanted a tie-dyed helicopter with miniature televisions mounted into the backs of the headrests and the legs made of pure gold.

Yep. We did that too. Big Steps had just been named the world’s go-to company for all things decadent and expensive.

And we were going to celebrate in true, unadulterated form.

“Talked to the chef. The hors d’oeuvres will start being served around seven, and the kitchen will stay open with them until two, where they’ll then switch back to their room service menu in case anyone from the hotel rooms orders anything,” Ross said.

“Perfect. What about the bartenders?” I asked.

“They’re here and preparing. Three have been assigned to serve just the dining hall, and three are standing by for when people start calling down from the rooms. Drink service will be available to their rooms upon request like you asked.”

“Wonderful. What about the hotel rooms?”

“Headed there now. I take it you want the key to the penthouse suite on the top floor? For you and Nina?”

“Yes to the key. Who knows to Nina,” I said. There was no keeping the sarcasm or frustration out of my voice regarding my girlfriend.

“Trouble in paradise?” he asked.

“She’s the devil in a Gucci dress, but you know exactly what she is.”

“And I keep my mouth shut because it’s not any of my business,” he said.

“Do you have a date for tonight?” I asked.

“You know I don’t.”

“I still hold out hope that you’ll find yourself a nice woman.”

“Like Nina?” he asked.

“I’m the head of the most sought-after company for the rich and famous. I have to look good for the cameras.”

“And that includes the woman on your arm? You know you can do better.”

I shot Ross a look, hoping he would shut up with her name already. “Says the man who got his heart broken four years ago and won’t get back out there,” I said.

“I didn’t get my heart broken. I got stood up at my damn wedding.”

“Which you still didn’t have to reimburse me for. Besides, there are plenty of beautiful women who work at this company and will be here with their families. Maybe there’s a staff member with a neglected mother who might take a chance on you?”

“You’re insane, Jimmy. And I hope the company keeps making money the way it is. Because we’re going to need it if your parties are going to continue being this extravagant.”

“Running all those numbers in that head of yours?” I asked.

“I might be racking up some basic totals, yes.”

“I’ll be interested to know what they are after I finished my fourth drink of the night.”

“You’re always upstairs by the thir—ah, I get it.”

“A little slow tonight, Ross. Get yourself a keycard at the front desk before you move to slow to get one later,” I said with a wink.

There were a few last-minute preparations, which really involved me pointing people in certain directions while I drank my whiskey. I was ready to get this party started. People were beginning to trickle in, and the bartenders were making the alcohol flow. I saw mothers and fathers beaming with their children as they walked in. I saw men from Human Resources with their wives on their arms and men from IT with their guts hanging over their belts. I mingled with the crowd, welcoming everyone to the party and filling them in on all the details, letting them know they could take advantage of the hotel for the entire weekend at no cost to them.

They praised me for my generosity, and I grinned.

I loved it when they praised me.

The bass started thumping, and people were holding their drinks up and dancing. People’s fathers were grinding on their wives, reigniting flames of passion that had been dormant for most of their marriage. Single women were drunk and hanging all over the IT guys who would finally get laid for the first time in months. The secretaries were giggling in the corner with their tight little dresses and their salacious heels. The mailroom crew members were enjoying their drinks in the middle of the dance floor, grinding on one another and whooping like they were at a college frat party.

And then there was Ross, running around and trying to field the kitchen and the bartenders to keep up with the demand of people flooding in.

“Great party, Mr. Sheldon!”

“The bartenders are fabulous! They made this drink especially for me.”

“This food is incredible. Way to go, Mr. Sheldon.”

“Hey, Mr. Sheldon! Wanna get in on this picture?”

We raised our glasses high as a bunch of the women gathered around me. Their legs were hoisted up onto my hips, trying to get a piece of what I’d become. And what I’d become was famous. Successful. Rich beyond my wildest dreams.

And I was never going back. I knew what it was like to live in poverty, to eat food out of dumpsters and skin the snakes I found in the backyard to eat with dinner.

I was never going back to that lifestyle.

Ever.

“Everyone, could I have your attention please?”

I took the microphone from the DJ as the music came to a pause.

“I just wanted to say that all of you have been complimenting me on this party, which is wonderful, and you’re welcome. But you’re welcome to it because my company can’t be a success without you guys. I know you complain about the overtime hours, and I know it’s hard, but Big Steps is positioned the way it is because of people like you. I’m the face, but you’re the body. So, for all your hard work, you deserve to let loose and have fun. All the food, drinks, room service, and accommodations are on me for the entire weekend!”

The crowd erupted into a raucous applause as I smiled out at the crowd.

“So have fun and make sure to check out by one on Sunday afternoon!”

I tossed the microphone back to the DJ as my eyes scanned the crowd. People were loosening up with the booze running through their systems, but the best part was that Nina hadn’t shown up. Which was great. There was no press at this event, and there were no national speeches to be given. So there was no point in being seen with her here.

Which meant I could have any woman I wanted for the entire fucking weekend.

My eyes landed on a beautiful woman at the bar. Red hair piled high on her head. Big, green doe eyes. I recognized her. Ashley, I thought her name was. Or maybe Andrea. Alicia? Either way, I’d heard wonderful things about her work ethic and all that she had done this past year for the company. She had been one of the most recent hires in Accounting, but she was assigned to overseeing past due accounts. In the time she’d been with the company, over half of our past due accounts had gotten back onto regular payment plans and had been paying regularly for a few months now.

I figured it was a good time to introduce myself and figure out why she was so persuasive.

“Hello.”

She turned her eyes toward me, a cosmo playing at her lips. “Mr. Sheldon! Hello, it’s very nice to finally meet you. I’m Ashley Ternbeau.”

“I know who you are,” I said as I took her hand. “The head of accounting speaks very highly of you.”

“That’s very kind of him,” she said.

Was she blushing at the compliment? So cute, and sensual. Focus buddy. “Care for another Cosmo? Bartender!” I held up my hand and ordered her another glass as she polished off the one in her hand.

“That’s very kind of you, thank you,” Ashley said.

“Is everything ‘very kind’?”

“Nope. Plenty of things are not kind,” she said. “That doesn’t mean you shouldn't be kind in return.”

“I take it that’s how you’re getting people to start paying their monthly payments. By being kind?”

“Sometimes all people want is someone to listen to their side of the story. You know, feel like they’re heard before they whip out their wallets.”

“Better you than me. Contracts are something I take very seriously, no matter what my personal disposition to the matter,” I said.

“Then I suppose it is a good thing I’m down there, and you’re where you are.”

I could see why people would yield to her. Even though they couldn't see her physical beauty over the phone, her voice lent much to the ear. It was soft but had sultry undertones. Like she’d lived just enough life to be wise without losing her palatable playfulness for exotic adventures. I liked that in a woman. The delicate fire behind her green eyes. The way she cocked part of her body away from me as if I was supposed to be chasing her.

But I didn’t have time to chase her.

I had a party to tend to.

“It was nice talking with you, Miss Ternbeau. Maybe we’ll run into one another again soon,” I said.

“I hope we do,” Ashley said with a smile.

I went to mingle with some of the other employees, learning their names and a little bit about them. But the entire time, my eyes kept drifting back to Ashley. Her sultry gaze and her alluring form was something to be desired. Sometimes, I caught her staring back at me, and other times, I caught her talking with someone.

But a few times I turned my head, I saw her talking to the same person, a man I didn’t quite recognize.

I watched as he took the cosmo from her hand and led her to the dance floor. She was shaking her head and resisting his pull, but the smile on her face gave her away. She was enjoying the attention, even though she wanted to resist it. And the man was relentless in getting her to the middle of the dance floor.

Then, a song struck up, a strong beat with a steady momentum. There was a circle that started forming on the dance floor, and I knew what that meant. Everyone had gotten drunk enough to start challenging people in their dancing.

And the man wasn’t half bad.

He had a few moves underneath his belt but nothing like I possessed. I’d danced for years. Formal ballroom. Swing dancing. A bit of jazz and some tap. It helped to relieve stress and made cardio fun, something a gym never could do for me. Exercising and keeping myself in shape was more palatable whenever I was having fun with it, and dancing wasn’t only fun.

It was a way for me to show off other skills I possessed underneath my clothing.

I watched as Ashley’s face reddened. I moved closer to the crowd as everyone started cheering her on. They were chanting her name and shouting at her to get on with it, but nothing could have prepared me for the way she moved. Her body started popping, and her legs started going. Her moves were synced to the music, and her jumps were higher than I’d ever seen before. She was definitely a trained dancer. In what, I had no idea.

But her movements were mesmerizing.

The crowd was cheering, and the man who had challenged her was getting worried. He had no moves in his repertoire that could’ve ever gone up against the likes of what she was doing. I threw back the rest of my whiskey and unbuttoned my coat, making sure I had enough room to do what I was about to do.

Then, I backflipped into the middle of the floor.

Everyone silenced at that moment as my eyes connected with Ashley’s. Her lips parted in shock, but her eyes were impressed. Another song started up, and I recognized it immediately and started in on the smooth moves I’d learned during my swing dancing lessons.

I twirled, and I went down for a knee-kinking split. My feet glided across the floor as everyone around us cheered. I held out my hand for Ashley halfway through, silently telling her to take it.

And when she slipped her hand in mine, I twirled her lovely body into me.

She moved with a grace that was unparalleled. She had a need she wanted filled, a dance partner who could keep up with her moves. The man who’d pulled her out onto the dance floor didn’t have the skills to fill that need for her, to tend to her the way she needed tending to.

But I did, and I had no issues stepping in.

We danced to a couple of songs as people cheered us on. I twirled her around and picked her up for a couple of lifts. She was laughing, and her cheeks were flushing with the alcohol she’d consumed. Her eyes lit up with the joy she got dancing around the floor in my arms. Her hips moved to the beat, and her legs whipped around at lightning speed.

The song dwindled, and I dipped her into the last chord. Our eyes connected as the crowd erupted into applause, but the deafening sound only served to enhance the beauty of her eyes. Her chest was heaving, bouncing with her contained bosom as my hand pressed dangerously into the small of her back. I curled my fingertips into her warmth, guiding her hips closer to mine before I set her back on her feet.

“Care for another drink?” I asked. “I need something cool.”

Before she could answer, I led her off the dance floor. I left her to catch her breath so I could grab her another cosmo and a whiskey and ginger for me. I didn’t want her getting caught up in another dance. I didn’t want some other man putting his hands on her. Ashley had a talent and not simply for getting people to open their wallets. She had the talent of drawing in a crowd and keeping them attached to her. Just letting go of her body against mine had been a feat in and of itself. I slung back my drink and asked the bartender for another. But as I turned around to take her drink to her, she was gone.

My head was on a swivel, trying to figure out where my redheaded vixen had gone. Had someone stolen her from underneath me? Did they not know who I was? I’d stepped up to the plate and outshined any man who could’ve put their hands on her. Did they not know she was taken for the evening?

But then, I caught sight of her standing out on the balcony.

I grabbed our drinks and walked out to where she was. The wind was blowing lightly, pulling a few strands of her dark red hair from the chopsticks in her hair. I handed her the glass, and she thanked me, a small smile playing across her cheeks.

“You’re the last person I would’ve pegged for a dancer,” Ashley said.

“It’s something I keep from the public eye,” I said.

“Why? Can’t have them thinking you’re any fun?”

“Nope. Can’t have them thinking I’m any good. It’s dangerous to be as perfect as I am.”

“Oh, you’re not perfect. Far from it.”

“It wounds me to hear you say such dastardly things,” I said with a grin. “Why am I not perfect?”

“I don’t know,” she said with a giggle. “I figured it was dangerous for a man of your stature to walk around thinking he was the greatest gift to creation.”

“Thank you for the title. I’ll be sure to tell the big man you say such wonderful things.”

“You really are full of yourself, aren’t you?” she asked.

“Only when the moment calls for it. People love to hate a good man.”

“I haven’t danced like that in years,” she said.

“You seem as if you’ve been dancing all your life.”

“I have. Ever since I was a little girl. I competed in middle school but stopped once high school started.”

“Why did you stop?” I asked.

“Math became a passion,” she said.

“Ah, those pesky numbers. Good thing I keep people like you and Ross around. I’m terrible with them.”

“I’m sure you make up for it in other areas.”

I watched her eyes case my body as her cheeks heated. So, this was what it looked like for a smart, intelligent woman to flirt with a man like myself. I grinned beyond my crystal glass as I watched her eyes finally meet mine again. Then she giggled and shook her head before she took a step toward me.

“If I didn’t know any better, Miss Ternbeau, I would say you were trying to flirt with me.”

“‘Trying’ being the correct word there,” Ashley said.

“So it is true.”

“What?” she asked.

“You’re flirting with me.”

She giggled again and nodded her head, but then she took a step away from me. I didn’t like that. I didn’t like the fact that establishing a basic truth made her pull away. There was nothing to be ashamed about. She was letting loose. I was letting loose. I didn’t usually let loose at my own parties, but hell. There was a first time for everything.

I reached out for her waist, stopped her, and then pulled her back to me, close like we had been on the dance floor.

“I take it you’re... flirting back?” she asked.

“Maybe,” I said with a grin.

I set down my glass before I took hers, allowing our glasses to rest on a table at our sides. Her eyes were entrancing, twinkling with the stars above our heads as the music pulsed through our veins. I could smell the crimson red wine on her breath as my eyes traced the lines of her lips.

“Kiss me,” she said breathlessly.

“I’m never one to leave a damsel in distress.”

I pressed my lips against hers, and the electricity shot right to my girth. The way her hands slid up my arms, feeling them before she clung to my suit coat. It was as if her very body needed me to survive. I cupped her cheek as her lips swelled underneath the contact. My hand slid to cradle her neck, my body stepping closer to her as she warmed underneath my touch.

She was panting when I broke the kiss, her lips hovering over mine.

“Would you care to see the penthouse?” I asked.

“Oh, yes,” Ashley said. “I think I would.”

I took her hand and led her from the balcony. Our drinks were forgotten as I danced her into the elevator. I slid my keycard in to take us to the penthouse floor, and then I pinned her body to the wall and claimed her as mine. Her hands ran around my waist, slipping underneath my tailored suit jacket. Her hands were trembling, and her legs were growing weak. Her waist begged for my touch, those salacious curves calling out to me in the cramped space of the elevator.

The doors opened, revealing the penthouse suite of the hotel. Ashley’s eyes slowly panned over to it, then her body drifted out of the elevator. She was stunned at its decadence, taking in the marble floors and the decorative columns that held up the high-vaulted ceilings. She slowly walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked Miami, with a view of the beautiful shadows of the ocean.

She gawked at its beauty, and I caught a hint of her innocence.

“Beautiful view, isn’t it?” I asked.

“I’ve never seen Miami from this high up before,” Ashley said.

“It leaves something to be desired sometimes.”

“How in the world could you get tired of a view like this?”

Her eyes slid over to mine, and I could see the wanton look painted across her features. I took a step toward her, turning her to the window as her back pressed against it. I reached out for her hip, settling the palm of my hand onto it. Her eyes were dancing between my lips and my chest, begging me to take her but silent in her pleas.

But I would make her beg.

Before I was done with her, I would make her beg.