CHAPTER ONE: in which they meet

“Are you Timothy James?”

I set my martini down. Placing my palms against the hotel bar, I swiveled on the stool to face the speaker of those husky notes. The woman was stunning. My mouth fell open at her beauty. The olive I had shifted to my molars, fell from my tongue, bumped off my jeans, and landed on the bamboo floor.

Hope I don’t slip in that shit.

She moved closer and her perfume hit me—a bouquet full of sweet notes, like a botanical garden in the spring.

I stopped contemplating the olive and started sizing up the woman before me. Smooth sepia skin, filled with rich red undertones. Dark natural hair hung in tight curls down her back. Upturned hazel eyes gave her a feline effect...

My scrutiny must have unnerved her. She frowned, backing away. “I’m sorry. I must have the wrong person.”

“Wait! Yes.” I halted her with a hand to her shoulder. “I’m, um, Timothy James.”

Her smile at the news was unbelievable—rainbows and sunshine. A far cry from my wife’s—ex-wife’s—pinched grimace. Her beam captivated me with its winsomeness, and for the first time in over a year, I seriously considered having sex.

“Nice to meet you, Timothy. I’m Vegas. Vegas Shipley.”

Vegas? The name suited her. A sizzling lucky seven with long legs, small waist, and tits I’d love to get my mouth on. She is ...

“Sin and Sugar.”

Heat crept from my neck up. Way to go ... Timothy.

Her laughter, a sweet tinkling sound, stirred me south of the border. I crossed my legs at the ankle, shifting in my chair.

“You’re not the first one to equate the two, but you are the first one to say it so ...” Vegas lowered her eyes, scanning me from bottom to top, “so deliciously.” Her tongue hovered between her teeth and a slight seductive smile, played around her lips.

There was no mistaking her vibe. She was into me. Now, if I can just dust off my lines, maybe I’ll get lucky tonight.

She spoke first, saving me from an embarrassing attempt to get her upstairs. “I have a room if you are ready?”

“Ready?”

“Well... um, yes, um, if you are ready to... you know.” She shuttered her eyes in a slow blink. Her tongue traveled over her top lip and halfway over her bottom before it disappeared like a rabbit in its hole.

I’d have to have an IQ the same as my shoe size to misinterpret her look. She is ready to ...

“Have sex?”

What’s with my mouth today?

Vegas let out a girlish giggle, fluttering her hands. Embarrassment lowered her eyes and her lips curled in amusement.

I couldn’t believe my luck at the surreal moment.

A beautiful woman is propositioning ... me?

Propositioning?

Wait...was she a prostitute?

“Do you do this a lot?” I asked, lifting a brow.

Her eyelashes, naturally long and thick, blinked double time in surprise. She shook her head in staccato jerks and clutched her thin bag under her arm so hard, something cracked. “No, no. This is the first time, ever.”

Running over everything she said, I was quick to figure out the situation.

This woman thinks I’m a ... gigolo?

Why not if it gets you laid?

This had to be a joke. Axel had played them on me before. Albeit nothing like this.

“Are you sure you want to go through with it?” There was a price to pay if she said ‘yes’ and I would gladly accept the cost, but in doing so, I wouldn’t allow harm to come to her.

Vegas threw back her shoulders and lifted her head high, telling me without words she was a grown woman... with a grown woman’s desires.

“Yes, I do.” A pause and then a sheepish grin. “My friend paid the agency directly. She knows I would try to weasel out otherwise.”

Her accompanying giggle thawed my insides, giving me the courage to move ahead. “She must be a wonderful friend.”

Her eyes clouded over, and her words dripped with thanks. “She is the best.”

I downed the rest of the martini in one gulp—moral fortitude in a glass. “Well, let’s not waste her money.” I slid off the stool and Vegas took in my height, looking up at me in awe. “Time is ticking.”