Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 84000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
I roll my eyes. “How would we feel right now if we were going to give them another stone?”
Sophia laughs. “Like losers.”
“Okay, so what did Worth and Sophia get?” Efa asks.
Sophia and I glance at each other conspiratorially. “We have two options,” I say.
I pull out the antique hip flask filled with water from the Bellagio. After lunch, I got the driver to take me to an antique shop and I picked up the silver flask for ninety dollars. I may well have paid ten times that amount for the pen I grabbed at the same time. I wanted to make sure I was following the rules. I hope Sophia’s not too pissed at me. I just couldn’t slide a Fiji water bottle onto the table. “This contains water borrowed from the fountains at the Bellagio. Alternatively”—I produce the earrings from my pocket—“we have earrings on loan from Bulgari.”
Jules glances at Leo, and Sophia reaches for the earrings.
“They’re really pretty,” Sophia says as she opens the case and sets them down on the table.
“Wow,” Jules says. “They’re beautiful. I’m not sure I’d want to give them back.”
“I’m sure I could arrange for you to keep them,” Leo says.
Sophia pats me on the leg, excited, and I feel a sense of satisfaction for playing a part in her happiness.
Fisher and Jack’s blue is a blue ribbon fashioned into a bow that could be affixed to the inside of Jules’ dress. Leo and Jules broke the budget rules and splurged on a tennis bracelet.
Bennett and Efa win, and I can’t bring myself to be mad about it. Spending the day with Sophia, just the two of us, more than made up for losing the game.
After the appetizers arrive, Sophia disappears from the table, and after a couple of minutes, I make my excuses and try to find her.
She’s at the bar. Today, she’s waiting, grinning at me, practically jumping up and down.
“She loved both,” she says.
I nod, wondering whether or not it’s possible to feel so much for someone you’d never laid eyes on three weeks ago. “Yeah, it turned out okay.”
“I don’t even care that we didn’t win.” She sighs. “I had such a good time today.”
I slide my hand through my hair to try to stop myself from grinning like an idiot. “Me too.”
“It feels good to be away,” she says. “Like the version of me here can forget about things going on in Cincinnati. This me can be a little wild. A little crazy.”
Our eyes lock. I want to kiss her so badly it actually hurts, but I don’t want to overstep. She’s going through a lot. “I want to kiss you,” I admit.
Her hand slides over my chest. “I want that too. Very much.”
I cup her face and press my lips against hers. The buzz I feel whenever I’m around her intensifies. She feels warm under my hand, soft and perfect. I take her bottom lip between my teeth and she gasps, pressing her body against mine.
I’m totally fucking one hundred percent in for this woman.
My tongue slides into her mouth and I feel myself falling deeper and deeper, like each touch binds us together, tighter and tighter.
Her hands slide up my sides and I shudder. Fuck, I want her. I want to feel her soft skin, all over every dip and curve. I want to run my tongue against every inch of her flesh and I want to fuck her in the fountains at the Bellagio.
But I know that at the end of it, I won’t possess her—she’ll possess me.
She pulls back slightly and our kiss breaks off, but she doesn’t step back. Instead, she wraps her arms around me and puts her face to my chest. “Did everyone see?” she asks.
“We’re in the middle of a bar, so anyone who saw me definitely thought I was the luckiest guy in Vegas.”
I feel her smile against my shirt.
“We should get back to the table.”
I sigh. She’s right, but I don’t want to move.
Fuck, I haven’t spoken to Fisher yet. That has to be the next thing I do. “Yeah, we do,” I say.
“I have to go to the restroom first.” She drops her hands and steps back.
“See you back at the table.”
I get back to the private room and catch Fisher’s eye. I lift my chin and indicate with a sideways nod of my head that I want to speak to him.
“You okay?” he asks as we slip out to the restaurant lobby.
“Yeah. Just want to talk to you about something. You’re not interested in Sophia, are you?”
He frowns. “No, I told you, getting involved with her would be messy.”
I push my hand through my hair. “Right. So, I’m very interested in Sophia. Is that a problem?”
His eyes widen and a smile explodes on his face. “Worth! Dude, I’m happy for you. Is she into you?”