Only in Vegas (8 page)

“For your information, Trey Landers, I wasn’t showing anyone but you.  In case it escaped your notice, there weren’t any other men in the dressing room area.”

His
notice
had been too preoccupied with other things.  “Well, that doesn’t mean there won’t be.  This is where the dressing rooms are.”

“Kathy is right.”

“About what?” 

“You’ve been overworking yourself lately.  You seem really stressed.”

“My reaction has nothing to do with my company.”  His gaze fell to the all too revealing black bra.  “And everything to do with that.”

She looked down then back up at him.  “This bra stresses you out?”

It did more than stress him out.  Try turned him on.  Heated him up.  Drove him crazy.

“Only when I have to worry about some old guy walking into the dressing room area and catching you wearing that,” he replied with a frown.  “You might as well strut around the room without anything on.”

Angel laughed.  “You are kidding me, right?”

“No.”

“For your information,” she argued with a tilt of her chin, “this bra covers more than most bikini tops do.”

Maybe so, but right now with her arms crossed that way, he couldn’t tear his gaze from the breasts spilling out over the lacy top of it. 

Angel’s breasts.

How had he never noticed them before?  It wasn’t like he hadn’t known they existed.  It was just that he’d never allowed himself to dwell on Angel’s womanly attributes.  Until this trip.  Now that seemed to be all he could think about. 

Maybe it was the hook-a-man-with-one-look black bra she was wearing, or the leg baring leather skirt.  Then again, it could be because of the basket of goodies she already had waiting for her at the front counter.  Throw in his awakening desire for his best friend...

That last thought floored Trey completely.  He wanted Angel like he’d never wanted any other woman.  But she needed a man who could give her the commitment she was looking for, and he wasn’t at that point in his life.  Right now, he was committed to expanding his company and that gave him very little time for a personal life.

“You never answered my question.”

Her words forced his gaze upward.  “Question?”  For the life of him he couldn’t remember her asking him anything.

She rolled her eyes.  “A lot of help you are.  I asked if you would you prefer this bra in black or red.  Or maybe I should just buy both to be safe.”

“Both are good,” was all he could manage in his aroused state. 

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I think I’m about done here.”

“Okay.  Go ahead and finish up.”  He moved toward the curtain.  “Since you won’t be needing my opinion anymore, I’m going to step outside and admire the city that never sleeps while I wait.”

...And pray that flashing neon lights and herds of people would put an immediate damper on his Angel-induced hard on.

CHAPTER SIX

Angie followed Trey into their suite where he deposited an armful of her purchases onto the oversized bed.  He’d insisted on carrying them for her on the way back to the hotel.

Rick would never have offered to do something like that for her.  In fact, her idiotic ex wouldn’t have even offered to go shopping with her.  Yet Trey had gone with her all day and had been such a good sport about it.

She turned to him with a smile.  “Thank you for going shopping with me today.  I know I took a little too long in that last store, but I was having so much fun that I sort of lost track of time.”

“Having fun is a good thing,” he replied, returning her smile.  “Besides, think of all the money you saved me today by keeping me out of the casinos.”

Angie glanced at the pile of assorted shopping bags Trey had placed on the turned down comforter.  “Yeah, well, I think I made up for it.  The money you saved I spent.”

He nodded in agreement.  “And then some.”

Angie groaned as she looked through the SINFUL SURRENDER bags.  “I suppose I might have gone a little overboard on my shopping spree.”

“Who knows, Angel, maybe Lady Luck will shine on you this trip to Vegas and make up for all the money you spent on sexy clothes today.”

She nodded.  “That would be nice.  You know, despite what they say about American Express, I should have left home without it.”

He waved a hand over the packages strewn across the bed, a worried frown creasing his brows.  “Are you telling me you charged all of this?”

“I always put my charges on my credit card when I go out of town.”

“Oh, hell.”

Angie pressed a finger to his scrunched up brows.  “Get rid of that frown and stop worrying.  I have the money to cover it.  I just don’t like carrying a lot of cash with me on trips and writing checks can be a real pain.”

His troubled expression eased.

“There, that’s better,” she said.  She knew Trey worried because he cared about her.  He always had.  Growing up under the care, if one could call it that, of her elderly grandmother, she hadn’t had much to call her own.  Then when she graduated from high school and set out on her own money was extremely tight.

But that was then.

Now she had a great job with Sunset Travel, Rick’s employment there being the only exception.  As for money, she was usually very careful not to throw it away on things she really didn’t need.  Today constituted a need situation.  She was at a point in her life where she wanted to feel like the woman she was. 

“Angel?  You okay?”

“I was just thinking about how much fun I had with you today.  And your reaction to my dressing room fashion show was a real confidence booster.  I think I’m going to like this new image we’re creating.  The new me.”

“Angel...”  He caught her face between his hands, tipping it upward.  “Listen to me and listen good.  There is nothing whatsoever wrong with the old you.  How many times do I have to tell you that before you finally believe me?”

His blue eyes held such warmth as he looked down at her Angel couldn’t help but smile.  “Is it any wonder why you’re one of my very best friends?”

He was so good to her.  Some woman was going to be really lucky to win his heart someday.  She’d be lying to herself if she didn’t admit there had been times she’d wished she could be that woman.  But that was as far as it went...wishing.

He caressed her cheeks lightly with his thumbs.  “You’re pretty good for me, too, you know.”

His gentle touch set off a barrage of emotions inside her.  Need.  Want.  Love.  It was the last that had her pulling away from Trey.

“Is something wrong?”

“No.”  She grabbed two of the larger packages from the bed and carried them over to the armoire.  “I just thought I’d better put these things away.  Clear up the clutter so to speak.”

Trey scooped up the remaining two and followed her.  “So what all did you buy at that store?” he asked, lifting and lowering the packages as if weighing them.  “There’s more here than I saw you try on.”

“Not much more.”

“Angel, you bought enough to fill four shopping bags.  I know you didn’t have that much picked out when I stepped outside to wait for you.  What else did you buy?”

“I found another skirt that I really liked.  Sort of a champagne color with a sheer black lace overlay.”

“Short?”

“Very.”

He muttered a curse, making her smile.

She went on, “Oh, and I found a couple more tops.  Then when I was checking out I saw some silk scarves I thought would go great with some of my business suits.  I grabbed them up, too.”

“Very sensible,” he replied, nodding.

Angie reached for the bags he was holding, adding as she turned away, “Oh, and did I mention I got some whipped cream, too?”

“Whipped
cream?”

“Gift with purchase,” she explained with a rush of heat to her cheeks.  “Flavored.” 

“I take it we’re not talking about the kind you put on top of pumpkin pie.”

“Um, I don’t think so.”  Angie dug in the bags until she found the can.  Pulling it out, she held it up for him to see.  “The fact that it’s labeled BODY WHIP kind sort of gives it away.”

He took the can, examining it with a grin.  “Hell, if I’d have known this came with purchase, I’d have bought myself a leather skirt, too.”

Angie laughed.  “It didn’t come with the skirt.  It came with the nightie I bought.”

“The nightie you forgot to mention buying?”

“Maybe.”

“I hope it’s a little more daring than the Garfield nightshirt you usually wear to bed.  You know, the I HATE MORNINGS one.”

“I think it’s a little sexier than that one.”  Kathy had bought her the Garfield
sleep shirt the Christmas before as a joke, but it had become one of Angie’s favorite lounge-around outfits.

Trey chuckled.  “Angel, allow me to let you in on a secret.  Anything would be more sexy than Garfield.”

Her lips formed a playful pout.  “And here I thought you liked me in that nightshirt.  You always seem to drop by when I’m either just getting out of bed or getting ready for it.”

“Purely coincidence.  And here’s a tip, since you want a man’s opinion on these things, men don’t need expensive nighties to get them fired up.  Hell, nothing at all does the same trick.” 

“So you’d prefer me naked?”

Trey’s eyes widened.  “What?”

She bit back a giggle.  “Hypothetically speaking, of course.” 

“Of course.”  Shaking his head and grinning, he stepped around her and made his way over to the window on the other side of the Jacuzzi.

“Can I model it for you?”

“What?”  He turned from the view outside.

“You know, to see what you think.  It would be nice to have a man’s opinion.”

He hesitated in his reply.  “Angel, I’m not so sure that’s a good—”

“I promise it covers more than the bra did,” she said, cutting off his protest.  “And you are here to give me a man’s view on what’s sexy.  Are you not?” 

Trey gave a casual shrug.  “You’ve got a point.  So what are you waiting for?  Go try it on.”

“Okay.  Be back in a sec.”

She grabbed the bag that held her newly purchased nightgown and made a bee-line for the bathroom before Trey could change his mind.  His reaction to it was very important to her.  She wanted him to like it. 

Butterflies swirled in frenzied flutters in her stomach as Angie pushed the bathroom door shut behind her.  When had it happened?  When had she begun to feel more for Trey than friendship? 

This was more than teenage fantasies of her best friend’s brother.  Something altogether different.  It was intense.  Real.  Exciting.

It was also crazy.  No matter what her growing feelings for Trey were, she knew where his thoughts lay in regards to long-term commitments.  She had no intention of pushing him.  Their friendship was too important.

That didn’t mean she couldn’t live out a fantasy week in Vegas while recreating herself.  She wanted to show Trey she was more than his best friend.  She was a woman, too.  

*              *              *

Trey gave a hopeless chuckle, shaking his head as he paced the hotel room waiting for Angel to change.  He could run a several million dollar company, but found himself chasing his tail in circles when it came to Angel and her crazy plans.

“Trey...”

He turned and his breath hitched.

The nightie had come with body whip.  That should have been his first inkling that it was going to be something else to behold.  But nothing had prepared him for the sight of Angel as she stepped from the bathroom in the clinging blue silk gown. 

His heart thudded wildly against his chest as he stood staring at her.  Angelina Rossi, his best friend, had shot right past an 8.0 on the Richter scale of sexy, giving new meaning to the term ‘perfect ten’.

“Well?” she asked almost nervously as she lingered in the open doorway.  “What do you think?”

She had no reason to be nervous.  Not when she looked like that.  The sapphire blue nightgown she wore hung to just above her ankles, but the slit along its one side ran clear up to her very bare mid-thigh, maybe higher.

Trey swallowed hard, trying not to look close enough to confirm his observation.  Not looking was impossible.  The neckline was every bit as revealing, plunging down into a deep V between her ample breasts.  It definitely covered more than the black lace bra had, but not in the places he needed it to.  Not if he wanted to keep his sanity in place.

“Trey?”  Angel started toward him, a flash of bare thigh taunting him with every step, testing his already crumbling willpower.

He stood there, incapable of moving even if he wanted to. 
God, she was beautiful.

She stopped in front of him and looked down at the silken gown.  “Too much?”

Too much.  Not enough.  All of the above.

“Damn,” he hissed between tightly clenched teeth.

Angel lifted her chin, meeting his gaze.  “Is that a good or bad damn?”

He looked at her in amazement.  “You really have no idea how damn hot you look right now, do you?”

“I’d like to think I look nice-”

He cut her off.  “Nice doesn’t even come close to describing the sight of you right now.”

“It doesn’t?”

“Not by a long shot.  Try sexy, tempting, and a whole lot naughty.”

She beamed.  “Oh, I like that.”

Giving in to temptation, Trey reached out to touch her, his finger gliding down the inviting dip between her breasts.  “Well, I especially like this part.”

Angel’s breath caught, throwing his trailing finger slightly off course.  “I’ll make a note of that.  Men prefer plunging necklines.”

The warmth of her flesh beneath his fingers made it hard for him to focus, to remember why they were in Las Vegas together in the first place.  Angel wanted him to teach her and making love to her wasn’t a part of the plan.  His hand fell away, the heat of her still lingering in his mind.

“You should kiss me passionately.”

His gaze snapped up to hers, Angel’s unexpected request throwing him even more off-balance.  “What?” 

“It makes sense.  We’re bound to cross paths with Rick and his flavor of the week again and I’d love to give him another eyeful.”

That’s simple.  Let him see you in that. 

Only then he would have to hurt Rick.  Because if Rick-the-Dick so much as caught a glimpse of Angel looking this way, he’d be on his knees begging her to take him back.

Not in this lifetime.

Smiling, Trey drew her to him.  “If the dumb shit had even half a brain, he’d already be eating his heart out.”

Angel’s soft laughter filled the room.  “I like the way you think.”

“I like the way you look.”  He tunneled his fingers through her dark curls, securing Angel’s head as he lowered his mouth to hers.  

Angel pressed up against him, her soft moan swallowed up by his passionate kiss.  Her slender fingers traveled up the back of his shirt to the hair at the base of his collar, sifting through the strands.

He couldn’t get enough of her.  His hands moved downward, closing over the inviting curve of her buttocks.  He coaxed her up against him, his erection pressing intimately against her hip. There was no denying his desire for her.

“Make love to me, Trey.”

Her breathy plea had him scrambling for rational thought.  Not an easy thing to do while standing next to a very roomy king-size bed, holding a gorgeous, half-naked woman who wanted the same thing he did.  To make love.

Were she any other woman he was interested in he would have taken her up on her request, but this was Angel.  His Angel.  He cared about her too much to give in to his own selfish needs.  She wasn’t thinking straight or she’d realize that they couldn’t...

“I want to, Angel,” he confessed with a groan.  Trey hung his head and rested his brow against hers.  “God, how I want to.  It’s all I can do not to...”