“See, it’s never good for us when they start scheming together,” Austin said as she watched them walk out.
Marissa laughed. “I don’t know. Sometimes it turns out pretty good.”
Austin grinned. “OK, yeah. You’re right.”
“I say we declare this place decorated and take over the bar since the fellas abandoned it,” Dakota said.
Erin shrugged. “Fine by me. And for the love of God can I please borrow a phone.”
Marissa bit her lip. “I want to, but I don’t want to get you in trouble either.”
Erin bared her teeth and growled. “I love him to death, but he’s taking his mission to make me take a vacation a little too far. But I guess I shouldn’t be trying to get you in trouble either.”
Marissa laughed and watched Austin step behind the bar.
“What are we drinking ladies?”
Marissa pulled her phone out and tapped the screen while she absently asked Austin for a beer.
When a glass bottle appeared in front of her, she set phone on the bar next to her and turned to make small talk with Dakota.
“Real cute,” Dakota said. “You’re gonna feel bad when Samuel gives her the hair brush or something later.”
“Oh hush, Dakota. I’m a grown woman. I’ll take the punishment if he catches me.”
Marissa laughed and sipped her beer. “I respect that. And I didn’t do anything. Just set my phone down.”
While Marissa talked with the others, Erin slipped into a corner with the phone and started making phone calls.
Halfway through her second beer, she looked up to see Samuel standing just inside the bar, leaned against the wall watching Erin.
“Oops,” she said when his eyes shifted and he narrowed his gaze at her.
Dakota turned and gave him a big wave. Marissa rotated to the corner Erin stood in. Her back was to the door, so she had no idea she was about to get caught.
Marissa stood, intent on heading over to warn her, but Dakota stopped her. “Like she said, she’s a grown woman.”
“Listen to Dakota. Now there’s something I thought I’d never say,” Samuel said, causing Marissa to jump. He’d approached while she had her back turned.
“Fuck,” Marissa muttered. “Sorry Samuel.”
He lifted an eyebrow.
“Sorry Master Samuel,” Marissa corrected.
“Better.”
He strode to his girl and tapped her on the shoulder. Interestingly, he let her finish whatever call she was on before he held his hand out for the phone.
Marissa watched as he draped an arm around her and they headed for the exit.
“Can I have my phone back?” Marissa called as they passed the bar.
Samuel looked over at her and tucked it in his back pocket.
“I’ll give it to Lance. You can ask him for it.”
“Ooh that’s rotten, Samuel,” Dakota said with a snicker.
Marissa sighed. “No. It’s fair.”
“Well, I guess this little party is over since I’m about to be in trouble,” she said when Samuel and Erin were gone.
The remaining women finished their drinks and talked about the party tomorrow night. When her beer bottle was empty, Marissa slid it toward Austin who still stood behind the bar.
“Guess I should go grovel,” Marissa said.
Dakota gave her a shove toward the door. “Admit it, you’re looking forward to whatever he does to you.”
Marissa grinned. “I really am.”
14
Saturday, December 22nd
Lance
“Time’s up, Riss,” Lance said, holding out his hand for her phone.
“You’re an asshole. What did you put on it?”
He grinned. “Combination of a new child friendly filter lock I’m working on and a jacked up piece of distraction free software.”
“And why am I not working on this project with you?”
Lance shrugged. “I picked it up while you were working on your own stuff. Now hand it over. A deal’s a deal.”
Marissa huffed but handed him the phone. After Samuel had given it to him and she came asking for it, he’d given her a choice. Let Samuel come up with her punishment or play a game with him. Of course, his competitive girl had chosen the game. So, he’d played a few tech tricks on her phone and given her a full twelve hours to unlock it or he got to keep it the rest of their trip. Not that the woman didn’t have a bag full of tech stashed in their room. That wasn’t the point though. She wanted her phone and couldn’t back down when issued a challenge. So of course she’d stayed up all night trying to crack it.
“An unfair deal. How did you get the two apps to work together like that? I see what you did now. I just don’t understand how.”
Lance smirked as he unlocked her phone and showed her the home screen just to annoy her. “Guess you’ll have to wait until we get home to find out. Now get dressed. You have plans with Lana and Bethany and I have to go help David fix things for Tamara.”
Marissa scowled. “I was supposed to get to help you with that.”
Lance hummed and trailed a finger down her cheek. “And you could have if you weren’t so busy trying to unlock your phone.”
She raised her hand as if she were going to smack him, but he caught her wrist. “Watch it, Kitten. I’m not the one who got another sub in trouble. And if you would have listened to what I was saying last night, you would have known the secret to unlocking your phone was to leave it alone. It was on a timer to unlock itself after an hour if you stopped touching it.”
Marissa’s mouth fell open. “Sneaky bastard. Why is that hot?”
“Nerd,” Lance said when she crawled into his lap to kiss him. “No sex. Not right now. We have shit to do.”
She flopped off of him and onto the mattress. “Can I just sleep?”
Lance shook his head. “Nope. Consider it part of your punishment.”
When he finally dragged her out of bed and they were both dressed, they headed for the door to go downstairs.
“What if you need to get ahold of me or I have an emergency while I’m with the girls?”
Lance laughed. “They both have my number, as does everyone else here. I’m sure Erin will let you borrow her phone.”
Marissa shook her head. “Rotten.”
Lance held her hand and squeezed gently. “But you love me.”
Marissa shrugged. “I guess you’re alright most of the time.”
Downstairs, he kissed Marissa goodbye and settled in at the conference table. Most of the girls were going into town for breakfast at the hotel and then to a spa or something. He’d left the details up to Lana and Bethany. They just had to keep an eye on the weather.
He spent the rest of the morning putting a package together for David to deliver to Martin Terry. If the man didn’t back off Tamara, his name would be all over the evening news by Christmas Eve and he wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. It turns out he’d been a very bad boy and there was plenty of dirt to hang over his head.
“Need any help?” Samuel asked. Lance looked up to see him standing in the doorway holding a cup of coffee.
Lance shook his head. “Not unless you have the power to stop a snow storm.”