Figuring it was going to be like herding cats to get everyone to the table, I answered, “Please go ahead and get us whatever you think we’d like best.”
“Will do,” she chirped before swiveling on one foot to head back out the door.
It wasn’t until the waitress was gone that my brow wrinkled as I realized that she had said her boss was covering our meal and drinks. I was confused because The Artemis wasn’t a Lennox property, and Drew had said he’d set this all up since they’d messed up our reservation for tonight. Maybe she’d gotten it mixed up? Or the owners of the two resorts had a reciprocal arrangement when situations like this came up?
As Maria shoved a frozen cocktail into my hand, I shrugged my shoulders. Which billionaire covered our tab wasn’t important. Avoiding my mystery man while celebrating my cousin’s upcoming wedding was what mattered.
4
Zack
As I entered the restaurant from the kitchen, I checked my watch for the millionth time. Finally seeing that it was time for the bachelorette party to arrive, I exhaled a deep breath. I’d spent all day going over the details of the party with my staff. My head chef, Deke, and I discussed their meal and snacks, and I instructed him to only give their food to Kimberly, the waitress I’d assigned to the girls. I wanted to make sure Amelia and her friends were safe and no one had the opportunity to tamper with their food. With the open bar and the wildness I’d seen the night before, they were bound to end up plastered, making them easy prey. Not that we’d had a problem with people trying to slip drugs to our customers, but I wasn’t willing to take any risks when it came to the woman I already considered mine.
I gave the same instructions to Kimberly, knowing they were in excellent hands with her. She was Deke’s granddaughter and had started as a hostess when she was eighteen. I’d been concerned with her lack of maturity and had almost fired her a few times for inappropriately flirting with male customers. However, I didn’t want to lose the best chef in Nevada, so I’d had a talk with Deke, and he’d had one with Kimberly. I didn’t know what he said to her, but within a couple of weeks, she’d done a complete one-eighty. Then, over the past several years, she’d grown into my best waitress and was on her way to being promoted to manager.
Lastly, I chose a bartender for the party… Technically, I could’ve been in trouble for taking sexual orientation into account when considering someone for a position in my hotel. But I didn’t have any female bartenders working tonight, and if a guy was going to spend the night serving my girl alcohol, he was sure as fuck going to be batting for the other team.
As the girls arrived, I headed back to the far-left corner of the room. I had a VIP to check on and figured it couldn’t hurt to give the ladies a chance to have a few drinks before I arrived.
Julian Storm, a friend and the headlining magician at the Lennox, had requested a special experience to celebrate an anniversary. He’d just helped his wife, Anna, slide into the booth as I approached. He was leaning over her, and she reached up to kiss him before saying, “You’re adorable, you know that?”
I snickered and teased, “Awww, I agree. He’s completely adorable.”
Julian glared at me as he stood back up. “Don’t you have somewhere else to be, Parker?” he groused.
My eyes darted over to a room with the bachelorette party, and I searched for a glimpse of my Amelia through the large glass windows. I spotted her after a moment, and as though she could feel me watching her, she suddenly turned and looked in my direction. Seeing my intense stare, she blushed and whipped back around.
Facing the couple once again, I grinned and nodded. “As a matter of fact, I do. But I always like to check on my VIPs personally if I can.”
Julian cracked a begrudging smile after Anna elbowed him in the side and whispered, “Don’t be a Neanderthal.”
“Everything is perfect. Thanks,” he assured me. We shook hands, and I congratulated them before stalking over to the entrance of the party room.
I pulled the door open and sauntered inside, adopting a professional smile. “Hello, ladies,” I greeted. “I’m Zack Parker. Welcome to The Crescent Moon. I trust these accommodations are satisfactory?” My eyes swept around the room, looking for my woman as I received a chorus of approvals. The corners of my lips began to drop when I didn’t immediately spot her.
When I finally found her, I didn’t know whether to laugh or be annoyed that she was hiding from me. Amelia was trying to disappear by staying behind two of the taller girls at the party. She was doing her best to pretend she wasn’t hiding even though that was clearly her goal. I narrowed my eyes and kept them trained on Amelia. There was no way in hell that she didn’t feel the pull between us, so why was she running from it?
“Aren’t you that sexy guy my cousin made out with yesterday?”
Amelia hissed and smacked the girl who asked the question on the arm. “Shut up, Maria!” Her brown eyes sparked with fire as she glared at her, and it only took me a second to realize that her attitude stemmed from jealousy. I smirked smugly, reassured that she was feeling the same emotions rolling through me.
“As a matter of fact,” I drawled, “I’m most definitely your cousin’s man.”
Other than Amelia’s quick inhale, I was met with silence.
“Her man?” the cousin, Maria, suddenly shouted. Then she started clapping and jumping up and down as though I’d just told her she’d won the jackpot.
“Yes, and I’d like to steal her away from you ladies if that’s alright.”
Maria spun around to face Amelia with a big smile. She was frantically shaking her head and backing up until she hit a wall. “Vegas Amelia would,” Maria quipped with a wicked grin.
Amelia finally looked my way with wide, confused eyes. “Are you crazy? I could be a stalker or serial killer or something?”
I chuckled and shrugged. “I’ll risk it, beautiful.”
When she didn’t respond, I mentally sighed, wondering what it was going to take to get her to leave with me. Then an idea popped into my head. It had worked for several of my friends…
I prowled around the table and across the room until I was standing right in front of my girl. Then I bent down and put my shoulder in her stomach and one hand on her ass, before standing back up with her in a fireman’s hold. I glanced at her cousin, who was giving me a sloppy grin, and promised, “Don’t wait up. I’ll have the staff provide you with my contact information so you can check on her later.” Then I pivoted and stalked toward the door.
“Stop! Put me down, Zack!” she sputtered. Hearing my name on her lips for the first time sent shockwaves of lust straight to my dick. I was already hard from my hand on her juicy ass, and now I was sporting a big, steel cock that there was no way for me to hide in my suit pants.
“What are you doing?” she snapped.
“Kidnapping you,” I responded lightly as though I’d simply informed her that it was a beautiful day outside.
“What?” she shrieked. Luckily, we’d entered the kitchen by that point, so I didn’t have to worry about customers calling the police.