“You don’t know my boss. She doesn’t allow fraternization between staff and guests.”
“Too late for that,” he said, sounding downright cheerful about the fact.
I wanted to take a towel and wipe that smirk off of his ridiculously good-looking face. Then kiss him. I sighed.
“All the hotels in Vegas and you had to stay at this one?” I asked. The irony wasn’t lost on me.
“I didn’t pick the hotel. Train did. It’s his weekend.”
“Why do you call him Train?” I asked, curious in spite of myself.
“The Ukraine Train. It’s a nickname.”
One that sounded vaguely familiar, though I had no idea why. We were approaching an area that was off-limits to guests. “You need to hang back. Look at your phone and pretend like you’re lost or something. You can’t go in the back of house with me. This is staff only.”
“Got it. But don’t disappear and never come back.”
I gave him a hard look. “I wouldn’t do that to Sydney. I said I would fix her dress.”
He held his hands up. “Okay. I believe you. It’s just that you clearly want to get away from me.”
“Do you blame me?” I asked him, dryly.
James laughed but he also shook his head. “I don’t even understand why you’re mad at me, to be honest. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You just accused me of stealing and then you stole my uniform.” I felt myself getting hot all over again. “Never mind. Just behave yourself. Please. I’ll be right back. Or better yet, go up to the room and I’ll meet you there.”
“I can behave myself when it’s necessary. I’ll wait here.”
“Of course you will.” Because why would he make this easier for me?
I went in the staff area, used my ID card to clock out, then went straight to my locker and changed into jeans and a T-shirt. I grabbed Mississippi and texted Christina back who kept urgently asking if I was okay. I wasn’t thrilled she had left me alone in that suite, but I realized she hadn’t had much choice. She’d needed to cover our asses with Cindy. I wasn’t supposed to wander the hotel in street clothes unless I was in the casino or had rented a room, so I felt very conspicuous as I went back to where I had left James standing.
Without a word, I walked right past him and straight to the elevator bank. I knew he would follow me.
Once the elevator doors closed behind us, he ran his eyes over me. “You look really sexy, Mia.”
“I’m wearing jeans and a plain blue T-shirt,” I said, scoffing, even as I was secretly pleased.
“Your curves…” His eyes had darkened and his gaze dropped to my ass.
Uh-oh. My nipples were tightening and I sucked in a breath. Time to get the hell out of there. I practically ran off the elevator. “Which room?”
“Huh?” He followed me, his hands in his pockets.
A glance at those tight pants showed he had a massive erection. I sank my teeth into my bottom lip. I didn’t mean to, I just did because I was remembering how that cock felt inside of me. But he saw the gesture and gave a low growl.
“I shouldn’t want you, but I do,” he said.
That snapped me out of it. I was the one who shouldn’t want him, not the other way around. “Oh? Well, I don’t want you. Just so you know.”
“Liar.”
“Just tell me the room number,” I said through gritted teeth.
After a pause, he did and I stomped off down the hallway, knocking harder on the door than was strictly necessary.
A woman with glasses and wearing a cat sweater opened the door. “Oh, hi, JJ.” Then she smiled at me. “Are you here to save the day? Oleksander said you can fix Sydney’s dress?”
I nodded. “I work in housekeeping and I am a seamstress as well.”
“Thank goodness. Come in, please, and thank you. I’m Eloise, Sydney’s cousin.” She gave a pointed look at JJ when he started to enter the room behind me. “Did you need something else, JJ?”
“I don’t think he does,” I said, answering for him. I glanced back at him with a grin. “I’ll see you later, buddy.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Yeah. For sure. One hundred percent, pal.”
But then he just stood there.
“JJ?” Eloise prompted. “We’re changing in here. You have to leave.”
“Right. Sorry.” James turned, then hesitated. He opened his mouth. Closed it. Shook his head. Then left.
When the door shut behind him, I sighed in relief. I didn’t trust myself around him. I couldn’t risk my job and he made me both insane and aroused. “Okay, so where is the bride?” I asked, hoisting Mississippi up further on my shoulder.
Eloise smiled. “This way. So… how do you know JJ?” she asked. The question was deceptively casual. But she couldn’t mask her curiosity.
“Bourbon was spilled on his shirt and I helped him get the stain out.” That was the only truth I was willing to admit to among strangers.
She didn’t have an opportunity to respond because the bride rushed over to us and showed me the split on the side of her dress. “Thank you so much for helping! Look at this. I’m literally bursting at the seams. This is all Olek’s fault for getting me pregnant.”
“Seams are the easiest to fix,” I assured her, reaching out and assessing the damage. “If it’s okay, I’ll just sew you into the dress so it’s definitely secure. It might tear again when you take it off later, but it will hold until then. Does that sound good?”
“It sounds fine. It’s not like I need it again after tonight. Besides, Olek would love a green light to rip it off of me.” She smiled. “I’m Sydney, by the way. I’m not usually this much of a mess.”
She seemed more excited than anything else to me. “I’m Mia. And you’re not a mess. You should see some of the brides that come through this hotel. Total bridezillas. We see a lot on staff.”
“I bet. Stress makes people crazy.”
I set my bag down and reached inside for my sewing kit. It took me a second to find it, but then I had it and clicked it open to root through. “I’ve never been married, so I can’t exactly judge. Maybe I’ll be the ultimate bridezilla someday.” If I ever had time to properly date and find a mate, which seemed unlikely.
The third woman in the room, a tall blonde, was lounging on the bed, scrolling through her phone. “I was probably too casual about the whole thing, to be honest. I relied on my friend who loves weddings to do the heavy lifting. Fortunately, my husband wasn’t too worried about it. This was his second marriage.”
“That’s Dakota,” Sydney said. “She’s a newlywed but her husband is in Scotland playing golf right now. Sydney’s wedding was a little spontaneous.”
That was a lifestyle I knew nothing about. Just winging off to Scotland for golf. Nor did I ever see myself spontaneously getting married.
I threaded my needle and bent over. “Let me know if I accidentally prick you. I’m usually pretty good but I haven’t had much sleep in the last few days.” Or really, at all. I think I’d gotten seven minutes of shut-eye before James had interrupted me.