Grounded (Up in the Air, #3)(74)

“Let’s go inside. Somebody get the door open!” I said loudly.

“Do you like to be spanked too, Bianca? I’ll spank you anytime you want!” the foolish man shouted.

My hug turned into a death grip. James would have to take me with him if he went after the man. I sent a wild look at our security, who all seemed useless to me at that moment.

“If James hits that guy, I’m firing you all!” I shouted at them. “Get us inside, or get that man out of here!”

Finally, mercifully, we got into the house. James ended up carrying me inside, since I wouldn’t let go of him.

I didn’t realize that Stephan wasn’t with us until I let go of James. I glanced around.

James was still seething, but he sounded calmer than he looked when he spoke. “You stopped me, but there’s only one of you, and I wasn’t the only one getting riled up.”

I was out the door again before James saw my intent. He caught me just outside, his arms wrapping around my shoulders. There was no need, though.

Stephan and Clark were striding towards us, grinning.

“What happened?” I asked Stephan. There was no sign of the photographer.

Stephan shrugged. “I went to give Clark a hand with that prick, but he had it handled.”

We all looked at Clark.

He shrugged. “I just explained some things to him, and he left. Some other paparazzi might come here, but that guy won’t be back.”

“What did you say to him?” I asked, beyond curious. Those photographers were hard to shake.

Clark laughed. He had a great laugh. “I just explained to him that what I would do to him if he didn’t leave would affect him for the rest of his life, whereas I would only serve five to ten for it. And I explained that the millions of dollars that would be waiting for me on the other side of that five to ten, combined with the mood he’d put me in, would make doing the thing more than worthwhile for me. He just sort of went poof after that.” He gestured with his hands as he spoke.

We laughed, and the tension that the horrible man had created vanished just like that. I hadn’t realized that Clark was so funny. He was normally so straight-faced, but he was smiling freely now. Maybe Stephan and I were growing on him.

The house was cleared, and we made it to my room without any further incident.

“I’m surprised that you were able to come to Vegas again so quickly,” I said to James as we were undressing in my closet. “Are things going smoothly in New York?”

“Things are going fine. I would have come even if they weren’t, though.”

I glanced back at him.

He gave me a sad smile. “I can’t sleep without you anymore, Love. And letting you stay here in this house, where that man attacked you, well, I just can’t do it again.”

“There’s an entire team guarding the place.”

He shrugged. “I told myself that, and I even went a weekend letting you stay here without me, but I know my own limits, and I just can’t do it again, not after he killed that woman.”

“Maybe we should just stay at your place, at least until he’s caught. I wonder if we could talk Stephan into staying there with us. I would feel—“

He pushed me back against the wall of the closet, tangling us both in clothes. He kissed me. “Thank you. I’ll handle Stephan. We can nap here, and go to my place tonight, after you have a meeting with Danika. She needs your approval for some things, and she’s in town for the day.”

We took a three-hour nap, waking up at our leisure. Between the shower sex, and James going down on me in the closet as I tried to pick out clothes, it was well over an hour after we woke up before we were ready to go to the casino for business.

I wore a navy and black, color-block pencil skirt. I paired it with a loose fitting royal blue silk blouse with three-quarter sleeves. I didn’t know what Jackie would think of the outfit, but she hadn’t paired my clothes in this closet, and I liked the ensemble.

After I’d done a quick job on my hair and makeup, I stepped into white heels, and watched as James finished getting ready. I was done first for once, and it was a show worth watching.

He was buttoning up his slacks as I perched on the bed, my eyes glued to his hands. He arched a brow at me as he shrugged into a white dress shirt.

“Enjoying the show?” he asked as he buttoned the shirt.

I nodded.

He grinned. “I feel like I should be dancing for you. You have an unmistakable glint in your eyes, Bianca. I’m not a piece of meat, you know.”

I just smiled back, watching his every move.

He tucked his shirt into his slacks, shrugging into a dark gray vest that matched his slacks. He looped a yellow tie around his neck, his clever fingers making short work of it, before he buttoned the severely tailored vest.

“I love your hands,” I told him.

“We’re running late,” he murmured.

I let my eyes show him just how much I didn’t care.

It was another half an hour before we walked out the front door.

James walked me to the gallery before going to his office to do some paperwork. He greeted Danika with a smile.

“Just come to my office when you finish,” James told me. “Blake or Danika can show you where it is.” He gave me an affectionate kiss on the forehead before taking his leave.