Good Girl(25)

"I'm listening, Miss Clark," he says, his eyes flickering to his desktop monitor and back to mine. "You've got nine minutes left. If you want something you'd better get to it. Quickly."

So I blurt out my request because I've got nothing to lose. Because I'm not a quitter. Because I've got a plan.

There's a moment of silence when I'm done. A long moment. Vince stares at me, silent, his fingers drumming on his desktop. Payton takes a drag on her iced coffee, but there's nothing left in the cup so the room fills with that rattling hollow noise that occurs from creating a wind tunnel in an empty cup. She rattles the ice as if that might get her an extra drop or two and slurps again.

"Are you for real?" Vince stops staring at me to address Payton.

"So real. And so are my boobs."

His eyes drop slowly to her chest before he shakes his head and returns his attention to me. "This isn't a brothel," he says, and I'm afraid he's about to boot me from his office, my time long gone. "Prostitution isn't legal in Clark County."

"Of course not. Double Diamonds is a business, isn't it, Mr…?"

"Vince," he replies, deadpan.

"Right. Mr. Vince, you're a businessman at heart, aren't you? So let's make a deal. I'll make it worth your while, I promise."

"Scout's honor," Payton adds and as I turn to look at her she winks at him, a big dramatic wink complete with a head tilt and a little tsk she makes with her tongue. "The Urban Dictionary kind, big guy."

I don't even want to know what that means, so I shoot her a look meant to make her shut up and turn back to Vince.

He leans back in his chair, running two fingers across his lips while he watches us with newfound interest. "So you work at the Windsor. Both of you?"

I nod, feeling like I might be on the verge of changing his mind.

"Let's talk terms."





Fourteen





RHYS



"Are you going to introduce your girlfriend to your parents when they're in for the grand opening?" Canon asks as he strolls into my suite as if he's got all the time in the world for socializing. He drops onto a chair across from the sofa I'm sitting on and raises his eyebrows as if in expectation of a real answer.

"Fuck off, Canon."

"The fact that you're not even questioning who I'm referring to is sad."

"I'm busy here, Canon," I tell him, nodding at my laptop. "I don't have the time or interest to address the bullshit that comes from your mouth on a good day, let alone at present. And if you would stop using the master key to walk into my place of residence I'd appreciate it."

"Why don't you just grow up and ask her on a date?" he asks, ignoring my dig at his free usage of my front door.

"Wait." I give up on the reports in front of me and give Canon my full attention. "Are you advising me on my life choices right now? You had a threesome with two strippers last night."

"Yeah, and whose fault was that? One of them was for you but you claimed you were too busy to get laid. What was I supposed to do with her? Send her home unlaid?"

"Do what with whom?" Lawson strolls into my suite as if he too has nothing but time.

"What is this? Are we having a party? Do neither of you have anything to do? Our grand opening is in"—I check my watch—"two weeks."

"I've got jack shit to do." Lawson runs a hand through his hair, leaving it in disarray. "It'll be at least two weeks and a day before the first frivolous lawsuit rolls in. Also, it's Saturday, you dick," he adds with a grin. "Live a little." I'm about to tell him I'll live once the grand opening is behind us and to get the hell out of my place but he's already ignoring me, having dropped into the chair next to Canon.

"I'm good too," Canon says. "But thanks." He angles his phone in Lawson's direction. "The giraffes or elephants?"

"The giraffes." Lawson stretches as if he's getting comfortable to stay a while, his legs sprawled out, completely at ease, and grabs the remote from my coffee table.

"Agreed. Do you want to go in with me on a stroller? Shit, these things are pricey," Canon murmurs while tapping on the screen of his phone.

"Sure. But order a Bugaboo though, I'm not going in on a shitty umbrella stroller."

"What are you guys doing?" I stop working—again—to pay better attention to Canon and Lawson, my eyes narrowing as I remind myself of the lengths Canon will go to to amuse himself.

"Making a baby registry for you and Lydia."

"Get the hell out. Both of you."

"You seem a little stressed, bud. Perhaps if you'd taken Peaches up on her offer last night you'd be able to focus better."

I rub my forehead with my hand before responding. "Has it ever occurred to you that her name isn't Peaches?"

"Jesus Christ, Rhys. Her name is Claire. I was taking comedic liberties, lighten up."

Claire. Meghan. Sara. Christine. Staci. Susan. Amy. Penny. Jessica. Etcetera.

Is there a girl from Double Diamonds I haven't fucked? Does remembering their names when I see them again instead of calling them 'sweets' make me less of an asshole? I'm starting to suspect that it doesn't. How is it that only weeks ago I'd have laughed at this entire conversation? Weeks ago I'd have fucked Peaches, given her a big tip and thought nothing of it.