He shook his head. “Uh uh. I’m still not telling. All you need to know is, I want to take you away for the night. Somewhere we can enjoy ourselves—and Dylan?”
I could barely swallow as he leaned across and swiped his thumb over my bottom lip.
“Yes?”
“I plan to enjoy the hell out of you.”
And just like that, where he was taking me didn’t matter in the least. As long as Ace was the one doing the taking.
20
FAKE THAT SHIT TILL YOU MAKE THAT SHIT
TO SAY THAT I was speechless was the understatement of the century. I followed Ace through the door and into the hangar as he strode ahead of me, that absurd disguise still in place, and
still
he managed to command the entire space—and there was a whole lot of space.
The main hangar door was open, and out ahead of it on the tarmac sat a private plane with its door open and stairs lowered. I came to a stop as Ace walked up to the lone man standing at the door of a small office.
This is unreal.
Derek had always joked that I would one day wind up with some fancy-ass rich guy who would whisk me away, but umm…that had always been a joke. Never in a million years would I have expected—
“Dylan?”
My eyes flew to where Ace was looking over his shoulder at me, and the curve to his lips told me he knew just how overwhelmed I was,
because holy shit,
this was a lot to take in. I gripped the strap at my shoulder and walked his way just as the man beside him headed back into the office.
“You okay?” Ace asked when I finally got to his side, and I managed to nod. “Good. Let’s go.”
“Ace,” I said, as I followed his lead and we headed toward the plane that I was now positive waited for us.
“Yes?”
“Are we… I mean…is that plane for us?”
When we reached the bottom of the stairs, Ace stood to the side and nodded. “Mhmm, it sure is.”
My mouth fell open at the confirmation. Having only ever traveled coach, or at the most business class, the idea of taking a private jet anywhere was—
Well, it’s insane is what it is.
“Are you out of your mind? This must be costing you a fortune.”
With a hand on the rail of the stairs, Ace leaned toward me, and for one breathless minute I thought he was going to kiss me. Right there out in the open for anyone to see. But at the last second he moved his mouth by my ear and said, “Lucky for us, I
have
a fortune. Now, get on the plane, Dylan. I want to taste you, and I can’t do that out here.”
I sucked in a much-needed breath of air and glanced up at the open door, where I saw a woman in a navy-blue uniform waiting for us, and then looked back at Ace. “But you can in there?”
“I sure fucking can.”
Huh, but what about the crew?
“Go,” Ace ordered, and the command sent a jolt of lust straight up my spine. Ace was always a presence that was hard to ignore, but with this air of confidence, this arrogance, he was all sex and one hundred percent irresistible.
Without another word, I climbed the stairs, and as I passed by the blonde at the top, she greeted me. “Welcome aboard, Mr. Prescott.”
My head whipped around and Ace was right there behind me. He placed a hand on the middle of my back and urged me inside.
“Welcome back, Mr. Locke.”
“Gail, how are you?” Ace asked, as I stood like a fish out of water.
“Oh, can’t complain. The kids are out of school for the summer, but the husband and I shipped them off to camp, so…”
Ace grinned. “Ahh. I see. So, some much-needed couple time.”
“Yes, sir.” She beamed, and it was a testament to Ace that even the people who worked for him couldn’t seem to resist his charm. “You two better go and get settled in. Phil said we will be getting underway in about five minutes.”
“Thanks, Gail.”
“Of course,” she said as Ace turned to face me where I stood utterly stupefied.
“You heard the lady: you better go and take your seat, Mr. Prescott.”
As the door to Ace’s right began to shut, he walked toward me with unmistakable intention in his eyes, and I automatically took a step back.
Is he crazy? Gail is right there.
Ace reached up to the baseball cap and tugged it and the wig from his head, and tossed it on one of the luxurious leather chairs as he continued forward.
“What are you doing?” I said under my breath when he reached for me, caught the side of my neck, and tugged me toward him.
“I told you outside that I wanted to kiss you.”
I put a hand to his chest and shook my head. “But what about…” I peered around his shoulder to where Gail was busy preparing the plane for takeoff. “What about other people seeing?”
Ace brushed his lips across mine, and my mouth parted.
God
, I needed him to start thinking, and soon, because with what he was doing to me I wasn’t going to be able to come up with a single reason I shouldn’t kiss the hell out of the man teasing my lips with his tongue.
“Who, Gail? Everyone on this plane has signed an NDA. They are paid very handsomely to
not
see things.”
I pulled my head back slightly and shook my head.
“What?” Ace said.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”
“Hmm.” Ace kissed me softly, and my fingers curled into the flannel of his shirt. “No, I don’t think so. I have the plane, I have a bottle of my favorite wine chilling for you to try: a Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Montrachet. Do you like Chardonnay?”
“Yes, but that’s not what I mean—”
Ace kissed a seductive path over to my jaw. “I know exactly what you’re talking about. But I’ll be damned if I start my relationship with you by having you sign a legal document.”
My entire body trembled from both the caress and his words, but at the same time I knew what he was doing was risky. He was placing enormous trust in me, and I pulled my head back to find his eyes.
“Ace, that’s… I…I don’t know what to say.”
His gorgeous smile made my stomach flip. Then he ran his fingers over my cheek and tipped my face up so he could kiss my lips. “Then don’t say anything at all. I know it’s crazy, but for the first time in a long while I’ve found someone I want to share things with. I want to know you, every part of you. And to do that, I need to trust you. And I can’t do that with a piece of paper between us.” He nipped my lower lip, and when his eyes closed he said, “I don’t want anything between us.”
My heart beat out of control at his words as I realized, for the first time ever, I didn’t want anything between us either. No secrets. No lies. No pieces of paper threatening one another. And when the pilot came over a speaker telling us to take our seats, as we would be taxiing to the runway any second, I pulled away from Ace and whispered, “Thank you.”
“For?”
As we each sat on either side of a table that had place settings for two, a vase with a red rose in it, and a bottle of wine chilling, I knew I was in deep with him. So deep, that I was afraid of what would happen should he ever let me go.
I reached over, took his hand in mine, and squeezed his fingers. “For being so much more than I could’ve imagined.”
He brought my knuckles to his lips and pressed a kiss there, and three minutes later we were in the air soaring over Burbank, heading toward destination unknown.
* * *
I WAS STILL holding Dylan’s hand in mine when we touched down at McCarran airport less than an hour later. It’d been a smooth flight, and we’d finished off the bottle of Chardonnay over conversation and stolen kisses. When the skyline of Las Vegas had come into view, Dylan had looked back at me, and his smile was so wide that I thought my heart would burst.
It was a strange, fulfilling sort of feeling experiencing these “firsts” through his eyes, and it reaffirmed the whole “giving is better than receiving” saying I’d always heard. I wanted to show him the world, to feel that exuberance every day. It made me realize how much I took for granted now, and I hadn’t even realized it. Not that I didn’t appreciate everything in my life, but I was always so on the go that I never stopped long enough to actually take it all in and really feel it. To be proud of, and celebrate, the accomplishments that let me enjoy some of the finer things in life.
And speaking of finer things,
I thought, as the plane came to a stop and we unbuckled our seatbelts.
I can’t wait to see how Dylan reacts to what I’ve got planned for tonight.
It was something as far outside of my comfort zone as humanly possible, and just the thought of it made me sweat. I was quickly learning there wasn’t much I wouldn’t do for the man sitting next to me.
“I can’t believe you brought me to Las Vegas,” Dylan said, practically jumping out of his seat. “It really is in the middle of the desert, huh? This is so cool. Where are we staying? Wait, we can’t stay together, can we? Holy shit, this is amazing.”
Chuckling at his enthusiasm, I said, “I’m glad you like the surprise. As for where we’re staying, you’ll just have to wait and see.”
“You are so getting off on this, aren’t you?”
My lips twisted into a smirk. “Oh, I plan to. Now, here’s what’s gonna happen. We each have a car waiting on us that will take us directly to the hotel’s private entrance. Once you arrive, someone will personally escort you up to your room, and when it’s safe for me to join you, I will.”
Dylan’s smile dimmed a bit. “So we can’t stay in the same room?”
“Two words for you: adjoining suites.”
“Ohhhh. You’re a sneaky one,” Dylan said, perking right back up.
“Gotta be creative, right?”
“Right.”
I pointed at the two sleek black cars that had pulled up at the base of the plane’s stairs. “One for you, one for me. My car will go to the hotel first, and then about ten minutes later you guys will head that way. You ready?”
Dylan nodded enthusiastically, and I took his face in my hands to give him one last kiss. When I pulled away and stood up, I took off the flannel shirt that covered the plain white tee underneath and then grabbed the overnight bag I’d brought.
“Let’s go get into trouble, Daydream,” I said, and then made my way to the front of the plane to say my goodbyes to the crew and confirm the time we’d be departing the next day.
As I stepped off the plane and headed down the narrow stairs, the dry desert heat hit me like a slap in the face, and I popped on my sunglasses to ward off the blinding sun.
The driver from the first car stepped out toward me and gave me a firm handshake. “Good afternoon, Mr. Locke. My name is Marshall, and if there’s anything you need, just let me know. I was told to give you this upon your arrival.” He handed me a large manila envelope, and as I went to thank him, I heard from behind me—
“Holy
fuck
, are these Maybach 62s? Ace, are you serious right now? These things are, like, half a million dollars.” Dylan’s eyes were popping out of his head as he walked in a circle around the car to take in every little detail, completely bypassing the driver in his excitement.
“I’m glad you approve,” I called out, and Dylan’s head whipped in my direction.
“This is ridiculous. I was fully expecting an Uber or a taxi, but of course you don’t do things halfway.” As he came around the car, he finally noticed the driver standing there with an outstretched hand. “Oh, sorry, man, I didn’t see you there.”
“First time to Las Vegas, Mr. Prescott?” his driver asked.
“Hell yes it is.”
His driver gave him a huge grin and opened the back door. “Well, welcome to our fine city. I’m Timothy, and I’ll be taking you to the hotel in just a few minutes. Inside the car you’ll find a bottle of wine for you to relax with as we make our way over. If you need anything, just let me know.”
Dylan looked at me over the door, his jaw slack, and I had to laugh. Giving him a wave, I said, “Enjoy the ride,” and then slid into the backseat of the car.
Once inside the perfectly air-conditioned black interior, I took out the contents of the manila envelope. Along with the pass for the Sapphire vodka event I had to put in an appearance at in a couple of hours, there was also the paperwork for the surprise I had planned for Dylan later.
Sweet fuck
, was I really going to do this? Yeah. Oh hell yeah I was.
We
were, actually, because I had zero doubt that Dylan would be onboard this train in a heartbeat. But to ease the flutter in my chest, I pulled out my phone and dialed a number for the minx who’d given me the idea in the first place.
“Don’t tell me you’ve chickened out,” Paige said in place of a greeting when she answered the call.
“Why would you think I’ve chickened out?”
“Because this is a big step, and I’ve had people turn into pussies at the last minute.”
I shook my head at the blunt way with which Paige seemed to lay out…well, everything. “Okay, fine. I’m not pussying out; I was just reading over the paperwork, and—”
“You wanted me to give you one last motivational pep talk before you sign, and lay your concerns to rest. Right?”
“Well…yes.”
“I figured.” Paige cleared her throat and put on the professional tone she used with her clients, though I doubted the words coming out of her mouth were ones she’d use with them. “I personally vouch for the place you’ll be gracing with your presence tonight and promise that the paperwork you sign is iron-clad and that everyone involved has just as much, if not more, to lose than you do, so you can bet your ass that all lips are sealed. These people are the elite of the elite, and it’s a bit like Fight Club—meaning the first and most important rule is, you don’t talk about Fight Club.”
I blew out a long breath and then nodded. “Right. Okay. You’re right.”
“Of course I’m right. And if I ever steered you in the wrong direction, Shayne would personally gouge my eyeballs. I’d prefer things not to get that messy.”