Wild Nights (3 page)

“Fun to watch but I’m completely hetero.”

“What do you like, then?”

“Just about everything you’ll suggest. That’s why I’m here.”

She had an idea he’d respond that way. “Been there, done that, in other words?”

He shrugged. “I haven’t exactly been a monk in the past.”

“I’m sure I could find something here to tempt you.”

“Only if your name is Eve and you’re holding an apple in your hand.”

Now it was her turn to laugh. She stopped and turned to him. “I’m the challenge every man who comes to Wild Nights wants, Mike. But I’m not a prize.”

Now he did lean in, though just enough to tantalize her with his scent. “No, you’re not. You’re a treasure worth exploring. A prize is something to show off in front of everyone. I don’t see you like that.”

“You don’t.”

“No. A man should take his time with a woman like you. But not here.”

“No?”

He shook his head. “Someplace private, where we can get to know each other, explore each other. Without you being on display.”

Okay, now she was really impressed. The typical man who pursued her wanted to show her off like a trophy, like they’d just won the lottery and she was the grand-prize fuck. They always suggested one of the showcase rooms, where they could exhibit their prowess in screwing the owner of Wild Nights. Total turnoff Grace didn’t mind a little exhibitionism, but on her terms, and she didn’t want to be shown off like a prize deer during hunting season.

Which made Mike different than most men.

“Come with me.” She held out her hand and led him down another hallway, through the door and to an elevator marked “Private.” They passed some staff members along the way.

“David, I’m heading up to my suite. Please let the managers know where I can be reached in case of emergency.”

David nodded. “Of course, Grace. Have a nice time.”

She intended to. Mike had piqued her curiosity Now she wanted some time to talk to see if her instincts about him were right. She punched the code and the elevator door opened. Mike stayed silent on the ride up to her penthouse. One of the advantages to living where she worked was that there was no commute. When she wanted some privacy all she had to do was take a short ride and she was home.

“Nice place,” Mike said as they stepped inside her suite.

“Thank you.” She didn’t need to live extravagantly, preferring to put her money back into the club and bank the rest of the profits for later on. She didn’t intend to be in this business forever. But she loved the view of Las Vegas afforded by the floor-to-ceiling windows in her living room, and the privacy of living high above the city.

Her décor was simple—beige and black. Nothing fussy. Standard furniture, comfortable couches and tables and chairs. She liked her living space livable—not pretentious.

“Would you like a drink?”

He stepped to the window. “Whatever you’re having is fine.”

She poured two brandies and handed one to him. “I love this view. Frenetic pace, dazzling lights, absolute madness down there. But still, it relaxes me.” She took a sip of her drink, feeling it burn its way down and warm her.

“It’s home to you. Anything that’s home is relaxing.”

She motioned him to the couch in front of the window, kicked off her shoes and sat, curling her legs under her. “Tell me what’s home to you.”

“Oklahoma. I’m a veterinarian. Own a practice with my best friend. We’ve been partners since our college days. I have a house in a small town and that’s where I kick back and get away from it all.”

“And you obviously love animals.”

“Yeah, I do.” He took a long swallow of the brandy. She watched his throat move as he tilted his head back. “I have a couple dogs and I’d eventually like to own a horse ranch.”

Grace stared out the window. “I’ve never been on a horse in my life. But I’d love to ride someday.”

“Come visit me sometime. I’ll take you for a ride.”

“I’ll just bet you would.” She teased, imagining the kind of ride Mike would take her on. “But I’m serious about the horses. I’ve always loved animals but I never had any pets.”

“Why not?”

She shrugged. “My parents never allowed us to have any, and after I moved away from home my lifestyle wasn’t conducive to keeping one.”

“That’s too bad. I was brought up around animals. I grew up on a farm.”

“Interesting.”

“Are you from Las Vegas?”

She laughed. “Oh, God no. I’m from Kentucky.”

He arched a brow. “No trace of an accent.”

“I left home at eighteen. That was a while ago. There’s no part of the Kentucky girl left in me.”

He reached out and grabbed a tendril of hair from the side of her face, letting it slide through his fingers. “You know what they say. You can take a girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl.”

“Trust me. This girl has no country left in her. I left their morality and their holier-than-thou standards and prejudices on the doorstep the day I walked out. There’s nothing of them left in me.”

“Bitter?”

His voice was soft. No accusation. “Not at all. I just didn’t want what they were selling.”

“Which was?”

“Hypocrisy.”

Mike nodded. “Now, that I understand. Those who preach one thing and practice another.”

“Exactly.” She took another drink and sighed, wondering why she’d revealed so much about herself to a stranger. She never talked about her past with anyone. Some of her close friends at Wild Nights didn’t know where she’d come from. “Your glass is empty Let me refill it.” She reached for his glass, but he laid his hand over hers.

“I’m fine right now, thanks.” He laid his glass on the side table, but didn’t let go of her hand. His thumb drew lazy circles over her palm. The sensation was wild. Amazing for someone as jaded as her. It was just her hand. She usually needed much more stimulation to get her going.

“I’m not promising you anything by this,” she said, needing him to understand.

His lips curled in a wicked, sexy half smile. “I just want to spend time with you, Grace. There are plenty of women I can fuck. I like you. I like talking to you. Just relax, okay?”

“Sorry. I’m used to meeting men whose sole objective is to fuck the panties right off me. It’s a defense mechanism to set the ground rules right away.”

“Consider them set. No promises. I won’t ask you to bear my children or move to Oklahoma with me tomorrow.”

She snorted. Dear God, when was the last time she did that? “That was funny.” He was right. She needed to lighten up.

“How long have you lived out here?” he asked, content to roll right back into talking.

“Ten years. I came out here right out of high school. Went to college and worked nights to support myself.”

“Damn hard life for a kid all alone.”

She shrugged. “I managed. I made friends and scored a couple really well-paying jobs. I knew exactly what I wanted.”

“Pretty impressive for someone so young.”

“It’s important to have goals.”

“And what were your goals?”

“To start up Wild Nights.”

His brows lifted. “You knew even then?”

She nodded. “I grew up in a repressed family. Sexuality wasn’t discussed. The town I lived in was littered with hypocrites who preached abstinence and morality and practiced adultery and indiscriminate sex. It was ludicrous.”

“And you were confused as hell, I imagine.”

She nodded. “Understatement. I had this raging libido and everyone telling me that what I felt inside was bad, evil. And it wasn’t bad. I knew it wasn’t. How could something that felt so good be wrong? What was so bad about expressing one’s sexuality?”

“Nothing.”

“I was determined to get the hell out of there before I ended up pregnant and married and trapped at eighteen. No way was I going the route of so many of my friends. They were brainwashed into believing that bullshit. I knew I was destined for something else. I felt stifled there and I couldn’t wait until I was old enough to make a run for it.

“So as soon as I graduated high school I packed up and left. I’d worked a part-time job in school and banked every spare cent I could. Enough for a bus ticket to Las Vegas and money to last a month. I was lucky—I landed a job and a place to live and worked my ass off in school and at work for several years, with my eye always on the prize.”

“Wild Nights.”

She smiled. “Wild Nights.”

“So you’ve realized your dream, Grace. Are you content?”

She started to answer with a yes, then realized no one had ever asked her that question before.

Was she content with her life? Could she honestly say she was happy?

“Truthfully, Mike? I don’t know.”

Mike was surprised at Grace’s honesty. And absolutely
stunned by her. Everything about her. Her story, her beauty. Her tenacity and drive.

“You’re an amazing woman, Grace. You’ve put your life on hold to realize your dream.”

“My dream is my life. Or at least it has been for the past twelve years.”

“I did the same thing with my practice. Between school and setting up my business, there wasn’t room for anything else for a long time.”

“But you’ve found time to play, haven’t you?” she asked, shifting on the couch so she could draw nearer to him.

He knew what she was doing. She was trying to change the subject because she felt like she’d revealed too much. Fair enough. He owed her for her honesty.

“I’ve played plenty. Too much, I think.”

She stilled, then leaned back a little, frowning. “Too much?”

“I’ve played the game for so many years I think I’ve become desensitized to it all. So I find myself looking for the next big thrill, and finally coming to realize there isn’t one.”

She relaxed her shoulders. “Ah. Yes, I understand.”

“I’ve done it all, Grace. It’s hard to get excited about it anymore. It’s like I’m pushing the sexual envelope, looking for the next conquest before I’ve even finished the one I’m with.”

“And it’s not fun anymore,” she replied, nodding.

He laughed. “Well, sex is always fun. But lately it’s been a little…unsatisfying.”

She crossed her arms. “I know the feeling.”

“Really?” He couldn’t believe he was telling her this. Or that she of all people was a kindred spirit. Grace was like a shrink—easy to talk to. He didn’t really spend a lot of time talking to women. When he was alone with a woman, talking typically wasn’t something they did. Then again, she was a stranger. A beautiful, intelligent, eloquent stranger, and different from most of the women he knew.

After tonight he’d never see her again, so why not? It wasn’t like he had anyone else remotely close to open up to about things like sex. No way would his male friends understand how a man who got as much pussy as he did could possibly be dissatisfied with his sex life.

“People always wonder about me,” she said. “Why I opened this club. How I must have suffered some sexual trauma that made me want to explore the wild side of sex, when the truth of the matter is, I always felt sex should be openly celebrated. I’ve always enjoyed it. There is no dark history in my life—no rape, no incest, no horrors in my past that caused me to want to investigate my deviant side. I just love sex. That’s why I moved here and started this club.

“As I mentioned, I was dissatisfied with those who preached morality that sex was something to be hidden as if it were bad. There’s nothing bad about sex as long as it’s consensual.

“But the problem is, when you engage in so much open and free sexuality, when you can have anything you want anytime you want it, you become desensitized to it. Then what does it take to be satisfied?”

“Is that why you don’t partake of the fun and games at Wild Nights?” he asked, curious whether it was choice or just part of the mystique.

She shifted, stared out at the lights of Las Vegas again. “Partly. I have responsibilities at the club and if I spend all my time engaged, I can’t cater to my clientele. But yes, I’ve also become a bit jaded. I used to play a lot more than I do now. Because I’ve done it all. It doesn’t have the allure it once did.”

“When you’ve experienced everything, and more than once, there’s no thrill.”

She looked at him. “Yes. That’s it exactly. I sometimes wonder if I’ll ever find the one man who’ll be able to touch me the way no man has been able to touch me before.”

He smiled. “Oh, that guy.”

“What guy?”

“The perfect man. He doesn’t exist.”

She returned his smile. “Nor does that perfect woman you’re looking for.”

“We’re both alike, Grace. Looking for something or someone who can’t be found.”

“So what do we do about that?”

God she was beautiful. Her hair shined like blue-black magic in the lights from the strip. The silk of her skirt and top clung to her body like shrink-wrap, molding to her breasts and hips. He wanted a taste, a touch, to sink inside her and see if she held the magic key to what was missing in his life. He hadn’t felt this comfortable with a woman in too long.

Or maybe he just wanted to avoid what was going on downstairs. Maybe it didn’t have the allure he thought it would. In that, he’d been honest with her.

What he really wanted to explore was sitting right next to him. Grace had fired his engines in a big way. Her intellect, her free spirit, her honesty and her beauty—all of them intrigued him more than any woman had in a long time.

“One night. Give me one night with you. No promises other than enjoying each other.”

“We both know we’re not going to find what we’re looking for,” she said, her gaze betraying nothing of her emotions at the moment.

“I know, but I like being with you. Isn’t that enough?”

“Is it?”

“I’ve been honest with you, Grace. That’s really all I can offer.”

He watched her face as she absorbed his words, wondering if she’d toss him out and deny him, and herself, a chance for a night together. She knew him. Okay, that was wrong. She didn’t know
him
, but he figured she knew hundreds of guys just like him. Men who’d had lots of women. She probably thought he was looking at her as just another conquest.