“The red dress it is.” I turn to Poppy and snicker. “I think I’m the only woman caught up in a love quadruple who isn’t having sex.”
“Except they all think the other is having sex with you.”
“Apart from Dale.”
Poppy chuckles as she leans against the pillow. “And the entire world thinks you’re having a torrid love affair with him.” Poppy pops another chip into her mouth. “I thought you were breaking things off with Dale.”
“I am. I have to now I’ve blogged I’m going on a date with Alex.”
Poppy coughs as she swallows a crisp. “You’ve blogged about Alex.”
“Kinda. I’ve given him a codename.”
Poppy’s eyes widen as she chews her lower lip. “Mia.”
“Yeah.”
“Make me a promise?”
I glance at Poppy and wish I had kept my gaze away from her laughing one and draw in a deep breath. “What kind of promise.”
“That I can be there when you tell Alex the truth about NOLA Boy.”
“I wish you wouldn’t call him that.”
“Is that the door I hear?”
Poppy jumps off the bed as the doorbell rings again, and I grab the red dress as I shrug out of my housecoat. As I stand by the door, clutching the dress, Alex’s voice drifts up the stairs. His voice wraps me in a warm cocoon. Oh shit, my knees are shaking, and my fingers are as thick as Ma Keys southern fried sausages and I drop the dress I’m supposed to be putting on.
“Mia. Alex is here.” I roll my eyes at Poppy’s obvious statement and grab the dress from the floor.
At the bedroom door, I draw in a deep breath, run my hands over the smooth cloth of the dress over my hips, then grab the short leather jacket from the hook on the back of the door. Alex is at the bottom of the stairs. When he whistles, my pussy pulses.
“You’re looking good, Mia.”
“Thanks.” I turn to Poppy. “I’ll not be late. But there’s no need to wait up.”
“I’ll be awake when you get back.” She winks at Alex and I roll my eyes. “I wanna hear all the juicy details.” As the door shuts behind us, I glance towards the road and the tension in my spine fades, Alex has turned up in the club’s SUV.
“No bike?”
Alex’s fingers linger at my waist and my brain turns to mush. “I’ll let Cole impress you with bike rides.” He winks as he guides me down the path. “There’s more fun in a car when you’re with a gal.”
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere where Cole hasn’t taken you.”
My pussy throbs again. There’s one place Cole hasn’t taken me and until Alex comes up with the required paperwork, he’ll not be taking me there tonight. “Oh.” When he pulls the SUV into the parking lot of Demon’s Lair I glare at the riverboat. “I knew I should have gone with jeans.”
Alex is out of the SUV and round my side, opening my door before I can reach the handle. “What was that you said?”
As I step out of the SUV, I glance over his shoulder and watch several cars arrive. When the gathering crowd board the riverboat, I study the bright lights. “I think I’m overdressed for the club’s saloon.”
Alex’s hand soothes over my ass and a warm tingle travels up to my stomach as he closes the door. Then he’s giving me a gently prod towards the riverboat. “You’re dressed perfectly.”
“Evening, Mia. Hope you enjoy tonight’s sailing.” I smile at Copper as he steps away from the gangplank and Alex guides me onto to the riverboat. Instead of turning towards the lower deck towards the club’s private room, he leads us to the casino and my breath hitches in my throat. Although I’ve visited the riverboat several times, this is my first visit to the casino. The buzz in the air, brings the hairs on my arms to life. The room is crowded. Several small cages hanging from the ceiling catch my attention and a I gawp at them. The doors are open and a woman steps into each cage. The low hum of voices echoes around me.
As we hesitate by the door, Alex’s gaze sweeps the room. “Here comes the boring bit.”
I glance at him. “How can you call this boring, and where do I get my chips?” I blink at Alex. “You do accept credit cards.” Alex chuckles as he leads me to a bar and orders two beers. With the beers are several chips and I count them. There’s a month’s worth of wages, and about to give them back to Alex, I change my mind. Shit, I don’t have to use them all. As Alex leads me to a table occupied by Day and Bastian, a voice booms across the room, announcing a safety message. Day’s gaze is appreciative as it wanders over me, and I find myself stepping closer to Alex. Day’s never looked at me as a woman and I’m not stupid, I’ve heard the rumors. I turn my gaze to Bastion. “No, Eve tonight.”
The vice president’s smile is warm. “She’ll be here in a moment.”
I turn my gaze back to the gaming area. “When do we get to play?”
Day chuckles as Alex stokes my back and a shiver slithers through me. Cole’s touch never affectes me the way Alex’s does, and I take a sip of my beer.
“In about half an hour. You have your chips.” I nod as I open my purse, showing Day my collection of colored chips. He chuckles as he turns his head. I follow his gaze, and watch Eve approach and smile at her.
Just as he said. We are only on the riverboat about a half hour before the click of balls rolling on roulette tables and the snap and shuffling of cards fill the room and the
