He dialed his little brother’s number.
“Where the f**k are you? I’ve been dying for you to hear my new routine. It might even make you blush,” Brent said, launching right into things, not even bothering with a hello.
“I’d expect nothing less from your filthy mouth.”
“Gotta play the part, tats and bike and all.”
“What would you say to getting on that bike, riding it over to the Allegro, and heading off a package coming from this delivery service before my soon-to-be fiancée gets her hands on it?”
“Aww. That’s sweet that you need me to be your gopher bitch,” he teased. “What’s it worth to you?”
“It’s worth me not smacking you upside the head when I see you tonight. How about that?”
“You always strike a fair bargain. Consider it done.”
Clay cleared his throat. “And Brent, can you do me a favor? After you get the package, can you check on Julia? Maybe play a few rounds with her, buy her a drink? I won’t be there for another few hours, and I don’t want her to be alone,” he said, laying bare his concerns.
Brent stripped the joking from his voice, clearly sensing that something was amiss. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah. I think so. But you can never be too safe right? Sometimes you get a notion that prying eyes are on your woman, and you can’t shake it.”
“Say no more. I’m there. I’m on my way right now,” he said, and Clay could hear the clinking of keys and the shutting of the door. “Hey, how big is this package?”
“It should be in a small box, I’m guessing. It’s a necklace, but I didn’t want Julia to see it and think it was the ring because of the size of the box.”
“All right, man. I’ll drop it at the club. It’s right next door to the Allegro, though next door is a nebulous term in Vegas. Then I’ll go entertain your lady.”
“If I didn’t trust you with my life, I’d warn you not to try anything funny, but A, I trust you with my life and B, I’d beat you up, just like I did when we were kids.”
“Hey! You never beat me up. I always beat you.”
Clay laughed deeply. “That, my friend, is revisionist history right there.”
“You remember it your way. I remember it my way. I’m going to hit the road. I’ll text you when I’m there in about twenty minutes. The valets know me so parking is easy.”
Know me. Clay latched onto those words. “You know the firm that runs security for the hotel?”
“That I do. My friend Mindy runs it.”
“A woman?”
“You think a woman can’t handle security? She’s former Special Forces. She’d badass.”
“I haven’t got a single sexist bone in my body. I was just surprised.”
“Anyway, you need me to check on something?”
“Yeah. Make sure Julia’s not being followed.”
“Ten-four.”
Then he called Julia, letting her know he was driving instead of flying.
“Well, that sucks, because I miss you something fierce.”
“I miss you too. But I’ll be there soon. And listen, Brent’s coming by. Go play some poker with him, okay? I called him to have him look out for you. And before you go all stubborn and independent on me, I did it because you were worried, and when you’re worried I’m worried, and even though I’m sure nothing is amiss I’m not taking any chances. Brent will make sure you feel safe.”
He tensed, waiting for her to reprimand him. Instead, she made the sweetest sound. “Awww. That is so adorable. And I will happily let your brother be my security detail.”
“It is? Adorable?”
“It is. And it makes me think about how far we’ve come. It makes me think about what almost split us up, and now here you are, laying it all out for me and telling me upfront.”
His heart beat faster and he couldn’t contain the smile. He dropped his foot harder on the gas, needing desperately to see his gorgeous Julia and wrap her in his arms. “And look at you. Taking my help so easily too. So different than before when you were kicking and screaming.”
“We’re a good team.”
“Always, gorgeous. Always,” he said, and he was proud of them, of how far they’d come, and how much they’d learned to trust each other. He truly felt the two of them could conquer the world.
Now, if only he could get to Vegas. He ended the call and punched a few buttons to install an app that gave alerts as to cops and speeding traps. There were none showing, so he let the speedometer crank higher, putting more distance between himself and Los Angeles.
A second later, an incoming text message from Julia flashed across his screen. A multimedia file. Oh f**k. His dick twitched just imagining what she’d sent. He glanced in the rearview mirror, then the side mirror, then made sure all was clear on the stretch of highway ahead of him. He steeled himself as he swiped his finger across the screen and nearly swerved off the side of the road when a picture of her br**sts greeted him. So lush, so round, so designed for him to bite down and suck.
What do you want to do with these tonight?
He took a deep fueling breath, then spoke into the voice-recognition software, the phone transcribing his reply. “Slide my rock-hard c**k between them and watch you suck the head of my dick as I f**k your br**sts. That’s what I want to do with them tonight. This is your fair warning.”