Within seconds of lying down, Lia passed out cold. Shane ran his finger down her soft cheek, then bent and pressed a gentle kiss against her lips. As he pulled back, he was confronted with the awful truth: this was beyond a simple crush — and he was in deep trouble.
For about two seconds, Shane considered getting her into her pajamas, then realized how horrific a thought that was. She was drunk and passed out and he was thinking of stripping her. No, it was time he took off. Rachel would look out for Lia and call him if they needed anything. He just had to get out of the house before he wasn’t able to.
Shane left the room to find a sleepy Rachel, who agreed to change Lia’s clothes and stay with her for the night. With an unbelievable ache in his chest, Shane left the house wondering what the hell he was going to do next.
Chapter Eighteen
“Come on, Ari. You know you want to do this. It will be so much fun!”
Ari looked at Rafe’s sisters and couldn’t hide her smile. The girls were incredibly convincing when they wanted something, but she got only one day off from Rafe and there was no way she could sneak away for several without him throwing a fit.
Just the thought ticked her off. Rafe didn’t own her, contrary to his opinion of the matter. If she wanted to spend a weekend away with friends, and she did consider Lia and Rachel friends, then she could darn well do it. He’d just have to deal with her decision.
“I don’t know. It’s pretty expensive…” she hedged, riding the fence on whether to join them.
“Oh, pish. It isn’t expensive at all. The food is cheap, the liquor even cheaper, and you don’t have to worry about airfare or the room. Just say yes. You know you want to,” Lia insisted.
“What are you girls up to?”
Ari looked up guiltily as Rafe stepped into her office.
“Not that it concerns you, but we want to take our friend on a little weekend trip,” Rachel quickly piped up. Ari’s temper flared when Rafe narrowed his eyes. At the closed look on his face, her decision was made. He wasn’t going to run her life completely. He had enough control as it was.
“Ari is busy this weekend,” he said with finality.
“You can’t work her seven days a week, Rafe,” Lia pouted.
“We have plans.”
“Oh, really? What plans?” Rachel countered.
“That’s none of your business.”
“I want to go with them.”
Rafe turned incredulous eyes on Ari and she felt a deep level of satisfaction. Let him think about that. She was sticking with their agreement, but if she wanted a weekend off once in a while, he’d have to deal with it. Heck, if he didn’t like her plans, he could always replace her.
The thought of him doing just that caused a small lump to form in her throat. Vivid images took over her brain, images of him with another woman on his arm, and of the two of them in private, doing heaven knew what —oh, but she knew what, and it killed her.
“Where are you girls planning to go?” he asked, now wearing his poker face. Oh, yes, he was a master at hiding his emotions. At the moment he looked as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Ari hated it when he acted that way.
“Vegas!” Rachel announced, and began to sing “Viva, viva…”
Rafe’s expression darkened and a shudder passed through Ari.
“Why do you want to go to Vegas?”
“Do you seriously need to ask that? Um, let me see, hot guys, cheap drinks, exotic shows. Do I need to continue?”
“You’ve been on a mission to cause as much trouble as possible lately, Lia. I think a trip to Vegas is a train wreck waiting to happen,” Rafe scolded.
“Well, it’s a good thing I’m over twenty-one then, isn’t it? I can go wherever I want to.”
Rafe and Lia glared at each other for several tense moments before Rafe shrugged. Before Ari could get too excited over his apparent acquiescence, he spoke again.
“Fine. If you insist on going, I can’t stop you. I’ll just have to escort you there. I have business I can take care of in the city.”
“We weren’t inviting you,” Rachel spoke up, her eyes rounding in near panic.
“Tough. I’ll call Shane. We have a new hotel going in and we can check on its progress.”
At the mention of Shane’s name, Lia perked right up and Ari knew she was done for. Her weekend with the girls had just turned into a family affair. She didn’t know whether to be excited or…OK, she’d say it to herself! — pissed off. At the fuming look in Rafe’s eyes, excitement was starting to win out.
“If you insist, I guess you can tag along. There are rules, though,” Lia warned.
At her words, Rafe’s lips quirked, and he lifted an eyebrow and waited. Ari knew he was thinking, This ought to be good.
“This is a girl trip, which means we get time alone. You don’t get to trail us everywhere we go, and you don’t get to rain on our parade for having a good time. That means no bodyguards tagging along, and no telling us we aren’t allowed out of the room unless you’re by our side.”
“And if I don’t agree to your rules?”
“Then we’ll sneak Ari out of here right now and disappear to some unknown location where you’ll never be able to find us,” Rachel piped up with a confident smile.
Rafe couldn’t help himself — he burst out laughing. Ari’s jaw dropped at the sound. The man was handsome when he was brooding, but with a smile on his face and laughter pouring from him, he was breathtaking.
His eyes caught hers; his laughter died and his pupils dilated. Ari knew that look well, and she expected to be feeling very satisfied not too long after Rafe’s sisters left the room.
“I’ll agree to let you go to a show on your own, but you have to keep your cell phones with you in case something happens. You also have to use my driver. I’m not agreeing to your…request for no bodyguards until I assess the situation.”
“Fine. We’ll agree to that…for now. We’ll discuss the bodyguard issue later,” Lia conceded.
“Good. Now, get out. Ari and I have a lot of work to do.”
“I’ll just bet you do,” Rachel snickered as she grabbed her sister’s arm and led her from the room.
Ari swallowed as Rafe steadily walked to the door and casually turned the lock. The sound of it latching seemed like a loud boom to her sensitive ears — her heart picked up speed.