Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 79253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
I grab her hand. Squeeze it. “I wouldn’t take it back, you know.”
She raises an eyebrow. “Changing the hotel?”
“No. Meeting you. It’s been fucking crazy from the get-go, but even if I had to go through all of it again, I’d do it all over if it meant meeting you.”
She blushes. “You’re just saying that.”
“No. I’m really not. I can’t believe I went to the club with Maddox all those years and never turned my attention to Hearts. I’d have fallen head over heels for you then and there.”
She looks down. “You’d have fallen for a woman who sells herself to the highest bidder?”
A tiny pinch of jealousy tweaks my heart at her words, but I swallow it down. I don’t care about her history as long as she’s mine now. I tip her chin up, bring her gaze to mine. “I wouldn’t have cared. Just as long as you felt for me what I felt for you.”
She swallows. “I’m not going to do it anymore, you know. I mean, if things ever go back to normal, I’m done. I want you to be the last person I ever sleep with, Harrison.”
I lean across the table and press a chaste kiss to her lips. “You’re my once and forever.”
She smiles. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
The words fall out of me so easily. Like we’ve been married half our lives and I’ve been saying them for years.
We stare into each other’s eyes for a few fleeting moments before Bianca looks at her watch. “It’s about time to make our way to Aces.”
“Great.” Then I realize something. “Wait. You can’t go on wearing a sweater and a skirt. You look lovely, but you’ll need a gown.”
“No problem there,” she says. “I keep a spare gown in my dressing room for emergencies. You’d be shocked how many times men spill drinks on me or tear my dress when they’re”—a flush crosses her face—“disrobing me.”
Another spear of jealousy lances through my heart at the thought, but again she just told me she’s done with that for good, so I let it evaporate.
“And there’s a spare pair of shorts for me?”
She nods. “Easily. And you obviously won’t need anything else for the uniform beyond that.”
Right. I’m not looking forward to being next to naked again in the club. Makes you wonder how the rest of the waitstaff feel. I guess they learn to grin and bear it.
At least Rose won’t be there. He was trying to get into my tiny shorts the last time I disguised myself as the Ace of Clubs. That won’t be the case tonight. The pen protruding from his eye is a good reason to take the night off.
“I also keep a spare car key there,” Bianca continues. “And my car is still parked in the Gilded Rose garage, so I’ll steal over there once things finish, and I’ll be able to follow you on the bus back to the Caterpillar.”
“Good thinking,” I say.
“Never thought this would be the reason I’d use it, but I’ve learned to roll with the punches the last few days.” Her lip twitches.
I sigh. “Understatement of the fucking century.”
We make our way to Aces, sneak through the back entrance that leads to the ladies’ restroom, and slip into Bianca’s dressing room unnoticed. We quickly clamber into our outfits for the night, and I can’t help sneaking a glance when Bianca’s tits spill out of the sweater we bought at the thrift shop. She’s perfection. But we don’t have time for a quick roll in the hay right now, as much as the blood currently rushing to my cock would like that.
She slinks into her spare gown. It’s a tight little black dress, which makes me even crazier.
“That’s different from the dresses you normally wear.”
She grins. “Yeah, Rouge likely wouldn’t approve. The spare dress is black, in case I get a drink spilled on me a second time in a night. That way it doesn’t show up as much.”
“Will Rouge wonder why you’re starting the night in your spare dress?”
She shrugs. “I’ll tell her the rest of my gowns are at the cleaners.”
“If you’re going to play the opposite tonight, you should accessorize.” I walk across the room to the pile of stuff from Rouge’s office scattered in the corner of Bianca’s dressing room. I pick up a dark-gray fedora, the kind Maddox often wears.
Shit, this might actually be Maddox’s hat. He probably wore it the last night he came to the club with Alissa. Rouge probably threw it in this corner.
All the more reason for Bianca to don it tonight.
She looks at herself in the mirror. “I look like I’m about to play Sally Bowls in Cabaret.”
“And maybe this time, you’ll get lucky.” I plant a kiss on her, grind my crotch into hers.
Her face flushes. “I’d love to, Harrison. But we both know we don’t have time.”