Sex and the Billionaire Crime Boss

Ch. 15: Gambling

"I'm ready," I tell Gabe, and the elevator whooshes us back down again.

As soon as we round the corner in the hotel lobby I see him. He stands with his back to us, watching something on the casino side. Then he turns, like he's sensed my presence.

Max's gaze moves over me and his lips twitch in a slight smile, making me doubly glad I took such care with my appearance. I stare right back at him with equally blatant admiration.

Words cannot describe Maxwell Bennett in a tux.

I walk over to him. Gabe stays back a bit to give us privacy.

"You clean up nice, Mr. Bennett," I tell him.

"You look stunning," Max says, and I probably spoil my casually elegant effect by grinning at him.

"Thank you."

"I'm sorry I haven't been able to spend as much time with you as I'd like," Max tells me, and I make a comment about how he makes up for it with quality. Now he's definitely smiling.

All I can think about is that at some point this evening, he'll have to finish his meetings, and we'll be alone.

"I don't know if I mentioned I have this thing about a handsome man in a tux." I move closer, grazing my fingers lightly over the smooth lapel.

"Is that so?" Max reaches an arm around me, resting the palm of his hand on the open back of my dress and pulling me even closer. Our bodies are almost touching now. He leans down slightly and lowers his voice.

"I have a thing for a particular woman in a dress that's just begging me to slip my hand in the front and explore what's underneath."

He takes his other hand and traces it lightly along the deep vee of my dress, running his fingers over the silky fabric much like I was just doing with his lapel. For a giddy moment, I think he might actually move his hand a little to the right, under the dress and cup my bare breast.

Instead, he steps back slightly, reaching into his pocket.

"These are for you," he says, and deposits a small stack of black chips into my hand.

My eyes widen as I look up at him.

"Is this you trying to get me to lose money so you can play out that fantasy you told me? Because I am not going to go gamble away $50,000 just so you can—" I pause, and I know I'm blushing.

Max has this wicked glint in his eye that makes little currents of electricity run through my body.

"My fantasy," he reminds me in that same low voice, "had to do with you stealing my money. I expect you to lose this. And it's only $5,000."

"Oh. Only," I say, and he laughs.

"Hadley, what's the point of coming to one of the best Vegas casinos if you don't spend a little money on entertainment? Go play one of those games of skill you said you enjoy. Or feed it all into the slot machines. I don't care."

I stare at him, incredulous. "You really want me to go lose $5,000."

"I want you to have a good time. Especially since my meeting will be moving back up the suite later, so you may have to entertain yourself for quite a while. If you run out of chips too quickly, Gabe can get some more for you on my account."

"If I go through $5,000 quickly, that's a good sign to stop gambling and find some other form of entertainment."

"Well, there's plenty of that here." Max moves closer again, and before I realize what he's doing, that amazing mouth is on mine. The kiss ends too quickly and makes me wish we were back in the room.