looking up at him. His hat came off but his hand didn’t move from her waist, while his gaze swept her face.
“Hey, boss.” Tess looked over Vincent's broad shoulder at a young cashier runner smiling at Vincent, who looked over his shoulder at her.
“Hey, Becky. Keep it tight.”
“Right, boss.” Becky nodded and moved away.
“Evening, Mr. Whitehorse.” This came from behind Tess.
Vincent nodded to a security guard, who passed by.
Tess turned back and grabbed a fistful of Vincent’s tee by his waist, feeling the ripple of his six-pack abs beneath. “Boss? You’re the boss.” It was not a question, it was a demand.
“Kinda,” he said, then he used his hand on her waist to move her forward and she lost her grip on his tee. Oh, he so was the boss. That meant her impromptu job was very suspect.
“This is not staying away from each other,” she accused.
He moved her through rows of slot machines with people pushing buttons and some looking as if they were hugging their machines. She was not a gambler, so the rows of machines looked like rows of tricked-out arcade games to her.
“Redrock can get flowers done by anyone. Why not you?” Vincent’s voice was close to her ear, where he’d leaned down to be heard. The rumble of his voice stroked her in places she’d have to appease later with her lonely vibrator. Damn him.
She caught his tee again as they walked, keeping his mouth close as she turned her head slightly. “Because we shouldn’t be together,” she whispered fiercely. Because any second she was going to veer him off their path and mouth-lock him. “Playing with fire,” she blurted.
“Just trying to help you, beautiful,” he replied.
But then their entire conversation was disrupted by a high-pitched exclamation. “Vin, baby!”
“Fuck.” Vincent growled the curse right in her ear. Tess felt him stiffen, then his hand lifted from her waist and he straightened, stopping their forward motion. “Incoming,” he warned her, right before she saw his face close tight, as if a mask had been slipped over it.
“Tess, what the hell are you doing here?”
Steven? Tess stiffened with shock, turning to look toward where Vincent was glaring.
“Vin, baby, this is so exciting! You just have to hear us! You will be blown away, darling!”
Tess felt the shock take her breath as she watched her husband walking toward her with a stunning blonde by his side. Steven had his hand on the beautiful, tall, slender woman’s waist. Steven. Did. Not. Release. It. Like Vincent had her waist. Ohmygod, Vincent’s wife had to be a model ... she was that perfect.
“Tess?” Steven demanded as the couple stopped before them, and then the blonde launched herself at Vincent, who had no choice but to embrace her.
“A flower job. Banquet room. Wedding,” she curtly told Steven, while she stepped back out of the way of Luna Whitehorse’s swinging legs and spiky heels, because Luna’s arms were latched to Vincent’s neck. And Vincent looked deadly, as if he were locked into immobile intensity, while Steven looked shrewd, with an indulgent smile playing on his lips. To Tess it was incredibly obvious they were after something.
Luna exclaimed into Vincent’s chiseled features, “I growl out our new song ‘Honey on the Side’ like a fucking rocker, Vin! Oh God, the lights on me, the music! You just have to hear, I’m so fucking good at this! Stevie knows talent, and he's blown away!” She kissed Vincent's cheek and his jaw, while bouncing against him as his eyes grew darker.
To Luna’s claims, Tess watched her husband, adding, “She's pretty hot.”
Steven turned away from Tess, leaving her like a forgotten hangnail. Her fingers curled into her palms, biting the flesh.
“Not interested. Get the fuck off me,” Vincent’s voice barked, sharper than Tess had ever heard it. It made her flinch, but apparently had no effect on Luna.
“I’ll start singing right here, Vin, baby, if you won’t listen
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