Chapter 31: Chapter 31

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS

This was turning out to be the absolute worst day of Yolanda Hamilton’s life. No. Take that back. The absolute worst day of her life was when Lucas Gordon was hired as the Senior Vice President of Acquisitions for the elite fashion designer label, the House of Dafina. The only thing Lucas was good at acquiring were a string of model girlfriends,

each successive one, more beautiful than the last.

“Signora Giordono, I really don’t see why it’s necessary for Mr.

Gordon to accompany me,” she said patiently, doing her best to her hide her irritation as she stared at Dafina Giordono, the elegant and beautiful older woman who’d built the House of Dafina from the ground up almost

fifty years ago.

She’d worked for Dafina for nearly fifteen years, and she knew the woman didn’t particularly like being second guessed, especially when she’d made up her mind about something, but she also knew Dafina was very reasonable. And she just happened to adore Yolanda, which in this case, was a check in her favor.

“Yolanda,” she said, clucking her tongue as she gave her a sharp look. She knew then Dafina had seen right through her. Hell, it was no secret that she could barely stand Lucas Gordon’s guts. “I know you don’t care for him, but he has a good eye for up and coming designers,” she said with a slight shrug. “Besides, he also has experience with swimsuit lines.”

Well then send him, but without me! She wanted to shout, but since as

far as she could tell she wasn’t crazy, and she also didn’t particularly relish the thought of standing in an unemployment line, she held her tongue and said instead, “I agree he is more experienced with these things, so he can just go without me—”

“Yolanda!” She heard the warning in Dafina’s voice and she let out an inward sigh as she resigned herself to her fate, steeling herself for the lecture she heard coming. “You’re my Creative Director. Nothing comes in or goes out of my label without your approval. You’re the only person I trust who shares my same vision.” She smiled then as a wicked gleam lit up her hazel eyes. “You know I would go myself if I didn’t need to get

ready for Fashion Week in a month. You may not like him, but you can’t

deny that Mr. Gordon is very easy on the eyes. Who wouldn’t want to spend three days in Vegas with such a handsome young man?”

Me! Yolanda silently screamed as she gritted her teeth. She stared at

Dafina who wore an almost dreamy expression and shook her head, barely managing to keep her eyes from rolling to the back of her head. What was with every woman that came within a mile of the man? Did he give off some lethal pheromones or was his cock just made of gold? Yes. Lucas was extremely good looking, but he was conceited, cocky, and far

too arrogant for his own good. Why didn’t other women see this?

Almost as if on cue, the man at the center of her thoughts strolled into Dafina’s office with all the confidence and swagger of a man who knew he was practically irresistible to women.

Dressed in a custom tailored charcoal gray suit that molded perfectly to his chiseled frame, he could easily have been a model with his sandy brown curly locks, fathomless sea green eyes, and sun-bronzed skin. He was just so classically handsome that it was almost nauseating.

This time she didn’t bother restraining herself as she crossed her

arms over her breasts and rolled her eyes. She pursed her lips into a tight

frown when she felt her pebbled nipples poke through the thin cotton of her dress shirt to stab her folded arms.

She swore he sensed his effect on her when he dropped his gaze to her crossed arms, before letting it leisurely slide back to her face.

Annoyance simmered in her belly when he flashed her a wolfish grin, and she rolled her eyes again before she snapped her gaze to a tiny spot on the wall just above Dafina’s head.

“Yolanda. Signora Giordono,” he greeted as he lowered his 6’5 frame into one of Dafina’s chairs.

“Hmpf.” Was the only response she gave as her boss preened before him, soaking up his attention like a sponge.

She sat there in silence while Dafina went over the details of their trip to Las Vegas to scope out a few up and coming designers for a new swimsuit line. Already knowing the rest of the spiel, she shot to her feet, desperately needing to get out of the room now. There was just something about Lucas that she swore whenever he was near the air in the room always changed, and her internal temperature seemed to kick

up a notch.

“I have work to do, so I’ll let you finish telling him what you told me,” she said to Dafina, who wore a slight frown, but when the woman didn’t argue she took that as a sign that Dafina would let her off the hook this time.

Lucas instantly stood to his feet, and for some reason she resented

his good manners and chivalrous ways. Why couldn’t he just be an all around asshole? That would certainly make hating him easier.

“Yolanda,” he said with a slight nod. “I guess I’ll see you at the airport tomorrow. I must say I’m looking forward to working with you in Vegas.”

There was something about the way he looked at her as he spoke that gave her pause and she narrowed her eyes, searching for the veiled come on that hovered just beneath the surface. That’s one of the reasons why she hated him so much. He always did little things to tease her, and ruffle her feathers.

She stared at him for just a second longer, but if he’d meant anything more by his words he didn’t let it show.

She nodded toward Dafina, before she returned her gaze to Lucas. “See you tomorrow,” she said tightly before she twisted on her heels and stomped out of the room, desperately hoping her day didn’t get any worse.

*

“I just prayed that my day didn’t get any worse, but then here you come.”

Lucas furled his lips into a grin as he ambled into Yolanda’s office, closing the door behind him. He couldn’t help but grin, although he knew it probably pissed her off even more. His lovely Amazon reminded him of an angry scorpion always ready to strike. He’d seen her cow many men who just couldn’t handle her acid tongue and brusque manner, but as he drew closer to her, he knew instinctively that Yolanda was nothing but a little kitten under all that brass. She just needed the right man to coax that kitten out of her.

“What do you want, Lucas?” She snapped as she leaned back in her chair with her arms folded across her full breasts.

He didn’t even miss a beat as he let her terse words roll off his back. “Just came by to give you the itinerary,” he said, rattling a single piece of paper in his hand. “You left before Dafina had a chance to give it to you.”

He set the paper down before her as he planted both hands atop her desk and leaned forward. “You raced out of there so fast, you had me worried that you were about to miss your hot date.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re the only one who has hot dates at ten in the morning.” “They’re just dates, sweetheart; they’re not hot to me at all.” He leaned closer to her then, his eyes drinking in her soft pouty lips, and almond shaped eyes. “I’m really just biding my time until I can convince a certain hot Creative Director to go out with me.”

“Yes, well I’m sure your last Russian model girlfriend—ahhh, what

was her name?” She cocked her head to the side as she stared up at the ceiling. “That’s right,” she said snapping her fingers. “Nadenka. Yes, well, I don’t think Nadenka would appreciate hearing that you don’t

consider her hot, especially after that blow job she gave you in your office

last week,” she mocked as she glared at him.