I pulled up my pants and zipped them, and she tugged her bottoms back into place before buttoning her blouse. I imagined her cheeks flushed and her eyes dark with relaxation and felt a bit jilted that I didn't get to enjoy seeing her flustered after that moment.
"God that was?—"
"Yes it was," I told her, finding her hand to pull it to my lips and kiss it. I felt the way her fingers rode over my knuckles and then stopped as they brushed the ring finger on my left hand.
"You're still wearing the ring?" she asked softly. I detected a hint of confusion in her tone. I didn't mean to jerk back like she'd bitten me, but I did.
"Uh, yeah, I must've forgotten to take it off..."
Lainey was quiet as she bent to pick up her purse and sling it over her shoulder.
"We should probably go," she said, turning away from me. "Before security comes back."
My shoulders tensed. We'd just shared a perfect moment, though I knew sex wasn't half of what a real relationship was. Lainey deserved so much more than the shallow emotional depth I was giving her.
"Yeah, sure." My hand rode the small of her back as I started to lead her back toward the parking area. God, she made me feel incredible, but I wasn't stupid. She needed a man who would commit to her in every way, not just for sex. Besides I didn't know what I was to her. It wasn't like we were taking time to actively get to know one another. Every time we got together we couldn’t keep our hands off each other.
That was a good start, but not enough. I tried tonight to tell her I wanted her, but maybe those words didn't hit their target.
"Are you planning to do the annulment soon?" she asked, and since I couldn't see her face I had nothing to go on but the sliver of sadness in her tone.
"Uh, yeah... but you have the paperwork in your purse, remember? Can't do anything until I have that filled out." My heart sank. I couldn’t help it.
I didn't know why, but the idea of putting that annulment paperwork through felt wrong. Lainey was fast becoming the best part of every day of my life, even the days we weren't together. The thought of ending that seemed wrong. She made me want to be a better person and grow up, which was a huge shift from my normal life.
When we reached my car, I pulled her close and kissed her before she could climb in. It was softer than our earlier kisses, less urgent, and when I pulled back, she was smiling.
"What was that for?" she asked.
"Just wanted to." I opened the passenger door for her. "Come on, let me take you home."
The drive back to her parents' house where she’d left her car was quiet. She rested her eyes and I kept one hand on the wheel while the other found hers across the center console. When we pulled up in front, I didn't want to let her go.
"I'll call you tomorrow," I said.
Lainey hesitated, but in the better lighting I noticed her bite her lower lip. "Okay," she said quietly, then leaned over and kissed my cheek before she climbed out of the car. I watched her walk to her car and get inside before I finally pulled away.
The drive back to Las Vegas felt longer than it should have. Every second I got farther away from Lainey was a second too long. My father had called three times while I was with Lainey, but I had left my phone in the car. Still I knew I couldn't put him off forever, which was why I was heading back to the city instead of staying in Boulder City for the night.
When I finally pulled into the parking garage at the Atlas, it was almost midnight. I took the elevator up to my father's office and found him waiting for me with a glass of scotch in his hand and a scowl on his face.
"You're late," he said without looking up from the papers on his desk.
"You didn't give me a specific time." I dropped into the chair across from him and stretched out my legs. "What's so urgent that it couldn't wait until morning?"
He finally looked at me and I could see the frustration in his eyes. After weeks of pressuring me to ditch Lainey, he'd gone to drastic lengths to force me to do just that. He could probably tell by my lack of interaction with him that I wasn't on board with how he wanted to do things.
"The Kingston name is being tarnished by rumors that you were seen taking a drunk woman into a hotel room. The tabloids don't have good images, but they're running with the story anyway. We're facing potential public outrage that could hurt our reputation."
I sat up straighter. "What are you talking about?"
He pushed a tablet across the desk toward me. "Someone leaked the security footage, Kade. You really want this to come down to you looking like a predator?"
I looked down at the screen and saw exactly what he was talking about. Someone had stolen still photographs from the video Mark had shown me, which meant someone inside the Atlas security office had sold them for profit. The losers. The headlines were worse than the images.
"I don’t understand. That was weeks ago," I said, shoving the tablet back. "Why is this coming up now?"
"Does it matter?" He took a long drink from his glass. "We need to get ahead of this before it becomes a bigger problem."
