Page 14 of Winning Bid

He frowns. “Well, me, but?—"

“And which one of us has a history of being a womanizer?”

He opens his mouth and pauses, realizing he’s walked right into my trap. I grin at him, knowing I have won this round. A smirk flickers in his dangerous eyes. “Alright, Devlin, just for that, I’m going to surprise you.”

I laugh, but I’m intrigued. “Haven’t there been enough surprises for one night?”

“Not hardly. You ready?”

“Let’s go.”

The trip to the Ritz is over in a blink. Anderson clearly has more than a legendary cocktail in mind tonight, and he is as anxious as I am. The play fight weirdly got me going, and I am practically climbing the walls. However, that might also be because his car smells so deeply of him and leather, and those two scents get my brain tangled. It is all I can do to keep my hands to myself in the car. I hope this drink doesn’t take too long. I need to see my man naked.

We walk into the lobby, and it’s gorgeous. Golden lighting cascades from chandeliers, and the modern neutral palette is inviting, but I want to make a run for the room—oh hell. We don’t have a reservation. How in the hell are we going to make this work?

I steer toward the lounge so we can figure it out, but Anderson takes my elbow and guides me to the concierge desk. I object, “We need to book a room?—"

He only laughs and strolls to the desk. Being a Monday night, there’s no line. Thank goodness for small favors. No one will see us get booted out of here. “Good evening,” he begins. I wonder what he’ll say to try and get a room. The Ritz books far in advance, so the thought we could just walk in is ridiculous.

When the concierge looks up at him, her face practically glows. “Mr. West, a pleasant surprise.”

“Melanie, you’re slipping. You should have known I’d be here,” he teases. “I booked over an hour ago online.”

He did? Sneaky bastard. But I feel better knowing we have a room booked.

But then I catch the look in Melanie’s eyes. She laughs musically while she stares at his mouth. They’re so familiar with each other, and it becomes clear they’ve had a thing, and well, I hate her now. But she gives me the once over and smiles just as sweetly at me before turning to him. “Apologies, Mr. West, but it has been months since we last saw you. I thought perhaps you had taken your business elsewhere.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“The usual?”

“Actually, is the Presidential available?”

Her blond brows lift for a moment as she goes to check it. “For how many nights?”

“Just the one for now, but I’d like to keep the option for tomorrow night, as well.”

Oh, he would, would he? After keeping his Melanie secret, I plan to make him pay for this. He should have told me we could run into his ex. For that, I’m getting all the room service I want. Maybe I’ll make her bring it.

She purrs, “Anything for you, Mr. West.” She passes him a keycard, and her fingers linger just long enough to irritate me. But then her smile deepens further when she looks at me. “And anything at all for his guests.”

Oh my god. She’s flirting with me.

Before I can react, he says, “Have a lovely evening, Melanie.”

“Don’t forget—our twenty-four-hour service is available at any time. And I get off in two hours.”

I bet she thinks she will.

He smiles, then takes my hand and sweeps me away to the elevator bank. He presses the button and offers no explanation of Melanie or anything else whatsoever.

“Was the drink a ploy to get me here?”

“The Ritz is notorious for taking its guests’ privacy rather seriously. It’s practically sacrosanct here. Particularly the upper-tier suites. They are swept for bugs regularly.”

I blink up at him. “How do you even know that?”

“A side benefit of the job.” He lifts a shoulder. “When we have a celebrity client under allegations or getting hounded by the paparazzi, and we need to stash them someplace safe, this is where we send them for exactly that reason.”

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