Page 14 of Billionaire's Accidental Marriage
I enjoyed this atmosphere. This “give and take” Mike and I had going for us. In some respects, I almost felt like I had a work husband. Someone I could rely on and talk freely with without pissing them off or risk losing my job.
Plus, I’d never been to Vegas before.
“So, how did you come about putting this small-town delight together in the first place?”
He took another big bite of his food. “It was a dream I had.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Really?”
He snickered as he dug around in his bowl of food with his fork. “Yeah, if you can believe it. It just came to me over a series of dreams that plagued me until I couldn’t ignore them.”
“All right. Where is it happening?”
“In Vegas.”
“I know that. I mean, what hotel? Or lobby? Or wherever it’s going to be?”
His stare turned to face me as I finished off my bowl of food. “In the desert.”
I almost choked on it as it snaked down my throat. “Sorry, what?”
He took my bowl. “I purchased a five-acre plot of desert land for cheap in the middle of the Las Vegas desert. I’ve had people working for the past five months on paving roads, making road signs, throwing up buildings to inhabit, making cobblestone sidewalks. You know, things like that.”
I slowly turned to face him. “You’re building a small town? In the middle of the desert?”
“Afakesmall town.”
I balked. “How in the world are you going to get running water? Or electricity?”
He shrugged. “Probably the same way everyone else gets their running water and electricity.”
“It’s the middle of the desert, Mike.”
He chuckled. “Look, I promise I have all of that taken care of. What I need from you is to make sure my businesses flying in get shown to their proper places so they can set up and that the place is generally decorated in the way a small town might look.”
“Because I’d know about that growing up in a place like this?”
He winked at me. “Google is a great resource, or so I’ve found.”
I sighed. “You know how to go big, don’t you?”
He smiled brightly. “I’ve been known to surprise people, sure.”
I shook my head. “You’re a mess, you know that?”
“Ah, now you just sound like my mother.”
I snorted. “Well, sometimes mothers are simply right.”
He finished his food and sat up, allowing our knees to touch. “So, Miss Assistant, you down for a trip to Vegas so we can bring the small town to one of the most popular big cities in the country?”
Heat raced up my thighs, but I wasn’t sure why. So, I simply shoved the feeling off to the side and nodded. “Oh, I’m so ready to see how this all comes together.”
His hand fell against my knee. “Great. I’ll shoot you the details via email so you can go over things like pictures, set-up ideas, and take a look at the hotel where we’ll be staying.”
The warmth from his palm made the hairs on the nape of my neck stand on end. “Sounds perfect.”
“Yeah,” I said as I tried not to focus on how he squeezed my knee ever so softly, “sounds perfect.”
