Page 72 of I Need You Tonight
Chapter 27
Nicole
Mason and I stumbled into the hotel after two in the morning. My stomach churned with memories of a lifetime of pain as we were forced to walk through the casino to get to the front desk. The lingering smell of stale smoke taunted me—that was what my father had smelled like whenever he returned home from gambling. I wanted to climb into a shower and scrub the stench off me.
Lights from the slot machines flashed, attempting to lure in the unsuspecting. Even at this hour the casino was busy, with men and women of all ages. Some looked like zombies—pretty much how I felt after attending the funeral and then traveling the rest of the day. The only difference was that my resemblance to a zombie was due to a lack of sleep. The people in front of us had been turned into zombies by the slot machines.
Waitresses wearing stilettos and revealing dresses carried trays of drinks to the tables where patrons were involved in their card game of choice. The men at the nearby table barely gave their waitress a second glance, their attention focused on the dealer and the cards laid out in front of them.
Mason stopped for a moment. I had no idea why. I was too busy watching a man at the blackjack table who reminded me of the last time I’d seen my father. His dress shirt was disheveled and his short brown hair stuck up at odd angles, the result of him shoving his hand through it too many times. Nausea churned in my stomach when I saw the wedding ring on his finger. This man probably also had kids at home who had no idea what their father was up to. If they were lucky, he didn’t live around here; he was just here for a day or two before returning home to his happy family. If they were lucky, he wasn’t a gambling addict.
The man lost his last remaining chips and his face paled. My guess was that he had lost more than he’d bargained for, more than he could afford. He removed himself from the table. A woman who looked like she was more desperate to win than to breathe quickly filled his empty spot.
I couldn’t watch any longer, and started walking away. I didn’t care if Mason was with me or not; I just needed to go to the room and sleep. Preferably for the next ten years…or until it was time to leave for the concert.
The benefit of getting in so late was the lack of a huge line at the registration desk. One guest was being served by the clerk, and there was a couple waiting in front of me. Even though they looked like they could fall asleep standing right there, their weary gazes kept shifting back to the casino.
Then their eyes went wide, as did their mouths. I spun around to see what had them so enthralled. Mason was approaching, hot as ever, despite what he had gone through with his family and despite having been awake for close to forty-eight hours. I had at least fallen asleep during the flight, but he’d told me he hadn’t.
There was something different about him all of a sudden, but I couldn’t figure out why. It was as if he had gotten a second wind.
Then I realized what it must be. We were about to check in to our rooms, and he was no doubt hoping for sex before hitting the sheets. The way I was feeling right now, I’d probably fall asleep in the middle of it, and not even Mason’s talent for giving me orgasms could keep me awake.
The customer at the front desk walked away and the couple in front of me took his place. Mason wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close, his chest against my back. “You’re spending the night with me, right?”
“I don’t have the energy for sex.” My words sounded tired even to my own ears.
“I’m not expecting us to have sex tonight. I just want to wake up with you next to me.” He nibbled the shell of my ear, and despite my state of near collapse, my body sat up and paid attention. “Then we can discuss the matter of sex when we’re both awake. Deal?” He glanced over his shoulder at the casino before his warm breath was on my ear again.
I leaned back against him, letting him momentarily support my weight. “Okay. Deal.”
After what felt like a lifetime, Mason and I stepped up to the registration desk. I checked in first. Then it was Mason’s turn, and he asked for two key cards for his room and handed one to me.
“I’ll meet you in the room,” he said. “There’s something I have to do first.”
“What?” I couldn’t imagine him having the energy to do much more than drag himself onto the elevator and stumble down the hallway to our room.
“It’s no big deal. Just something I have to quickly do. I promise I won’t be long.” He fidgeted with his key card, a sheen of perspiration glistening on his face.
“Are you sure it’s nothing?”
He kissed the end of my nose. “Promise.”
I nodded, because what else could I do? He didn’t want to tell me and I had to trust him. “All right, I’ll see you upstairs.” I took from him the duffle bag that we had been using as luggage for the trip to L.A. It contained the only clothes I’d have with me until I returned to the tour bus.
I walked down a short hallway to the elevators and pushed the button. I didn’t even have the energy to glance back to see where Mason had gone.
The ping of the arriving elevator had me doing a happy dance…in my head. The doors opened, and I entered and pushed the button for my floor, struggling to keep my eyes open. Naturally the god of irony thought it would be funny to make my room a good hike from the elevator once I got to my floor. I prayed the entire way there that he wouldn’t be cruel enough to render my key card useless.
Luckily for me, he listened. The door opened and I stepped into what had to be the sweetest sight for my poor exhausted body and brain. The king-sized bed beckoned to me, and I walked over to it, thinking I would lie down for just a moment or two—to test it out, nothing more.
But after traveling on the tour bus for the past nine weeks, and after everything that had happened in the last forty-eight hours, the bed’s pull on me proved to be stronger than I’d expected. My eyes drifted shut.
When I opened them, it took me a moment to remember where I was. The lack of the tour bus engine humming in my ear was my first clue.
I was lying on the bed, fully clothed. Daylight streamed through the open curtains, though fortunately it was cloudy outside, so it wasn’t as bright as it might have been otherwise. The light by the door was still on, as was my bedside lamp. According to the alarm clock, it was eleven-fifteen. The way I was feeling—which was a helluva lot better than when I’d lain down last night—another few hours of sleep wouldn’t have hurt.
I shifted around to see if Mason was awake yet. But instead of finding him or a hint that he had slept in the bed last night, the bedding on his side was smooth and untouched.
