Page 36 of Madam, May I

“No questions asked?”

“None at all.”

“Done.”

“Thank you,” she said, ending the call as she walked over to her laptop, which was sitting on the corner of the kitchen counter.

Loren was right, and now that she agreed with him that she should celebrate, she wanted to extend the day. There was only one way to do that. “Let’s use these time zones,” she said, thinking of the west coast.

Beach vibes and shopping in Cali? Or gambling and partying in Vegas?

Let’s leave it up to fate.

Desdemona’s fingers flew across the keyboard as she pulled up available first-class flights out to Vegas and Cali.

“Vegas it is,” she said, eyeing the info for a first-class flight to the state leaving from LaGuardia in an hour.

She booked it and a suite at the Bellagio on the strip.

Knock-knock.

Desdemona looked over her shoulder at the front door before turning and walking toward it to open it. Her eyes filled with surprise to find Loren standing there with an open black to-go box holding a cupcake with a lit candle stuck in it. “I thought you were gone,” she said, the flame from the candle flickering in the depths of her eyes.

“Every birthday girl should make a wish,” he said, his eyes serious as they searched hers.

Desdemona closed her eyes and leaned forward a bit to make her wish before releasing a smooth stream of air to get rid of the flame. She felt transported to that birthday she had shared with her father, hating that the wish she had made that day never came to fruition.

God, please let my daddy live forever.

“Happy birthday again,” Loren said, his voice deep and warm.

She opened her eyes and looked up at him. “Thank you,” she said, her whisper so soft but the movement of her lips clear as the acrid smoke from the candle rose in a swirling stream in the air between them.

Their eyes locked. For a brief—very brief—moment they held.

Loren cleared his throat. “I better get going. Gonna surprise my girl,” he said.

It felt like he was placing her presence in the midst of whatever that very brief moment was as if to remind himself of her.

“Be safe,” Desdemona said, accepting the cupcake as she stepped back from him. “Good night, Lo.”

“Night,” he said just before she closed the door.

Desdemona held the to-go box behind her back as she leaned forward to look out the peephole. Surprise caused her heart to double pump. Loren still stood there, looking downward, seeming to be lost in thought. Just when she reached for the doorknob, he walked away with one last quick look back at her door before he disappeared from her line of view.

Checking her diamond watch, she strode across the space to slide the container in the glass-fronted fridge. She needed to get to the airport and decided on a whim not to bother packing. She called for a Lux Black before going to her safe to retrieve several bundles of cash to drop in her Louis Vuitton tote.

The October weather in NYC was chilly at night but not in Las Vegas, so she chose a lightweight blazer to pull over the long-sleeved black sweater she wore with a distressed short denim skirt and thigh-high leather boots.

It wasn’t until she was in the back of her Lyft that she allowed herself to think of just why Loren had paused at her door. She shook her head at the thought of a crush, determined to count it as nothing but a quiet moment she had happened to see. Loren adored his girlfriend and had never been anything but polite and friendly to her.

Desdemona refused to let her ego ruin their friendship or get in the way of him continuing as her tutor.

* * *

Vegas was beautiful and warm and everything she needed. She went straight from the airport to shop at Crystal’s before heading to her suite. As soon as she was inside the luxurious suite, she tossed her numerous glossy shopping bags and new designer carry-on luggage onto the king-size bed and took a shower in the spa-like bathroom.

With her damp body wrapped in one of the plush hotel robes, she raked her fingers through her hair as she walked out into the suite. The décor was sleek, modern, and colorful. With the curtains already open, the sight of the strip was her background. It would be made all the more majestic once night fell. She unpacked the clothing in her bags, hanging them in the closet. The lingerie, those things that would be pressed intimately against her body, she left wrapped in tissue paper in the shopping bag.

---