Jorinda Pearce thought she did everything right – graduated from college, married her long-time sweetheart, established a career. But what does she have to show for it now? A degree she doesn’t use, a job she hates, and an ex-husband that broke her heart.
Looking for a long overdue adventure, Jorie takes a walk on the wild side and attends a masquerade event at The Wicked Horse Vegas. It’s exactly the escape she’s looking for, and even better, she can explore anonymously. Drawn to the man masked in black leather with the body of a god, Jorie finds the greatest pleasures of her life at the hands of a stranger.
Walsh Brooks is the most sought after man in The Wicked Horse. Sex is nothing but a game to him and he’s the type that will always leave at the end of the night without looking back. Unfortunately for Walsh, there’s no way he can walk away from the mysterious green-eyed beauty behind the mask of sapphire feathers, because he knows exactly who she is.
Jorie is his best friend’s little sister and there’s not another woman in the world that’s more off limits.
Another fantastic addition to the Wicked Horse Las Vegas series! We have Jorie, who's understandably feeling lost, bereft at the turn of events in her life with the sudden collapse of her marriage, and the words her husband said to her at the end (hell, it made me mad lol). Then we have Walsh, self made kabillionaire and lover of most things kink (if not all things). One thing that helps this story work is the fact that Jorie and Walsh are lifelong friends, although that friendship is kicked into the stratosphere after an evening spent at The Wicked Horse. The more time Jorie and Walsh spend together, the more Jorie discovers about her sexuality and preferences.
I have to say, I understood Walsh's hesitation and reluctance with the suggestion Jorie made, but at the same time I wanted him to man up and talk to Jorie's brother. You know nothing good will come from trying to keep things secret, what's done in the dark will eventually come to light, so be prepared for the fallout of the decisions made. There's no doubt that Jorie and Walsh are sexually compatible, but I would have liked to see more of their relationship grow outside of the bedroom activities. I will say that when the fallout occurred, I was surprised at who made an appearance at Jorie's door, and the decision she made regarding both her present and future; I had a feeling it would happen, but I was surprised by that person's admissions.
I liked the way the book wrapped up, because it certainly took it down to the wire with how everything could have played out, and the epilogue was all kinds of sexy hot! Looking forward to the next book, and I'm hoping we'll get a book for Jorie's brother Micah, and hopefully one for her best friend Elena (ooh, what if they ended up together?!)
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Squaring my shoulders, I march into The
Royale and head straight for the concierge desk. I haven’t been in this casino
before. Hell, I haven’t been in hardly any of them. Sure, I’d only grown up
about forty-five minutes away, but gambling and all-you-can-eat buffets held no
interest to me.
From Micah bragging about his best friend
over the years, I knew Walsh orchestrated the purchase of the land, then pulled
together financing with two other partners to build this casino. It’s one of
the most popular on the strip, boasting five-star dining, old-world elegance,
and superior customer service. Again, all this from Micah, but honestly… I’m so
proud of Walsh, too. We may have lost touch over the years, but I’ll never
forget all the ways in which he acted as a big brother to me.
Ick.
Okay… that’s gross. Thinking of Walsh
like a brother.
I scrub my mind clean of that thought and
demand myself never to do that again.
Rather, I’ll never forget all the ways in
which Walsh provided me friendship and support in my formative years.
Yes… much better.
“Can I help you?” a man behind the
concierge desk asks with a genuine and friendly smile. Not snooty as I would
expect in a fancy hotel, and I guess that goes to the superior customer service
The Royale strives for.
“Yes… hi,” I say as I nervously tuck my
hair behind my ears on both sides. “I need to see Mr. Brooks. How do I go about
getting access to his apartment?”
Micah told me some time ago that Walsh
lives here.
The concierge never loses his friendly
smile, but a single eyebrow arches high at my temerity.
“Oh, gosh,” I stammer. “That came out
stalkerish. Mr. Brooks… I mean, Walsh… and I are longtime friends. He used to
babysit me.”
“Your name?” the man asks as he pulls up
something on his computer.
“Jorie Pearce.”
After a moment of scanning, he looks up at
me. “Your name isn’t on the approved list.”
“Well, he’s not exactly expecting me.”
“I’m sorry, Miss Pearce,” he says with
true regret in his voice. “But our policy is strict. No one gets up to the
private penthouse without their name on the list.”
I lean on the desk with one elbow and
lower my voice. “Just out of curiosity… are there any women on that list?”
The eyebrow shoots up again.
“No, wait,” I say hastily as I hold my
palms toward him in a silent plea to not process my last request either
mentally or on the computer. “That’s totally stalkerish, and I didn’t mean
that.”
“Miss Pearce,” the concierge says, now
with a hint of annoyance. “Perhaps you’d like to leave a message? I can get it
up to Mr. Brooks today and he can call you.”
“No, I need to see him now,” I tell him
firmly. “And I swear it’s not to cook a rabbit in a pot on his stove. Can you
please just call up to his apartment?”
“That’s not our policy—”
“Look,” I snap as I lean across the desk
slightly. “I’m a lifelong friend of Walsh’s. My brother is his best friend. We
lost touch for a few years, but we ran into each other last night. I really
need to talk to him about something that happened last night, and I’m not
leaving this hotel until you call up to his apartment.”
The eyebrow doesn’t arch but it does draw
inward to meet its match on the other side as he considers what I just said.
“I swear to you,” and here I pause to
look at his name tag, “Bentley. Please just call him. He won’t be mad.”
With a sigh, he relents and picks up the
phone receiver, punching in a five-digit number. After a pause, he says, “Mr.
Brooks… I’m very sorry to disturb you, sir, but there’s a Miss Jorie Pearce
here to see you. She says she’s a longtime friend.”
I watch as Bentley listens, but I can’t
gauge what’s being said as his face remains blank. Finally, he says, “Very
good, sir.”
I take this to mean I’ll be getting an
escort to the penthouse suite, but Bentley replaces the receiver and says, “I’m
sorry, Miss Pearce. But Mr. Walsh told me to tell you he’s busy and can’t
receive you right now.”
My eyes narrow at Bentley. “I don’t
believe you. Call back and let me talk to him.”
“I assure you, I just talked to him and
that’s what he said.”
“Call him back,” I order as I point to
the phone.
“I can’t,” he says almost with a wail.
“If I do, he’ll fire me.”
Okay, that hits home. I don’t want to get
anyone in trouble, so I say, “Fine. Give me just a moment.”
I take a few steps away from the
concierge desk and pull my iPhone out. I shoot off a quick text to Micah. What’s Walsh’s phone number?
I wait a few moments, but I know Micah is
awake in San Francisco at this hour. His phone is always on, and he never
ignores a text from me.
He responds with the number before I can
even start to tap my foot with impatience, adding on, Why?
I hate the lie, but I write back, Came to Vegas for the day. Thought I’d see
if he could meet up for lunch. Haven’t seen him in years.
Cool, he writes back. Tell him I said, “what’s up, douche?”
I roll my eyes as I text back, Real mature. Love ya. Later.
After I save the number to my contacts, I
open a new text to Walsh. Let me up to
see you or I’m going straight back to The Wicked Horse to satisfy some further
curiosities I have.
I hit send and then walk back to the
concierge desk. I merely lean one elbow on it and watch Bentley with a silent
smile. The phone rings about ten seconds after that.
Bentley’s eyes fly to mine as he listens,
and then says, “Yes, sir. Right away.”
When he replaces the receiver, he says,
“I’m to show you to the penthouse elevator.”
“Thank you, Bentley,”
I say brightly.
Sawyer likes her Bloody Marys strong, her martinis dirty, and her heroes a combination of the two. When not bringing fictional romance to life, Sawyer is a chauffeur, stylist, chef, maid, and personal assistant to a very active toddler, as well as full-time servant to two adorably naughty dogs. She believes in the good of others, and that a bad day can be cured with a great work-out, cake, or a combination of the two.
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