Vegas, Baby: The Complete Series by Fiona Davenport

2

Anna

When I fell out of the pitch-black box I’d been locked inside for the past twenty or so minutes, I was angrier than I could ever remember being. It was rare for me to lose my temper, but the sexy magician riled me up unlike any other. I wasn’t entirely sure what it was about him that rubbed me the wrong way except the fact that I couldn’t get sex out of my head any time I looked at him. Which was a big shock, considering how I felt about celebrities.

He hadn’t even done anything to annoy me...until now. It had felt like forever in that small, dark space, but I held on by reminding myself over and over again that Julian only had one more trick to go before he ended the show, so I wouldn’t be stuck in the box forever. The last thing I’d expected when I regained my freedom was to find myself in Julian’s spacious dressing room. I’d been doing my best to avoid him ever since I started working at the Lennox, and I’d been smart not to trust my reaction to him. Because here I was, letting him kiss me senseless after the stunt he’d just pulled.

I allowed myself to enjoy the feel of his lips against mine as our tongues tangled together for another minute before I pulled away and hissed, “What in the world were you thinking by pulling me out of the audience like that and leaving me trapped in a box all by myself without any way to get out?”

He ran his hand through his dark hair, dropping his head low to stare at the floor while he got himself under control. When his gaze met mine again, the passion in his green eyes was tempered by guilt and concern. “I’m sorry. My mind was so focused on being able to stop you from running in the opposite direction before I could get close that I didn’t stop to think about how you might react to being boxed in until I could get back to you. Are you okay?”

I was tempted to teach him a lesson by telling him I was claustrophobic or something, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Not when I still had the taste of his kiss in my mouth and felt the slight burn his dark scruff had left behind. “I’ll be fine, but you can’t go around kidnapping me just because you want to talk to me.”

“That wasn’t the only reason,” he growled.

I threw my hands up in the air. “You’re not making any sense. What else could have made you do it?”

He yanked me close, and I pressed my hands against his rock-hard chest to regain my balance. “That asshat who was sitting next to you.”

Asshat?

What asshat?

“Oh, do you mean Mike?” I rolled my eyes. “He’s just the co-worker who got stuck with the assignment of taking me to see your performance.”

He shook his head, his eyes narrowing. “Trust me, Anna. The asshat didn’t feel the least bit stuck when he was sitting next to you in the audience.”

I pushed against his chest, and my heart raced when his hold on me tightened before he dropped his arms and took a step back. “You’re being ridiculous. You don’t even know Mike.”

“I don’t need to know the man to recognize he wants you.” Julian’s fists clenched so tight at his sides that his knuckles whitened. “I saw how he looked at you, the way he tried to get close.”

“I...you...I…” I sputtered, trying to wrap my head around the possibility that he’d been jealous enough of a co-worker I barely knew to have me hauled off the stage in a locked box. When it felt as though my brain might actually explode, I demanded, “I’m leaving. You’re not going to follow me. And you’re never ever going to lock me in a box again. Got it?”

“I’ll let you go...for now.” He stalked over to the door and flipped the lock. Before he opened it, he murmured, “In the future, there’s no need for anyone to accompany you to one of my shows. You’ll watch from my private box, sweetheart.”

I didn’t trust myself to speak, so I kept my lips pressed together as I squeezed past him to get through the door. The sound of his masculine laughter rang in my ears as I stormed off. I kept replaying what had just happened in my head and was furious again by the time I reached the security office. I stomped my foot in frustration when Knox Dawson’s secretary informed me that he wasn’t back from his wife’s concert yet.

She kept her eye on me as I paced back and forth while muttering under my breath and gesturing with my hands. A few minutes later, she made a call and told me it would only be another fifteen minutes before Knox returned. I practically wore a hole in the carpet in front of Knox’s desk waiting for him. I was beyond worked up again when Knox finally walked into his office.

Spotting Addilyn, his wife, with him, I realized what had taken him so long. The blues singer was glowing with happiness, and I had a feeling from her puffy lips and mussed hair that it wasn’t just because she was eight months pregnant. I wasn’t surprised since I’d learned early on in the friendship we’d been building since I’d started working at the Lennox that her husband couldn’t keep his hands off her.

Offering her a small smile in greeting, I not-so-patiently waited while Knox got her settled on the couch across from his desk. After sitting down in his chair, he asked, “What’s the problem, Anna?”

“Julian Storm!” I paused in front of his desk and planted my hands against my hips as I glared at Knox. “You need to do something about that, that…jerk face!”

“Calm down, Anna,” Knox said patiently. “What did he do that has you so worked up?”

I started pacing again, the frustration bubbling up again. “I’m not worked up,” I insisted, feeling my cheeks heat as I thought about how I’d reacted to Julian’s kiss. “He doesn’t have any effect on me.”

“Okay,” Knox agreed. “What did he do to upset you?”

The tone he was using irritated me even more. It made me feel as though he was placating me when he should be hunting Julian down after the stunt he pulled. “He kidnapped me! He was supposed to make me disappear for the show, but then the box was moving, and when it opened up, I was locked with him in his dressing room!”

My blush intensified as I thought about how much further Julian could’ve taken our encounter. My cheeks felt as though they were on fire, so I fanned my face with one hand.

“While I can understand why you’re upset, I’m afraid this isn’t a security issue,” he drawled as he leaned back in his chair and tapped the fingers of one hand on his desk. “Therefore, not my problem.”

I couldn’t believe he just said that. Stomping my foot on the ground, I argued, “Of course, it’s a security issue! He can’t just go kidnapping women from the audience. Someone is going to call the police…and…and…” I knew there were a ton of reasons what he’d done was wrong, but I was having a difficult time coming up with them. “It’s a publicity nightmare!”

Addilyn snorted, and I swung my head in her direction. “I disagree,” she chirped happily. “I think it’s marketing gold.”

The pregnancy hormones must’ve gotten to her brain because she wasn’t making any sense. “Pardon?”

She nodded and grinned. “If word got out that the incredibly sexy and talented Julian Storm was kidnapping women and locking them in with himself, the audience would be sold out every freaking night.”

I should’ve been jotting down notes because improving attendance at the Lennox’s shows was my job, but I was too busy being horrified by the idea of Julian kidnapping someone else.

“What?” Addilyn gave her husband an innocent look after he growled. “Seriously, he’s gorgeous, and women fall all over him. We should capitalize on that.”

What.

The.

Heck.

“Women...um...throw themselves at him?” I didn’t know why I was so surprised, considering my reaction to him, but I was horrified by the possibility of not being the only woman he’d kidnapped from his stage. “Does that mean this isn’t the first time he’s done something like this?”

She shook her head and frowned. “Not to my knowledge. I don’t think I’ve ever even seen him with a date.”

Her answer was more than I could’ve hoped for, and I barely refrained from heaving a deep sigh of relief. But when I caught Addilyn smiling at me, I twisted my lips into a grimace and threw my arms up in the air. “This is crazy! You’re crazy! It doesn't matter how hot he is; he can’t just go around snatching women and making out with them in his dressing room!”

And the next time I saw Julian, I was going to make sure he knew it...before he decided to pull the same stunt with another woman.