the sensations of surprise and delight cross her face, and her hazel eyes crackle with intensity.
“How is it?” I spear some pasta onto my fork and take a bite of my own dish. The buttery sauce melts on my tongue.
“It’s…sublime.” She closes her eyes and chews slowly, a smile spreading over her face.
“Is that a trick you learned in culinary school?” I can’t help but tease her. “Closing your eyes to get the most out of the taste?”
Her eyes pop open in surprise and she giggles. “Well, they do say if you take away one of the senses, the others become stronger.”
“Maybe that’s worth keeping in mind for after dinner, too.” She raises an eyebrow but doesn’t reply. I’m already thinking of devouring her after this meal. After taking last night away from her to sift through my own thoughts, I’m eager to feel her body once again. And it is, after all, our last night. My last chance.
“So tell me more about your plans to buy this casino,” she changes the topic.
“Well, this is actually really important to me, it’s the final part of my plan as far as my legacy goes.”
“Your legacy?”
“It’s something Jack would have wanted.”
“Your mentor?”
“Yes. He always dreamed of expanding beyond Vegas and acquiring a casino abroad. He visited Monte Carlo many times to explore the option of investing in exactly this property,” I gesture vaguely to the room around us. “But it just never clicked into place. And then he ran out of time.”
“So it’s sort of a tribute to him, then?” She nods thoughtfully. “That’s good of you.”
“Yes.” I clear my throat. “It’s been my long-term goal for quite a while. I told him I’d manage it before he died. He even made me promise him that I’d rename one of the casino bars after him—just call it Jack’s.”
“An all-American bar.”
“Exactly. I guess it might seem strange, but for guys like Jack, that’s a legacy worth having. The man lived his entire life in his casino. It was his pride and joy.”
“So he never had children?” Lilly carefully averts her gaze as she reaches for her champagne glass and takes a sip. I notice that she takes it by the stem this time.
“Nope. I’d guess I was the closest thing to a son he ever had.” I pause and take a bite of my pasta, savoring the zesty lemon sauce and the way it balances the earthy taste of the mushrooms. “Do you want to try this?” I gesture towards my plate.
“Yes, please,” she smiles eagerly. I twirl some of the linguine on my fork and carefully spear it across the table to her. She dutifully opens her mouth and takes the bite I offer her. Just a speck of the white sauce sticks to her lips, which she quickly licks away.
“Like it?”
“Love it,” she gasps the words out once she’s done chewing. “So you’ll finally fulfill this dream then. Jack’s dream.”
“Yep.”
“And what about your own dreams?”
“Well, this is certainly one of them. With the purchase of the Monte Carlo Royale, I’ll have achieved all of the business goals I originally set out for myself.”
“And your non-business goals?”
“I haven’t gotten that far yet.”
“Well, if this is going to be your legacy, you’ll need someone to leave it to.” She shrugs. “Isn’t that the whole point of building a legacy?”
“Maybe so.” I remember back in Vegas, when she asked me about family. What had I told her then? Not sure it’s a must for me. It clearly had been a must have for her. The smile that she’d worn on her face—at even the thought of having children of her own—had been telling. “Anyway, first I have to close the deal.”
“I have no doubt you’ll succeed.” She takes a last bite of her chicken and then licks the stray bits of sauce off her fork. My cock gets a rush of blood to it at the sight. “You definitely seem like the kind of man who achieves what he sets his mind to.”
“Maybe so. I am used to getting what I want.” I lock eyes with her as I say this and notice a flush come over her cheeks. “What about heading upstairs?”
“You don’t want to play some cards first? This is a casino, after all.”
“No.” I shake my head firmly. “Not tonight. So, shall we?”
She nods and looks down, letting her hair fall forward over her face. I reach forward across the small table and push it back. “Don’t try to hide from