The Sinner (Spade Hotel #3)

Chapter 1

Brady

Commercial airlines weren’t for people who had billions’ worth of assets. But since my younger brother had booked our private jet before I had the chance to reserve it, that was exactly what I’d been stuck with—waiting for my flight to take off to Edinburgh to look at property for a new hotel. It didn’t matter that I was stretched out in my own pod or that I’d been greeted with a glass of scotch when I stepped into first class or that a five-course meal was being offered during the seven-hour flight.

I was fucking pissed.

I didn’t want to people—my family would say that was because I was a grumpy asshole; I referred to it as being selective. I hadn’t wanted a three-hour layover at JFK that I’d just barely recovered from since I couldn’t get a direct flight from LAX. I didn’t want to deal with the crowd during the chaos of deplaning and claiming baggage and locating my driver when they’d normally be parked directly outside the plane.

Macon had already gotten an earful when I found out he and his girlfriend were taking our jet to Hawaii to visit her family. But the conversation I’d had with him a few days ago over this wasn’t enough. He needed a verbal whipping because there was no reason he couldn’t be on a commercial flight and I could be the one flying in luxury across the Atlantic.

I pulled out my phone, getting ready to send him a scalding text, when Dominick’s name came across the screen. I connected the call and held my cell up to my face. “Tell me something good.”

Like myself, Dominick was the oldest Dalton brother—a group of lawyers my family not only did business with regularly, but we were also extremely good friends with them. And since Jenner, Dominick’s brother, had married my cousin, Jo, the Daltons were basically family now.

“As opposed to something bad?” He chuckled.

“Listen, not even a down pillow and a foot massage could make me a happy man right now.”

“We both know there’s only one thing that makes you happy, and you’re not getting it on that flight.”

Pussy.

There was nothing else that could turn this day around.

But I hadn’t seen anyone in this first-class cabin or in the flight crew who was hot enough to even make my dick hard. So far, during this entire trip, there was only one woman who had the power to do that. A flight attendant I’d seen about thirty minutes ago when I was coming out of the airline’s lounge to go to my gate. A blonde, far too fucking beautiful for her own good, with a body to die for. And just when I’d gotten a solid look at her, when I got the chance to appreciate her curves in that uniform, she’d disappeared into the sea of passengers.

I breathed in, wishing it were the scent of the blonde’s cunt rather than the bullshit recycled air that came through the vents. “You’re right. Damn it.”

“I hoped to catch you before you took off. I’m finalizing the plans for this weekend, and I wanted to make sure you’re still good to go to Kentucky. All the boys are in—Jenner, Ford, Declan, Camden—and I’ve confirmed with your brothers too. Just waiting on you, buddy.”

The Daltons; their soon-to-be brother-in-law, Declan; and my brothers would be going on a trip to the country’s best whiskey makers.

I could already taste the bourbon.

“Fuck yeah. Wouldn’t miss it.”

“Excellent,” he replied. “You’re in Edinburgh for just a couple of days, right?”

“Long enough to make an offer on a piece of land or purchase an existing hotel that I’m going to gut and make my own.”

Now that the Spades had merged with the Coles, our biggest competitor in the hospitality space, and the elders of both companies had retired, the seven of us—my two brothers; my cousin, Jo; the three Coles; and me—were running the business. Together, we’d decided that Edinburgh was the next location to house one of our five-star resorts, and I would be spearheading the project. The six others were an opinionated group, but I’d made it clear when I left LA that this was my hotel. They had picked the city; I chose everything else, and I gave zero fucks about what any of them thought, going forward.

“Do I dare guess that you’re taking a commercial flight back home?”

“Fuck off, Dominick.”

He laughed as I drained my last sip of scotch, setting it a little too hard on the small table beside me. The tumbler wasn’t out of my hand for more than a few seconds when a flight attendant, carrying a glass of amber liquid, started making her way over to me.

Not just any flight attendant.

The goddamn blonde I’d seen earlier at the airport. A woman so fucking gorgeous that my cock was throbbing inside my pants.

Man, wasn’t that some luck?

Things hadn’t gone my way when Macon scored the jet out from under me, but things were changing. Because it certainly wasn’t a coincidence that the flight attendant I’d gotten a semi over earlier wasn’t just on my flight, but was also assigned to the first-class cabin.

Now that I was much closer to her, unlike when we had been in the airport, I could take my time gazing at every inch of that face and body. Her long hair was curled around her cheeks, like I’d circled the locks around my fist and caused kinks in the strands. Her eyes were the deepest, most piercing blue. Her uniform, consisting of a light-blue button-down and knee-length skirt, left everything up to my imagination, and my imagination was wandering to a far-off, naked land. But what I could see from here was the outline of one perfect, extremely sexy body with tits that were perky and hips that were so enticing that I wanted her legs straddling me.

My stare bounced from her full lips to her nipples, so hard that I could see them poking into her shirt.

Damn it, she was a fucking dime.

She stopped at the entrance of my pod. “Mr. Spade, I thought you could use a refill.”

Hearing her say my name made my pre-cum bead at the tip of my dick.

She took my empty glass and replaced it with the one she was holding, her fingers clutched around the girth, like it was my cock. “Oh”—her hand covered her mouth when I turned my face, showing her that I was on the phone—“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were busy. Excuse me?—”

“What’s your name?”

She was trained to smile, but what came across her mouth wasn’t fake. It also wasn’t forced. I could tell we were mutually satisfied with what we were looking at.

This was going to be fun.

“Lily.”

Lily.

Oh. I liked that.

And I liked having only inches between us, the nearness giving me hints of her fruity scent.

I lifted the drink in the air, moving it toward my chest. “How about you come back in a few minutes, Lily, and bring me another one of these?”

In addition to her grin, she gave me a fluttering of her lashes before she walked away.

“Fuuuck,” I groaned to Dominick. “Things are about to turn around, my man.”

“You’re telling me you’re going to hit that mid-flight?”

I would have hit it in the airport, but she’d taken off before I had the opportunity to speak to her.

This was my second chance.

As Lily made her way toward the galley at the front of the plane, I watched her ass, admiring her cheeks that had just the right amount of padding and thickness. “Brother, I’m going to taste her before dinner is even served.”

“I don’t doubt that for a second. Have a safe flight, buddy. I’ll see you when you get back to LA.”

“You will,” I said and hung up.

I tucked my phone away and took out my laptop and headphones, prepping for takeoff and the long flight ahead. Had I been on the Spade jet, I would have had access to a queen-size bed and a private restroom, my own flight attendant and food that I’d ordered ahead of time, a series of courses I could eat whenever I desired rather than when it was served. Most of all, I would have had silence and privacy—things I was desperate for right now.

I put on my headphones.

But, shit, that didn’t even help because I could still see the people walking by and feel their eyes on me. Their stares strong enough to get me to glance up, this time meeting Lily’s stunning eyes.

She’d returned. Wasn’t that a pleasant surprise?

If I approved of anyone looking at me, it was her.

I pulled the cups off my ears. “Bringing me a refill?”

“And water, in case you’re in the mood for some.” She set a small bottle and the new glass next to the full one that was already on the table. “Can I get you anything else?”

“It’s like you already know me.”

“I try.” She smiled.

Fuck, I remembered that grin. I’d seen it in the airport when she was talking to another flight attendant.

It wasn’t just lips and teeth.

It was a mood.

A sensation.

And it triggered a pull, starting at the base of my stomach and lifting all the way to my chest.

When I’d seen it the first time, I’d questioned how an expression could make me feel that way, and now, it was doing it again.

“You want to hear something funny, Lily?”

“Always. I love to laugh.”

“I saw you in the airport before we boarded the flight. It was just a little more than a glimpse, but you made such an impression that I could recognize you anywhere, in any other location, in or out of your uniform.”

“Interesting.” She hesitated. “And what was I doing?”

“Nothing. But honestly, you wouldn’t have to be doing anything, and you’d still capture my attention. You have the kind of face that’s easy to stare at.”

She moved an invisible hair off her cheek. “I don’t know about that … but thank you.” Her hand cupped the side of my cube. “Tell me, did you see me before the baby almost threw up all over me or after?” She laughed. “It was quite a scene, so hopefully, you saw me pre-vomit face.”

I chuckled. “Fortunately, I missed the puking.”

“I wish I had missed it.” She sighed.

“Don’t tell me that happens often?”

She moved in a little closer, and when I went to fill my lungs again, I took a deeper whiff of the air, realizing what I’d smelled earlier was pineapple, like a pi?a colada.

Just when I thought she couldn’t get more perfect, she came in smelling like the tropics.

“Baby vomit? It happens enough. But not at the airport—usually, that occurs on the plane. You’d be blown away by some of the things I’ve seen on flights.”

“Share a good one with me.”

And just keep talking because, fuck, I can’t get enough of you.

She looked toward the galley, as though she was seeing if anyone wanted her, and glanced back at me. “Couples in the restroom together—that’s been popular this month.”

“The Mile-High Club.”

Her cheeks reddened. “And when they break the lock in the process and we have to ground the plane because we can’t get them out of the lavatory—yep, good times.”

“Amateurs.”

She laughed. “Rule one: steer clear of the lock—am I right?”

“If they don’t know that, they shouldn’t be fucking on a plane.” I took in her beautiful lips. “Tell me another.”

“Hmm.” She rested her chin on the wall that her hand was holding. “Last week, we had a service dog flying with us. An eighty-pound golden retriever. Poor thing was terrified when we hit some heavy turbulence. He left his owner and came bolting to the galley, climbed onto my lap, and sat on top of me until the plane leveled out.”

“Lucky dog.”

Her smile widened. “I was flattered that he’d picked me to cuddle with. I just love animals.”

“I should have brought a dog with me, then.”

“You’d let me hold it the whole flight?”

“Lily …” I chuckled, ending my sentence there since it didn’t feel like the right time to tell her I’d not only let her hold my imaginary dog, but also me. “Give me one more. The best one you’ve got. Something I’ll never forget.”

She was quiet for a moment. “Years ago, I had to break up a fight between two passengers. While I was holding one back, the other threw something at us.” Her eyes closed, her head shaking, like the memory traumatized her. “I wish I could say it was her fist, which sounds silly, I know, but I would have rather had that than her dentures.”

“Hold up. She threw her teeth at you?”

Her hand flattened against her chest, drawing my attention there. “Sadly, they hit my cheek. Spit and all. The thought still makes me want to die.”

I made sure my stare rose to her face when I said, “And here I thought, biting was the only way to use those as a weapon.”

“Right? I swear, my passengers teach me something new every day.”

Here was my in.

“So, what are you going to learn from me, Lily?”

I liked the way she reacted whenever I said her name, the sound of it causing her lips to tug wider each time.

“I don’t know … what do you plan on teaching me?”

Shifting the focus, smart move.

I nodded toward her face. “I bet a lot of your passengers comment on your beautiful smile.”

“I’ve gotten a remark or two in the past, yes.” Her brows lifted. “Why? Are you a dentist? Are you going to teach me a trick about flossing that I don’t already know?”

I laughed. “I was going to tell you that I wanted you to reserve that smile just for me.”

“Make it all yours, huh?”

“That’s right.”

“That’s going to be hard to do, Mr. Spade. This is a seven-hour flight. That’s a long time, especially since I’ll be passing out multiple courses of food and drinks. Not smiling at anyone while I’m doing it?” She shook her head. “Not sure I can pull that off.”

“Let’s make a deal, then.” I held out my hand. “In exchange, how about I promise not to flirt with any other flight attendants?”

“Boy, you’re a charmer.”

My fingers waved in the air. “So? Do we have a deal?”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Her hand clasped mine, and the second we touched, I felt something. A goddamn buzz that jolted through my arm, up my chest, and straight to my cock.

I was positive she felt it too.

I saw it in her eyes. I felt it in the way she gripped me.

I sensed it when she didn’t immediately release my hand.

“I’ve got to go.” Her voice quieted. “Can I get you anything else?” She pulled her fingers back.

I pointed at my glass. “How about another one of these after takeoff?”

The hand that had touched me was dangling at her side, fingers tightening and loosening, just like mine were doing. “Sounds like I’ll be seeing you soon.”