Bourbon Promises (Bourbon Canyon #3)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Autumn

Brightly lit slots surrounded me, and the smell of old cigarette smoke was suffocating at times. The Silver Hotel and Casino was a sophisticated hot spot in Las Vegas, but a casino was a casino. My eyes watered, and I wanted to curl up in my hotel room and catch some Hallmark movies before The Golden Girls came on.

Being a single lady in my golden years was looking more and more like a reality. I used to reassure myself that I’d have my sisters with me, but two were enjoying wedded bliss and the third was reported with a new beau every six months.

I could always take my boss up on his offer. We’d been out a few times, and he’d given me a sweet kiss. The sex would be perfectly adequate. I could live with adequate. Sex wasn’t the glue of a relationship.

Right?

My coworkers and I were parked at the nickel slots. We all worked at the elementary school and they were friends too, but I usually didn’t hang out with them after work. Yet when my coworkers had asked me if I wanted to go on a trip to Las Vegas, I’d jumped at the chance. It didn’t matter that they joked I was the mom of the group or that I was yawning by nine and that was when they were ready to begin. I needed to get out. Nothing like a weekend with younger women to help me figure out the Mark situation.

Brittany, a kindergarten teacher, leaned toward me. “Autumn, do you think he’s here?”

Awareness tingled over my skin every time the he in question was mentioned.

Brittany was not talking about Mark.

Gideon James. The local boy who’d grown up into a dark-haired god in a suit. He was the CEO of the hotel casino we were staying in. There was absolutely no reason for us to cross paths, but that didn’t stop any of us from peering around corners to catch a glimpse.

After the sale of his family’s land had been announced, Gideon had come to town to face off with my brothers, who were buying it. Now, he was the talk of the town, and the ladies had insisted on making his casino the destination for our trip.

I hadn’t fought them. I was the only one of the group to have glimpsed him in real life. I’d heard how deep his voice was. I’d seen him storm out of my family’s distillery. Looking him up wasn’t necessary. His image was emblazoned in my memory.

“Maybe we’ll see him,” I answered. “If he’s working late. Do CEOs work on the premises? Live here?”

“Could you imagine?” she gushed. “Like one of those places you see on TV where the elevator opens into the apartment.”

“Isn’t that a penthouse?”

She wrinkled her nose. “I exist on a teacher’s wage. I don’t know a thing about penthouses.”

“We could ask him if we see him.”

She giggled. “I can’t believe you don’t remember him.”

Oh, I remembered him and those wide shoulders. “He’s a little older than Tate, and Tate’s seven years older than me.”

“I do love an older man.” She punched a button on her slot. I’d quit playing several minutes ago when I’d started daydreaming about my hotel room. “Does he really look like his pictures? Gideon James .” She purred his name.

No headshot could do that man justice.

A shiver ran down my spine when I thought of how he’d stalked across the parking lot to his car. His black suit had to have been stitched onto his body, and his dark hair hadn’t dared to move in the wind. And when he’d turned his head? I’d caught a glimpse of stormy eyes.

I hadn’t seen the color from across the distillery. Blue? Green? What was the color for Melt My Underwear?

I, apparently, liked a brooding man.

That brooding man would not like me, a Bailey. He’d argued with my brothers about buying his family’s land, and while my last name was Kerrigan because my sisters and I had been adopted, I was still a Bailey.

“Jackpot!” Kaitlyn, the school’s admin, yelled from the other side of Brittany .

Destiny laughed, the phys ed teacher, leaning in from farther down the row of slots. “Don’t spend it all in one place.”

Kaitlyn grinned. “Fifty bucks is fifty bucks. Next round is on me.”

Brittany scooted off the plush stool attached to the slot machine. “Should we go to the club?”

“Absolutely.” Kaitlyn removed her casino card from the machine and waved it around. “If we don’t get in, I can bribe ’em.”

Laughing, we all followed her. She teetered on her four-inch heels, but her lack of balance was likely from our day of drinking and not the actual shoes. The girls were all a little tipsy from the steady stream of cocktails. I was the soberest of them, but not because I was the elder of the group.

I’d learned how to taste bourbon when I was fifteen. That was the first time Daddy had known I’d had a drink. With three older brothers, an older sister, and numerous foster kids who Mama and Daddy had taken into the fold for what time they had with us, I had been exposed way before my first “official” taste.

Destiny tugged down her short skirt. I owned volleyball shorts with a longer hem than hers, but if I had her legs, I would buy ten of those skirts. The others were dressed like her—short skirts, high shirts, and fuck-me makeup. The opposite of how they dressed at work.

I wore ankle boots with a chunky heel and rust-colored leggings. My cream wrap dress was the opposite of what I’d wear teaching too, but only because I wouldn’t want to get watercolor on it. I could blame my style on being a teacher approaching my midthirties, but the truth was that my style had been the same when I was their age.

Brittany squealed. “The line isn’t that long. This is our night!”

They’d been so excited to go to Glitter & Gold, an ultraposh club that a normal person could still get inside.

I eyed the outside dubiously. Black with sleek silver lines, it fit into the theme of Silver while standing out. The posts for the waiting lines were gold and so were the bouncers’ vests.

We got in line.

“At least we’re indoors,” I muttered.

Destiny nudged me. When she leaned in, I almost got a face full of cleavage. Definitely not her work clothes. “You’re such a cat lady.”

“I only have one cat.”

She winked. “I’m sure Mark will let you get more.”

I gawked at her. Mark Knutson. My boss. “It was only three dates.” The first of which shouldn’t count. We’d both happened to be at Mountain Perks on a Saturday to get our caffeine fix. For the second date, he’d asked me out by saying, If you were to go out with me, Fatima would have to do your evaluations . Fatima was the school’s assistant principal.

I’d said yes. A biological clock could only be ignored so long, but I was courting speculation in and out of the workplace by dating my boss. It was also flattering that he’d been willing to risk tarnishing his brand-new position by dating me. But then, it was Bourbon Canyon. Small dating pool and all, which I knew too well.

Brittany spun around. “I heard he wants you to meet his parents.”

He had asked me to meet his parents. In Spokane. Which would make the visit an overnight trip. “He’s moving a little fast.”

I liked sex as much as the next girl, but an overnight trip was serious for someone I didn’t think I’d been seriously dating.

Still, a girl had needs.

Could Mark fulfill them?

Small dating pool.

I was the sister who’d never left Bourbon Canyon except for college. It was looking like I’d be the last to settle down. Junie might have a round-robin of boyfriends, but based on sheer numbers, her odds were better than mine. Something that loomed over me in Vegas.

“As long as he moves slow when it counts,” Brittany whispered.

We crept forward. The others chattered about how excited they were, lobbing questions back and forth. What’s the dancing like? The drinks? The men? The women?

When we reached the front, the bouncer in his black sport coat, gold vest, and black slacks nodded at Brittany while raking his gaze down her mile-long legs. “Welcome to Glitter & Gold, ladies.”

Brittany did a happy shimmy and rushed in. Kaitlyn and Destiny followed her, getting ogled by the bouncer.

He held his hand up to me.

“Wait here, ma’am,” he said, then turned to the side with his hand to an earpiece.

Ma’am?

Wasn’t I one of the ladies ?

He muttered a few things. Was his earpiece real or for show? I wasn’t well traveled, but I also wasn’t an idiot. This place wanted to seem exclusive. The girls who got in wanted to feel special. Superior. Like gold.

I was dressed like fool’s gold.

How was I going to get in? I wasn’t the sexy Kerrigan sister. I might as well have worn my Sorry, I have plans with my cat tonight sweater.

“Excuse me.” The bouncer ushered me back, creating more distance between us, like my plainness was a contagion. A second bouncer politely gestured for my friends to move to the side. A tall blond with heels I swore were twice the height of Kaitlyn’s strode through us like we were the sea and the bouncer had parted us for her. She disappeared down the dark entry.

Well then. I didn’t catch her face, but her long, glossy blond hair hung down her bare back. Her gauzy red dress was shorter than Destiny’s. She was a polished ruby compared to us river rocks.

When she passed, my friends started down the entry after her. I glanced from them to the guys who’d moved to block me again.

“We’re full at the moment,” the first bouncer said, his gaze skipping over me.

“Oh. Okay.” Embarrassment flooded my cheeks. The whole not-well-traveled-but-not-naive thing could be a curse. I knew why I wasn’t being allowed in.

I wasn’t fuckable.

My throat grew thick, and the cozy haze of the two cocktails I’d had in the last three hours burned off.

Brittany stopped past the entry threshold and so close to the official opening of the club. Her eyes were wide. “Autumn?”

The rest of my friends spun to stare at me, the excitement draining from their faces .

“Why can’t she come with us?” Brittany asked, her voice sharp.

One of her students might’ve started crying, but the bouncer didn’t flinch. “We’re full. You want in?”

She tried to extinguish the longing in her eyes, but I caught it.

“You can go,” I said hastily, hating the attention on me.

“No,” they all said and started in my direction.

I backed up, holding my hands up. “It’s fine. They’re full. I’ll wait.”

They hesitated. They wanted to be ride or die, but they also wanted to go into the trendy casino nightclub run by a hot CEO. It was all they’d talked about on the flight down.

Kaitlyn frowned, wringing her hands together. “We can’t.”

“Go.” I shooed them away. “Really. I’ll be fine. I might even go back up to my room. I’m really tired.” That was the truth, but humiliation was better experienced in private.

Destiny shook her head, the light dancing off her glossy black hair. “Autumn?—”

“Last chance,” the first bouncer barked at my friends.

“Go on,” I stressed. “Really, it’s fine . I’ll be in in a few minutes.”

“Only if you’re sure,” Kaitlyn said, her glossy lower lip pouty.

The second bouncer ushered them into the silver-tinged shadows. I waved and forced a big smile. “Have fun.”

I watched them rush away, tears poking the backs of my eyes. I turned a direct gaze toward the first bouncer. “I’m not getting in, am I?”

To his credit, his expression contained mild regret, and he shrugged. The bouncer next to him waved three more girls inside. Each of them wore a handkerchief and little else.

Right. I pushed a lock of hair behind my ear. I’d left it down for once. I might have a matronly style, but my red hair screamed young and vivacious. It was the only part of me that was wild. Most of the time, I was okay with that.

I might’ve wished to be lying in bed and watching a movie a few minutes ago, but the reality of doing so because I hadn’t been sexy enough for a club in Vegas stung.

I stepped out of the line, but I didn’t want to go back to my room. There was a bench by the wall. Maybe I’d wait for a few minutes. The club might be so boring my friends would pour out and we’d go do something fun, something we could all enjoy.

I’d just wait for a few minutes.

Gideon

For fuck’s sake, she was still there.

I glared at the screen on my desk. I could scroll through any part of Silver any minute I wanted. I could go back three months, or I could watch live like it was my very own streaming show. Rarely did I need to. But when the reservation system had sent a flag to my office weeks ago, I’d made sure I was ready.

That fucking family.

I had put the goddamn Baileys into the system. If they used a credit card or tried to reserve a room, I’d put a stop to it. On a whim, I had added the Kerrigan sisters too. Were the Baileys trying to get dirt on me?

There were no secrets. I’d worked fucking hard to get this corner office and an entire casino of staff under me.

Like my grandfather had said, What a man owns defines him.

I didn’t own the place, but I ran it. I controlled it. I grew rich from it. Rich enough to buy anything I wanted—only to have my father ensure I didn’t have a say about the one property that mattered to me.

Goddamn him.

You need to make this yours. A man is nothing without his legacy. My grandfather’s words had been running nonstop through my head since Dad had called to tell me he was selling.

I squeezed a fist as I watched the woman on the edge of my screen. The image was slightly grainy. She had one leg crossed over the other and was scrolling through her phone.

She hadn’t been allowed into Glitter.

What had she been thinking? Couldn’t she tell she was way out of her league? The girl wasn’t showing more than an inch of skin at her collar line. Her bare neck wasn’t enough to gain entrance into the club.

Glitter’s manager was relentless about his “standards,” and I’d had more than one argument with the board about that jackass, but Glitter’s bottom line spoke louder than me.

I studied my screen. I didn’t know Autumn Kerrigan personally. I knew she taught third grade at the lone elementary school in Bourbon Canyon. I knew she and her sisters had been adopted after their parents had died in a nasty wreck. And I knew that she was staying in room 1405, ten floors below my own suite.

She must’ve known that she wasn’t getting inside.

Her friends had ditched her?

A tingle of dismay crossed through me. I didn’t like her, but getting ditched hit a sore spot with me. Who needed enemies when you had friends like that?

Autumn was buried in her phone, hunched over the device like she was trying to disappear in a casino full of cameras that caught every angle.

I’d seen all those angles.

Ever since she’d checked in. I’d seen the way she’d tapped her foot while waiting for her card to run. How she’d laughed with her head back and that wavy hair falling down her back. How she’d held the door for all her friends to enter the public restrooms first, like a damn gentleman. She’d shown them more consideration taking a piss than they had for her a half hour ago.

My phone buzzed. I didn’t bother to check it.

Taya was at the club and wanted me to join her. We’d have our own private booth. As the brains behind the casino’s financials, she’d want to talk shop. Then she’d want more. I hadn’t succumbed in a while.

A part of me was... restless. Taya and I worked together, and occasionally, we fucked. She looked good on my arm, and she liked how my name opened doors for her .

I glanced at the screen. I’m waiting.

She didn’t like to wait.

I had told her we could talk over the plans to restructure the parking garage and renovate several rooms into luxury suites. Rich people didn’t want to park with the masses.

I clicked out of the surveillance system and left my office. In the elevator, I snapped my suit coat straight and buttoned one button.

When I got to the second floor, I exited. The nightclub was street level, but I hated walking through the casino. The barrage of sounds would only make me cranky before a financial discussion with Taya that was sure to be irritating. There was another bank of elevators closer to the nightclub.

Half the time, we fucked because we had to release the tension from arguing over finances. I got told what the investors wanted and it was up to me and her to carry out their wishes.

I rolled my shoulders. I should schedule a massage and get these kinks worked out.

I ignored the gawking of tourists. They were used to the tuxes of the casino staff, but I stood out. How, I didn’t know, but it was a reaction I’d accepted over the years.

An older couple loaded into the elevator in front of me.

She grinned, eyeing my suit. “Don’t you look fancy? Plans for tonight?”

“Yes.”

Her brows rose like she was waiting for me to continue. Her shirt matched her husband’s. A picture of dice with snake eyes on the front. Very Vegas. Very touristy.

She finally nodded and exchanged a get a load of this guy glance with her husband.

I suppressed a sigh. If only I could get a private elevator to the club, then I wouldn’t have to deal with the public. I ran the casino. I wasn’t the PR team.

When the elevator dinged, I hung back to let them out first. I was about to follow when a short bundle of cotton-candy-smelling woman crashed into me. I caught her by the shoulders before she staggered backward and fell.

“Oh, crap. I’m sorry.” Her rich voice rolled over me like a warm wave.

I hated the slots in the casino—anywhere a ton of people congregated, talking, talking, talking—but my ears liked when she spoke.

She blinked up at me. My brain shut off, and I drowned in her emerald gaze.

No, emerald was too plain. Occasionally, people felt comfortable enough to comment on my eyes. They’re such a light green. You don’t see that often. I never commented back.

But this woman’s eyes were a deep jade and each iris had a small chunk of brown close to the pupil. Technically, her eyes were hazel, but someone would have to get very close to notice.

I could have done without that knowledge. Just like I wished I could erase her sweet scent from my memory. I didn’t want to know details about this woman.

Autumn Kerrigan.

Her eyes flared wide and her lips parted, drawing my attention .

Goddamn. Couldn’t her lips be a boring pink? Instead, they were a soft red and the tongue that licked out to wet those red lips reminded me of the cotton candy she smelled like.

Would she taste as sweet?

“I—I’m sorry.” She tried to step back just as the elevator doors attempted to close. She was in the opening.

I had two seconds to make a decision. Let her take the elevator while I met Taya, or...

I drew her farther in. Her eyes widened like I was a wolf dragging her into my den.

“It’s fine,” I said smoothly, my mind kicking into gear after being stunned senseless by Autumn Kerrigan, of all people.

Why hadn’t she been let into the nightclub? Hadn’t the bouncer seen her fall of thick, coppery hair? The dusting of freckles over her creamy skin? Those damn eyes should’ve been an instant entry.

Her gaze slid to her shoulders, where I still gripped her.

I peeled my hands off her. “Apologies.” I never thought I’d apologize to a damn Bailey.

The elevator started moving. She spun toward the controls. She was about to hit a button, but I couldn’t have her going to her room and hiding from my spying.

“Are you enjoying your stay?” Look at me, doing PR.

She clenched her fists and pivoted back to me. Her shoes, while sensible, made her legs look long and curvy. And while she’d been turned, I’d gotten teased by a glimpse of her lush ass.

“I was, but I didn’t make the fuckable cut at the nightclub. ”

I recoiled at the acid in her voice. Not what I’d expected from the soft, curvy woman. “Oh?”

Instead of a tirade, all I got was a shrug. “Whatever. It’s tasteless.”

I bristled. Nothing about Silver was tasteless. I’d made sure nothing about this building resembled the dusty and dirty place I’d come from. Glitter & Gold was the crowning glory of the structure.

I also agreed with her. Fuck.

She punched the 14 on the elevator panel.

A sense of panic took over. She was getting off. She’d insulted my place of work and was leaving. I should let her go, but?—

The elevator jerked into motion. She leaned against the back wall. Unaffected by both me and Glitter’s rejection.

I could take a different route to get to Little Miss Bailey. That whole damn family thought they were untouchable. There was a reason she was here, a purpose to her presence. There had to be. My world wasn’t tilting sideways for nothing. “You’re right. It is tasteless.”

We stopped on the fifth floor, and I moved to her side of the elevator car. She tracked me, shrinking against the rear wall. Her gaze dropped down my suit and skated away.

Was it possible she was affected by me?

Did she know who I was?

Two giggling women got on. They were comparing shiny gold bands on their ring fingers. The Silver Linings Chapel was on the fifth floor. Autumn might also think Vegas weddings were tasteless, but we made sure even impulsive vows were sophisticated.

“I’m surprised you agree,” she murmured .

I took advantage of her continued conversation to lean against the wall adjacent to her. She drew back like I was going to steal the small cream purse hooked over her bandolier-style.

I stuffed a hand into my pocket, knowing I looked exactly like an ad for Zegna. “It’s business. Pure and simple.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t come to Vegas to get insulted.”

The elevator eased to a stop on the twelfth floor. Dammit. We were almost at her stop.

The couple got off, and we were alone again. She scooted an additional foot away from me. I almost slid closer. We continued our ride.

“On behalf of the Silver Casino and Hotel, I apologize.” My sincerity startled me. I knew the exclusiveness of the club hurt feelings, but I’d never witnessed it. I should’ve fought the board harder. Otherwise, what was the perk of being in charge?

It shouldn’t bother me. She was a Bailey.

She lifted her chin. “Thank you,” she said stiffly.

I narrowed my eyes on her. Were her cheeks naturally that flushed, or was she angry? Embarrassed? Overheated?

We came to a stop on the fourteenth floor. The doors opened and the panic was back. She’d step out. I’d never know why her group had chosen Silver or if she knew who I was.

What did it matter?

But it did. It had to. Her family was closing on the sale in a month, and she was in my casino.

So when she took a step toward the exit, I let spill the words I was sure would give her pause. “You’re welcome, Miss Kerrigan. ”