1 Night (A Time for Love Series Prequel)

Chapter 3

"The Venetian, please," I told the taxi driver once I'd folded Cal into the back seat, pushing his head down like a child.

I dropped my purse on the seat and climbed in next to him, then pushed on his leg when it kept bumping into mine. He didn't get the hint, so I wrapped my hands around his thigh and tried to lift his leg, but it was no use, he was too big.

"Whatchya doin'?" Cal asked sleepily.

I looked over to see his head was resting back on the seat and his eyes were closed.

"You're in my space," I grumbled, then sighed when I heard him start to snore. "Great."

When I realized the cab wasn't moving, I stopped trying to move Cal's leg and brought my eyes to the rearview mirror, only to find the cab driver watching me in the glass. Well, specifically, he was watching my breasts, which were displayed pretty nicely in my form-fitting dress.

"How about you start driving and stop staring at my tits, asshole," I said cuttingly, not giving him the satisfaction of covering myself, but rather staring him down in the mirror.

"Sorry," he mumbled, then averted his eyes and pulled away from the curb.

As we neared The Venetian, I hoped Cal's friends were already back and waiting for him, because seriously, there was no way I'd be able to get the big lug out of this cab if he completely passed out on me.

"Hey," I said as I pushed on Cal's arm, figuring I'd better start trying to wake him up now before he fell too deeply asleep. "Hey!"

"Wha?" Cal muttered, obviously annoyed. He waved his hand like he was swatting a fly and grumbled, "Stop."

"No, Cal, I need you to wake up so I can take you to your room once we get to the hotel."

"Tired."

"I know you're tired, you smell like you drank an entire bottle of whiskey, but you can't start sleeping it off until we either find your friends, or your room."

"Did we find TJ and Scott?" he asked, opening one eye and peeking out.

"Assuming those are your friends, no, not yet," I replied, then sighed with relief as we pulled up in front of The Venetian. "Here, I need you to get out of the cab and tell me if this is the place you're staying."

We pulled up in front and I looked toward the driver.

"Give us a minute, please."

When he nodded, I opened the door and got out, then leaned back into the car to find Cal still in place with his eyes closed again.

"Cal!" I yelled in my sternest voice. "Get up and get out of the car. Now."

"Mom?" he asked groggily, and I couldn't help but bark out a laugh at that. I was the least motherly person I'd ever met in my life.

When I glanced over to see the cab driver ogling my chest again, I said, "Get out," one last time and backed out of the car. Luckily, seconds later one of Cal's long legs popped out of the cab and he began to slowly ease himself out.

I watched as he stood up and stretched, my eyes catching on the exposed skin as his shirt rose up.

Realizing I was no better than the cab driver with my ogling, I cleared my throat and brought my eyes up to Cal's face. "Does this look familiar?" I asked.

"Mmmm, maybe," he replied, then walked past me and inside.

"Shit," I muttered as I watched his fine ass walk away. I reached into my bra, pulled out a twenty, and dropped it in the passenger window, then rushed in after Cal.

I caught up to him as he headed toward the slot machines and turned him toward the hotel check-in. "This way, buddy." He let me lead him, only stumbling a couple of times before we reached the person at the desk, who in my opinion was way too fucking chipper for one in the morning.

"Welcome to The Venetian, how may I assist you?" the front desk clerk asked.

I pushed Cal toward the counter, then shoved my hand in his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.

"Hey," he protested, although rather than looking angry that I'd just picked his pocket, he had that goofy grin back on his face. "Hey, I remember you..."

Ignoring him, I opened his wallet and pulled out his driver's license. As I slid it across the counter I said, "We should already have a room reserved; in fact, his buddies may have already checked in."

The clerk didn't even bat his eyes as he checked the computer, even though I was sure his judgmental ass was assuming that I was a call girl or something. I'd seen the way he'd looked over my tight dress and high heels.

"Yes, here it is. You've already checked in, did you need another key?"

"Yeah, man, I..." Before Cal could finish his sentence, my hand dipped back in his pocket. I pulled the room key out and held it up.

"Nope, looks like he has the key right here. If you could just let us know the room number, we'll get out of your hair," I said, smiling through clenched teeth.

"Yes, ma'am, room 324."

Before he could say anything else, I had Cal by the arm and was dragging him toward the elevator.

"You had that room key in your pocket this whole time?" I hissed. I held it up in front of his face and added, "It has the name of the damn hotel right on it."

We stepped into the elevator and I pushed the button for floor three.

"Sorry," Cal said sheepishly. "I forgot I had that in there."

I turned to tell him not to worry about it, since I hadn't thought to ask him if he had a key either. But before I could get the words out, his face got pinched and he made a strangled sound.

That's when he opened his mouth and puked all over me.