Innocent in Las Vegas by A. R. Winters, Amazon.com (firm)

easier if I’m on my own.”
    He shrugged. “It’s ok.”
    “I guess I should go to a hotel.”
    “Good choice. Leave me a key to this place and I’ll have one of my employees come in and fix it up for you.”
    I blinked at him in surprise. It had never even occurred to me that you could fix a problem so easily. I’d envisioned hours of work, a lot of mess with paint, and irate neighbors. Not to mention dangerous goons who’d probably try to interrupt my painting. With my luck, they’d turn out to be artistic goons who didn’t like their handiwork tinkered with.
    As I packed a tiny suitcase, Stone waited in my living room, flicking between channels on my ancient TV .
    “It’s just for one night, right?” I called, and Stone grunted in response. I suppose that meant ‘yes,’ but I packed a few extra clothes just in case.
    Stone made no comment when I emerged with my heavy suitcase. We locked the door behind us and got into the elevator.
    A woman rode down in the elevator with us. I said hello and managed to identify her correctly as Betty from 516A, one of the tenants who’d been living here for more than a few weeks. She was pleased I’d remembered her and beamed in our general direction.
    “It’s so lovely to see a young couple going away for a romantic break,” she said. “Nowadays everyone gets divorced after a year. That’s not what the Lord says is right. How long have you two been married, dear?”
    I said, “We’re not married.”
    Her smile disappeared into a thin, straight line and she looked at us sternly. I thought she was going to give us a lecture about Living In Sin, but before I could explain, the elevator reached the lobby and she strode out, impatient to get away from the reprobates.
    Stone and I were on and off the freeway before I could even work out what direction we were going. We did a few circles and then headed back to the Strip. He drove up to the Himalaya Resort Casino, and handed his keys over to the valet.
    We walked up to Reception and Stone said, “We’d like a suite.”
    The petite brunette – Vera, if her nametag was to be believed – smiled at us. “Certainly, sir. Would you like a junior, executive, VIP, honeymoon, or Presidential suite?”
    Stone turned to me. “What do you want? I’ll bill Sophia for you.”
    I tried not to smile too hard. “I don’t want to be too greedy, so not the Presidential. And Honeymoon might be depressing since I’m single. I’ll take the VIP suite.”
    “Great choice,” Vera said, and began to reel off a list of amenities that came with the suite. Stone gave her his credit card details and we collected our key and walked up to the room.
    It was breathtakingly glamorous inside. I admired the bed, the clever lighting, the massive private hot tub, the fridge full of complimentary drinks, and the view out the window. Stone checked the door and the window, and declared the place to be safe.
    “I’m off,” he said. “I’ll fix up your place tomorrow and I’ll pick you up from here at ten. Remember you have Krav Maga at eight. Cab it there and back.”
    And then he was gone.
    I spent a few hours enjoying a leisurely glass of Bollinger while watching a ‘reality’ TV show that was far removed from the real world, then soaked in the hot tub for a bit. I thought about calling Sophia to tell her about the vandalism at my place and that I’d moved in here for the night, but then decided not to update anyone.
    I was exhausted by the day’s events, and as soon as I snuggled against the soft hotel pillows, I sank into a deep, dreamless slumber. I woke up at dawn. It was a strange sensation, since this was the time of day when I would usually leave work and call it a night.
    I had hoped to sleep in a bit longer, but now that I was awake, I decided to make the most of it. I changed into my swimsuit and did a few laps in the pool, and then I headed over to the breakfast buffet where I showed an incredible amount of restraint by only