WICKED WISH
The Wicked Horse Vegas – Book 2
The Wicked Horse Vegas – Book 2
By Sawyer Bennet
Release Day August 11
Jorinda Pearce thought she did everything right – graduated from college, married her long-time sweetheart, established a career. But what does she have to show for it now? A degree she doesn’t use, a job she hates, and an ex-husband that broke her heart.
Looking for a long overdue adventure, Jorie takes a walk on the wild side and attends a masquerade event at The Wicked Horse Vegas. It’s exactly the escape she’s looking for, and even better, she can explore anonymously. Drawn to the man masked in black leather with the body of a god, Jorie finds the greatest pleasures of her life at the hands of a stranger.
Walsh Brooks is the most sought after man in The Wicked Horse. Sex is nothing but a game to him and he’s the type that will always leave at the end of the night without looking back. Unfortunately for Walsh, there’s no way he can walk away from the mysterious green-eyed beauty behind the mask of sapphire feathers, because he knows exactly who she is.
Jorie is his best friend’s little sister and there’s not another woman in the world that’s more off limits.
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EXCERPT:
Squaring my shoulders, I march into
The Royale and head straight for the concierge desk. I haven’t been in this
casino before. Hell, I haven’t been in hardly any of them. Sure, I’d only grown
up about forty-five minutes away, but gambling and all-you-can-eat buffets held
no interest to me.
From Micah bragging about his best
friend over the years, I knew Walsh orchestrated the purchase of the land, then
pulled together financing with two other partners to build this casino. It’s
one of the most popular on the strip, boasting five-star dining, old-world
elegance, and superior customer service. Again, all this from Micah, but
honestly… I’m so proud of Walsh, too. We may have lost touch over the years,
but I’ll never forget all the ways in which he acted as a big brother to me.
Ick.
Okay… that’s gross. Thinking of
Walsh like a brother.
I scrub my mind clean of that
thought and demand myself never to do that again.
Rather, I’ll never forget all the
ways in which Walsh provided me friendship and support in my formative years.
Yes… much better.
“Can I help you?” a man behind the
concierge desk asks with a genuine and friendly smile. Not snooty as I would
expect in a fancy hotel, and I guess that goes to the superior customer service
The Royale strives for.
“Yes… hi,” I say as I nervously
tuck my hair behind my ears on both sides. “I need to see Mr. Brooks. How do I
go about getting access to his apartment?”
Micah told me some time ago that
Walsh lives here.
The concierge never loses his
friendly smile, but a single eyebrow arches high at my temerity.
“Oh, gosh,” I stammer. “That came
out stalkerish. Mr. Brooks… I mean, Walsh… and I are longtime friends. He used
to babysit me.”
“Your name?” the man asks as he
pulls up something on his computer.
“Jorie Pearce.”
After a moment of scanning, he
looks up at me. “Your name isn’t on the approved list.”
“Well, he’s not exactly expecting
me.”
“I’m sorry, Miss Pearce,” he says
with true regret in his voice. “But our policy is strict. No one gets up to the
private penthouse without their name on the list.”
I lean on the desk with one elbow and
lower my voice. “Just out of curiosity… are there any women on that list?”
The eyebrow shoots up again.
“No, wait,” I say hastily as I hold
my palms toward him in a silent plea to not process my last request either
mentally or on the computer. “That’s totally stalkerish, and I didn’t mean
that.”
“Miss Pearce,” the concierge says,
now with a hint of annoyance. “Perhaps you’d like to leave a message? I can get
it up to Mr. Brooks today and he can call you.”
“No, I need to see him now,” I tell
him firmly. “And I swear it’s not to cook a rabbit in a pot on his stove. Can
you please just call up to his apartment?”
“That’s not our policy—”
“Look,” I snap as I lean across the
desk slightly. “I’m a lifelong friend of Walsh’s. My brother is his best
friend. We lost touch for a few years, but we ran into each other last night. I
really need to talk to him about something that happened last night, and I’m
not leaving this hotel until you call up to his apartment.”
The eyebrow doesn’t arch but it
does draw inward to meet its match on the other side as he considers what I
just said.
“I swear to you,” and here I pause
to look at his name tag, “Bentley. Please just call him. He won’t be mad.”
With a sigh, he relents and picks
up the phone receiver, punching in a five-digit number. After a pause, he says,
“Mr. Brooks… I’m very sorry to disturb you, sir, but there’s a Miss Jorie
Pearce here to see you. She says she’s a longtime friend.”
I watch as Bentley listens, but I
can’t gauge what’s being said as his face remains blank. Finally, he says,
“Very good, sir.”
I take this to mean I’ll be getting
an escort to the penthouse suite, but Bentley replaces the receiver and says,
“I’m sorry, Miss Pearce. But Mr. Walsh told me to tell you he’s busy and can’t
receive you right now.”
My eyes narrow at Bentley. “I don’t
believe you. Call back and let me talk to him.”
“I assure you, I just talked to him
and that’s what he said.”
“Call him back,” I order as I point
to the phone.
“I can’t,” he says almost with a
wail. “If I do, he’ll fire me.”
Okay, that hits home. I don’t want
to get anyone in trouble, so I say, “Fine. Give me just a moment.”
I take a few steps away from the
concierge desk and pull my iPhone out. I shoot off a quick text to Micah. What’s Walsh’s phone number?
I wait a few moments, but I know
Micah is awake in San Francisco at this hour. His phone is always on, and he
never ignores a text from me.
He responds with the number before
I can even start to tap my foot with impatience, adding on, Why?
I hate the lie, but I write back, Came to Vegas for the day. Thought I’d see
if he could meet up for lunch. Haven’t seen him in years.
Cool, he writes back. Tell him I said, “what’s up, douche?”
I roll my eyes as I text back, Real mature. Love ya. Later.
After I save the number to my
contacts, I open a new text to Walsh. Let
me up to see you or I’m going straight back to The Wicked Horse to satisfy some
further curiosities I have.
I hit send and then walk back to
the concierge desk. I merely lean one elbow on it and watch Bentley with a
silent smile. The phone rings about ten seconds after that.
Bentley’s eyes fly to mine as he
listens, and then says, “Yes, sir. Right away.”
When he replaces the receiver, he
says, “I’m to show you to the penthouse elevator.”
“Thank you, Bentley,” I say
brightly.
What I thought about Wicked Wish
Jorie's back in Nevada licking her wounds from a failed marriage after her husband asks her to leave. She's also determined to spread her wings sexually and so she goes to the Wicked Horse Las Vegas with her friend.
Walsh has been a member of the sex club since his divorce, content with one night stands and fun at the club. When he discovers his best friend's sister at the Wicked Horse, it sets these two on a dangerous path of secrets with both Jorie and Walsh needing to reconcile their own feelings in the process.
I really liked this story. Everything just clicked for me from the moment they find each other to the tension-filled ending. I didn't want to put this down.
As usual with this erotic romance series, there's plenty of sex at the club and elsewhere. And there's a lot of feeling between Jorie and Walsh as well. It was great to see Walsh realize the depths of his feelings for Jorie. I also love a story where the break-up takes some time to resolve, and Wicked Wish was just right.
So this was a winner for me. Sweet romance, likable characters and some great emotional content to the writing.
An ARC was provided for review.
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