Cougar's Luck (Pacific Northwest Cougars Book 2) (2 page)

T
he jerk
of the wheels on the plane hitting the runway jolted Everett awake. It was a short flight from California to Nevada but the second his ass hit the seat in the tiny first-class section of the plane he’d conked out.

His family often flew private, but Everett thought it was a waste of fuel when it was just him. So commercial was fine when it came to traveling alone.

The minute they parked at the gate, he stood and reached for his backpack and carry-on suitcase.

Being in the front of the plane, he was able to walk off and head to baggage claim. A tall man was standing at the bottom of the escalator with a tablet, the name Hayes displayed on it.

As he approached the man, he smelled shifter. Eyeing him up and down, he figured he must be park of the Klein pack.

“I’m Everett Hayes, nice to meet you,” he offered, holding out his hand.

The man in the suit cracked a smile and offered his hand. “Joseph. Do you have any luggage?”

Everett lifted his arm and showed him he had all he brought. They walked out into the baking heat of the Nevada desert and Everett and his cat took a deep breath. Heat, sand, and cooking concrete. It made his cat itch to go exploring.

“Nice shirt,” Joseph remarked.

Everett had chosen one of his favorite T-shirts for the flight, it said
Talk Nerdy To Me
.

“Thanks, I figured it was appropriate attire for the job. Hey, do you have anything here besides cactus and palm trees?”

“Not exactly the woods. I miss the woods,” Joseph commiserated.

“You should visit us, we have lots of room to roam. I bet it’s hard here.”

“We make due. We’re over here.” Joseph gestured to a black SUV with tinted windows.

“Mind if I sit up front? Being alone in the back, seems silly,” Everett admitted.

“No problem, I hear yah. I drive for the hotel, usually only VIP’s so they are happy to ignore me. And they do like sitting in the back by themselves. It’s a short ride to the hotel but they managed to get trashed on the free booze in the back before we get there. Even if they hadn’t started on their private jets.”

“Yeah, my mom is busy gallivanting all over Washington with ours. Not that I like using it anyway. You notice how many private jets crash every year? Seems like an easy bet to take a big commercial carrier. Your odds are better at survival,” he joked.

Joseph laughed with him. “Damn straight. Hey, the pack is going for a run this weekend. I didn’t know how long you were going to be here, but I was told to extend the invitation to you. Our Alpha wants you to feel comfortable while you are here. Anything you need let us know. I have William’s contact information here, although he will probably be too busy most of the time. He does have two meetings on the books with you as soon as you are able to get settled in. He’ll let you know what he wants as far as security coverage.

He’s hired the top of the line, and he has no doubts about their ability to cover the casino. But we need to cover the pack too,” he said, handing Everett a piece of paper with numbers on it.

“The other number is Layla Klein, she runs the nightclub and is William’s youngest sister. She’s always at the hotel so she’s a good person to contact if you need anything else,” he explained.

Glancing down at the paper, he swiped on his phone and started entering the numbers into his contact list. He knew the rundown of the Klein family. He’d never met any of them in person. But his parents and Dax were all well acquainted with their pack.

“Thanks, can I get your number too?” Everett asked. Couldn’t hurt to have more people that he could count on in Vegas.

“Sure man.”

Everett took in the ride to the hotel, the flashing glitter of Vegas was in full swing. It was already hotter than hell. The strip was packed with tourists young and old. People leaning back on the sidewalks to take pictures of the towering hotels. Street peddlers posing for pictures and at least a few million drunk twenty-somethings. At least that’s what it looked liked to Everett.

His brain wanted to start figuring how much electricity was needed to power just the signage on the strip. Then he thought about the massive systems in place to keep the place from blacking out all the time. This was definitely a place to give even his busy brain an overload.

Pulling up to The Platinum, Everett did the tourist thing and craned his neck out the open car window to look up. It was impressive. All shiny steel and glass, the driveway they pulled into looked like a tropical jungle. Huge palm trees and lush plants surrounding the front doors. As the sliding doors to the hotel opened, you got a whiff of the air conditioning pumping out. That must be an impressive bill alone, he thought.

“Would you like me to carry your bags, sir?” Joseph asked with a grin.

“Nice, I’m not really used to the fancy treatment, so I think I can manage.” Everett shot him a wry smile. Stepping out of the car, he grabbed both of his bags from the back seat then came back to the window and thrust his hand through to shake Joseph’s.

“Head straight to reception and give them your name. They’re expecting you.”

“Will do, hopefully I’ll see you around, man.”

“Oh, I’m always around doing something for the pack. Talk to you later,” Joseph gave him a two finger salute and pulled away from the curb.

Turning back to the doors, he gave a sharp look to the bellhop coming his way. The man immediately backed off. Damn, he was a grown man. He could carry his own bags a few feet.

Growing up a Hayes came with certain perks and privileges for sure. But Everett always thought that the rich way of doing things was always so much more work. Waiting for someone to carry your bags, serve your drinks, or bring your car around. He needed his bags, he picked them up. He was thirsty he grabbed a drink, and hell no did anyone else drive his car. He had a 1969 yellow Chevelle that no one, and he meant no one, was allowed to touch.

If he hadn’t been so wiped from this marathon online raid, he would have considered driving. But then the thought of having to park his baby in some crowded parking lot full of rented mini-vans changed his mind.

Standing in line to check in, Everett took in the lobby. It looked like a fucking space ship. All chrome and reflective mirrors. Lights shining off of all the metal surfaces was distracting and his cat didn’t like it. Even his busy mind thought there was too much to see. Plus, everywhere you turned there were hot sweating tourists that didn’t dress for the bodies they had.

Lots of flesh and not all of it pretty. His cat kept wanting to sniff and scope out the territory. Everett was resisting, he didn’t want all those smells coating his nose. No matter how curious his cougar was.

Seeing an employee waving him forward, he stepped up and smiled at the cute woman behind the counter. She blushed a deep shade of red. Everett knew he was handsome, his brothers were good looking and so were his parents. His genes weren’t his doing, but he totally took advantage of them when he needed to.

“Everett Hayes,” he said to the smiling young woman.

Recognition flared in her eyes at the name. “Oh, Mr. Hayes, you didn’t need to stand in line!” She immediately started apologizing and coming around the corner of the desk. “We have your room all ready for you. Mr. Klein would like to meet with you at two, if that gives you enough time to get settled.”

It was barely noon, and it wasn’t like he had a lot of luggage to unpack. He might sneak in another nap though.

“Not a problem,” he replied, giving her a wink. That earned him a furious blush.

The woman guided him to the elevators and pressed the up button.

“
S
o you are going
to show me to my room? What’s your name?” he said, a little more smoothly than necessary.

“Um, yes, I mean I’m taking you to your room. Mr. Klein was very clear that you were a VIP and that anything you needed just to ask. I’m Kimmy, by the way. I’m so sorry I didn’t introduce myself.”

“Well your nametag said Kim, but you just didn’t seem like a Kim to me. Kimmy, on the other hand, suits you perfectly.”

Everett watched her blush turn from red to almost purple. He shouldn’t tease her, but it was something akin to his cat batting around a ball of yarn. He couldn’t resist the temptation.

His cat gave him a mental nudge and he noticed Kimmy had stopped breathing as she stared at him. Reaching up and gently cupping her elbow, he gave it a squeeze and watched her suck in a breath.

Just then the elevator dinged and opened spilling out a group of rowdy kids. Keeping his hand on her elbow, he guided her into the elevator and dropped his hand once they cleared the doors.

His cougar was urging him to keep playing with the woman, but he was here to work. And little Kimmy was clearly way too tame for him or his cat.

She pressed the button for the third from the top floor. Then turned back to Everett, “We put you on a quieter floor. The top floor penthouses and comped suites can get pretty loud. We thought you would like something a little less busy.”

“That’s very thoughtful of you,” he purred. Damn, he was having trouble turning off the charm.

“Like I said, Mr. Klein wants you comfortable. Everything while you are here is, of course, on the hotel. The restaurants are all five star, please feel free to take advantage of our spa services. The pool deck is busy this time of summer, but there is plenty of fun to be had if you’re into that,” she said, giving him a knowing smile.

The elevator doors opened, Everett gestured for her to go first. She walked out and headed down the long hallway to the last door at the end. Swiping the key in the lock, she stepped in and held the door open for him.

Everett walked into a room the size of his pool house. And that was still a two bedroom home essentially. This room might be bigger.

“This is the living room, there is a full kitchen. If you’d like one of our chefs to come up and cook dinner, just call through to room service,” she explained, walking and gesturing as she pointed out the features.

“This is the master bedroom, all of the main rooms have their own balconies with seating. In the bathroom the shower also doubles as a steam room. If you’d like the suite concierge can draw you a bath at any time,” she offered, giving him a knowing smile.

Taking in the giant California king bed and enough room for a couch and seating area, he said, “Not exactly the bath type.”

He heard a small ‘hmm’ come from her.

Everett did manage to keep his eye sight above the shoulders as she walked back out of the bedroom. Definitely too sweet. Not that he didn’t like sweet, but he needed some challenge. Cats loved to chase their prey.

“There is another bedroom on the other side of the living area also,” she explained.

“Well if I get bored in one room I’ll switch.”

Turning on her heels she gave her most professional smile and handed him the key card, “Is there anything else I can do for you, Mr. Hayes?”

Everett didn’t miss the innuendo there, but he was tired and hungry. And even a tasty morsel offering up whatever she was willing to offer up, wasn’t what he was hungry for.

“I think I’ll grab a bite and take a quick nap before meeting Mr. Klein,” he replied.

“Can I have something sent up for you?” she offered.

“Sure a nice steak would be great, thank you,” Everett had already started thinking about the dimensions of the space and the square footage.

“Of course, I’ll be happy to take care of that for you,” she replied. Sweet she may be, but she knew when a man had lost interest.

Excusing herself she headed out the door, leaving Everett to himself.

Spotting the doors leading off the living room, he pushed them open and the blast of hot air hit him in the face. You don’t realize just how cold the room was until you got a taste of the real air.

Stepping to the edge, he leaned over and looked down the side of the building. They were up pretty high, but his cat liked to be up high. It kept the advantage. He looked out over part of the strip, but most of his view was of the mountains in the distance. Not that they were actually mountains. He was from California, these were barely hills.

But he liked having less noise from the cars and busy streets. He stood there soaking in the warmth for a while.

There was a knock on the door a short time later. He headed back into the room closing off the fresh desert scent and gave a shiver as the icy cold air coated him again. He opened the door and there was neatly dressed waiter with a cloth covered cart. Swinging the door wide so he had room to maneuver, the man brought the cart in and looked expectantly at him.

“Just leave it there please,” Everett said, reaching for his wallet to tip the man.

“No, please, Mr. Hayes. No gratuities for the Klein’s special guests. Enjoy your meal,” the man said, then gave a slight bow and exited the suite.

“Nice room, free food, no tipping. I may move here,” Everett murmured to himself.

Spotting a control panel on the wall, he walked over to it, flipped it open and adjusted the air of the room up ten degrees. His fucking nuts were going to freeze off in this room.

Returning to the cart, he started pulling covers off of the plates. There was what looked like a twelve-ounce steak on one plate. He could smell it was cooked medium rare just like he liked it. He uncovered a baked potato and a caprese salad.

He hit the kitchen and opened the fridge finding it fully stocked with not only every soft drink but various bottled waters and beers. Grabbing the first beer he could reach he came back to the cart, picked up the salad, dumped it on the steak then did the same with the potato, mounding it all up.

Picking up the one plate, he made his way into the living room, plopped on the couch, and flipped on the massive TV on the wall. He tucked into the food, not really caring his food was all mashed together. It was going to end up that way anyway he figured. He didn’t even cut his steak. He just picked it up with the fork and gnawed on it.

Once he was full, he set his alarm on his phone and leaned his head back on the fluffy couch. The TV was still on, an old episode of classic Star Trek was playing. Everett could hear the soothing tones of Spock as he dozed off.