Baby Blues: A Vegas Baby Novella

  Baby Blues

  Fiona Davenport

  Copyright © 2020 by Fiona Davenport

  Cover design by Elle Christensen

  Edited by Jenny Sims (Editing4Indies)

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Baby Blues

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Epilogue

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Baby Blues

  Knox Dawson didn’t believe in love at first sight, at least not for himself. He watched as his sisters and several of his friends each fell fast and hard, confident it would never happen to him. Then he spotted Addilyn Cole on stage and realized how wrong he’d been.

  Addilyn jumped at the too-good-to-be-true offer to perform at the Lennox, but she never bargained on finding love during her first show there. When things go wrong the morning after their impulsive wedding night, Knox has to convince Addilyn she’s the woman he wants…forever.

  Chapter 1

  Knox

  “I better run. Autumn wanted me home early to help get the kids down for bed. She got a sitter for a few hours so we can go listen to Addilyn Cole at Smoke and Rhythm tonight.”

  My attention was zeroed in on the monitors in front of me because one of the pit bosses had alerted me to a possible card counter. Since I was only half-listening, I didn’t catch everything Drew said. “Listen to who?”

  “The new singer I hired to headline in the lounge.”

  My head jerked up at Drew’s answer. “What new lounge singer?”

  “The one I hired yesterday.” He knew damn well how I was going to react but didn’t seem bothered by it in the least.

  “How come this is the first time I’m hearing about it?” I growled after counting to ten to keep my temper in check. Drew was my friend, but he was also my boss. Ripping him a new one while some of my guys were within earshot wasn’t something I would ever do. So, I kept my voice low and my tone calm. “You always run new hires past me so I can do a background check before they start. It’s the protocol for a reason, Drew. My job is to keep everyone safe, and I can’t do that if you spring shit like this on me at the last second.”

  “I’m sorry, man. I meant to call you last week, but with the kids all down with colds, time got away from me, and I forgot. I know how seriously you take your job, and I appreciate everything you do to keep us all safe, especially my family. It won’t happen again.”

  Most of my anger drained away with his genuine apology. “Give me the singer’s name and whatever information you have on her, so I can have one of the guys run a check. If any red flags pop up, at least you have the clause in the employment contract that lets you fire her immediately.”

  “Yeah…about that.” Drew ran one of his hands through his hair and sighed. I braced myself for what he was about to say because I knew I wasn’t going to like it. “I didn’t have her sign the standard contract. Her situation is different than our usual employees. I’ve been trying to hire her away from Stratton for two years with no luck because she took her commitment to him seriously. No matter how many times I offered to buy her out of her contract, she wouldn’t take me up on it.”

  My brows rose in surprise. Most singers would jump at the chance, no matter who they were working for at the time. Not only did the Lennox draw in the biggest audiences in Vegas, but we also had some of the longest-running shows. “How many times did you offer her a contract?”

  “More than I can count,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “Then I found out last week that her contract with him just ended, and she’d already sold her house. I had to move fast, or else I was going to lose the opportunity. Since her stuff was already packed and ready to go, she wasn’t interested in the usual offer. I had to up the ante.”

  Considering how much money Drew had, there was a lot of room for him to maneuver when he wanted something to go his way. “What’d you give her?”

  “A fuck ton of money, along with a guarantee that she could work at the Lennox as long as she wants.”

  “Damn.” I whistled, stunned that he’d handed that much power over to the woman. Drew liked to keep the upper hand when it came to business. “Is she really that good?”

  “Better.” He flashed me a smug grin. “She could probably make millions if she was interested in signing a recording contract, but she’s always been content to stay in Vegas and play to a smaller audience. I don’t know why she suddenly decided to leave Las Vegas, but I had to swoop in fast before she was gone. Now she’ll be singing for me, and Autumn is happy as fuck since she’s a fan of Addilyn.”

  That explained his unprecedented decision to pull out all the stops to get the woman under contract with the Lennox. Addilyn Cole could’ve asked for those millions Drew thought she could earn with a recording studio, and he would’ve given them to her if it meant that Autumn got what she wanted. Drew would do anything for his wife, which made it easy to wind him up when I felt like yanking his chain. “Maybe I’ll horn in on your date night so I can hear her for myself.”

  “Unless you want me to fire your ass, you’ll get your own damn table,” he grumbled with a glare aimed my way.

  We both knew my job wasn’t at risk. I was too damn good at it, and he’d never trust anyone else with the safety of the empire he’d built—let alone his family—as much as he did me. “I’ll be sure to tell Autumn you threatened to fire me if I bugged you two when I spin her a sob story about having nobody to sit with since those bastards stole my sisters away from me.”

  “If you do that, I’ll be sure to tell your sisters that you called their husbands bastards,” Drew tossed back, folding his arms over his chest and raising an eyebrow in challenge.

  I shrugged and grinned at him. “It’s not like they don’t know I’ve said worse about the men who ‘swept them off their feet.’”

  My sisters couldn’t be too pissed at me for it since they’d tossed around some threats of their own to their future brothers-in-law. We were a close-knit crew and very protective of each other, but Griffin, Maddox, and Will had proven they could be trusted with my sisters’ hearts. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t still keeping a close eye on them. I always would.

  When I walked into Smoke and Rhythm five hours later and spotted Addilyn Cole on stage, my plan to fuck with Drew some more flew out the window. My entire focus centered on the woman with long, curly black hair and almond-shaped brown eyes. She was a tiny thing who’d barely come up to my shoulder when I pulled her close—which was going to happen, and soon—but the red dress she was wearing showed off her curvy body. It also bared too much of her sun-kissed skin, and I fought the urge to rip off my jacket and toss it over her shoulders so no other men could see what belonged to me.

  The surge of possessiveness roaring through my blood was a shock. I’d never felt anything like it. Hell, I’d given my buddies, Drew and Becket, as well as my sisters’ husbands a hard time about falling for their women so quickly, and now here I was, ready to take on anyone who even thought about standing between me and a woman I knew nothing about.

  Stalking across the lounge, I snagged a booth to the right of the stage. It was in the shadows, allowing me to keep an eye on Addilyn without freaking her out during her first performance for the Lennox. I was aware of everyone around me, but my attention never wavered from her as I sipped at the whiskey the waitress brought me. I hadn’t ordered it, but the staff was well aware of my preferences.

  I spent a lot of time at the Lennox and was a regular at the bars and restaurants in the hotel. My position as the head of security came with a lot of power, so Drew’s employees didn’t want to get on my wrong side. They spent almost as much time trying to impress me as they did him. It was something that I hadn’t cared about in the past but would come in handy now that I’d be at Smoke and Rhythm whenever Addilyn was here. The staff would soon learn that helping her meant helping me, and they’d bend over backward to make sure she had anything she needed.

  With the sound of her low, soulful voice surrounding me, the anger and frustration over her missing background check drained away. If any red flags popped up, I’d take care of them personally. I couldn’t be pissed at Drew any longer, not when his quick thinking had ensured that the woman who was meant to be mine hadn’t left Las Vegas before I’d had the chance to meet her.

  Chapter 2

  Addilyn

  They say D minor is the saddest key, but when you were a rhythm and blues singer like me, it held a wealth of beauty. The melancholy sound and haunting minor chord progressions help the listener to feel the true soul in the music.

  However, it was my opening night at the Lennox Hotel and Casino. My new home until I decided otherwise. I was so excited that I almost went with a jazz set, but the name of the lounge was Smoke and Rhythm, and I wanted to prove that the singer fit the name. So, I compromised with myself and chose to open with a classic.

  I held the old-fashioned microphone close to my
red-painted lips and crooned the words to BB King’s “The Thrill is Gone.” The spotlight shined on me and the small band behind me on the stage. It wasn’t blinding, but I let it blur my vision of the audience so I could lose myself in the song. When the guitar solo started, my hips began to move with a mind of their own, and after a minute, my whole body was swaying and twisting with the sultry tune.

  We finished the song, and I couldn’t stop the huge grin from splitting my face when the audience clapped with gusto, whistles and good-natured catcalls ringing out above the thunder.

  My skin tingled in the oddest way, and I squinted through the light, my eyes sweeping around, wondering about the cause. I almost felt as though someone was watching me, which was ridiculous, considering I was on stage performing for an audience. But it was different…more intense. And my body was reacting in a way I’d never felt before.

  I shook my head and tried to dispel the strange thoughts and feelings, refocusing on my show. My set consisted of old classics and some modern covers, but at the end, after I’d sung “When You’re Down and Out,” a tribute to my favorite blues singer, Bessie Smith, I ended with an original composition.

  The tingling sensation had only intensified throughout the show, but I attributed it to nerves. I’d never performed one of my compositions, and it meant sharing something very personal with a room full of strangers. Still, I’d promised myself that I’d finally step out of my comfort zone with my next job.

  I’d been performing at The Diamond on the weekends since I was eighteen. I’d signed a two-year contract and then signed an extension for another three. It had just ended, and while Frank Stratton had been incredibly good to me, it wasn’t where I planned to be long term. I wasn’t sure where I saw myself in regard to my career. I’d never had the desire to sign with a label or go on tour. My family was here. I loved it here. Las Vegas was home.

  One thing I did know, it was where I wanted to settle down and raise my family. And though I hadn’t admitted it out loud, the possibility of having a husband and kids was the reason I wanted to find a mostly permanent arrangement at a hotel. It was a perfect scenario and would allow me to achieve both of my dreams of making a living as a singer and having a family of my own.

  However, my well-meaning parents thought I should see the world. “Experience life.” They encouraged me to at least take a job in another state or country to make sure I didn’t miss out on anything because I’d never tried it. Eventually, I gave in. For years, venue after venue had contacted me with offers. However, I refused to let any of them buy out my contract with The Diamond. I wasn’t going to do that to the man who’d taken a chance on a kid.

  Suddenly, I was in a position to actually entertain these offers. I had trouble deciding where I wanted to go—probably because I didn’t really want to leave in the first place—so I’d kept my options open until I’d sold my house and was ready to pick up and move.

  I’d narrowed it down to a casino in Monte Carlo, a well-known blues club in New York City, and signing a contract with the record label who represented people like Griffith Thorne—a rock singer who’d recently settled in Las Vegas. He actually had a job I coveted. Drew Lennox had come to me with offers over the years, but I’d turned him down like all the rest.

  Timing being what it was, it hadn’t occurred to me that Drew might have an opening at the same time I was ready to make a change. Then he appeared in my dressing room after my last performance and pretty much begged me to do a stint at the Lennox.

  Somehow, I managed to keep the screaming and jumping contained inside my brain. I almost spilled the beans that I would be ecstatic to perform at the Lennox, especially long term. But I wasn’t stupid, so I calmly explained my other offers and was flabbergasted when he basically informed me that I could have whatever I wanted.

  I was ecstatic to be able to stay in Las Vegas and perform. But that didn’t mean I hadn’t taken my parents' advice to heart. I promised myself that I would take some risks, particularly when it came to my music, so that’s how I ended up on the stage in the Lennox’s blues club, Smoke and Rhythm, singing a song I’d written.

  The spotlight dimmed, allowing me to see the crowd of people standing from their seats and clapping. I smiled even brighter when Autumn, Drew’s wife, waved and did an excited little hop before giving me a double thumbs-up. Then something behind her caught my eye, and I lifted my gaze to see a man standing in the shadows off to the left.

  His deep blue eyes were trained on me in an unblinking and unwavering stare. I suddenly felt naked and on fire as my thighs clenched. When his lips tipped up into a smirk, I wondered if he knew how I was reacting to him. He couldn’t tell, right?

  Unable to hold his intense stare, I glanced at the rest of him. He had dark blond hair, cropped close to his head, a chiseled, square jaw, a patrician nose, and full, kissable lips.

  As I looked lower, I stifled a gasp. Good grief. The guy was built like a freaking linebacker. From the way he filled out his jet-black suit, it was obvious he was all cut muscle. And damn, all those muscles were sexy as hell. My eyes might have lingered for a second too long at the juncture of his thighs because, despite the darkness, I was almost positive a bulge began to grow there. I suddenly pictured what he looked like underneath all those clothes, and my nipples hardened while dampness flooded between my legs. If I’d been wearing panties, they would have been soaked.

  My cheeks heated, and my eyes flew back up to his face. He wasn’t smiling any longer. In fact, his gaze was no longer on my face, and he looked like he was about to murder someone. Confused at his sudden about-face, I frowned and followed his line of sight.

  It was very likely my face was as red as my dress when I realized he could see the pebbled tips of my breasts poking through my tight sheath. As it was backless and practically side-less, it hadn’t been possible for me to wear a bra.

  When he took a step forward, I backed up and said a quick thank you into the mic before running off the stage to my dressing room. I shut the door and leaned against it, trying to catch my breath. I’d never reacted to a man like this. It was throwing me for a loop.

  My heart rate had barely had a chance to level off when a sharp knock had me jumping a foot away with a yelp.

  “Open the door, Addilyn.”

  Oh. Em. Gee.

  The low, raspy male voice sent shivers down my spine and another gush of wetness between my legs. What in the ever-loving crap was wrong with me? I was afraid to open the door. Afraid I might climb the guy—the one I’d never freaking met—like a tree.

  “Addilyn.” His tone had an undercurrent of warning in it.

  Maybe I should have been offended at his high-handed order, but instead, I found it incredibly hot. So, I sucked in a quick breath and swung the door open.

  Mr. Tall, Blond, and Sexy stood on the other side, the scowl still in place. “Can I help you?” I was incredibly proud of the fact that my voice didn’t waver.

  His eyes met mine, and he winked—then my ovaries exploded. “Absolutely, gorgeous.” He smiled, showing off a smile worthy of a toothpaste commercial with dimples that popped in each cheek. I kind of felt bad for every other man on the planet because they would always live in the shadow of the god standing in front of me. “But first, I need you to put on some clothes.”

  I glanced down at my dress with a frown. “You don’t like my dress?”

  He shook his head as he took a few steps into the room, causing me to back up or be plastered against his body. “That’s not a dress, baby.” His blue eyes narrowed, and he glared at my outfit. “That’s a fucking dish towel.” His long arms reached out and took hold of my shoulders, then he gently turned me around. “Now, get dressed so I can take you out and properly welcome you to the Lennox.”