Free Carly's Punishment (Submitting to the Billionaire) by Alicia Roberts

 
    Chapter One
     
    Every morning, Carly pushed her cart of housecleaning supplies onto the service elevator, and until Thursday, nothing interesting ever happened.
    But on Thursday, the dark-haired man stepped on. There were other SkyDeck Hotel guests who’d stepped onto the service elevator too, but this man was different. Carly kept her head down and eyes focused on the wheels of her cart, but she could sense his presence. And judging by the sudden electricity in the air, the other guests could sense it too.
    The man was tall, and out of the corner of her eye, Carly could see his trainers. He smelled faintly of cologne and shampoo, and he had the glow of someone who’d just been to the gym. As the elevator went up, Carly risked glancing at him again, and quickly blushed and looked down when she caught his eye. Just her luck, she thought.
    This job was all about being invisible, of being part of the décor, and it wouldn’t do to have a guest notice her. Let alone someone as attractive as the Dark-Haired Man. The elevator beeped, the doors opened, and Carly stepped off at her floor. As she walked down the corridor, she smiled to herself. It had been worth it. The man wasn’t handsome in a conventional way, but he was rugged, all muscles and angles and hardness, and he exuded something magnetic, something that made Carly feel his presence and nobody else’s. She guessed he wasn’t a Vegas local, but he also didn’t have that relaxed, “flabby” vibe that tourists exuded.
    And his eyes – the way he looked at her. Carly smiled again as she entered the first room, and wondered why he had been staring at her. Staff at the hotel were forbidden from having relationships with clients and guests, but there was no rule against fantasizing about them.
    ***
    On Friday morning, Carly stepped onto the elevator and her pulse quickened when the Dark Haired Man stepped on, along with two other guests. Once again, she could smell his faint cologne and shampoo, and she risked a glance at him.
    Shit. He was looking at her, his lips drawn into a thin smile. And she found herself holding his glance for a second, smiling back, before she remembered the rule: be invisible. Immediately, she looked down and blushed, keeping her head down until she got to her floor.
    ***
    The weekend was uneventful. Although Carly had moved to Las Vegas in search of a more exciting life, when her small “Vegas fund” had dried up, she quickly found herself back in the boring, timid lifestyle she’d always lived. Thanks to her exhausting job, she never had enough money or energy to enjoy the attractions.
    Ironically, for the first time since joining this wretched job, Carly found herself looking forward to Monday. Would she see the Dark-Haired Man again? Or would he have left?
    Hope played with fear until Monday arrived, and she stepped onto the elevator. She waited a while as the guests got on, and with each second her disappointment grew and grew. And then he was there! She smiled broadly, unable to help herself, and the doors closed and the man stepped closer to her.
    “You don’t work on weekends, do you?” His voice was deep and commanding, and his eyes honed in on hers intently.
    So he had noticed her! Carly felt a shiver run through her body and she shook her head happily. And then she remembered to pull her gaze away from his, and focused on the handles of her cart. In the silence, the air throbbed pregnantly, and she saw the man place a small index card on top of the cart.
    When the elevator doors pinged open, Carly rushed to the first room that needed cleaning. In the privacy of the room, away from the security cameras that lined all the public spaces, Carly pulled up the card and read it.
    The message was brief and to the point: Have a drink with me tonight. Recovery Room at 7.
    Of course that wouldn’t do. Carly wasted no time in ripping up the card and putting it with the rest of the trash. For all she knew, the man was married, or