Author's Note: I know what you're all thinking. What is she doing posting another story when she's got Second Time Around still out! Well, I know. But I had to get this out of my system. Had to. Thinking about it was driving me crazy, and with school starting again so soon, I decided that I need to be as sane as possible. Anyways, I hope you guys like it. It'll end up being a long WIP. If you all like the idea that is. Oh, and I know that there's other stories about Jason running the casino, but I promise that it won't be anything like those. I'm not trying to steal ideas or anything like that!
Summary:Jason lives in Puerto Rico, because of the ever growing rift between he and Sonny. Courtney's a journalist who comes down to do an article for the magazine she works for about the casino that Jason runs. She falls for Jason, but will she be able to stay with him after being burned in the past? (Courtney and Sonny are not related.)
Disclaimer: For the gazillionth time, I don't own a thing.
"Attention all passengers, we'll be landing in San Juan, Puerto Rico in approximately five minutes. Please fasten your seatbelts and place your trays in an upright and locked position. We hope you enjoyed your flight."
Courtney listened and followed the pilot's instructions. The magazine she worked for, Denial, had sent her down to Puerto Rico to do an article on the San Juan Casino. The new issue was going to center around casinos, and the very best ones in the world.
She had an appointment with a man named Jason Morgan at five o clock this afternoon.
Courtney felt the plane touch down gently and roll to a stop. The man she was sitting next to was snoring, with a little bit of drool forming at the corner of his mouth. She gently nudged him and he awoke, sending her a grateful, but somewhat embarrassed, smile.
The plane pulled into the terminal as Courtney took a deep breath. She was slightly nervous about meeting Jason Morgan. Her boss, Gordon Grant, had only told her the previous night that she was headed to Puerto Rico on the one o clock flight out of Logan Airport in Boston the next afternoon. Normally she liked to research the people she was going to interview before meeting them. And besides the fact, she knew nothing about casinos.
Arriving at the baggage claim, Courtney realized that a man was looking at her and slowly nodding his head. She sent a nasty look his way before her bag came, and she rolled it out towards the exit.
She saw a whole bunch of signs being held up, showing the last name of the person to be picked up. After looking for a few seconds, Courtney spotted the short Spanish man holding up Matthews.
"Hola, senora Matthews." the man said as he took her bag and placed it in the trunk of the black Lincoln Town Car. One of the reasons Courtney was happy about being in Puerto Rico was that all her expenses were paid.
"Hola!" Courtney said cheerfully and she slid into the door the man had opened for her, careful not to get her heel caught on the side. It wasn't that she was clumsy or anything… well, not as clumsy as some people. But she didn't want to look like she was unsophisticated in front of this man.
She'd gone out and bought some new clothes for her two-week long stay. It was the second week of December, and it was freezing in Boston. For her trip down, Courtney had chosen khaki Capri's, a brown V-neck shirt that showed just enough cleavage to be considered businesslike, and small kitten heels. She was pleased with the outfit, she'd decided once she put it on this morning and braved the cold.
"My name is Rodrigo, I work for Senor Morgan. He wants to make sure that your stay here is entirely comfortable. So if you ever need anything, all you have to do is ask. I'll give you my card when we reach the casino."
Rodrigo surprised Courtney by speaking close to perfect English. "Thank you very much. I was under the impression that my company was making the arrangements."
"Senor Morgan and his partner own the magazine you work for. They hired you because they need some publicity. There are not as many people coming into the casino anymore, and business needs a boost." Rodrigo explained, as he expertly dodged the traffic.
Courtney put her seatbelt on when Rodrigo swung the Lincoln out in front of another car, narrowly missing it and issuing a beep and a rude hand gesture that Rodrigo ignored. "I see. I was just given this assignment yesterday, so I'll need to do some research before beginning the article. Do you know if there's any computer access at the casino?"
"There is a high speed Internet hook up in your room." Rodrigo said, looking back at Courtney in the rear view mirror. "I'm sure your stay will be very comfortable Senora Matthews."
"It's Courtney. And I'm positive that it will be too. You're very helpful, Rodrigo." Courtney smiled at him, and watched him blush a little.
"Gracias. Only doing my job." Rodrigo was modest too? The man seemed like the perfect employee. Courtney found herself wondering if this Jason Morgan was a big, bad boss.
"Do you think that maybe you could give me an interview later in the week? Just so I can get a feel of what the people behind the scenes do and how the casinos really work?" Courtney asked, hoping that she hadn't crossed the line.
"I don't really work at the casino. I work strictly for Senor Morgan, I'm his assistant." Rodrigo told her as he pulled to the curb of an amazingly large building. "Welcome to the San Juan Casino."
Courtney looked up and saw that she had to tilt her neck a rather lot to see the sky. The casino was made of glass. It was tinted a dark blue, and had lights running up and down the sides. It was an amazing sight to see, a great deal better than the pictures.
"Thank you very much," Courtney said as Rodrigo slipped his card into her hand.
"De nada. If you have even the slightest question or problem, don't hesitate to call at any time." Rodrigo led Courtney inside the glass palace. And once again, Courtney found herself looking up.
There were chandeliers, and so many slot machines that Courtney thought her head was spinning. Everything seemed to be gold.
"Rodrigo," A man with brown hair, and the most beautiful blue eyes that Courtney had ever seen strolled up to them. He looked at her, and suddenly Courtney felt goose bumps form and got the urge to pull up her shirt. But she refrained from doing so.
Please, God, don't let that be Jason Morgan. Please let it be some other assistant… or else we're all in for a long two weeks…
"Senor Morgan," Rodrigo acknowledged his boss's presence and turned to Courtney, who really hoped that her jaw wasn't on the ground. Could he have a more perfect body? And, oh wait, no wedding ring either? Why was he looking at her like that? Did she have the words 'I Want You' stamped on her forehead or something? She reached up just to make sure. "This is Courtney Matthews."
Rodrigo stepped away when he felt the air thicken between the two, and he smiled. He liked Courtney, and Jason needed a woman around. He hadn't had any permanent women in his life since Rodrigo could remember. Jason had been in Puerto Rico for two years.
"It's nice to meet you," Jason said as he extended his hand. God, the woman was breathtaking. She had blonde hair that went only a little past her shoulders, and sapphire eyes that he thought he could drown in. She was small, probably around 5' 4", nothing near his six feet. He felt her smaller hand slip into his, and realized that he didn't want to let it go.
"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Morgan." Was that her voice? Was it really? That throaty sound? Why couldn't Jason Morgan be fifty and overweight?
"It's Jason. I'll take her from here, Rodrigo, thank you." Jason said as he reluctantly released her hand and took her bag.
"Thank you for everything, Rodrigo. I'll give you a call if I need anything, but I really don't think it'll be necessary. See you later," Courtney called as Jason motioned for her to walk in front of him towards the elevators. And, coming to no surprise to Courtney, they were gold.
"So, how do you like Puerto Rico so far?" Jason asked as he pressed floor twenty-six, the top floor of the hotel. The executive offices were up there, including suites that were used for VIP's and business.
"It's beautiful here. I might be sad to leave when I have to go back in two weeks." Courtney mentally kicked herself. Be sad to leave because it's so pretty? You moron, Courtney. You'll be sad because you won't get to look at his pretty face anymore.
Picking up on her tension, Jason said, "If you want, I'll give you a tour of San Juan tonight. We can just skip the appointment and do it in the morning."
Realizing that she was going have to get over the obvious sexual tension between them eventually, Courtney agreed. "Sure, I'd love it."
Understatement of the year. She'd love it too much, perhaps too much for her own good.
"Great. I'll just walk you to your room, and you can change, or do whatever, and I'll come back for you in say an hour?" Jason asked, glad that she'd agreed to spend the evening with him.
"Sounds perfect." Courtney took note of the suite number she was staying in, No. 3. She really didn't want to get lost in this palace.
"See you soon." Jason said as he handed her the key to her room, and walked away. Before he did something stupid, like kiss a woman he'd only met five minutes ago.
Courtney shut the door behind her and leaned against the back. With her eyes closed, she sighed. This was going to be a long two weeks.
Author's Note Part Deux: Alright, so that's the beginning. Let me know if you all like it… hate it… whatever you think, I want to know! Okay, thanks very much!