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“Ah, Ryan, don’t be upset. I could tell Adam liked you and played on it is all, hoping his interest in you would give me an advantage when I asked him for a job. Turns out that didn’t happen because he asked me!”
Ryan sighed. “I’m glad it worked out for you, Dennis. But from here on out, don’t put me in the middle of your business, okay?”
“That’s fair, sis. I just have one more request.”
“What?”
“You’re coming home next week, right?”
“How do you know about that?”
“Mom told me.”
“Yes, I’m going home. Why?”
“Adam wants to visit my, um, facility and I thought it would be cool if I schedule his visit at the same time you’re here so we can all have dinner together.”
“What’d I just say about involving me in your meat-factory business? I don’t want to take part in it.”
“I know, and after this, you won’t. It’s just that Adam is big on family, huge. Mom likes that and wants to have him over for dinner. Your being here could be a buffer. Mom isn’t always the most gracious person, you know.”
“Yes, I know.” She had a son who was just like her.
Ryan reached the block where her business rental was located. She pulled into the parking lot, found a space and parked.
“I get a feeling there’s more to this. What aren’t you telling me?”
“That’s it, I swear! Mom says you’ll be here Friday. I’ll ask Adam to come up then, and Mom will do dinner that night. Cool?” Ryan’s eyes narrowed as she tried to get a feel for what was really going on.
“It’s all about family, Ryan. I’m asking you to help me the way we’ve helped you, all right?”
Of course he’d pull that card. “I guess, but after this I’m out. Are we clear?”
Dennis laughed. “Don’t get all huffy just because you’ve got a billionaire interested in you. I could tell him a few things to make him change his mind.”
Ryan ended the call more conflicted than ever. Going on the date with Adam now felt like a bad idea. She found him super good-looking and was madly attracted, but did she really want to go on a date and maybe sleep with a guy that her brother might end up working with? Someone she might have to see after a fling?
No, she didn’t. She couldn’t, especially now, just as she was about to open her business. Few people knew what Dennis threatened to share with Adam, details of a painful past she’d worked hard to overcome. One that for twenty years her adoptive mother, Ida, had encouraged her to keep secret. She’d demanded that her “embarrassing” birth mother, Phyllis, be left in the past. That Ryan had been in contact with Phyllis off and on for the past five years would definitely anger her. As would the latest secret, that for the first time in Ryan’s life, she was going to try and find her birth father.
Dennis was right. There were things Adam didn’t know, facts hidden beneath a carefully crafted facade of perfectly placed secrets. Even without her dysfunctional history, a man like Adam was clearly out of her league. For a while, though, she’d forgotten, had allowed herself to believe that she could have the fairy-tale life of her childhood dreams. Happily-ever-after came only in books, something Ryan would do well to remember.
Four (#uffc5c4d3-f589-550a-b865-0692651776ed)
Adam strolled out of the hotel’s private entrance, eased into the roomy back seat of the car that awaited and clipped the hanger holding his suit jacket over the bar. He hoped Ryan wouldn’t consider his transportation choice bougie, although that was a fairly apt description for an executive limousine. Any other woman and he wouldn’t have given it a second thought, knew that picking up most dates in the company’s brand-new four-seater SUV limo would impress them right out of their undies. Not that he was thinking about Ryan’s lingerie. He’d be lying to say that since meeting her such thoughts hadn’t crossed his mind from time to time.
Ryan lived in Summerlin, just over ten miles from the Strip. Adam thought of a few things he could do in the twenty-five or so minutes it would take to reach her, longer if traffic didn’t cooperate. There were emails to answer, phone calls to return. But instead of returning calls or checking texts or browsing emails he dropped his head, closed his eyes and thought about how Ryan had tried to get out of attending the show with him tonight. He couldn’t remember ever having a woman try to break a date. Why had Ryan? And for a man who could go out with just about anyone he wanted, especially when only interested in a casual good time, maybe a bedroom rodeo, why had her canceling their date not been an option?
“Something came up,” she’d said. He’d told her she couldn’t cancel. When asked why he’d calmly replied, “This is a major event with huge implications for the continued success of this particular hotel venue. Every RSVP has already been tabulated into the report for our board. I can’t show up alone and there is no time to call in a replacement. You’ve given your word. I’ll be there in an hour.” Five minutes later, he’d walked to the car.
What Ryan didn’t know was that what Breedloves wanted, Breedloves got. Period, point-blank, end of story.
They pulled into one of Summerlin’s planned communities and onto a street ending in a cul-de-sac framed by townhome-styled condos. One had a red door with earthen pots on each side, brimming with flowers and greenery.
“A hundred bucks that’s Ryan’s home,” he said to the driver, who checked the address and nodded at Adam.
“Good thing I didn’t take you up on that bet.”
Adam got out of the car and strolled up to the door. A burst of excitement spread from his core to his groin. With a smorgasbord of women to choose from any given night of the week, he’d grown jaded to the art of wining and dining. It felt good to be excited. He rang the bell.
“Un momento,” she sang out. Gringo Spanish. He thought about Miguel and smiled.
In less than a minute, she opened the door. Adam turned, but wasn’t ready for the woman he saw. Not this Ryan—part innocent femininity, part femme fatale. The dress, long and flowing, following her curves like water followed the falls. The color almost matched her tawny skin, making him imagine her nude. At the restaurant her curls had been tamed by a band on top of her head but tonight they bounced wild and free, framing her face and brushing her shoulders. They teased his senses; he wanted to touch. He liked that she wore little makeup yet still looked flawless. Her lips kissed with a color of gloss that reminded him of a fine wine. He wanted a taste. How was it that with most of her body covered she managed to look so sexy?
“Hello” was all he said at first because it was all he could manage.
“Hi.”
“I’m sorry for earlier, and sounding so forceful. It’s just that I couldn’t take no for an answer.”
“It’s okay. Everything...worked out.” Ryan turned and locked the door. Adam offered his arm. Her touch was light, yet a thunderbolt of desire shot through his heart, ricocheted off a vein and zoomed into his groin.
He helped her enter the vehicle, then got in on the other side.
“You look...stunning.”
The smile that she gave him could have cured a disease. “I hoped it would be appropriate. I wasn’t sure.”
“It’s perfect.”
“Thank you.”
Adam’s brow furrowed. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“It’s just that... Yes. Really, I’m fine.”
The SUV pulled away from the curb. Ryan took in the roomy interior. “This is nice.”
She sat perched on the seat, taking in the swank decor. “I’ve never been in something like this before. From the outside it looked like an SUV but in here...”
He watched as she ran her hand across the lambskin seat. Her eyes, initially reticent, now sparkled while examining the console, with its built-in bottle chiller, various openers and glass rack. She stopped suddenly, as if becoming aware of her innocent wonder. She may have thought he’d find it amusing. He thought it endearing, and with a trail of showgirls, sycophants and rich chicks in his wake, a breath of fresh air.
“So this is a limo?”
He nodded. “It’s called an executive SUV.”
“I like it.”
A brow raised. “You don’t mind that it has leather seats?”
“I’m not a member of the PETA police, Adam, you can relax.”
He made a big show of taking a breath, which made her laugh as he’d intended.
“While I don’t own a gun or a hunting license, my choice to be vegetarian is for nutritional reasons, mostly. I am cognizant of the earth’s precarious state and do what I can to try to protect the planet. I believe our bodies are our temples so I make an effort to be kind to mine. But I try not to be a holistic zealot trying to win everyone over to my point of view.
“That said...” She paused dramatically. “There are faux materials that work just as well or even better than cowhide, and mushroom dishes that would make you throw away your steak.”
“Baby,” Adam drawled, “unless that mushroom had hooves and could moo, trust me, there’d be no competition.”
She was funny and natural and easy to talk to, yet emanated a vulnerability that brought out his chivalrous side. He wanted to protect her. From what, he had no idea. By the time they’d rounded back to the hotel, the stress of Adam’s day had faded, the questions he’d had about her demeanor forgotten for now.
They entered the hotel through the private entrance and once inside the elevator, Adam accessed the panel to bypass all floors and take them straight to Zest, CANN Casino Hotel and Spa’s premier restaurant, located on the building’s one hundredth floor. As the elevator zoomed to the top, Ryan stepped closer to Adam and gripped his arm.
“Afraid of heights?”
“No, but I’m not fond of rockets masquerading as elevators.”
“I’ve got you, girl.” He placed an arm around her, grateful for a reason to brush a hand across her soft skin. “Stay close to me and don’t worry about a thing.”
The elevator doors opened, and as the host led them around the corner, Adam was rewarded with the gasp of awe that escaped every newcomer’s lips to the wonder that was the hotel’s crowning architectural and culinary masterpiece. With exquisite attention to detail, the main dining room, with a seating capacity for 140 guests, still afforded many booths semiprivacy, space between tables and an unobstructed view of the world beyond through floor-to-ceiling paneless windows that brought the outdoors inside. Classical music delicately played provided a subtle melody for the low murmur of conversation heard as Adam and Ryan were led to a booth. Its back created a wall between them and the other guests, while before them lay the whole of the Vegas Strip.
“Do you want to go for a closer look?”
Ryan shook her head as he finished the question. “It’s the most phenomenal view of this city I’ve ever seen, but believe me, I’m good.”
They sat down to a table set with linen and china, a bottle of sparkling water cooling on ice.
“This is so pretty,” Ryan said wistfully. “To think that this is everyday life for some people is a bit unbelievable. I feel like Cinderella.”
“Does that mean I’m your prince?”
“Until the clock strikes midnight,” Ryan said, her voice low as her eyes sparkled with seduction. Then, in an instant, the vulnerability reappeared. “Then I’ll have to run away before the carriage becomes a pumpkin and my clothes turn back to rags.”
“Have I told you how much I like rags?” Asked so earnestly that not only did Ryan laugh but Adam cracked himself up as well. “In fact I think I’m going to start a clothing line. Rags by Adam.”
“All cotton, no leather,” Ryan teased.
“Not cotton,” Adam responded, “leaves.”
Adam loved to hear Ryan laugh. While far from being a comedian, he’d turned the mood funny so that a certain body part straining to stand at attention would return to its at-ease position. The next few minutes was a parade of perfection as the sommelier, the maître d’ and their personal server ensured them the best of dining experiences.
After toasting to the belief in magic, the two newfound friends settled against their seats and looked at each other, comfortable in the silence, each in their own thoughts of what the night was and all it could become.
Ryan cocked her head. “What?”
“You don’t like me looking at you?”
“Worse could happen. But you’re frowning.”
“I guess I’m trying to figure you out. You’re as different from Dennis as night is from day. I only met your dad a time or two but I remember him as a quiet man. I’d say you were more like him.”
“I can be quiet,” Ryan replied. “I guess we have that in common.”
“So Dennis must be more like your mom.”
“They are almost exactly alike.”
“It will be good to see them again after all these years. And you’ll be there, too, Dennis says.”
Ryan nodded.
“Do you get back often to visit?”
“A few times a year, holidays mostly. But since my dad’s diagnosis, I’ve tried to go more frequently, and with the business about to open I thought that now, before that happened, would be a good time.”
“What’s going on with your father, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“He has chronic kidney disease.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Me, too.”
“How long has he had it?”
“Apparently much longer than anyone realized. He battled diabetes and high blood pressure for years. No one knew how much havoc was being wreaked on his kidneys. The symptoms were always attributed to what we already knew.”
Adam observed the hurt reflected in Ryan’s face as she nervously bit her lip. Clearly, she loved her father. For a Breedlove, that kind of family devotion was a very endearing trait.
“Is that what made you want to study...”
“Naturopathy? That was part of it. But I’ve always had compassion for anyone hurting. I watched people struggle and wanted to help them, especially as a little girl.”
Adam watched as another flicker of pain flitted across her face. He wondered who caused it even as he felt an urge to protect her from it ever happening again.
“My parents thought I’d be a nurse. But I can’t stand the sight of blood, which in the field of nursing is a bit problematic.”
“Then you’d definitely not fare well at a meat-processing plant.”
“Definitely not. During my senior year of high school I went to a job fair and discovered alternative-based medicine. It’s where I first heard the word naturopathy. Before the hour was over I knew what I wanted to do. Now, I’m here.”
“About to open your own business?”
“Yes. Me and a partner are opening our own practice in a strip mall not far from here.”
“What services will you offer?”
“My specialties include whole food nutrition, that’s a plant-centered diet, and energy healing that includes therapeutic massage.”
