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“Sex?”
He nodded.
Shocked, she didn’t know what to say. The same sensual spell he’d always cast around her surrounded her now. She felt the force of his will and his desire. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth, leaning toward him before she realized what she was doing.
In Alan’s words she was supposed to bring some closure to Hayden and get him ready to find a nice girl and settle down. Now that he was feeling his age, Alan wanted grandkids and for his son to be happy. But Shelby knew Alan didn’t have her in mind.
She scooted away from Hayden but he reached out for her again. The years fell away and she was suddenly that trailer-park girl wanting the golden boy once again. And there was a part of her who still wanted that man.
Since leaving Hayden she’d had two other relationships—both with wealthy men—but things had never really heated up. Her fault. She was the first to admit she didn’t trust her passionate side. Because the one time she had, she’d lost her heart.
“Are you really looking for sex?”
He cocked his head to the side. “Yeah.”
“Is this only a revenge thing?” she asked. Because she realized she wanted to say yes. She’d like nothing better than to go to bed with Hayden, even with all the years and anger between them.
“I’m not sure.”
“Thanks for not lying.” But then Hayden never had. From the beginning he’d said he was the spoiled son of a wealthy man. He’d been kind of immature in those days but so had she. Hayden had also seemed like a knight in shining armor. Shelby had known that eventually he’d wake up and realize he’d made a mistake in marrying her.
“I’ll save that for you.”
This was more what she expected. She wrapped her arms around her waist and backed farther away from him. She bumped into one of the packing crates and almost lost her balance.
Hayden grabbed her arm and held her until she was steady on her feet. She swallowed hard and tried not to flinch from his touch. But there was nothing harsh in his touch. Just a gentle hold.
“Okay?” he asked in that low, raspy voice of his that never failed to send shivers down her spine.
“Yes. Thanks.”
They said nothing for a few minutes. Shelby tried to marshal her thoughts. Tried to find her balance in a world that was suddenly out of whack. She glanced around her boutique, her gaze falling on the poster advertising Puccini’s Madame Butterfly at the Met. Slowly she let the familiar world she’d created soothe her troubled soul.
She took a deep breath and stepped away from Hayden. As tempting as it was to fall into bed with the one man who’d made her feel really feminine, really alive, she knew she couldn’t. She’d changed from the girl she was. No MacKenzie man was ever again going to make her feel embarrassed about who she’d been.
She’d been afraid of being like her mom and in the end that was exactly what she’d become. Someone who traded on her looks for money…for security. But she was a different woman now. She made her own way in the world. She was Hayden’s equal in every way that mattered.
“We can’t be together if you treat me, like…well, like I suppose you have a right to. I’m really not into that kind of pain.”
“I don’t want to hurt you, Shelby. I never wanted that.”
She believed him. Despite his seemingly shallow playboy attitude back then, he’d always treated her like a lady. She couldn’t really explain it to anyone who hadn’t grown up the way she had, but when your mother dressed like a tramp and you had a rotating stable of “uncles” in and out of your life, people treated you like trash. But Hayden never had.
“It’s been ten years, Hayden. Why do we both still feel like this?” she asked, realizing that Alan had done her a huge favor by sending her back here.
“Honestly, I don’t know.”
She tipped her head to the side and acknowledged that despite the years she’d never really forgotten him. “I came back because of you.”
He tipped his head to the side, not saying a word, just watching her with that electric gaze of his.
She spoke again. “I can’t…move on until I figure out what went wrong between us.”
“Hell, Shelby, that’s an easy one.”
“Please, don’t say it again. I wish I had the money to pay your dad back so that it wouldn’t be an issue between us.”
He narrowed his eyes and walked toward her. “So what do you say to some sort of compromise? You give me what I paid for.”
“What your father paid for,” she said.
“I paid for it in ways you can never understand.”
But she did and it made her ache to realize it.
“A night of sex? I don’t think I’m worth a million dollars.”
“What about a week?” he asked.
“Sex and money. They were my mom’s downfall. I— I couldn’t do that. If we’re going to try this again, I want it to be a real relationship.”
He nodded. She saw understanding in his eyes and she realized that if she was going to find any kind of peace with him, it was going to be through bonds of friendship. She wasn’t sure she could risk her emotions with him. He’d made her feel so vulnerable. And she didn’t want to be that woman again.
“Have dinner with me, Shel. Let’s figure this thing out.”
“I…”
“It’s just a meal.”
“I have a lot of work to do here and a short time to do it. I need to hire staff, finish unpacking.” The words sounded like an excuse to her and she knew they were. It was just that even though she’d planned to come back to resolve the past, now that the moment was at hand, she was afraid.
But her running days were over. And at the end of the day, Hayden MacKenzie was still just a man.
Yeah, right.
Hayden entered his office in the casino nearly an hour later. Kathy, his assistant, was gone for the day. The small desk lamp glowed at her workstation. She always left it on for him because she knew he kept late hours. There were two messages from his dad, and one from the star of his European-style revue, Roxy O’Malley.
He dialed the backstage number for the revue venue and got the director. “Roxy called me.”
“She’s onstage right now. Want me to have her call you back?”
“I’ll stop by after the show. Let her know.”
“I will.”
“Any problems?”
“A few guys were hanging around after the first show but security took care of them.”
“Keep me posted.”
He hung up the phone, leaning back in his chair. His office had windows on two sides that showed the Strip out of one, and the Chimera’s hotel building out of the other. One wall held a bank of security monitors and Hayden crossed to them.
He took the access remote and keyed in Shelby’s store. The lights were on but the place was empty. Had she run? But then he saw her. Standing in the shadows staring at something in her hands that he couldn’t make out.
He reached for his phone and dialed her shop. He saw her move from the shadows to the counter near the register and pick up the phone.
“Bêcheur d’Or.”
“It’s me.”
“Hayden.”
Just his name softly whispered. He saw her hand go to her throat and her eyes close. What was he doing?
“Are you okay?” he asked at long last. No matter what he wanted from her, no matter that he intended to find some closure from their relationship whatever the price to her, he really didn’t want to hurt Shelby.
She put her hand on the counter and straightened up. “Yes, why do you ask?”
“I’m watching you.”
“How?” she asked, pivoting to see if he was standing nearby.
“On video surveillance.”
“I’d forgotten that part of Vegas. So, am I on closed circuit?”
“Why?”
“No reason. I just want to know who’s watching.”
He hit a switch and turned off access to her shop at every other monitor except his. “Just me.”
“Why are you watching me?” she asked. Wrapping one arm around herself, she looked small, vulnerable. Not a bit like the schemer his dad had called her.
“I was debating something.”
“What?”
“What would happen if I took what I want from you,” he said.
“What is it you want, Hayden?”
“I thought I told you. Revenge.”
He saw her bow her head. Even though he was several floors above her and in a different wing of the hotel, he felt the sadness that swamped her at his words. “I want to give you that.”
He was surprised. “Masochism your new thing?”
“No, but reparation is.”
“Shelby—”
“Don’t say anything else, Hayden. Let’s have dinner and talk terms.”
Two
Shelby wasn’t sure she could do it. She stood in the suite of rooms she’d been given in the Chimera to use until the shop was open. She was only here temporarily until the boutique opened in three weeks, and then she’d be returning to headquarters in Atlanta, where Paige was holding down the fort, until their next shop opened in the fall. Right now she wished she was back in her safe little condo in Buckhead, watching television and eating fat-free microwave popcorn. Safe but boring. Those words described her life and she had to admit she was ready for a change.
So, here she was in Sin City with the one man who’d never been safe or boring. And she was hesitating in front of her closet as if it was her first date. The last time her choices had been simpler. She’d set out to catch herself a wealthy husband. But this time she had no idea what role she was in.
She closed her eyes and tried to find the confident woman she’d been until she’d glanced up and seen Hayden MacKenzie staring straight back at her with anger, lust and pain in his eyes. She’d known then that the dreams that had been haunting her had led her back to this place to do one thing. To find a way to give this man peace in exchange for what he’d unwittingly given her.
She had a successful career and the life she’d always dreamed of. But did Hayden? Seeing how deeply her choice still affected him made her want—no, need—to make up for it in some way. If parts of her dream life weren’t exactly perfect, well, that was a price she’d happily pay.
She pulled a brightly colored wraparound silk skirt from the hanger and shed her business skirt and thigh-high hose. The fabric was cool against her legs as she fastened it just below her waist. She shrugged out of her suit jacket and tossed it on the chair in the corner.
She had firm breasts so she scarcely ever bothered with a bra. Tonight was no exception. She paired the skirt with a soft white camisole. She took a quick glimpse of herself in the mirror. She looked the way she always did, cool and polished. She tried to fluff her hair up and then realized what she was doing.
Hayden wasn’t really dating her. She closed her eyes, leaning her forehead against the mirror. Then she took a shuddering breath. She was strong, capable, and this was the only penance available to her.
Over the years she’d tried to pay Alan MacKenzie back the money she’d taken. Not in one lump sum, as she’d never had that much disposable cash on hand. But in chunks. And he’d always refused, saying that he didn’t want her money; he only wanted his son to be happy.
She didn’t doubt that. Alan and Hayden had a complex relationship that she’d never taken the time to understand until it had been too late. She’d realized that Hayden had only dated her to needle his father. But she’d been dating him for his money, so she hadn’t quibbled.
She was exactly the wrong type of woman for a man with Hayden’s future back then. Hayden would never know how right his father had been. Alan had made it clear that he’d tell Hayden every detail of the life she’d hidden from him if she hadn’t taken the money he’d offered.
But now…A lot had changed in ten years. Now apparently Alan thought that she could help Hayden. And in order to pull this off she’d have to keep that secret from the man she’d betrayed.
She was dithering and that didn’t fit with who she was, so she pushed away from the wall, put on her strappy gold sandals and left the room.
She didn’t look back or hesitate. She’d made a conscious decision when she’d come to Vegas. Facing the past had never been an easy thing. She’d always looked forward because the past—She didn’t want to go there. Not now.
She exited the elevator in the lobby and glanced around for Hayden. She didn’t see him at first but then found him standing off to one side talking with an extremely attractive blonde.
Shelby realized that for all she knew, Hayden was involved with another woman and really was just using her for revenge. It didn’t matter that she’d said she was doing whatever it took to bring Hayden some peace; she knew in her heart she still wanted him.
Hayden had changed clothes as well, wearing a button-down shirt in midnight blue and a pair of faded jeans. On anyone else the outfit would have seemed casual, but the way he carried himself belied that impression.
He glanced up and caught her gaze, motioning her over. The woman he was talking to had the kind of beauty that made Shelby feel like an ugly duckling. Her long blond hair fell past her shoulders and her makeup, though a little heavy, accentuated her classic bone structure.
Hayden gestured for her to join them. The woman glanced over at her and smiled. It was a sweet, welcoming smile and Shelby felt warmed by it.
“Roxy, this is Shelby Paxton. She owns a boutique that’s opening here in the Chimera in the next few weeks. Shelby, this is Roxy O’Malley, the star of the Chimera’s top-rated revue.”
“Nice to meet you,” Shelby said.
“Same here. What kind of shop do you own?”
