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She smiled up at him and he felt like a hero. Something he hadn’t felt in a long time. But he also felt a little bad that such a simple thing could make her so happy.
“What should I plan for?”
“I’m not sure yet. I’ll call your assistant during the day and leave the details.”
She turned to leave and then stopped. “You won’t interfere, will you?”
“How?”
“By watching me on the security camera or monitoring the calls I make?”
He shrugged. “I can’t really monitor your calls.”
“And the security camera?”
“I like watching you, Shel.”
She blushed then. “I like watching you, too.”
“Say the word and we could move you in today.”
“Not yet. I want you to ask me after you get to know me.”
“I know the important stuff.”
“Like what?”
“That we both like great sex,” he said.
She laughed and they walked to the elevator. The doors closed and he watched her leave but knew he’d made progress in getting her back in his bed.
Four
Shelby’s day passed too quickly. She had no idea what to do for Hayden. But she wasn’t giving up. She hadn’t come from a trailer park to where she was by being easily swayed from her goal. She wracked her brain as she worked, trying to think of a date that Hayden wouldn’t expect but would love.
It was harder than she expected. Why couldn’t Hayden be like other men? The men she’d dated since she’d left him at the altar all those years ago. A man who was…not important to her, she realized.
Despite the fact that Alan was responsible for her being in Vegas at this time, she wanted Hayden for herself. She wanted him with her for the rest of her life. The thought scared her because it made every action she took more important.
And though she hated to do it, she called Alan for some suggestions. The fact of the matter was, Alan knew Hayden better than she did. Shelby vowed that would change. Alan gave her the number to the marina on Lake Mead where Hayden kept his yacht and said he’d call in the morning for an update.
Shelby made a mental note to turn her cell phone off before Alan called. She longed for a time when she could be with Hayden and just be herself. The first time she’d been too young and too afraid he’d see what she really was. Where she’d really come from.
Ultimately that had led to her leaving him. This time…well, this time she was balancing between keeping him from finding out that Alan had sent her here and just falling for him.
She thought it was telling that Hayden hadn’t mentioned his yacht. She wondered if she’d stumbled on to a private thing he liked to keep secret. From running her business she knew how demanding a career like Hayden’s could be. Was the yacht his escape valve? His one place where no one could find him?
She hated the out-of-control feeling. But she couldn’t figure out how to be herself and keep Hayden. It wasn’t that she didn’t think she deserved a man like him. It was just that being back in Vegas reminded her sharply of the girl she’d been. And that girl had too many insecurities.
The phone rang and she finished fastening the leather bustier to the headless mannequin before going to answer it. The scarlet garment had a matching thong and was one of Bêcheur d’Or’s top sellers.
“I approve of the outfit,” Hayden said, his voice low and husky. She smiled to herself.
“Voyeur. I’m wearing jeans and a T-shirt.”
“So I like to watch. That’s not a sin.”
But his voice sounded like one, a carnal sin. This morning he’d been low-key, a man biding his time, but not any longer. Shelby felt restless inside and knew that Hayden had to feel it, too.
She ran her hands down the sides of her thighs. She’d changed into jeans and a T-shirt in one of the dressing rooms earlier. Unpacking boxes was sweaty, dirty work. But she liked seeing the store come together.
“Would you bend over a little and run your hands down your backside?” he asked.
“Is that what you want?” she asked, surprised at how easily his voice and words got to her.
“Baby, you know it is.”
She knew that she was playing a dangerous game with Hayden. On a sexual level she’d never been adventurous, never taken any risks. Ha, who was she kidding, she didn’t take any risks with her life.
But now, in Vegas this time, she scarcely knew herself anymore but she couldn’t help it. She wanted to be his fantasy. Leaning forward, she ran her hands down the back of her legs, then tossed her hair and glanced around to where she thought the camera was located.
“How’s that?” she asked, deliberately dropping her voice an octave.
He groaned. “Perfect. Now go slip into that leather number and do exactly the same thing.”
The phone was cordless so she moved over to the mannequin and picked up the red leather bustier from the open box. “Have you ever worn leather undergarments?”
He laughed. “No.”
“You’d have to make it worth my while,” she said, fingering the supple cloth. In truth she liked wearing leather. It made her feel extremely sexy.
“Uncomfortable?”
“Not really, but they don’t hide any imperfections.”
“What imperfections?” he asked in such a way that she knew he didn’t think she had any.
She shrugged. She knew she had them. She spent the majority of her time sitting in an office working. Though she tried to make it to the gym, most days she didn’t.
Her thighs were soft, and no matter how many sit-ups or ab crunches she did, she’d always have a slight swell of a belly. Still, she was happy in her body, it was who she was. She just didn’t like to see herself in bright light. Didn’t like letting anyone see her looking anything but perfect.
“Don’t make me say it out loud,” she said carefully. Looks had always been important. Her mother had drilled that into her through Shelby’s childhood. “Looks are all a woman has when she’s poor,” Terri Paxton would say. But Shelby had found that brains were better than looks.
“Okay, I won’t. Did you make plans for us tonight?” he asked.
Yes, but she was playing her cards close to her chest on this one. “I’m still trying to come up with something you’ll like.”
He was quiet for a long minute and she could hear only the sound of his exhalation over the open line. “I like being with you, Shel. I always have.”
She hugged one arm around her waist and tried not to let the words settle around her heart but they did. She felt a welling of emotion that she hadn’t felt in a long time. “You know the right things to say to make a woman buy leather undergarments.”
He laughed again and she smiled to herself, pushing aside the deep feelings his comment had evoked. She had to keep her balance here.
“That was my plan,” he said.
“I don’t know you well enough,” she replied slowly.
“I’ll show you. Want to spend the night in the casino?”
“I’m not a big gambler. I like to have something to show for my money after I’ve spent it.”
“Like what?”
“Shoes,” she said.
“Shoes? An evening in the casino is better than shoes.”
She took a deep breath. “Well, maybe one thing is better than shoes.”
“Sex?”
“With you,” she said, hanging up the phone. She winked at the camera and put the bustier and matching thong in a gold Bêcheur d’Or’s gift bag and placed it on the counter next to her purse.
Hayden spent the day making arrangements for the World Champion Celebrity Poker Showdown. The televised competition would air next month and the producer and her two production assistants were in Vegas for twenty-four hours to get the layout.
Scott Rivers was one of the best poker players in the world and had been a child star of movies and a television show that had run for fifteen years. He’d grown up on TV and Scott liked to say everyone thought they knew him.
But few did. Even after all this time, Hayden still suspected there was a part of Scott that was kept hidden. Growing up in the spotlight had made Scott something of a chameleon. In fact, Hayden had never seen his friend in a situation that he wasn’t at home in.
Scott was one of the few people who’d seen him at his lowest. And that had forged a relationship in which both men felt comfortable with each other. Scott was one of his closest friends and Hayden was glad he would be visiting soon. Also, talking with the television people was a distraction. Seeing Shelby this morning, flirting with her on the phone and watching her like some lust-crazed man…well, it wasn’t conducive to work.
His cell phone rang as he entered his private elevator. “MacKenzie.”
“Hey, Mac Daddy. You up for poker tonight?” Deacon asked.
“Can’t. Maybe next month when Scott is here.”
“Next month? How about tomorrow night?”
“I’m busy.”
“With whom?”
“Why do you suddenly need something to do in the evenings?”
“Ah, let’s just say that it’s better if Kylie thinks I’m busy.”
“Lying to your wife?”
“No. What are you doing? Dating that redhead in the lingerie store?”
Hayden wished sometimes that he and Deacon weren’t such close friends, but the truth of the matter was, Deacon was one of the few people Hayden allowed himself to care about. “Maybe.”
“Great. Bring her over. We can all have dinner.”
“Can’t. We have plans.”
“Please?”
“What does Kylie have you doing tonight?”
“Dinner with the Vegas Preservation League. A bunch of wealthy do-gooders.”
Hayden felt for his friend. Deacon had grown up on the Vegas streets being looked down on by the very people Kylie had invited into his home. “Sorry, I can’t help you.”
“Page me at eight-thirty.”
Hayden laughed. He knew Deacon might want to leave but wouldn’t. He wanted to be with his wife. He was besotted with the woman and wouldn’t leave her side in spite of the VPL.
“Later, Deac.”
“Later.”
Hayden rubbed the back of his neck as he stepped off the elevator. God, he hoped he was never so wrapped up in a woman that he was willing to sit through something like that dinner.
Shelby was waiting for him by his penthouse door.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
He dropped his hands, walking toward her. “I am now.”
He leaned down to claim the kiss he’d been craving all day. She stood on tiptoe, leaning into his body. He cradled her to him, cupping her face in both hands and angling her head for deeper penetration.
His entire body tightened in anticipation. God, he wanted her. This wasn’t a lust thing that could be satisfied with any other woman. He craved her taste on his tongue. Her soft skin under his hands. Her soft curvy body against his muscular frame.
He whispered her name against her skin, skimming his mouth down the line of her neck and nibbling on the pulse beating so strongly at the base. She said his name in a throaty voice.
He bit her gently and she arched closer to him. He licked the spot and then suckled her there. He wanted to brand her as his. To make sure that any other man who saw her knew she was taken. That she already had a man.
She sighed, tunneling her hands into his hair and pulling back from him.
He raised both eyebrows at her. “Please say we’re staying in.”
“Not quite,” she said. Her face was flushed and her lips were wet and swollen. She looked as if he’d done so much more than kiss her. He skimmed his gaze down her neck and was pleased to see the mark of his possession there.
“I figured out something for us to do, but I couldn’t catch you before you left your office.”
She wore a pair of khaki-colored capri pants and a black tank top. Her hair was twisted up and tendrils curled softly around her face. Her eyes were wide and questioning. Clearly she was unsure if she’d made the right choice.
