Vegas, Baby. Theodora Taylor

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      Strangely, this question was the one that finally drained the sexual tension out of the conversation. “Yes, good question,” Cole said, leaning back in his chair, as if some spell had been broken and he was able to return to his businessman persona. “Let’s talk terms...”

      * * *

      “What did you do?” Rick screamed when she came back to the Nora Benton theater about an hour later. He was on the phone, but that didn’t stop him from catching Sunny up in a bear hug. “Sunny’s here. I’ve got to go, but I’ll see you for tonight’s show. Six p.m. sharp,” he yelled into the phone to whoever he had been speaking to.

      When he hung up he looked at Sunny as if she were made of magic. “Cole Benton’s secretary called a few minutes ago. She said the show was back on for at least another three months. How did you do it?”

      Sunny shook her head, feeling sick to her stomach. “It’s a long story,” she said. “And you’ve probably got a lot of calls to make if you want to make the six o’clock call time. Maybe I can help you with that?”

      “Oh, sweetie, would you?” Rick said, handing her the second sheet of the dancers’ contact info list. “You truly are an angel. One of my best dancers and you got Benton to put the show back on. I still can’t believe it.”

      “Actually, only one of those things are true now,” Sunny said with a grimace. “I can’t be one of your dancers anymore.”

      “What!” Rick responded to her announcement. His voice could probably be heard all the way on the pit floor, which only made Sunny more reluctant to go on. This was going to be way harder than quitting her cocktail waitress job, but she stuck to the script Cole had given her, even if it made her feel guilty as hell for outright lying to her stage dad.

      “Well, Mr. Benton—ah, I mean Cole—said that he’d bring the show back, but he’d need someone to help him with his grandmother, Nora, and he offered me the job.”

      “So you’re going to be Nora Benton’s caretaker now?” Rick asked.

      “No, not exactly. Technically, I’ll be her assistant. I’ll be accompanying her to the show every month, helping her plan her August charity ball. Stuff like that.”

      “Why does Nora Benton suddenly need an assistant?” Rick asked. “She has more connections in Vegas than pretty much anybody else on the planet, and she’s a total control freak. She’s never needed any assistance before. What’s changed...”

      Rick’s voice trailed off, then his eyes widened. “But The Benton Group doesn’t allow its employees to date. Cole Benton wants into your pants! That’s why he agreed to put the show back on, but made you take a job as his grandmother’s assistant. He’s into you!”

      Sunny felt her cheeks warm for the third time in as many hours. Seriously, she was beginning to long for the days when the most embarrassing thing she did was wear a rhinestone bikini every night on stage. “I’m sure that’s not it,” she said, trying to keep her voice as demure as possible, despite knowing that was exactly what Cole Benton wanted people to believe, and that Rick was already playing right into his made-up story of a whirlwind romance.

      “And I’m sure it is,” Rick said. “But I’m not going to complain. You got the show back on, so I’m happy. Good job, Sunny!”

      “Um...thank you, I guess,” Sunny said, trying to decide whether she should be offended that Rick was more than willing to pimp her out to what he believed to be a predatory new boss if it kept The Revue going.

      Rick soon redeemed himself with a sad look. “But baby girl, I have no idea how I’m going to replace you. I mean who’s going calm the dancers down enough to go onstage after I finish screaming at them?”

      Sunny threw him a surprised look. “You knew I was doing that?”

      “Of course I did,” Rick said. “I’m like God, I know everything that goes on in my backstage. But seriously, I’m going to need a name. I’ve got a doozy of a rant I’ve been writing out in my head for weeks, and I’m pretty sure there’s going to be tears from some of the newbies. Do you think Pru can handle backstage mama duties?”

      Sunny laughed. “I think she’s ready, I really do.”

      “She better be!”

      Sunny had to give her incorrigible boss a warm hug then. “I’m going to miss you so much, Rick,” she said, meaning it.

      “Me, too, sweetheart.” Then he leaned back, and held his finger up. “Go take one for the team with Cole Benton, but be careful with that one. He’s good lookin’, but he’s a shark. Don’t let your heart get involved or he’ll eat you alive.”

      A chill ran down Sunny’s spine. She had the feeling she should be taking Rick’s warning seriously, even though she was the one who’d agreed to help out Cole.

Chapter 6

      On Tuesday morning Sunny had two jobs. By Tuesday afternoon, she only had one...and no idea what to do with herself. Her new job was pretty much fake, a cover story to get around The Benton Group’s nonfraternization policy, which would hopefully help sell their whirlwind romance. Though Cole Benton didn’t exactly strike her as a whirlwind-romance type of guy. Their first date wasn’t scheduled until Sunday night, some business dinner, which she didn’t even have to shop for, because Cole’s secretary had emailed that she’d be sending over a dress for the event. So she had a lot of time on her hands. A lot of time.

      The first few days, she spent deep cleaning her entire apartment and setting up a bunch of traps for the rat who’d stolen her meal replacement bar. There were no signs of him in the cabinets, thank goodness, but she doubted she’d seen the last of him. Quite frankly her apartment was a dump, chosen shortly after she and Pru had given up their lease due to Pru’s parents dying in a car accident and her having to take over as her high-school-aged brother’s only guardian. Sunny’s apartment was cramped and in a questionable neighborhood, but it was also cheap and right on a major bus route, so she never had any trouble getting to work. The good had outweighed the bad—until her furry roommate had showed up.

      After that it hadn’t been worth the amount of sleep she’d lost, because she kept jerking awake, thinking she heard the quick movement of tiny feet inside her walls.

      By the time Saturday night rolled around, Sunny was a wreck, still tired, and bored on top of it. But for the first Saturday night in her working life, she had no boss to report to, no dances to perform or drinks to serve, no friends to go out with since they all were Benton Girls performers—nothing to do but twiddle her thumbs.

      She’d already read every book in her apartment, and choreographing a whole new routine for her Sunday girls’ dance class at the Balzar Community Center had only occupied her time for a few hours. By five, she was nearly out of her mind with boredom, and thinking she should use some of her hard saved money to buy a TV. Something she’d never bothered with before, because she was usually too exhausted to do much more than fall into bed when she got home from either of her jobs.

      People call New York the city that never sleeps, but really it was Vegas that never shut down, not even for national holidays, not for one single neon weekend. There was always work to do in Vegas. But here she was now with nothing to do.

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