With Love From Las Vegas. Cat Schield

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СКАЧАТЬ enthusiasm, Missy was starting to agree. She’d just won a car. Why wasn’t she jumping up and down in delirious excitement?

      Because nothing compared to the thrill she’d felt in Sebastian’s arms.

      Missy shook herself out of her mooning. Pining over a man she couldn’t have was idiotic. “What do I do now?”

      “I think that nice young man coming this way will have you fill out some paperwork.”

      “I don’t have time.” Missy spotted a skinny guy with a shaved head in his twenties heading her way. “I’m supposed to meet everyone in ten minutes.”

      “Don’t worry about that.” Gloria smiled.

      “But the tour is scheduled to leave no later than nine, and I’m supposed to be on the bus to make sure all of you have a great time.”

      “Don’t you worry about that. Fill out the paperwork and come find us in the restaurant over there. We’re sitting on the patio.”

      Missy stared at Gloria’s back as she sauntered away. That wasn’t where they were supposed to meet. What was going on?

      Thirty minutes later, with her paperwork done, Missy wound between the tables of the most expensive of the three restaurants open for breakfast. Bordered on two sides by French doors that offered access to the outside dining, the rattan furnishings, potted palms and soothing green and white color scheme gave the space a comfortable, relaxed feel.

      Missy spotted two tables of women on the patio just as Gloria had said. The day promised to be in the upper seventies, but at eight in the morning, the cooler temperature required sweaters and light jackets. Missy shivered in her sleeveless dress.

      All conversation ceased as a couple of the women spotted her. Heads turned in her direction.

      “We heard you won a car!” Susan Case said. “Congratulations.”

      “Thanks. Are you ready to go on the Hoover Dam tour?” Missy gazed at each of the women. A few wouldn’t meet her eyes. Most grinned at her. Three frowned.

      “We’ve decided to pass,” said a woman with teased black hair and enormous sunglasses.

      “In fact, we’re not going to do any of the tours,” Alicia Darby added. “But don’t let us stop you from going.”

      Missy shook her head. “I don’t understand. A lot of planning went into your itinerary.”

      “And we appreciate it,” Gloria said. “But for most of us, our lives are busy and hectic.”

      Alicia nodded. “The last thing we want to do is go on vacation and have to do a bunch of sightseeing.”

      Missy imagined Sebastian’s annoyance with this turn of events. He’d given her the task of making sure the wives were happy. “What do you want to do instead?”

      “Go shopping.”

      “Spend a day at the spa.”

      “Lie around the pool.”

      “Drink.”

      “Gamble.”

      The answers came at her like bullets from a machine gun.

      Missy didn’t blame the women for wanting to relax and have fun. Isn’t that what she’d ditched work to do yesterday? “Can I make arrangements for spa treatments or arrange transportation for shopping?”

      Susan shook her head. “We’re all set. Why don’t you join us?”

      The offer tempted her, but this morning she’d reminded herself that she wasn’t on vacation. She really needed to stop acting like it. “I’m supposed to be working.”

      “You’re supposed to be in charge of keeping us entertained,” Gloria countered. “No reason you can’t have a little fun at the same time.”

      True. Sebastian was already going to be unhappy when he found out they’d skipped the tours. So what did Missy have to lose?

      She grinned. “Sure. That sounds like a lot of fun. But are you up for a little adventure?”

      Several of the wives eyed her with interest.

      Sebastian’s mother, apparent spokeswoman for the group, spoke up. “We might be. What’d you have in mind?”

       Six

      When Sebastian returned to the suite at the end of that day’s leadership summit, he poured himself a large scotch and stood at the window staring out at the Las Vegas strip. At five in the afternoon, the view lacked glitter.

      His opening speech had gone well, despite the distraction of his father texting in the front row through the entire thing. But by the time Sebastian had finished speaking, he’d felt exactly like someone who’d barely snatched three hours of sleep two nights in a row.

      During lunch he’d made the rounds and caught up to the executives he’d missed at the cocktail party the night before. Everyone commented on how well the summit was organized. Setting the schedule had been Missy’s doing. Had he given her the credit she deserved?

      Or had he simply taken for granted her superior organizational skills, her ability to anticipate his needs, her nonstop encouragement? She managed his calendar, kept track of mundane details and acted as his first line of defense so he could focus on the big picture. He’d given her access to every aspect of the business and control over some major aspects of his private life, like the decisions on the home he’d built. In doing so, he’d demonstrated his faith in her. But he wasn’t sure he’d ever voiced his appreciation.

      No wonder she’d quit.

      “Sebastian?”

      Missy’s soft voice crossed twenty feet of hotel suite and tugged him back to the present. He glanced in her direction.

      She’d poked her head through a narrow opening in the door that connected their rooms. A white towel was wrapped turban-like around her head. Did that mean she was fresh from a shower and that on the other side of the door she wore little more than a towel? Last time she’d appeared dressed like that, his lust for her had been fully sated. After thirty-six hours of celibacy, he wasn’t convinced she’d be safe from him this time.

      Grim and not the least amused by how fast his body tightened in reaction to his speculation, he swallowed the last of the scotch. It seared a path down his throat and straight into his belly.

      “Were you expecting someone else?”

      Her eyes widened. “I was hoping for nice-twin Sebastian instead of evil-twin Sebastian. Give me a ring when he shows up, won’t you?”

      To his surprise and amusement, she shut the door and he heard the decisive click of the lock as it engaged. “Damn her,” he muttered, unable to fight a grin. In a matter of seconds she’d transformed his dark mood into something so much better. How did СКАЧАТЬ