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      Had she really said that she’d gotten beyond the kiss with Wyatt? When did I become such a liar? she thought. And why was she lying to her friends?

      Wyatt needed to get away. For the past two weeks he’d been measuring his every action, his motivations, his words. He should never have kissed Alex, because each time he got near her now, his entire body reacted. He envisioned her in his arms and in his bed, and it was time to put a stop to that. He needed to remember what he was all about…and what he was not about. He had to go somewhere away from the hotel and the world as he knew it. A place where there was no chance of glancing over to see what was going on with Alex. Because she wouldn’t be there.

      He was dressed casually, unusual for him, and as he walked toward the entrance, several women smiled and said hello.

      As always he was polite, but no more. He dated only casually, and he kept the hotel and his personal life separate. Maybe because the hotel meant more to him than anyone he’d ever dated had. His success in business didn’t carry over to the rest of his life. After walking away from numerous women, he had realized that he didn’t have the basic emotional tools to fall in love and maintain a relationship. That part of him had died long ago. Or maybe it had never existed.

      Growing up, solitude, hiding, had saved him from beatings and abuse. He’d always been alone, because when he was young it had been the only way. And now?

      It was still the only way. He’d never been able to make the leap to love, could never let anyone inside his walls, and he always ended up hurting some innocent woman. That made him loathe himself for being such a cold beast, so solitude was the life for him. Forever.

      Normally he was fine with that, and today, as usual, he was on his own. He drove to the one place in Las Vegas where he didn’t have to maintain his image. The Haven was an old motel with cottages and a small chapel, a rundown bit of property he’d bought a few years ago with the idea of fixing it up. But for some reason he never had. It was a place that drew him. Usually he could relax and lose himself in solitude there…except today he couldn’t.

      Lounging in a chair inside the one cottage where he’d made minimal improvements, he tried to read. And put down his book. Once. Twice. Three times.

      “It’s her,” he said aloud, glancing at the red rocks in the distance, but seeing pretty blue eyes. Wyatt groaned. “I have to stop thinking of her,” he muttered.

      Because nothing had changed. He didn’t want a relationship, and she’d been hurt in her relationships. She wanted a home. He didn’t even live in a home. He had no knowledge of a real home. But what was she doing right now?

      Most likely she was at her desk, very efficiently managing his guests. Issues with some of those visitors might be arising. And, even though it wasn’t her job to handle customer disputes, some of his employees had been going to Alex lately if he wasn’t available. Her ability to make people feel good, the way she smoothed things over easily, had people bending the rules. When he was at hand no one did that, but when he wasn’t…

      Wyatt slammed the book closed. Maybe he should have brought Alex with him. He wondered what she would think of the Haven.

      She’d probably think it was a decrepit pile of rock and wood that needed to be torn down. She’d think less of him then. And that would effectively kill his fascination with her.

      Next time, he promised himself. Next time he’d bring Alex. But for now…

      “Rest time’s over, McKendrick.”

      She should be feeling better about how her day was going, Alex conceded. She’d come up with two new activities to make McKendrick’s stand out from the crowd. And, despite the fact that there’d been an article in the local paper yesterday about Champagne sponsoring some sort of exclusive event this weekend, the crowds at McKendrick’s were just as big as ever. People looked relaxed and happy. She’d had nothing but good vibes from those approaching her desk this morning.

      She’d hardly even noticed that Wyatt had left two hours ago, taking some rare time off, she told herself. Despite the fact that the hotel seemed emptier without him around, she was okay with that…wasn’t she? It was normal to feel a little different when there was a change in one’s routine.

      Of course she had noticed that a few women gave him hopeful waves as he left. She’d even wondered if there might be another woman sharing his day off, and felt a stabbing pain near her heart, but she’d forced herself to try to ignore it.

      She was almost succeeding, too, when she looked up to see a young maid headed toward Randy, then veering off when she saw that he had people at his desk. Alex had none, and the look of relief on the maid’s face was palpable.

      “I just passed the ballroom, and two of the workers doing the renovation are fighting,” the young woman said.

      “Physically?”

      “No, but there’s a lot of yelling. The customers can hear them. And the security guys are on the tenth floor, helping a woman who fell getting out of the bathtub. I didn’t know what to do, so I came here.”

      “Thank you. It was the right thing to do,” Alex said, and she took off toward the ballroom. She could hear raised voices before she even opened the doors.

      “Don’t worry,” she told the crowd of people that had started to gather. “It’s probably just a minor disagreement between friends. I’ll straighten everything out.”

      She pulled open the tall double doors and walked into the huge, mostly empty room. At the far end, workers were involved in various tasks, but just twenty feet inside the room, two big muscle-bound men were right up in each other’s faces, yelling and swearing and getting louder and more red-faced every second. They didn’t even look away from each other when she entered the room.

      Alex took a deep breath. She had no idea what to say or do. Her heart started tripping as she drew closer. No doubt she should call someone else, but who? The longer and louder these two got, the more agitated the customers outside the doors would become. If this accelerated into an actual fist fight, wouldn’t that look great in the morning papers? She could practically see the headline: Blood spilt at McKendrick’s. The owner of Champagne would waltz away with Wyatt’s award.

      She frowned. She was so not going to let that happen. She wanted Wyatt to win. At the moment she didn’t even care why it mattered to her. She’d worry about that later. But for now…

      Alex took a deep breath. She waded into the fray. “I don’t know who you two are,” she said, raising her voice just enough so that it carried, “but I’m here on Mr. McKendrick’s behalf, and if you don’t stop this right this minute, your firm will lose its contract. I’m giving you fair warning. I’m walking right up next to you, so if anyone hits anyone, I’ll probably get hit, too. That will be assault, and you won’t even be able to plead that you didn’t know that I was here.”

      She kept moving as she spoke. “Who are you, anyway?” she asked. “And, no, I don’t want to know what you’re fighting about. I just want it stopped. Right now.”

      By now she was only three feet away, easily within the peripheral vision of the men. One of them blinked. He turned toward her. “This doesn’t concern you.”

      “Yes, it does. My job is to make sure my customers are happy. You’re scaring them.”

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