Authors: Adrienne Giordano
Ross hit the landing and pointed. “Over here.”
A large group of men, a mix of ages, stood surrounded by women. All young, all impossibly beautiful.
Welcome to Vegas.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Ross said. “Thank you.”
“Yep,” she said. “One hour.”
“You’re sticking with that, ay?”
“One. Hour.”
He grinned. “We’ll see.”
“I won’t let you corrupt me.”
Even as she said it, she knew the corruption had already started. Why else would she be wearing a barely-there dress at a packed club?
Behind her, one of the stunningly beautiful women—this one with dark auburn hair, super-model height and a skin-tight sequined dress on her curvy body—latched onto Ross, speaking directly into his ear. Kate’s shoulders seized.
Really, Kate?
Ridiculous. She knew exactly what Ross Cooper was. A seemingly great guy
and
an admitted player. One who, if the internet was correct, had a thing for redheads.
Like her.
The woman draping herself on Ross looked familiar and Kate ticked back over the last couple of days thinking perhaps she’d seen her in the casino.
Nothing.
It would come to her.
“Can I get you a drink?” a waiter asked drawing Kate’s attention.
“Wine is fine. Whatever.”
“They’ve got that Malbec you like,” Ross said.
She glanced behind him where the woman he’d been speaking with stormed toward the staircase, her long legs moving impressively fast on her high heels. Someone wasn’t happy and Kate wasn’t sure she liked the vibe of the whole thing. Whatever it was.
“The Malbec sounds good. I’ll have that, thank you.” The waiter moved off and she raised her eyebrows at Ross. “Interesting that they have my favorite wine here.”
“Why is that?”
“I didn’t see it on the wine list. I called room service and asked about it and was told the hotel doesn’t carry it. Odd, considering it came with the ill-fated caviar.”
Ross shrugged. “Call it a fluke.”
“Or call it you bringing bottles of that wine to the bartender yourself.”
Again he shrugged. “All I did was make sure they had something you liked. I like making people happy.” He leaned in. “If you’ll let me try, I’d like to make you happy.”
One hour. That’s what she’d given him. Had practically taken an oath over it.
And now it didn’t seem like nearly long enough.
Fifty-three minutes later, Kate stood near the second level railing staring down over the enormous crowd while Ross dealt with an issue one of his VIP hostesses, Holly, had brought to his attention.
The crowd on the dance floor pressed in, bodies bumping and grinding in any available space. Too many people. Too, too many. She’d always liked to dance, but looking at that crowd? No way would she squeeze in there.
She turned back, scanned the area around her where clumps of people chatted. At the bar, a man met her gaze, but quickly averted his eyes and went back to the blond at his side. In profile, she thought she vaguely recognized his odd hooked nose. Or maybe she was just being paranoid. Overthinking.
Ross broke away from Holly, and propped an elbow on the railing. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t apologize. You’re the boss. When they need you, they need you.”
“How set are you on that hour?”
She grinned. “I’m pretty set on it.”
He moved closer. Close enough that her arm bumped his stomach. “Here’s the thing. It’s getting close to an hour, so if you’re set on that hour, I’ll walk you back to your room. If you’re feeling generous, and I hope you are, we could talk.” He pointed to the doors to Kate’s left. “Right beyond those doors is a heated patio. It’s quiet out there and there are about a billion stars tonight. It’s a great night and, out there, we can have a conversation without screaming at each other.
Talk. He wanted to talk. As if she believed his only intention in taking her outside was to
talk
.
“Yow,” he said. “You’re giving me a
this guy is full of shit
look. I probably deserve it. But, truly, all I want is to talk. To get to know Kate Daniels, to feed this insatiable curiosity I have. You’re smart and you understand my job. I don’t get that a lot.”
Perceptive man. “And on top of all your other talents, you’re now a mind reader.”
He shrugged. “You did your research on me. My track record with women is documented and maybe I like to date, but I try not to be an asshole. I’m always honest about what it is.”
“And what is this?”
“For the first time, I don’t know.” He let out a sarcastic laugh. “Whatever it is, it’s
not
normal.”
Damn it all to hell. Leave it to him to hit her with a line like that. Half charm, half sarcasm, all convincing. A complete master of seduction, this one.
She wouldn’t be one of the legion of redheads left in his wake, the silly girl lulled into bed by the handsome player. Since her FBI days she’d prided herself on reading people, deciphering their motives, and usually being right. Now? Standing in front of him, looking into those luscious dark eyes, he wasn’t playing her.
And that was a problem.
He’ll destroy me.
She bumped him with her elbow. “Okay, Ross Cooper. I’ll make you a deal. We can talk, but we stay in here to do it.”
* * *
Talk.
He might as well put a bullet in his head now because what man actually wanted to talk.
But Kate, for whatever reason, was different. She didn’t believe his crap. Not for one second. Whether in business or personal matters, she called him out. Every time.
Which, God help him, made him want to
talk
. To know her and understand her.
And maybe, if he got really lucky, they’d do more than just talk.
A waitress swung through and took their drink order. Kate stuck with the wine he’d smuggled in and since Ross wanted his wits about him, he went for a soda.
Right now, nothing good could come from alcohol. He’d just convinced Kate to give him an extension on that hour and he had no intention of saying something stupid and tripping the asshole meter.
“So,” Kate said, “what shall we talk about? Work?”
“Nope.”
“What else?”
With this, he’d have fun. He leaned in, trying like hell to keep a straight face, but blowing it. Ah, the hell with it. “How about you, me and the amazing life we’d have together.”
She rolled her eyes and gagged. “Relax, killer.”
“Okay. Maybe that was pushing it.”
“Maybe?”
“I figured you’d expect a smarmy line from me. I wanted to oblige.”
A loud dance number thumped through the overhead speakers and Kate moved closer, right next to his ear. “Oh, please. Knock it off. I never said you were smarmy. A player, but not smarmy.”
Again he laughed. With her, it was too damned easy to have fun. “If the amazing life is out, tell me your favorite thing to do, anything.”
“Riding horses.”
Not what he’d expected. “There you go. Now you’ve surprised me. I can’t picture pulled-together-Kate on a horse.”
“I grew up on a ranch. We rode every day.”
“I’ve never been on a horse.”
“Stop it.”
He held up a hand. “Truth.”
“We’ll have to fix that. I’ll teach you to ride. You’d probably like it. It’s therapeutic. Whatever your mood, you can ride hard or slow and it’ll settle you down.”
Ross swallowed and Kate kicked him. Wham, just let him have it with the toe of her shoe.
“Ross, hey.”
He turned to Dane Carlisle, one of his whales, and held out his hand. “Dane, good to see you.”
Ross motioned to Kate. “This is Kate Daniels. Kate, Dane Carlisle.”
Hellos were exchanged and Dane gave Ross a look. The one that said he needed to talk privately. Which meant either some kind of outlandish request or an extension on his credit. The outlandish request, he could handle. The credit extension? Not so much. Dane had been on a losing streak at Dominion and was already in the hole for almost a million dollars.
“You know,” Kate said, “I could use a trip to the ladies room.”
Ross ran a hand across her back, offering what he hoped was a silent apology for the interruption. “Do you know where it is?”
She nodded, clearly understanding his message. “No worries. I’ll find it.”
Two minutes later, Dane Carlisle had done his pitch for a credit extension. Given the situation at Dominion, Ross needed to consult with Samuels. But rather than piss off a guest, he’d managed to compromise by loading Dane up on comps for the bar to get him through tonight.
He texted Holly and instructed her on how to handle Dane and just as he put his phone away, Kate appeared.
“You’re back. Excellent.”
“I am. It seemed like you needed a second.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. This is your job. That I don’t mind.” Kate pursed her lips. “Ross, I enjoy you. I do.”
Here it was. The drop kick. “But?”
“No but.”
“Then what?”
She held his stare for a few seconds. “I don’t mind work interruptions, but earlier, with the redhead that came over? I have no interest in being a recycled redhead.”
A what? He cocked his head. “Pardon?”
She held up her phone, swiped at the screen and handed it to him. “As you said, I did my research. Scroll.”
On the phone’s screen was a photo of he and Liz Baker. He’d taken her to a restaurant opening in Vegas and they’d posed for a photographer from a local magazine. He swiped the screen and another photo came up. This one of Melanie. Also a redhead. Next picture. A redhead.
Jesus.
The redhead brigade.
He stopped swiping. Who knew how many photos she had? Could be plenty. Over the years, he’d had a string of redheads who’d kept him company.
“Kate—”
She held up her hand. “She looked familiar. While I was in the ladies room, I checked my research photos and…”
“There she was. Along with all the other redheads.”
“Yes. You and I both have a lot at stake here. I’m a consultant hired by your boss to scrutinize your security. If this getting to know each other thing goes wrong, I’ll be the female security consultant who socializes with her male clients. And you
know
what that implies. Frankly, I’m too smart to let that happen.”
“First, you are not a recycled redhead. I promise you that.” He handed the phone back to her. “That looks bad, I know it does. Some of those women I took out one time. That was it. And, yeah, I’ll admit, some were one-night stands.”
“Too much information.”
He inched forward, ran the tips of his fingers down her cheek.
“No, it isn’t.” He waited for her to look up. To meet his gaze so she’d see how serious he was. Slowly, she brought her gaze up and locked on. “I want you to know I understand the difference between a one-night stand and what this is. What I think we can be.
You’re
different. I know what I feel. And I’ve never felt it before. Ever.”
Kate continued to stare at him, her face blank.
Her hair, that burnt red that had snagged his attention the first day, slid across her shoulder and he dragged his fingers over it. Enough for him to get lost in its thickness and realize his fixation with red hair might be his downfall. “This time,” he said. “I want more. Let me prove that to you.”
“Ross? Sorry to bother you.”
Holly, his VIP hostess. Dammit with the interruptions. He scrubbed his hands over his face. “This is such a cluster.”
Kate grinned and dropped a kiss on his cheek. “It’s fine. This conversation was getting too intense anyway. Take care of what you need to and let’s have some fun. Apparently, you’re a man who has something to prove.”
* * *
By 10:30 the next morning, after Marcia informed Kate that the previous evening’s numbers held no concerns about possible cheats, Don walked into Kate’s office where she prepped for her meeting with another batch of Fortuna’s dealers later that day.
Don shut the door.
Uh-oh
. Closed doors never meant good news. Whatever it was, she hoped he wasn’t about to throw her day into a tizzy. She’d scheduled an off-site meeting with John, her ex, to see if he’d heard any new details about Mark’s murder and the cheat working the strip.
As Don moved toward her, closed door aside, he appeared calmer today and his color was better, but with this man, that could change at any second.
She folded her hands on top of the desk. “Did you make that doctor’s appointment?”
The glare he leveled on her was meant to frighten. To back her off. To intimidate her. What Don hadn’t yet realized was Kate had grown up on a ranch surrounded by ornery men.
She didn’t bend to intimidation.
“I forgot.”
She spun the desk phone and shoved it at him. “Do it. Right now.”