by Rosanna Leo
She’d wrapped those legs around his waist not long ago.
Her hair was thick and black, a happy turmoil of curls. Soft and rounded, her body put the bronze goddess statues in the lobby to shame. She also had a girl-next-door quality. It was probably the dimples in her cheeks. He’d seen those dimples a few times at Joe’s.
They’d remained hidden today.
It had taken all his willpower not to lean over the counter to stroke her face. He wasn’t sure why the urge to touch her was so strong. Maybe it was the fact her pretty brown skin looked so soft. Although they’d only spent a few moments in each other’s company, he knew enough to know he wanted to touch her again.
Dana had stopped him in his tracks, the same way she’d commandeered his senses at the bar. That night, when she told him what she wanted, he’d become a slave to his senses.
Now, she was under his roof, so to speak.
He’d taken a good look at her reservation. One week.
They could get up to all sorts of trouble in a week.
Yeah, right. As if she’d have you. The woman walked out on you, minutes after you fucked her.
Not a good track record.
And yet the way she looked at him across the counter made his palms sweat. Her eyes had widened with something more than shock or even remorse.
There was an awareness there, so palpable it was almost physical. Her lips had parted and she’d licked them. She’d twisted her finger in one of her curls, tugging in such a way she probably didn’t even realize she was doing it. Her gaze had wandered, noting the details of his suit and the body beneath it.
Total awareness.
Alex may have handled himself poorly at Joe’s, but he’d never been naïve when it came to women.
He just wasn’t sure he had the presence of mind to remain detached around this woman. He’d tried, God only knew he’d tried at the reservation desk. His sense of pride had demanded he act aloof, at least until he knew where he stood.
Maybe he should just talk to her and find out why she left that night.
It was the path to heartache and he couldn’t afford it. It had been hard enough digging himself out of his hole the past year. He was only just starting to regain his equilibrium.
Dana had already toppled him once and he’d been reliving that moment since it happened. Her sweet breath in his ear had lured him out of the doldrums. Her perfumed skin had bewitched him. And the luxurious glide into her body was so good it ought to be outlawed.
Oh, yeah. He’d been reliving that night.
Had she?
You don’t have time for this.
He already had enough on his plate. Launching Covet on such a short deadline had been a challenge, but he’d done it, working long hours. Aside from the launch, he’d had to master the rest of the business. There had been endless meetings with his marketing team, casino pit managers, and everyone from housekeeping to catering. Luckily, he was the head of a stellar team, all of whom knew their jobs very well. They’d all risen to the occasion when he’d suggested small improvements and had taken time to educate him about matters he’d never handled before.
Since Covet had opened, reservations had increased, both for tourists and residents alike. He’d expected that with enough hype, the locals would be circling. Sure enough, they had been. The best part of all was the fact they were booking rooms for the night, so they could party as late as they wanted.
His plate was as full as it could get.
Unfortunately, his brain wasn’t receiving that information. It was too busy thinking of Dana and every thought sparked activity in his lower half.
Shit.
That hadn’t happened in a while, not since his early days with Shannon. Since her death, he hadn’t even been able to muster up an ounce of interest in another woman. In some ways, he felt guilty about noticing Dana’s soft skin.
He shouldn’t. His relationship with Shannon had been over for a couple of months before she died, even though they hadn’t advertised it to family and friends. If he started dating again, some would undoubtedly think he hadn’t mourned her long enough, or might even wonder if he’d mourned her at all.
He had, during those dark, lonely nights. He’d mourned her with the fury of ten men. Only he’d realized afterward what he missed most was the Shannon he’d always kept at arm’s length. She’d begged him to let her in, but had he? No.
He’d always handled his relationships the same way he managed his clubs.
With cool detachment.
He portrayed a persona. It served a purpose. No one got too close so no one got hurt.
Until recently.
Did he feel anguish over Shannon’s death? Of course.
Was he still angry at her for running that night? Yeah, but he was angrier at himself for letting her run.
Despite his guilt, Alex was tempted to sneak another look at Dana. He cast a glance over his shoulder. In the distance, he saw a flash of denim and dark hair. Everything in him tensed.
You’re acting crazy. She made it clear you need to forget her when she walked out of that bar.
Alex knew he had too much baggage to be wondering about Dana’s perfume or the length of her legs. He knew for a fact she carried her own sizable baggage.
The best thing for both of them was to remain detached.
There was just one little problem.
She was on his turf for a week. They would be sleeping under the same roof for seven nights.
The back of his neck grew hot.
Crazy or not, he might not have it in him to stay away.
Chapter Four
An hour and a half later, Dana was still reeling at seeing Alex again, and still kicking herself for not recognizing him at their last meeting.
She’d asked one of most influential men in Vegas to bang her against a dirty wall.
So the man’s rich and famous, so what? Does that mean you wouldn’t have asked him to screw you in the john?
Yeah, probably.
Well, maybe she would have, although she probably would have asked him to screw her somewhere else, like Vice.
She couldn’t process this right now. There was no use visualizing Alex screwing her in any situation. If there was anything Dana was good at, it was compartmentalizing things. It was one of the keys to her success at work. She understood when to prioritize a project and when to shelve one.
Alex Markov was one project she definitely had to shelve.
She had shelved him, for all intents and purposes. His face may have insinuated itself into her dreams and fantasies, but she understood the attraction for what it was. She’d run into him at her most vulnerable moment. If he’d been any other man, the outcome would have been the same.
You’re kidding yourself.
There had been several men in the bar that night. Something had led her to Alex.
Rattled, she tried to push him out of her head. This week was supposed to be all about her sister.
Anise Davidson and her friends had arrived shortly after Dana’s encounter with Alex. After a long greeting full of hugs and a few tears, Dana had led them to the fifth floor to their penthouse suites.
She would have expected the penthouse level to be higher up, but as she discovered, the floorplan for Vice meandered. What the building lacked in height, it made up for in its mazelike structure. It seemed every corridor led to another set of corridors. Left to her own devices, Dana knew she would have lost her way in no time. However, because the penthouse floor had its own elevator, they were deposited close to their set of suites.
Anise’s gobsmacked reaction upon seeing the luxurious accommodations had made Dana’s earlier unpleasantness worthwhile. “A suite? Dana, the bed’s bigger than my house! And is that champagne? You spent too much money. What the hell have you done?”
“I didn’t do it,” Dana had said, grinning for the first time in a while. “The owner of the hotel did. They messed up our reservation so he bumped us.”
Anise ha
d shaken her head. “Remind me to mess up more of my reservations.”
Now, as they caught up over cocktails in the lobby bar, seated next to a bronze statue of the goddess Artemis, they compared their rooms.
“Did you see what they put in the mini-fridge?” asked Anise. “Those gourmet ice cream bars, the ones that cost ten dollars in the store. I’m going to sneak them all home in my purse when I leave.”
“Don’t do that!” Her old friend Bea Allen piped up. “They’ll charge Dana’s credit card. Anyway, never mind the ice cream bars. Did you touch the bed linens? They’re so soft. When I die, I want my coffin lined with those sheets.”
“Oh, my God,” said Jessica Gonzalez, another friend of Anise’s from high school. “We’re in Vegas. Stop talking about coffins and drink your Manhattan. Did you guys see the bathrooms in the suites? Black granite everywhere. The shower stall is insane.”
“You can fit a football team in there,” said Anise.
“This is the Vegas Strip,” said Dana. “I guarantee you there have been entire football teams in there.”
“Ooh, girl,” said Bea. “That’s hot.”
Jessica started a discussion about the walk-in closets, marveling at their size and shelf configuration. She said she had half a mind to get her husband to install a similar walk-in closet once she got home. As for Bea, she mused aloud about getting her gorgeous young girlfriend into that humungous bed. Even though Bea was only thirty-six, she had just started dating a younger woman and liked to joke about how Sasha exhausted her on a regular basis with her “millennial drama.”
Dana tried to join in the conversation, she really did, but she was too busy scouting the lobby for signs of Alex. Would he have an office close by? Not likely. Being the head honcho, his office was probably tucked into some quiet corner away from the action. Still, she’d managed to run into him in the lobby already. She supposed it was possible they might bump into each other again.
A faint flush made her head swim.
What’s next? A full-on swoon?
Somewhere or other, she would run into Alex. She just knew it. What better way for the universe to torture her?
At the same time, thoughts of Tommy intruded. She hated that. It wasn’t fair the man could still claim her thoughts, even after he’d treated her like dirt.
In some ways, her situation with Tommy seemed unresolved. Even though she’d basically told him to go to hell, she still had more to say.
The worst part was every time Tommy popped into her head, her diagnosis did as well. She hadn’t arranged to meet up with the therapist Dr. Batra had recommended. Life had been too busy, although she knew her hesitation had less to do with life’s obligations and more to do with her own fear.
If she met with a therapist, she had to talk about her inability to conceive. Even though it made no sense, talking about it felt like regressing. She’d been trying hard to stay positive and focus on the future.
Talking about it meant opening herself up to pain.
She didn’t want this to be a painful transition. Dana wanted to embrace her womanhood, even though in the eyes of others, it might be flawed. She wanted to be a force of nature, brilliant and strong.
At the same time, just as in real life, nature could be unpredictable. Dana was aware some very difficult emotions hovered in the distance, threatening like a storm, ready to unleash their elements.
She wasn’t ready for the onslaught, even if it meant getting help in the end.
During those rare moments when she could forget there was a neon sign flashing over her head that said Barren, life conspired to remind her.
At one point while in her suite, she’d thought she heard a baby crying out in the hallway.
Ridiculous.
This was the Vegas Strip and she was on the penthouse level at Vice. Why on earth would there be a baby crying in the hotel hallway? Even though she’d told herself not to, she’d checked, just in case. Of course, there had been no baby. Someone probably had their TV on too loudly in another suite.
It didn’t matter. She’d been walking around in a daze ever since.
Just like that night at Joe’s, she needed a distraction. If she didn’t find something else to occupy her mind, she’d travel to all the dark places, the ones that seemed so eager to welcome her.
The women would all want updates on the plans for her wedding. She’d already asked Anise to be her maid of honor and Anise took her role seriously. She wanted to start planning her own events, showers and the like, and now Dana had to stall for time until she found a way to explain there would be no wedding.
She should have told her family about the breakup by now, but every time she spoke to Anise on the phone, the conversation centered on her sister’s divorce. Dana didn’t want to add to her troubles and bring up sad feelings. There were bound to be enough as it was.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to tell her family the truth. She just wanted to do it in her own time. Her parents had always been so focused on the thought of potential grandbabies. They doted on her cousins’ kids, and barely a month went by without Dana’s mom reminding her to make some bundles of joy.
According to her mother, having children was her greatest source of fulfillment.
Dana had never questioned whether her fulfillment might have to come from another direction.
Even before Tommy, if anyone had asked if she was happy, she would have said yes. She had a great job, great friends, and an active social life.
Tommy was the one who’d first said they needed something more. After a while, she’d believed him.
What was Tommy doing right now?
Was he out seeking fulfillment of his own, searching for another baby mama?
That’s not fair. You know, on some level, it hurt him too.
Oh, yeah. He was probably in tatters over her, the one who just wasn’t enough for him on her own. No doubt he was gnashing his teeth over dumping her in a chintzy hospital café, five seconds after the doctor told her she’d never conceive.
This anger…it festered inside her, inching through her body, scoring her flesh. Eating her up.
She wasn’t sure what made her angrier—the diagnosis or the way Tommy ended things.
It was enough to make her sick.
Maybe you need some Alex medication.
As if that would help anything.
Despite not wanting to dwell on her memories, images from the night at the tiki bar flashed before her eyes. Alex checking her out in the bar mirror, his face half in shadow. The intensity in his eyes as he asked, “Are you sure?”
Worst of all, she couldn’t forget the way he cradled her against that bathroom wall. For a cold, anonymous sex act, his touch had been full of heat. Each thrust had filled her with surprise. His clawed fingers had demonstrated his desire, and a need as potent as her own.
In that one moment, they’d needed each other.
Did he still need her?
Bea and Jessica went to the bar and Anise took that moment to draw Dana into a private conversation. “Hey, you okay?”
“Why do you ask?”
“You’re more, I don’t know, subdued than usual.”
“I’m fine. I just can’t believe it’s over between you and Roman. The papers have been signed. You’re actually divorced.”
“Onward and upward, baby.”
“Sounds positive. I’d be devastated.” Dana chose her words carefully. She already suspected her sister was masking her pain. “It’s okay if you want to feel sad.”
“This week isn’t about being sad. It’s about being free.”
“I didn’t realize Roman was holding you prisoner.”
“It’s not that. Look, I know this is a big change, and not just for me. But, believe me, it’s for the best.”
“Roman’s a good man, better than most. I hope you realize that.”
“I never said he wasn’t.” Anise stirred her Bloody Mary with vigor. “And why does everyone assume I’m the one who
called things off?”
“Because you were.”
“Yeah, well, there were reasons. Dana, Roman may look good on paper. He has a nice job, he’s responsible, people like him. Deep down, I still love him, I do. But, in our case, love wasn’t enough.”
“What do you mean?”
“Let me rephrase that. I wasn’t enough.” Anise sighed. “He cheated.”
“What?” Dana had to shut her gaping mouth. “You never said anything!”
“I know. I just don’t like admitting it out loud.”
Dana grabbed her sister’s hand. “I never would have guessed. I’m so sorry. Who was it?”
“A former co-worker.” She rolled her eyes. “Honestly. How predictable is that? I think I would have been more impressed to find out he’d been giving it to the woman who delivers our mail. Anyway, may they be very happy together.”
“I’ll kill him.”
“No, you won’t. Believe me, it’s not worth you going to jail.”
“Let me be the judge of that.”
Anise’s mouth quirked into a semi-smile. “If you’re going to waste away in a cell, let it be over something more important than Roman’s straying dick.”
“This is awful.” Dana nodded toward Jessica and Bea. “I guess you’ll have to tell them at some point.”
“They already know.”
“What? You told them but you didn’t tell your own sister?”
“I know. I’m sorry, but when everything was going down, I was so tired and they were there with me in LA. I just wanted to vent to someone local. And besides…never mind.”
“Tell me.”
“You’re my sister and I love you, but you know as well as I do we don’t always look at things the same way.”
She wasn’t wrong. Dana waited for her to continue.
“If I’d told you the real reason, you would have dropped everything and grabbed the first flight out of McCarran. You would have fussed and worried and treated me with kid gloves. You might be younger than I am, but you’ve always been the nurturer, the babysitter. You would have made me sit in a room with Roman and tell him how he hurt my feelings and that’s not what I wanted. So I made you believe it was sort of my idea.”