“I’ll find the best Thai place in the world for you. Be ready at eight. And dress up.”
I danced around the room. Mine alone for only a few more minutes. It wouldn’t be so bad. Chris had a room, too, if things headed in that direction. And Susu could find her own fun. If she didn’t want to be with Rod and she didn’t want to go home, she couldn’t expect me to be her one-woman entertaining committee. Besides, she already had called me a slut. I had nothing to lose.
She couldn’t hold me hostage about living in her house, either. I was getting into Vegas. I could stay here. I made a couple more calls, and then started to get ready for my big date.
Susu showed up while I was in the shower. I couldn’t come out of the bathroom because she had the bellman moving suitcases around. She barked orders like a drill sergeant.
When he was gone I came out, wrapped in a towel. The hotel room had been transformed. Suitcases covered every surface, including my side of the king-sized bed. Susu had left.
I got my underwear from the drawer, then went to the closet to get my red gown. All of my clothes had been pushed to the right, six inches of the closet, where the light didn’t reach. The rest of the space was taken up with Susu’s stuff. I jammed her clothes to the left to give my few things some breathing room and put my dress on.
In the bathroom, I whiled away the minutes putting my stuff away into my cosmetics bag and doing my makeup. I surveyed the clean countertop glumly. Chances were it would be awful when I got back from my date.
I repaired the ends of my hair, making sure the strands lay the way I wanted them to, then grabbed the silk wrap I’d bought with the dress and hurried to the door. I didn’t want to meet up with my sister.
The door opened before I reached it. Susu looked up, startled. She had her key card in her hand and was reaching down for another suitcase.
Her eyes widened. “Where are you headed?”
“Dinner. Don’t wait up.”
“Let me guess. That yummy boxer?”
“No, not him. But if he calls, tell him lunch is on me tomorrow to wish him luck. Tomorrow night is his big fight.”
“He can leave a message. I won’t be answering the phone.”
“Oh.” Of course. If she answered the phone, she might end up speaking to Carl. Or worse, Heidi. “See you.”
She sat on the bed and looked around at all the stuff. Just for this little trip, she’d accumulated more belongings than I’d lost in L.A. when I got evicted. Except for furniture, of course. She looked a little lost. I refused to give in to pity, but I hurried over to her and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Then before she could react, I was gone.
Chris met me downstairs and led me to a rental car. We left the strip’s bright lights and drove north.
I watched him as we drove. He really did have a deep George Clooney vibe. He caught me staring and grinned. “What?”
“Nothing. Just thinking how strange this week has been.”
“Tell me about it.” He shook his head. “One minute I’m going over distribution reports, and the next my mother is hysterical, telling me that Rod is missing and that I have to drop everything to get him back in school.”
“Is your mother the hysterical type?”
“Rock solid. I think she was seeing Vegas showgirl love child headlines.” Again that grin, easier now that the danger of love children and older women had passed.
“That sort of thing doesn’t make headlines. I’ll bet it happens here every day. And worse, too.” I smoothed the red silk of my dress over my leg.
He looked at me quickly and turned his face back to the road. “What do you mean?”
“People come here to either be themselves or be someone else. It’s a potent combination. Love and hate sometimes have the same results. I’ll bet the cops here have stories to tell.”
“I’ll bet.”
“Your mother doesn’t have to worry about Rod anymore.” I played with the hem of my skirt. “He’s going back to school.”
Chris turned to look at her. The car veered toward the center line.
“The road, babe!”
He straightened the wheel and took a deep breath. “Are you sure?”
“My sister is both heartbroken and thrilled. I’m just relieved. I thought it was just a fling, but I wasn’t totally sure.”
And I didn’t know what I would have told Carl.
When we arrived at the restaurant, I was surprised to see that it was small and unassuming. I’d expected a luxuriously decorated place. The inside was spare and contemporary, and the minute we sat down, food started arriving at our table.
“I hope you don’t mind. I preordered so we wouldn’t have to wait.”
“Impatient, aren’t you?” I sipped from a spoonful of tom kah kai and shivered.
“How is it?”
“Heavenly. I’m a big fan of coconut and spicy food, and Thai has it all.”
“Your last name is Suarez?”
“Yeah. My parents were born in Cuba. I was raised on black beans and rice and sweet fried bananas.”
“Sounds great. I want to eat that.”
“If you want it really authentic, I’ll cook for you.” I stopped. I didn’t have a kitchen. What was I offering?
“Is something wrong?”
“Just thinking of what to do next.” Find a job. Find a place to live. Get a life again.
“Finish your soup, or abandon it and try one of these.” He waved at the savory dishes that were fast piling up around us.
“What did you do, order one of each?”
He shrugged.
The owner came out to greet us. “Take care with this food,” he said. “Too hot makes your blood too hot.” He winked.
Chris grinned at me, and I didn’t know what to say. Me, who could flirt with anyone. I was at a total loss for words. That worried me more than anything had so far on this crazy trip.
I hadn’t even slept with this guy; plus, he’d seen the granny panties in my drawer and my serious bed head, and he was privy to my extreme family problems. And worst of all, he was headed home, wherever that was, as soon as his brother cleared out. I couldn’t be falling for him. No way.
Bernardo was wrong. I had regained the title of Ultimate Loca. Just not the way I’d imagined.
Chapter 7
We returned to Paris before eleven and had a drink at the bar. I was already planning to drop my purse next to the side of the bed so the condoms would be handy.
“Do you need to get up early tomorrow?” He signaled to the bartender as he spoke to me.
“No, thank goodness.”
“No sheep to herd?” His grin had become familiar. I was going to miss it. “What would you like to drink?”
“Single malt. Aberlour, if they have it.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “I think I’m in love.”
He was joking, of course, and I laughed, but my heart wasn’t in it. Our time together was coming to an end. I’d make tonight count.
“You’ll need to sleep in just to rest your ears and throat,” he said. “Do you realize that we’ve been talking for three hours straight?”
“We didn’t eat very much.”
“It was good, though. I’ll have to remember that place next time.” He played with a matchbox someone had abandoned on the bar.
“Do you come to Las Vegas often?”
“Quite often. My company has interests here.”
“Would that be Patterson Tire?” The scotch warmed me, its sweet, peaty taste a great foil for the spicy dishes we’d eaten.
He looked at me. “What do you know about Patterson Tire?”
I shrugged. “Just what Rod said. As if I was supposed to know what it was. Did I say something wrong?”
Chris’s face relaxed. “It’s the family company, and we’re on the verge of going public. Rod’s outrageous behavior could cause a scandal. Stock prices and all that.”
“No wonder you freaked. Speaking of freaks, I wonder if Susu is asleep.�
�
“Why do you care?”
“Because I’m here to get her back. The only way to find out is to go up there, and I’m not ready to go to bed.”
“You could call.”
“She won’t answer.”
Bernardo and his boxing buddies swarmed into the bar area. I waved and Bernardo waved back, although he looked long and hard at Chris. They clustered around the bar and called out orders to the bartender, who apparently knew them from before.
“Do you like boxing?”
My question took Chris off guard. “Not really. I’ve never been to a boxing match. I’ve seen—”
“That’s Bernardo Maltiades over there. He’s a Golden Gloves champ.”
“Really?” Chris turned to look at Bernardo, who was glaring back. “Why is he looking at me like that?”
Bernardo looked like a rottweiler who’d lost his favorite bone. Oops.
“We went out last night. Ignore him. He’s just being pissy.”
“Pissy doesn’t sound like a word you apply to a guy like that.” Chris stood, then I felt his hand at my waist, warm and strong. Then it moved lower. “I’d say ‘menacing’ is the correct word.”
His hand felt wonderful on me. It made me think of other places it might feel even better, but he was going to start a fight. “I think suicidal is one that might be used for you. Are you being deliberately provocative?”
“Something like that.” He looked down at me and gave me the full George Clooney effect. Dazzled, I could only stare into his eyes.
“Excuse me, take your hands off my woman.” Bernardo stood in front of us, hands politely clasped in front of him, but holding back a nervous energy that made him almost vibrate.
“Bernardo, please. We were just having a drink. And besides—” I cut my eyes over to the rest of the boxing team, which was gathering closer. I didn’t want to diss him in front of his friends. If I said that I wasn’t his woman, they’d have plenty to say to him.
Chris removed his hand from my waist. I felt a little disappointed, probably due to some leftover caveman gene floating around inside of me.
Bernardo didn’t relax. He took a step closer. “Who are you?”
“Chris Patterson. Who are you?”
“Bernardo Maltiades.”
He and Chris nodded. I was beginning to think that Chris might have a little caveman in him, too. He seemed to know the secret he-man signals.
Bernardo moved so fast I didn’t see the punch. One second Chris was standing next to me, the next he was on the floor.
He got up, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth and nodding as if he had the answer to a question he’d been pondering.
Then it was Bernardo’s turn to fly backward, into the arms of his teammates. He came back like an enraged animal, fire in his eyes.
Chris was ready for him. With the bartender shouting and women screaming, the two of them drove each other’s bodies back and forth across the little bar area. One of the guys on the Golden Gloves team grabbed me and pulled me out of the way.
“No, let me stay.”
“Lady, you already got a fat lip. You don’t want a black eye to go with it.”
I quit fighting, indignant that he should mention my lip. I thought it was looking pretty normal.
Susu was suddenly there, climbing over my rescuer. “Let go of my sister.” She was on his back, knees hiked around his waist, hitting them over the head with her purse.
He tried to scrape her off against the bar, but then two other guys intervened, grabbing her and pulling her off as if she were a human tick. Then she was fighting them, too, and they had their arms up, trying to protect their heads from her hefty handbag.
I didn’t know where to help and stayed well back. I already had stitches from the last time Susu got mad, and I wasn’t about to get in the middle of the two dogs going at it on the other side of the bar area. Either way, I’d get clobbered.
Whistles sounded around us. It was Security, and about damn time. It took two guards to subdue Susu. Bernardo and Chris had already stopped fighting and were standing, chests heaving, bent over with their hands on their knees.
Bernardo’s lip was split and Chris was bleeding from a cut on his forehead. The bartender put two napkins filled with crushed ice on the counter, and the team’s trainer sat the two men on bar stools and attended to their cuts.
The head of security was a burly guy with red hair going white at the temples. “I can’t believe you guys. A fistfight in the casino bar. Morons. You especially.” He was pointing at Bernardo. “You know better. Want to hurt your chances tomorrow night?”
Bernardo shook his head.
“That lip’s going to need stitches. You get stitches, you can’t fight.”
“No stitches,” the trainer said. “I can fix it.” He pointed over his shoulder at Chris. “Him, too. No doctors, no police report, okay?”
Chris produced a credit card. “I’ll pay for the damage to the bar.”
The bartender plucked the card from his fingers. “Two thousand should cover it. Are you a guest of the hotel?”
“Yes.”
“Then any other damages we’ll just charge to your account.” His response sounded practiced. This probably happened more often than I’d thought.
Chris nodded and took back his card. There didn’t seem to be much damage that I could tell, except for some blood spots on the carpet and overturned drinks. It was certainly not two thousand dollars’ worth.
“Hey man.” Bernardo had risen, but stopped in front of Chris. “That’s some uppercut you have. You should come spar with us.”
“I don’t box.” Chris looked at him warily.
“You don’t? Where’d you learn to punch like that?”
“Karate.”
“Aaah…” The gathered team members all nodded and looked at each other as if everything made sense. The trainer pulled two tickets out of his blazer.
“Come watch the bout tomorrow night, on us.” The unspoken thought was as a thank-you for not pressing charges against Bernardo, who threw the first blow.
“Okay, thanks.” Chris pocketed the tickets.
Susu was staring at them. “That’s it? Kiss and makeup? No cops?”
“What did you expect? It could have been much worse.” I put a hand on her to steady her as she got up. One of her shoes was missing and I found it under a table.
Two men in suits were standing next to Susu when I got up.
“Ms. Dunne?”
Susu stood very straight. She knew she was in trouble. “I’m Mrs. Dunne.”
“Follow me, please.”
The three men walked to where the boxers and Chris were. The man in the suit looked at all of them, frowning. “I understand how excited you must be at the thought of your match tomorrow, Mr. Maltiades.” He turned to Chris. “And I appreciate your offer to make reparation for the damage. But the hotel cannot tolerate criminal activity, or public fighting. I have to ask you all to please leave the hotel tonight.”
“I can’t leave.” Susu looked shocked.
Chris was stunned, too. “I’ve never been kicked out of anywhere before.”
“Aw, don’t let it get to you,” the trainer said. “Happens to us every once in a while. No matter how hard you train these hotheads to stay out of fights, someone gets mad at someone else. Usually over a woman.” He gave me a disgusted look, as if it was all my fault.
“Sorry, Anita.” Bernardo looked ashamed and defiant.
“That’s okay. I didn’t get why you fought about it, though. You and I aren’t exactly a couple.”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I saw him there, and you looked so pretty and it made me mad, ’cause I thought we’d get together tonight. And then he touched you and it was like there was a fire in my head.”
“So now you have a fat lip again.” I smiled and reached for his face, but he caught my hand in his and moved it away.
“I came here to fight. Just didn’t think I’d do it in th
e lobby bar.”
The team manager came by. “I’m getting rooms at the Mandalay. How many should I get? We’ll only be there tonight and tomorrow night.”
Hands went up, including Susu’s. After a moment Chris raised his hand, too. I figured I’d stay with Susu, wherever that was.
She took me aside. “Anita, I need to stay here. I still haven’t talked to Rod, and I don’t want him to leave without explaining. Just tell them that you’re keeping your room, and I’ll stay there. I won’t make any problems, I promise.”
“So I have to go to the Mandalay? Why can’t we both stay here?” I didn’t want to lose sight of her, even if the yummy Chris would be staying somewhere else.
“Because I got kicked out. One of us has to leave.”
“Oh, like they can’t tell us apart.” I stared at her brilliant red hair.
She put a hand up to touch it. “I’ll take care of this tonight. We look almost like twins when my hair’s brown.” She frowned at my head. “You need to get those highlights touched up.”
No kidding. “Serves you right if you end up getting gold highlights to keep your room. And you’d better not call any attention to yourself.” It would ruin my future plans if she trashed my room at Paris. I left the group and walked to the front desk to make arrangements. The head of security was standing behind the counter and came over to speak to me.
“Ms. Suarez, I’m sorry that I included you with the others. I know you weren’t involved. You don’t have to leave.”
Thank goodness. I hadn’t been sure about the verdict. I gave him my highest wattage smile. “I was just going to change my checkout date. I may be staying a few more days.”
He nodded. “Good to hear. I hope you understand—”
I cut him off. “No need to explain. I totally agree with your decision.”
The clerk was staring at me. Or rather, at my dress. I was still in my red Nicole Miller gown.
Do I know how to dress for an occasion, or what?
Chapter 8
The next night I was in jeans again and feeling underdressed at the Mandalay Convention Center for Bernardo’s fight. Chris, the entire Golden Gloves entourage, and I had checked into Mandalay Bay with no problems.
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