by Vella Day
Nikolai hissed. “It’s too soon. Give her some time to come to grips with what has happened.”
Max checked his watch. “Soon she’ll be having strange feelings and not know what to do.”
Max dropped back down onto the bed. What have I done? The last time he’d been this lost was when his father had died, and he’d taken a long time to recover.
* * *
Both Samantha and Elise polished off their glasses of Merlot at the El Paradisio bar, while Regina nursed her Mojito. Her friends insisted Elise talk about what had happened since she was acting a bit jittery.
“I’m glad the magician was able to hypnotize you, but are you saying you think what happened to you was real?” Samantha asked.
While Elise didn’t want to look like a fool, these were her friends, and she respected their opinion. “Maybe, but being with Max was like nothing I’d ever experienced before, real or in my mind. When he touched me, my body went wild with need. At first I thought, maybe I just didn’t want to be disappointed—which is why I made him reject me before we got too far.”
Samantha glanced over at Regina. “I’ve never been hypnotized, but wouldn’t it be like being in a fog? I can’t believe you couldn’t tell the difference between a dream and reality.”
“I know, right? But one minute I’m with Max and the next I’m back on stage. If I wasn’t on stage the whole time, why would the audience clap at the way I danced?”
Samantha reached out and squeezed her hand. “You’ll figure it out.”
Or not. “You know what’s the really bad part?” Elise asked. They shook their heads. “After tonight, I’m not sure I could be satisfied with anyone who isn’t as fantastic as Max, which means I’ll never have sex for the rest of my life.” She plopped her head down on her folded arms.
“Don’t worry.” Elise lifted her head and looked at her friends. “What did you say?”
The two girls looked at each other then back at Elise. “We didn’t say anything,” Regina said.
Elise shrugged. “Maybe I overheard someone else.” She looked around, but there wasn’t anyone close to them.
Regina placed a hand on Elise’s arm. “Are you feeling okay?”
Her one glass of wine must have affected her more than she thought. With all that had happened tonight perhaps she shouldn’t have had that extra drink. “Not really. I think I’ll head on up to the room. That ordeal tuckered me out.”
Regina pushed back her chair and stood. “We’ll come with you.”
“No. I know you wanted to gamble. Win some money for me.”
Regina looked over at Samantha. “You up for a bit of excitement?”
“Totally; besides, Elise needs some downtime. Maybe she can dream of Max again!” Samantha chuckled then hugged her. “We won’t be out too late.”
“Have fun.”
Elise said her good-byes, and as she traipsed up to the room, something told her Max was real. Yes, she’d been hypnotized, that much she believed, but she wouldn’t have felt all those wonderful sensations if it had only been a dream.
Had she met a man like him sometime in her past and then projected that image onto Max? It was possible, but that didn’t explain the cool air on her skin and the way her fingers thrilled when she touched the hair on his chest. She couldn’t be more confused if she tried.
Perhaps a hot shower and a good night’s sleep would clear things up for her. If her mystery man returned in her dream, she’d know he was in her head, but if he refused to show, it could mean he was the real deal. If that was the case, she’d have to track him down tomorrow, and this time she would demand the magician tell her the truth.
After undressing, she examined herself in the mirror to see if there were any telltale signs of almost having made love, but other than the scratch, there was nothing to indicate it. Darn. She took a deep cleansing breath and her body lit up, almost as if her dream man was in the room with her. She lifted her arm and inhaled where he’d touched her. Holy crap, her skin smelled like Max—sweet and fresh like pure oxygen. She hadn’t been dreaming. Now she was certain of it.
4
“Are you sure you don’t want us to come with you?” Samantha asked, leaning against the doorframe to their hotel room bathroom, peering in at Elise.
She glanced once more at the bathroom mirror and shuddered. Elise had barely slept last night, grappling with what had been real and what had been in her head. She even had the dark circles under her eyes to prove it. Nikolai held the key. She chuckled, though it sounded forced even to her own ears. “I’ll be fine. I just have to walk across the street and ask that magician what really happened. He probably won’t be there until tonight anyway.”
“We’ll walk over there with you then check out some of the tables. Regina was hot last night, so now it’s my turn.”
“Are you worried about me?” Elise tried to keep her tone upbeat, but she failed.
“Truthfully, yes. You are so focused on this Max guy that your sense of adventure seems to have up and disappeared.”
Guilt assailed her. Elise had come here to have a good time with her friends, and now she was ready to abandon them. Life was about sharing experiences with others, not living in her own world.”
“Okay, I would like it if you walked me over,” she said, working hard to inject some enthusiasm in her tone. She held out her arms. “How do I look?”
She’d put on some slimming black jeans and a tight fitting top, but this time, her boobs weren’t exposed. Her makeup was subtler because it wasn’t even noon.
“You look fantastic. Come on,” Samantha said as she and Regina escorted her outside. Both girls slipped an arm in hers.
“We’re not letting you out of our sight, this time,” Regina said with a smile.
* * *
When Elise stepped inside The Winning Streak Casino, the colors seemed brighter and the smells more intense—though not necessarily more pleasant—and she swore she could hear and understand about five conversations at once. Perhaps she should have forced herself to go back to sleep. Last night, she had tried to relive her fantasy at least ten times, but she just couldn’t make Max appear. All that stress must have affected her brain somehow.
Elise stopped and faced her friends. “I don’t even know how to find the magician.”
“Ask at guest services. They might be able to help,” Samantha said.
“Good idea. I really appreciate you walking over with me. I know I haven’t been myself since last night.”
Her friends hugged her. “Come find us when you’re done.”
“Will do, and good luck!”
Both waved and then rushed off to the gaming tables.
As Elise wove her way through the crowd toward the concierge, a strange fluttering sensation beat against her stomach. Oh, crap. She had better not be coming down with the flu. This was her once-a-year vacation and she didn’t need to spend the last few days in bed.
At the concierge station, she had to wait behind three different couples. As she was admiring the huge flower arrangements at the reception desk, Elise’s gaze was drawn to the man behind the counter doing something at the copy machine. While his back was to her, his size and hair color was eerily familiar. She blinked a few times, thinking perhaps she was imagining things, but every time she studied him, a strange sensation gnawed at her gut.
“Ma’am. May I help you?” the neatly dressed woman behind the counter asked. All three of the couples had been helped, leaving a large gap between them.
Elise rushed up to her. “Yes, I’d like to speak with Nikolai the Magician.”
“May I ask why?”
“He hypnotized me on stage last night, and I’ve been having some side effects that I need to discuss with him. If he’s not here now, I’d like to make an appointment.”
“Let me check to see when he’ll be here.”
While the woman typed something into her computer, Elise’s gaze drifted back to the man at the machine who then turned
his head to the side. Holy shit! He was Max’s double. How was that possible?
Oh. My. God. It all became clear. He was the man who’d bumped into Samantha at the top of the steps in front of the hotel. That was it! Elise must have imprinted his gorgeous face onto her fantasy man.
The woman helping her flipped a few switches on her headset. “A volunteer from last night is here asking about you,” she said into her mouthpiece. “Of course. Thank you.” She flipped off the switch. “Nikolai is free now.” The concierge turned toward the man at the machine. “Thank you so much for coming down and fixing that, Max.”
Max? Elise froze and her heart jumped to her throat. It was him!
“No problem. It would’ve taken the Technology Department longer to get here and I figured it would be easier to fix it myself.”
“If you’re heading back up to your office, would it be too much trouble to ask if you could escort this young lady to Nikolai?”
He finally made eye contact with her and then froze. As if he was the consummate actor, his face turned unreadable. “No trouble at all. I am going right by there.”
Max walked around the end of the counter, his eyes focused solely on her with the intensity of a laser. Elise expected a smile or some sign of recognition but none came. How was that possible? If nothing else, he should be looking off to the side, embarrassed by his behavior last night.
“You need to see Nikolai?” he asked.
“Yes.” It had to be him. He had the same voice, same face, and same fresh smell. Sure, Max wasn’t a unique name, but still.
“Come with me.”
Her throat was so dry she had to swallow to make her mouth move. As much as she recognized it was rude to come out and ask him, Elise couldn’t help herself. “Haven’t we met?”
He raked his gaze up and down her body. “If we had, I would have remembered you.”
She didn’t want to call him a liar, but she couldn’t just drop it. “My name is Elise Daniels.” Surely, he’d remember her now.
“Nice to meet you, Elise.”
Nothing. Not even a flicker of recognition. Maybe she was crazy after all. Best if she went along with his little ruse and not make a scene—for now.
It could be that he wanted to wait until they were alone before he confessed about last night.
“You in town long?” he asked as he led her toward the escalator leading to the second floor.
For some reason the small talk helped relax her. “No. I’m with my two girlfriends. We’ll be leaving in a few days.”
She swore his eyes turned darker for a few seconds. “Have you had a good time so far?”
Did he really want to know if her experience yesterday had been mind-blowingly good? “Yes. I went to the magic show last night and was hypnotized. It was quite exciting.” Please tell me you were my fantasy man.
As Max placed a hand on her lower back to maneuver her past the crowds, heat streaked up her spine. They went up the same escalator she’d taken last night. He then led her toward the middle door. “This is where I was yesterday,” she said.
“Great.” He ushered her inside.
Only the lights above the stage were on and Nikolai was up there, moving boxes and other equipment around. The magician was dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt and looked a lot less magical than he had last night.
“That’s Nikolai,” she said excitedly. Elise practically ran up to the stage. “Excuse me!”
The magician turned around and smiled. “Well hello again. Elise, right?”
She turned toward Max, hoping he’d confess that he was with her, but instead he held up a hand. “Before I head back to my office, I wanted to ask if I could buy you a drink once you’re finish speaking with Nikolai.”
“It’s eleven in the morning,” she blurted.
Reason intruded. He wouldn’t have asked a complete stranger if he wasn’t her fantasy man. Max probably just didn’t want to say anything in front of the magician.
Max looked up at Nikolai and then back at her. “Okay, then how about lunch?”
Elise didn’t want to lose a chance to get to know him or spend time with him if he was the same person from her adventure yesterday. “Sure. I’d like that.”
His smile lit up his face. “In that case, I’ll just sit here and wait for you, if that’s okay?”
“You don’t have to get back to work?”
It appeared as if every one of his muscles froze for a second. “My work can wait.”
“Okay.”
Not wanting to keep Nikolai, she stepped up onto the stage. Now that she was here, it might be a bit embarrassing to talk about Max with him so close.
Nikolai held out his hand. “Come over here so we can speak in private.”
The man was a magician, and one of his talents must be reading her mind. “Thank you.”
“How can I help you?” His open face and warm eyes helped relax her.
She glanced behind her and was pleased that Max had his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes closed. “This is a little embarrassing, but I really believe that what happened to me was not just a dream, but very real.”
Nikolai studied her for what seemed like a long time. “Many believe we live in alternate realities, which means while I was on the stage teaching you to dance, you were living out your greatest wish.”
“I mentioned that I was with a man. His name was Max. The man with me now says his name is Max.” She glanced behind her. “And he looks exactly like him, but he says he would have remembered me if we had previously met.”
“Hmm. I don’t know what to tell you, except that Max is not an uncommon name around here. Look, I’d like to help you, I really would, but while you were on this stage, I didn’t see you with any man.”
The magician appeared sincere, but she wasn’t ready to give up. “Do you think you could hypnotize me again so I can enter this state of wishful bliss once more? I really need to find out what happened.”
“I could, but I’ve never heard of anyone entering the same world twice. Perhaps if we wait a few days, we can try again.”
She’d be gone in three. “That’s okay. Thank you.” At least she’d met this real life hunk, though he probably asked her to lunch because he felt sorry for her.
The hair on the back of her neck suddenly heated, and when Elise turned around, Max was standing at the bottom of the steps. Damn. How had she not heard him move? Hoping he hadn’t listened to her every word, she stepped down to the main floor.
“Ready to eat?” he asked.
“Yes.” With the way her stomach was fluttering though, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to eat.
“Mind if we go someplace other than here? I’m kind of in the mood for some French food.”
“Sure.” As long as she could spend some time with him, Elise would be happy.
As Max led her out of the auditorium, she had to squint at all the bright lights.
“Kind of harsh out here, isn’t it?” Max asked.
“A little bit. My eyes just need to adjust, that’s all.”
He smiled and when he placed a hand on her back again, delightful pulses tripped up her body. Given the noise and number of people moving around, he probably didn’t want her to get lost.
She looked up at him. “How long have you worked here?”
“How long? Hmm. Seems like most of my life.”
That sounded like an interesting topic to delve into once they were at the restaurant. As they neared the exit, two employees smiled at him then moved out of his way. One was a beautiful redhead, like the one she spotted last night crossing the street. Only this woman was dressed in a more demure outfit than the one on the street. The man with her was tall and looked a lot older. The redhead checked her out from head to toe then frowned. Most likely the stick-thin woman had dated Max at one time and wanted to know what he was doing with a larger curvy girl.
In the past, Elise might have said something, but she didn’t want to spoil her time with Max. B
esides, she knew it was time to stop putting herself down and get that asshole Brent and his negativity out of her head. So she straightened her shoulders, raised her head, and smiled up at Max.
The glass doors opened, and she was met with warm, dry air. The sun seemed brighter and the sky bluer. She inhaled deeply, enjoying the desert air.
“It’s nice out here, isn’t it?” he asked.
“It is to me, but you live here. I’m surprised you even notice anymore.”
He chuckled. “I appreciate new sights and smells every day.” They crossed the street and he led her to a French restaurant situated at the bottom of the Vegas Eiffel Tower.
A tall brunette wearing a uniform with the Parisian logo on her shirt pocket smiled. “Hey, Max. Table for two?”
“Yes, please.”
The hostess led them through one seating area to another. “Do you know everyone in town?” Elise whispered. He laughed and sounded exactly like the man in her dream. She wasn’t sure if she should be delighted or disturbed.
“When you live in town, you get to know the staff of many of the establishments.”
That made sense. The woman escorted them to a table that overlooked the Strip. As soon as Elise sat, she pulled out her phone. “I promised my friends I’d let them know when I was finished speaking with Nikolai. They’re gambling at The Winning Streak, and I don’t want them to worry.”
“By all means. They can join us if they wish.”
A small part of her was disappointed he didn’t consider this a date. The other part was wowed by his consideration. “Thanks, I’ll ask, but if they’re doing well at the tables, nothing will pull them away from their goal of winning.” She texted them her location, stating she was with Max, and that he’d invited them to join him. She’d let her friends decide if she meant she’d found her fantasy man or if there was another man named Max that she’d met.
Once the waitress took their drink orders, Max leaned back in his seat. “So tell me about yourself, Elise.”