Rebecca York - More Than a Man

He’d situated himself so that he could keep an eye on the blonde. During the course of his conversation with the doctor, several men had come up to her, but she must have discouraged them because they ended up going away.

Noah could see that someone else was watching her, too. A man who’d been sitting along the far wall. He came over and spoke to her in a low tone, his face angry. What was that all about?

The doctor must have noticed he wasn’t commanding Noah’s rapt attention. Annoyance flashed across his face.

But he quickly recovered. Glancing at his watch, he said, “It’s late. I should let you go to bed.”

“Sorry,” Noah apologized. “I put in a long day in the lab before I came here and I’m a little wiped.”

They both stood. Hemmings reached out to shake his hand again. Noah automatically did the same, then felt a slight prick at the base of his thumb. “What was that?” he asked.

Hemmings looked embarrassed. “Sorry. This damn ring of mine has a rough edge. It must have slipped around to the inside. Did I hurt you?”

“It’s fine,” Noah said, looking down at his hand where it was slightly scraped.

Of course, it would be good as new in the next few hours.

“Sorry,” the doctor apologized again, then excused himself and hurried out of the bar. Noah stayed in the room, watching the woman still sitting at the table. Before he could stop himself, he picked up his sparkling water and walked across the room.

OLIVIA’S breath caught as the man she’d been watching walked over to her table. This was it, and she wished she knew what “it” was.

“I’ve noticed you sitting here,” he said.

“I was waiting for a friend, but I guess he stood me up,” she lied.

The guy looked like he didn’t buy it, and she thought he was going to walk away.

Instead, he said, “May I join you?”

“Yes.”

“My name’s Noah Fielding.”

“Olivia…” She hesitated for a moment before adding, “Stapler.” She knew he caught the hesitation.

“Can I get you anything?” he asked as he sat down.

Up close he was very handsome and younger than she’d thought. He carried himself with a confidence that usually came from maturity, but his face was unlined and there wasn’t any gray in his dark hair. She doubted that a man like him would go to the trouble of dyeing it, although one never knew how much a guy was stuck on himself.

A man like him? She wasn’t exactly sure what that meant. When she realized she was waiting a long time to answer his question, she said, “You’re drinking soda water?”

He looked at his glass and back at her before nodding.

“That sounds good.”

“You don’t want champagne?” he asked.

“It’s not worth what they charge by the glass here.”

He grinned. “I guess you know the ropes better than I do.”

“Did you come here to gamble?”

“Everybody comes here to gamble. It’s the standard vice. But my excuse is a medical convention in town.”

“You’re a doctor?” she asked.

“Just a hanger-on.”

She tipped her head to the side. “What does that mean?”

“I’m an independent researcher. I like to keep up with the field.”

Maybe he was also independently wealthy. She canceled that thought immediately. It didn’t matter if he made big bucks, because she wasn’t going to play Pearson’s game.

“Which field?”

“Longevity.”

“Oh,” she answered, thinking how easy it would be to fall into the trap Pearson had laid for her and this man.

Suddenly, she felt like the room was closing in around her. “I need some air,” she blurted.

“The hotel has a very nice garden out back.”

She’d been thinking that she’d go outside alone and incur her brother’s wrath later. But when she stood, Noah Fielding did, too, and she didn’t protest as he walked beside her toward the back of the hotel.

Outside, the air was hot and dry, and the night sky was filled with a million stars. But no casino relied on nature for outdoor effects. The hedges and flower beds were illuminated by cunningly placed floodlights.

The garden was designed to please the senses. Annual and perennial flowers filled well-tended beds that bordered stone paths. Each plot held a pleasing mix of colors and textures, many of the blooms perfuming the air.

She inhaled deeply, glad to be out of the stale casino atmosphere. Trying to come up with something to say, she murmured, “I love the way they laid out the garden in a pattern. I guess they hired a fancy landscape architect.”

“Maybe. But whoever did the design copied it from Versailles.”

She tipped her head toward him. “Have you been there?”

“Several times.”

No one else was outside, she noticed. The garden apparently wasn’t as much of an attraction as the casino.

When she pressed her hands against her sides, he said, “What’s bothering you?”

The direct question startled her. In her experience, guys didn’t care about an attractive woman’s personal problems.

“How do you know something is bothering me?”

“The way you hold your shoulders.”

“Really?”

“Maybe I can help.”

Could he?

Before she could reply, a man rushed from the shadows. He was holding a gun, which he pointed directly at Noah Fielding.

“I finally found you, you bastard,” he growled. “Hold it right there.”

Noah cursed under his breath, and Olivia thought she heard him mumble, “Not again.”

At the same time, he thrust her behind himself, putting his body squarely between her and the gunman.

“Move,” the attacker said. “Both of you.”

“Leave the lady out of this,” Noah replied, his voice low and even.

In the part of her mind that still functioned rationally, she marveled at his calm. She had to stiffen her legs to keep from falling over.

“I’m giving the orders,” the gunman said. “Hands up. Move to your right.”

Somehow, she did what he demanded, but as she raised her hands, she was thinking there must be guards out here and security cameras. If guards came running, though, would they just get her and Noah shot?

“Take it easy,” Noah said.

He was talking to the gunman, but his calm, even voice helped steady her as she moved to her right, into a rectangular space formed by a hedge and a wall that enclosed one of the luxury villas for the high rollers.

Noah tried to keep his body between her and the gunman as they stood facing each other in the little courtyard, but the man maneuvered them so that she was terribly exposed.

She glanced sideways at Noah. He wasn’t even breaking a sweat. The other man was breathing heavily. Maybe he’d have a heart attack and drop the gun so they could escape.

“If you do anything to hurt this woman, you will be very sorry,” Noah said, punching out the words.

“Her bad luck that she was with a scum like you.”

She saw Noah clench the fists held above his head. He looked like he wanted to lunge at the gunman, and to hell with the consequences. Maybe he would have if he’d been alone. Instead, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Are you after my winnings?” he asked.

The man gave a harsh, nervous laugh that scared her as much as the gun. This guy was on the edge of doing something very foolish.

“You wish. You’re going to pay a lot more than any winnings. You’re going to pay for what you did to my brother,” the attacker bit out.

“Who is your brother?”

“You damn well know.”

“Just tell me,” Noah said, sounding weary.

“Eddie Carlson.”

Noah sighed. “I’m sorry for what happened.”