Susannah Scott - Luck of the Dragon

“Mary, Joseph, and Peter.” She broke away and wiped the back of her mouth with a shaky hand. She was hot, under her skin, in her veins, like she would burst into flames. Sweat dotted her forehead and she wiped that away, too.

“What was that about?” Alec held his hands away from his sides in question.

“It was just a kiss.” Lucy smiled but her mouth trembled. She shook her head and laughed, and the carefree sound bounced around the room with a maniacal lilt.

“It was not just a kiss.”

She ignored his confusion and carefully put the contract and thumb-printed glasses into her briefcase. She had her print. Joey would be safe while she spent some quality time at the spa with a gorgeous man. She could reschedule their flight to tomorrow. The day couldn’t get any better. She might even have to relax a little…Explore the tingling that Alec started every time he touched her.

“I need to take my briefcase to my car and make a call,” Lucy said. And make a pit stop in the women’s bathroom on the first floor where Gino was expecting the print drop.

“I can send someone for you.”

“No, no I don’t want to bother anyone.”

“It’s no bother.” Alec frowned and opened the curtain behind the table. Blue Nevada sky stretched in every direction.

Lucy stared at the top of the New York, New York replica of the Statue of Liberty, and her head spun a warning dial. “How high up are we?”

“130 stories.” Alec opened the sliding door and stepped onto an open porch. His shoulders veed to muscled hips, his legs shifted with animal-like grace. He turned in a circle with his arms wide, as if he wanted to jump off. “I need a little air.”

“Be careful.” Lucy’s brain whiplashed from pleasure to panic, reactions she could not control. She needed to get away from the porch, hunch against an interior wall, lie down on the ground. She took a step backward, then another. “Heights really do bother me.”

Alec frowned, then stepped inside and latched the door. “It’s okay.”

“A walk to my car would do me some good.”

He steadied her arm. “If you insist.”

Alec’s tone sounded suspicious, and Lucy’s eyes snapped to his face. Did he know? Was he just playing along? Had her elation clouded her judgment?

What if it was all a gilded trap?

In the entryway of The Cathedral Spa, Lucy paused. The spa took up two floors and was made with stone arches and balustrades, making it look like a medieval cathedral. Along the exterior wall were authentic flying buttresses resembling those at Notre Dame. A stream, complete with foot bridges and waterfalls, wound through the entry and disappeared beside an arched doorway. The sound of birds, real birds singing, twittered through the air.

“I’ve read about this place,” Lucy said to Jane, Alec’s always-handy assistant.

Jane nudged her forward to the front desk. “It’s only been open for a month, but it has already received a five-star rating from Condé Nast and the Refined Traveler .”

A limestone balcony peeked above their heads, and colored cushions and Persian carpets accented serene seating areas. Stained glass panels with pictures of colorful dragons in flight and woodland and meadow scenes adorned arched windows. The effect was like being inside a glittering jewelry box. Lucy’s fingers curled with pleasure.

“This is Dr. De Luca,” Jane said to a woman dressed in light green medical scrubs. “Mr. Gerald will be joining her for a morning of services.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The woman typed on her computer. “Rosa and Lilly Belle are ready for them now.”

“I’m not much for facials and pedicures,” Lucy warned the anxious-to-please attendant. The woman just smiled and looked unconcerned.

“I’ll have suitable clothing sent up for the rest of the day. Size 8, petite?” Jane asked.

Lucy nodded. It seemed Jane was less friendly than before, but it was hard to tell beneath her overly professional manner. “I’ve never spent the day in a spa before. This wasn’t my idea.”

“Try to enjoy yourself anyway. Before we enticed Rosa away from the Venetian, she had a five-month waiting list.” Jane left, her closed-toe heels tap-tapping across the cobblestones to the elevator.

“This way.” The attendant led her along the stream, through the limestone arch, and into a private locker room. She handed Lucy a fluffy white robe and rhinestone flip-flops. Lucy looked at the sparkly shoes. Pure paste. Really, someone should complain about the quality of their fake jewels. Lucy smiled wide and kicked off her practical shoes.

“It’s lovely, isn’t it? I’ve worked in three spas, and this one is the best.” The attendant pointed through an iron gate. “You’ll join Mr. Gerald for your services in the atrium.”

“What services?”

“You’ll start with steam therapy and then have a hot stone massage, followed by aqua therapy. Mr. Gerald has arranged for you to have a mani pedi and facial at the end of the morning.”

“Mr. Gerald isn’t staying to have his nails done?”

“No.” The woman seemed slightly appalled at the idea and turned to leave. “You can put your clothes in the locker.”

“Wait,” Lucy called. Lucy didn’t like being naked with her gynecologist. She was way more than just uncomfortable about being anywhere near Alec Gerald naked. “What clothes am I changing into?”

The woman paused with her hand on the door. “Most people prefer to be nude. You’ll be completely alone.”

“With Mr. Gerald and Rosa.”

“And his masseuse.” The woman tilted her head politely. “I can get you a swimsuit if you would prefer it?”

“Yes, thank you.”

The woman nodded and left.

Lucy folded her clothing, feeling as if she were shedding her armor. She tucked her lacy bra and panties inside her folded suit and pulled on the soft robe. It fit her perfectly, making her wish she had a book, a couch, and a lounge chair under a sunbeam.

No doubt, Gino was discovering the changed codes to the exhibit room and would want her to steal another keycard. But he couldn’t get to her here, ensconced with Alec in a medieval world. Just for this day, she would escape her troubles.

The attendant returned with a scrap of a red bathing suit with the tag still on it.

Lucy stretched out the string bikini. The bottom was a tiny cloth triangle held together with leather buckles. The top was strapless with a buckle between the breasts. The price tag said $323.50.

“You’ve got to be joking.”

You can’t even get leather wet, her mind protested. It could probably only be worn once. Her normal suits were a la Targét, $29.99 at the most, and they worked just fine. And she could wear them until they wore out.

Pulling off the tag and putting the suit on, Lucy glanced in the mirror. She looked and felt as if she could be on the Gold Coast of Spain, except for her scout–troop-leader hair. She considered taking it down but decided it might provide some semblance of normalcy to the surreal experience. Best to not get too soft and mushy.

She slipped on the flip-flops and moseyed to the atrium—and found her sunbeam.

Sunlight poured through the glass-vaulted ceiling, casting a rainbow on the tiles below. The stream bubbled and rushed to a waterfall next to her, and chimes danced somewhere on an artificial wind.

Alec reclined on a chaise, wearing a black robe. He smiled when he saw her and stood as she approached. “Here you are.” His black robe parted at his chest, showing hard pec muscles and dark hair that trailed down to his chest. Something twisted below her own navel, tight and needy. “How do you like the spa so far?”