Katherine Garbera - What Happens In Vegas...

He piloted them out of the marina toward the middle of the lake. The evening was nice and warm and a breeze stirred the short hair at the back of his neck. He glanced over at Shelby, still amazed that she’d taken the time to really find something that he liked to do this evening.

It hadn’t been a test for her. But if it had, she’d have passed. That scared him because there was so much he’d forgotten about Shelby. She made the world brighter and more exciting. Even when they were younger, it had been the same. She made him want to take bigger risks—and that was dangerous.

“Ever piloted a boat before?” he asked her. He needed her in his arms, closer to him.

“No. One time Paige and I catered a party for some suppliers that was on the lake.”

“Tell me about your business. To be honest, I was surprised when I realized you owned such a successful chain of lingerie stores.”

She bit her lower lip. He glimpsed a hint of sadness in her eyes before she turned away.

He scanned the area in front of them. No other sailors. He reached for her, pulling her around to face him. “I didn’t mean that as an insult. You just never seemed interested in anything like that when I knew you.”

“I know. I was only interested in you and having fun.”

“I think it’s safe to say we both shared those interests.”

She hugged her arms around her waist and stared up at him. “When I left with the money…I thought all my problems were solved. I couldn’t believe I had a million dollars. You can’t understand this, Hayden, but I never imagined I would see that much money. It felt almost unreal.”

“Just because I’ve always had money doesn’t mean I can’t understand that. What’d you do with the money?”

“I went on a shopping spree. Then about two days later I realized that everything I’d purchased would be gone eventually and I’d be back in the same boat and…”

He stopped the engine on the boat and dropped anchor. He couldn’t concentrate on Shelby and the boat simultaneously.

“What?”

“I couldn’t do that again, Hayden. Whatever else you believe about me, please know that leaving you was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”

He traced her jawline with his finger, realizing that in some ways, this strong independent woman was worlds too soft for him. Too innocent. Despite the fact that she’d left him, he knew that he and his father were to blame. When he’d started dating her to get at his father, he’d put her right in the middle of the power struggle they’d always engaged in.

“I know,” he said softly. “Tell me how you started your store.”

“Well, first I decided to go to college. Since I wasn’t going to be using my looks to make money, I figured I’d better use my brains.”

“It doesn’t have to be one or the other.”

“I know that now. But I was only twenty-two. You know, at the time I thought I was very mature. I mean, I knew things about life that other people didn’t. But there was still so much I didn’t know.”

Hayden nodded, realized what she was talking about. He, too, had felt he knew it all as a young man, and in retrospect he realized how little knowledge of life he’d really had.

She walked to the railing, glancing out at the deepening twilight. “I met Paige in college and we were both working in a chain lingerie store at the mall. We had this idea that kind of grew from that. Something more exclusive, more high end. Paige said we needed a French-sounding name because the French know everything about sex.”

Hayden laughed at that. Shelby did, too. “Paige is crazy sometimes with the things she says, but she was right. Since we’d both come into our money in unorthodox ways, I suggested calling the shop Bêcheur d’Or. Most consumers recognize the French word for gold and it gave us our brand. Those little gold bags set us apart from other shops, and the rest is history.”

“How did Paige come up with her share of the investment money?”

Shelby paused, eyeing him. “She was a wealthy man’s mistress for about a year. I don’t know the details.”

She stared as if she expected a cutting comment, but Hayden had heard it all, living in Vegas.

Hayden was impressed with what she’d made of her life. He was also a little leery of getting involved with Shelby again because she had vulnerabilities that he’d never really explored before. And he didn’t want to hurt her again.

Shelby hadn’t meant for the evening to get so serious. This night was supposed to be about him not her. They’d had a light dinner and now were sitting on the bow of the boat. She’d removed her shoes, dangling her feet over the water.

“What did you do today?” she asked.

“Meetings and the like.”

“Just casino business all day?” she asked, because it sounded as if he was hedging.

“No. I also went to a children’s facility that Deacon and I set up.”

“What kind of facility? Something for sick kids?”

“No. It’s for kids whose parents work in casinos. A place for them to hang out and be safe. Kind of like day care, but for older kids.”

“What do you do there?”

“Usually I spend my time climbing on the rock wall. We have a scoreboard that tracks times up and down. A lot of the regular kids like to challenge me.”

“Do you let them win?”

“Hell, no. What kind of lesson does that send to kids if you let them win?”

He had a point. “You like it.”

He tipped his head and looked her straight in the eye. “I didn’t expect to. But yeah, I do.”

She’d learned more about Hayden in the forty minutes they’d spent on the water than she had in the weeks she’d spent with him before he’d asked her to marry him. He was a deeply complex man, and a part of her worried she’d never be able to fulfill all his needs.

But she was willing to try. She was falling in love with him all over again. Only this time she knew it was the real thing. Not just a chimera shimmering in the distance. But something real and substantial. An emotion that would last for all time.

Hayden leaned back on his elbows, like some potentate. He was too sexy for his own good. She was still hot and restless from his hands on her in the car. It amazed her how easily he turned everything into something sensual.

“Were there film people in the casino today?”

He arched one eyebrow at her. “Your source is very well connected.”

She had to be careful about revealing the things Alan had told her. She wasn’t cut out for the kind of intrigue that this type of deception entailed.

“That was the buzz in the buffet,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound as defensive as she felt.

“I was joking with you. Not accusing you of anything. They weren’t film people. The Celebrity Poker Showdown is coming to film here next month.”

“Sounds exciting.”

“Do you watch it?” he asked.

She didn’t really spend much time at home. She was a workaholic who took time for the occasional opera performance and that was about it. “No, I’m really not much on TV. You?”

He shrugged, pushing himself up. “Not too much. I try to watch when I know Scott will be on.”

She shook her head at this second reminder of the differences in their lifestyles. “I can’t believe you know Scott Rivers personally.”

“Should I worry about that? I don’t really think of him as anything other than my friend who’s very good at bluffing.” There was complete honesty in Hayden at that moment and she knew that he didn’t view Scott Rivers any differently than he did her. Well, perhaps a little differently.

In Hayden’s voice she heard the affection he had for the man. She knew from the past and from what she was learning about the man he was today that he had few friends. He was nice to many people but he let few know him.