Stella Bagwell - Daddy's Double Duty

Vanessa’s cynical remark was still dangling in the air between them when the waitress arrived with their drinks and salads. After the young woman served them and went on her way, he could feel Vanessa’s gaze on him and he paused from the task of stirring sugar into his tea to glance at her. Clearly, from the expression on her face, she wanted to speak her mind about something.

“What?” he prompted.

She hesitated before giving her head a slight shake. The gentle waves of hair lying on her shoulders shook with the movement as did the blue teardrops dangling from her earlobes. Suddenly Conall was wondering how it would feel to thrust his fingers into her silky hair, to nibble on the perfect little shell of her ear.

“I don’t know how to say this, Conall, without making you angry.”

Trying to concentrate on her words instead of the erotic images in his mind, he asked, “What makes you think I’ll be angry? I’ve not gotten angry with you yet, have I?”

He would admit that he often got frustrated with business dealings and the roadblocks he encountered while dealing with the multitudes of details that went into managing a ranch the size of the Diamond D. But he’d never gotten upset with Vanessa. She’d always given more than a hundred percent to her job and he appreciated her effort.

She reached for the pepper shaker and shook it vigorously over her salad. “Because you’re going to think I’m ungrateful. And I’m not. I’m actually very indebted to you for making this trip with me and… everything else you’ve taken care of. But I—”

A faint smile curled up one corner of his mouth.

“You don’t want me telling you how to take care of the twins or what you might need in your personal life.

Is that it?”

She studied him for a long moment and then laughed softly under her breath. Conall likened the sound to sweet music.

“That’s about it,” she answered.

Amused by her streak of independence, he finished stirring his tea. “In other words, while we’re on this trip I need to forget that I’m your boss and you’re my secretary.”

The tip of her tongue came out to moisten her lips and Conall found himself gazing at the damp sheen it left behind. What would she taste like? he wondered. Honey? Wine? Or simply all woman? He certainly didn’t need to know. But he sure as hell wouldn’t mind making the effort to find out.

She said, “Uh, well, I suppose that’s a way of putting it.”

The smile on his face deepened and he realized with a start that he was flirting. Something he’d not done in years or, for that matter, even wanted to do.

“Good,” he said.

One of her winged brows shot upward. “Good? I thought you were a man who always wanted to be the boss.”

Chuckling softly, he reached across the table and enfolded her small hand with his. “Not tonight. I’d rather just be a man having dinner with a beautiful woman. What do you think about that?”

She grimaced, but he could see a faint swathe of pink rushing over her cheeks and her breasts rising and falling with each quick intake of breath. The notion that he was affecting her, even in this small way, was like a heady drink of wine to him, and in the far back of his mind, he wondered what was coming over him. Clearly he wasn’t himself. He’d not been himself since yesterday when he’d walked through the office and found Vanessa with tears on her cheeks.

“I think there’s something about this town that makes people forget who and what they are. But I never thought you’d be the type to fall prey to its lure,” she said dryly. “The next thing I know you’ll be saying we should take a stroll down the strip and take in the lights.”

“Hmm. That’s a great idea. We’ll go as soon as we finish eating.”

Less than an hour later, after the two of them found a parking space and made their way to the busy sidewalks lining the city’s most famous boulevard, Vanessa was still wishing she’d kept her mouth shut. Spending time with Conall away from the office was something she’d often dreamed about, but she was smart enough to realize it was risky business.

In spite of what he’d said back at the restaurant, he was her boss and she depended on him for her livelihood. Allowing herself to think of him as anything more than the man who signed her paychecks would be like inviting trouble right through the front door. Yet here she was walking close to his side and enjoying every second of it.

“Is this the first time you’ve ever visited Las Vegas?” Vanessa asked as they slowly made their way southward along the busy sidewalk running adjacent to the congested street.

“No. Believe it or not, I was here once with my parents. We’d gone out to Santa Anita to watch one of our horses run in a graded stakes race. On the way back Mom wanted to stop off and play the slots. So Dad and I endured while she had fun.”

The night had cooled to a balmy temperature and as the light wind caressed her face, Vanessa realized this was the first time she’d relaxed since she’d gotten the call from Hope’s lawyer.

“You don’t like to gamble?” she asked.

“Not that much.”

She smiled with amused disbelief. “How can you say that, Conall? You’re in the racehorse business. That’s a big, big gamble.”

He chuckled. “That’s true. But in my business I pretty much know what I’m investing in. At least I can see my venture and put my hands on it.” He gestured to one of the massive casinos to their right. “In there you’re placing your money on pure chance.”

“Like the stock market,” she joked.

“Exactly,” he said with another short laugh, then added, “I didn’t realize you could be a funny girl.”

“I have my moments.”

She was thinking what a nice deep laugh he had and how much she enjoyed hearing it when his arm suddenly slid around the back of her waist and drew her even closer to his side. The sudden contact nearly took her breath, yet she did her best to hide the havoc he was causing inside her. After all, she wasn’t that same teenager who’d had such a crush on him so many years ago. She’d grown up, dated, married and divorced. Men weren’t a big deal to her anymore. Or so she’d believed. Until tonight. When Conall had suddenly started to treat her like a woman instead of a secretary.

“Even though it’s not my cup of tea, I have to admit there’s something magical about this town. Do you miss all this?” he asked, as he gestured toward the elaborately designed buildings, the endless lights and the bumper-to-bumper traffic on the strip.

“No. I never was into the bright lights and glamour of this place. I only saw it as a town of opportunities. And I took them. Before I ever left the valley, I decided if I had to work my way through college waitressing, I might as well do it where I could make the most money.”

“I certainly don’t blame you for that.”

No. He wouldn’t, Vanessa thought. He was the sort of person who never looked down on anyone because they had less than him. And he admired any person who worked hard for a living.

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