Long legs, expensive silk hose and the kind of hips that
he could sink his fingers into. She had it all. She always
had. Hayden still couldn't believe Shelby Anne Paxton was
here in his kingdom. He'd never thought to see her again.
Her calves were well formed, tapering down to trim ankles
and a pair of stilettos that sent his libido into
overdrive.
The Chimera Hotel and Casino was his life. The 24/7 world
of Vegas had always been his home. He wouldn't do anything
to jeopardize the success of the hotel and casino. He'd
sacrificed to make it into one of the premier destinations
on the Vegas Strip.And he owed it all to this woman who
hadn't believed in him and to his father.
Hayden had made the Chimera the number-one casino in Vegas
to prove that their lack of faith wasn't an obstacle in
getting what he wanted from life.
His entire operation was first-class, right down to the
hotel's own shopping wing, which housed only sophisticated
retailers. Always expanding and changing, it was about to
add Bรชcheur d'Or, a high-end lingerie boutique.
Bรชcheur d'Or was on the fast track to the top. It's
owners, Paige Williams and Shelby, had been profiled in
Entrepreneur magazine earlier this year. Apparently Shelby
had made more of his money than he'd ever expected her to.
But it had been Paige with whom he'd spoken to cinch the
deal, and Paige with whom he'd met to sign the contract.
Funny that Shelby had shown up here and now, especially
considering he'd never expected her back in Vegas after
she'd left him standing at the altar.
A long, low wolf whistle jolted Hayden back to the present
and the hallway outside the newest merchandise location at
the Chimera. "Well, well, well. What have we here?"
Hayden turned to see the tall, lean, dark-haired form of
his best friend stroll up. Pain tightened in his gut. He
didn't want even Deacon Prescott to know who this woman
was. He'd simply referred to her as the gold digger that
one time he'd gotten drunk and talked to Deacon about his
marriage.
Hayden glanced at Deacon and fought the surge of
possessiveness swamping him. "You're a married man."
"Definitely. But that doesn't mean I'm dead. Besides,
Kylie knows I'd never stray."
Deacon and Kylie had been married for almost two years now
and things were going well. They were the exception to
Hayden's golden rule that marriage was a business deal.
"No, you wouldn't," Hayden said more to himself than to
Deacon. Deacon had found something that Hayden would never
admit he'd once wanted. His friend had found forever love
and happiness. As for Hayden...well, he'd learned his
lesson long ago.
Still, Hayden didn't begrudge his friend. Deacon had come
a long way from the man Hayden had first met several years
ago. A long way from the mob enforcer who'd wanted to go
straight, longing for a better life that he didn't know
how to find. Now Deacon owned the Golden Dream, a very
successful resort and casino that was second only to the
Chimera in terms of success.
Deacon had also found love and seemed to buy into the
whole illusion of it since his marriage. Hayden knew
better then to try it himself.
He wished the ending for his own story had been as happy,
but reality had a way of making sure the scales were kept
firmly balanced. And to Hayden's way of thinking, if you
grew up with every luxury money could buy but a father who
couldn't seem to love you, then something had to give. For
Hayden it had always been the softer things.
"Are you going to go inside or just stand in the doorway?"
Deacon asked.
Normally he'd walk on by, but not today. "I'm waiting for
the right moment."
"And that would be when?" Deacon asked.
"When you get the hell out of here."
"You didn't leave me alone when I went after Kylie."
"Hey, we had a bet. I had to keep tabs on you," Hayden
said. He'd bet Deacon that Kylie wouldn't marry him. It
was one of the few times that Hayden had lost when he'd
gambled, but he hadn't minded the loss.
"Want to make another wager?" Deacon asked. "Only this
time โ"
"I'm not looking for Ms. Right like you were."
"Why aren't you, Mac?" Deacon asked. His friend always
called him by that nickname. It was a holdover from when
they'd first met and Deacon had needled Hayden about being
the "Mac Daddy." The big guy with lots of cash.
"You know I already tried marriage and didn't find it to
my liking," he said, playing off the incident as if it
were nothing more than a minor inconvenience, instead of a
life-defining moment.
"But you didn't make it to the finish line, so to speak,"
Deacon said.
"I got close enough," Hayden said. No woman was ever again
going to get him to stand in front of a church full of his
friends and family and wait for her. There were few
feelings he could recall as clearly as the humiliation and
anger that had simmered in his gut as he'd faced all of
his guests and told them that the bride wasn't coming.
Was it getting closer to forty that was catching up with
him or was it Deacon's happy union?
"That doesn't mean it won't work with another woman. This
one looks fine."
"Deacon, stop staring at her ass or I'm going to send the
surveillance video to Kylie."
Deacon put his hands up and backed away. "I thought you
might want a little of the good life."
"I think I've already got it."
"Yeah, well, if you change your mind, I'm here and I've
got good advice."
"On what?"
"Romance."
"I don't need advice from you, Prescott."
Deacon flipped him the finger and walked away. Hayden
leaned against the wall opposite the glass store-front,
continuing to watch the lady unpack her boxes. Damn it had
been a long time since any woman had gotten to him like
this. Why did it have to be Shelby?
He couldn't stand outside her shop forever, so he pushed
away from the wall and entered.
She straightened and her auburn hair fell in waves down
the middle of her back. She had a phone tucked between her
shoulder and ear as she pulled items from the open box.
"I haven't seen him yet. I'll check in on Friday like we
planned. Please don't call me again."
She disconnected the call, turned on her heel and froze.
Her jaw dropped and he knew she'd spotted him. Her face
went pale as she reached behind her and braced one hand on
the countertop, on top of her cell phone.
He walked through the room with a long, easy stride that
he strove to keep nonchalant. He schooled his features and
forced himself to treat her the way he'd treat any other
businessperson who'd leased space from him. He wasn't a
first-rate gambler for nothing. He knew how to bluff with
the best and how to keep his emotions under wraps.
But he couldn't resist slipping his hand deep into his
left pocket and rubbing the top of his left thigh where he
had a tiny tattoo of a medieval knight's fist wrapped
around a bleeding heart. It was his constant reminder that
he no longer allowed his emotions to be a part of his
sexual relationships.
It took a lot of guts for Shelby to come back to Vegas
after what she'd done. It took the kind of gall of someone
who had nothing left to lose. And she'd not only come back
to his home turf but taken up residence in his kingdom.
She was still the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. But
she'd changed. Before, she'd been kind of wild โ more
untamed. The kind of woman who'd made his dad crazy
because she was obviously eye candy.
God, he'd been an ass when he was younger. He hoped like
hell that Shelby hadn't been aware of that part of him.
But he suspected she must've been. Otherwise why would she
have taken the million dollars his dad offered and left
him?
"What are you doing here?" he asked silkily.
"I own this place," she said.
God, her voice was still soft and sweet. Everything he
remembered about her was the same. She still looked twenty-
two. It wasn't fair that time had been so kind to her.
He'd be able to handle this reunion a lot better if she'd
gained weight, had gray hair, something like that.
"I meant in Vegas," he said, leaning in closer and putting
his hands on either side of her, caging her between his
body and the counter. Ten years had passed, but right now
it felt as if she'd just left him. That had been more than
enough time to get rid of any lingering anger, but seeing
her again had brought it all to the fore. He wasn't ready
to let her go.
He'd never forgotten Shelby's voice. The way it sounded
when she was happy. The way it deepened when she came in
his arms. Or the way she'd sounded on the phone during
that hurried conversation when she'd explained that she
had to leave.
"I'm working," she said now.
"I remember a girl who used to say she'd never work a day
in her life."
"I changed my mind. Money has a way of running out."
"Even the cool million you took from my dad?" he asked.
But when he saw the color leave her face and watched her
pupils dilate, he didn't have the rush of adrenaline that
he'd thought he'd feel. Instead he felt big and mean, like
the bully his father had always been.
"Of course it did," she said. But inside, a part of her
was aching. It had been easy to forget the implications of
what she'd done while she'd lived on the East Coast.
Distance had provided a kind of barrier for her.
Shelby Anne Paxton stared at the man she'd almost married
for his money. She'd been looking for a rich boy to marry
and Hayden had been looking for a nice-looking girl to
annoy his dad. She couldn't explain it even now, but
there'd been a connection between the two of them that
she'd always thought went deeper than his money and her
looks.
He'd changed in the last ten years but not nearly enough.
He still had a thick head of dark hair that curled
rakishly over one eye. He had bright blue eyes that had
always been able to see past her defenses, and thick lips
that made her remember how they'd felt on hers.
Damn, where had that come from? "Did you know this was my
hotel?" he asked. "Yes, I did," she said softly. There was
no way she was going to tell him that his father had flown
to Atlanta and suggested she bid for this location.
Suggested was really too nice a term for what he'd done.
Alan MacKenzie had practically blackmailed her into coming
back here. He'd threatened to leak the information about
her gold-digging past to several magazines. Bรชcheur d'Or
was gaining an international reputation for class, and the
last thing she needed was negative exposure. But Alan had
also dangled a carrot โ he'd offered her anything she
wanted, within reason, if she agreed. Shelby knew he
expected her to ask for money.
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