Terri’s body was lit up like the neon night in Vegas. She felt the buzz of expectation and knew that she wanted Cooper more now than she had before and that was really saying something.
She’d never been much of a gambler, so maybe here, with Cooper, she’d have a little beginner’s luck.
Seven
In all the times Terri had checked into hotels over the years, she’d never really thought about the whole process. She’d never make that mistake again.
Debra Vitale was the assistant manager, a woman in her fifties who’d been with the StarFire hotel for twenty years. She knew everything there was to know about her job and was patient enough to explain it all to Terri.
Debra even walked her through signing in a couple of guests on her own and Terri laughed with the incoming guests, explaining that she was new. And, with the helpful champagne served to those in line, people were, on the most part, patient. When her last guest left the counter, Terri turned to Debra.
“This is a lot more complicated than I ever realized.”
“It really is,” Debra said, smiling. “But you did a great job.”
“I don’t know about that, but—”
Two desks down from Terri, Brent, the reservations clerk who had checked her into the hotel just a few days ago, was talking to a young couple.
“I’m very sorry,” he said apologetically. “We simply don’t have a record of your reservation.”
Terri’s gaze shifted to the couple, each of them holding an untouched glass of champagne. The woman was desperately trying not to cry while her husband—Terri assumed he was her husband—looked frustrated with just a touch of helplessness.
Curious now, Terri started walking over, not surprised when Debra went with her. “Is there a problem?”
“Ms. Ferguson.” He said her name like a prayer of gratitude. “There seems to be a mistake here somewhere.”
“Who are you?” the man on the other side of the counter asked.
“I’m Terri Ferguson, one of the owners of the StarFire.” Wow, she hadn’t stumbled on those words at all. “How can I help?”
Almost at the end of his rope, the young man said, “We have a reservation here for a junior suite for two nights.” He handed over a printout of his confirmation. While Terri read it, he kept talking. “We’re on our honeymoon. Staying here two nights before we fly to Hawaii...” He took a breath and said, “I don’t know why you don’t have a record of it, but—”
Terri looked from him to the bride at his side and back again. Honeymooners. A twinge of sympathy grabbed her, then she asked Brent, “Have you checked everywhere?”
“Yes, ma’am, I have,” he said and Terri still didn’t like the sound of ma’am. “There’s no record of it and—” he lowered his voice “—we don’t have any junior suites available. They’re all booked.”
The lobby and casino were loud, as usual, but all Terri could hear was the quiet sniff of the bride as she fought back tears of disappointment. She knew that Brent and Debra were both watching her, to see how she handled this crisis, so Terri jumped right in.
“Okay,” she said, “have we got suites available on the VIP floors?”
Brent’s eyes widened, then as he understood where she was going with this, a slow smile curved his mouth until he was grinning at her. “Yes, ma’am, we do.”
Terri shot a quick look at Debra and saw the approval in the other woman’s eyes. That felt good. It would have convinced her, if she’d had any doubt at all, that she was doing the right thing. What good was owning a couple thousand hotels if you couldn’t give away a room now and then?
Brent turned to the computer, hit the keys like a concert pianist and a moment later confirmed, “We’ve got a two-bedroom suite ready on the twenty-second floor. It’s open for the next week.”
“Perfect,” Terri said and gave his hand a pat. “Print out some keys, will you? Oh, and refund their room deposit, as well. And, we’re not charging them for anything.”
His eyebrows shot up. “You want their entire stay comped?”
“Is that the word?” She smiled. “Then, yes. Comped. I think when your honeymoon starts off that badly, it takes a little magic to turn things around.”
He laughed to himself, shook his head and printed out a set of keys. Then he tucked them into a folder and handed it to her.
“While we’re at it,” Terri said, “have room service send up a dozen roses and a bottle of champagne. Oh, and good tickets to Darci’s show tonight.”
“I’ll take care of that,” Debra said, then murmured, “Well done, boss.”
Terri grinned.
Brent looked at her, approval clear on his features. “You are a great boss.”
“Thank you. Now, let’s get this new couple settled.” She motioned for the newlyweds to follow her down the length of the counter to the bell stand. There, she signaled one of the bellmen and said, “Please take Mr. and Mrs. Hunter to the twenty-second floor. Suite 2205.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Terri sighed. She was clearly going to have to get used to the ma’am thing. Turning to the Hunters, she handed the key packet to the brand-new husband. “We’ve given you a suite on the VIP floor—”
“We can’t afford that,” his wife said quickly.
“You don’t have to afford it,” Terri told her as the noise level around her rose and fell like waves. “Your stay is on the house.”
“What?” The new husband looked down at the folder in his hand, then lifted his gaze to Terri’s. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s simple.” Terri smiled at both of them, knowing exactly how they felt. It was almost impossible to compute when something completely out of the blue crashed down on you. “The StarFire wants to make it up to you for the reservation problem.”
He stared at her, clearly stunned. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Oh, my God,” his bride whispered.
“You don’t have to say anything. The StarFire is happy to make this right.” At least she was pretty sure Cooper would be good with it. And if he wasn’t, well, she was a partner, wasn’t she? “We wish you a long and happy marriage and a fabulous honeymoon.”
“Thank you,” the man said and held out one hand. “I can’t tell you how much we appreciate this.”
“You don’t have to try. Be sure to catch the show, too,” Terri said. “Darci Ryan is playing in the main theater tonight. The concierge will send your tickets up to the room.”
“Tickets to her concert, too?” The bride took a gulp of her champagne.
“This is—” Jack Hunter shook his head, lost for words.
Terri took advantage of his stunned silence. “While you’re here, we want you to enjoy yourselves and not worry about a thing.” Terri grinned at both of them and loved watching the succession of emotions that crossed their faces.
“I don’t know how to thank you,” the bride said softly. “You saved the honeymoon.”
Terri grinned. “We’re happy to help. Be sure to check out our restaurants. They’re pretty fabulous. Or room service if you prefer privacy. Just pay as a room charge and you’re set. Now, if you’ll go with the bellman, he’ll show you to your suite.”
The bride laughed in delight, threw herself at Terri and gave her a huge hug. “This is amazing. You’re amazing. And when we get back home, we’re going to tell everyone we’ve ever met to come to the StarFire. Thank you so much!”
Terri hugged her back, then released her. “You’re welcome. Enjoy your stay with us.”
“We absolutely will,” the groom assured her.
“If you’ll follow me...” The bellman took their luggage and started off across the lobby, headed for the private elevator.
Once they were gone, Terri headed back to reservations. She still had plenty to learn, but today was a good start.
/> * * *
Celeste watched the whole performance.
That’s how she thought of it. The eager young lovers, saddened and disappointed, and Terri Ferguson riding to the rescue. She hated that she admired what Terri had done.
Something she had noticed over the years: most people in positions of wealth and power lost all sense of the other people around them.
But Terri had seen the problem and solved it in a lovely way. The honeymooners were cooing at each other and laughing all the way across the lobby and Terri had given that to them. Maybe she was more than Celeste had assumed her to be. And maybe, once she became accustomed to this life, Terri would stop noticing people like the young couple she had just helped.
Celeste wondered, and found herself hoping Terri wouldn’t change. Looking at the couple again, she bit back a wave of envy so thick she could hardly draw a breath. She’d wanted that once. A shining kind of love that would last and grow warm as the first flash of heat dissipated. But the world in which she lived didn’t do love.
Instead, there were quick “relationships” that flamed out as spectacularly as they began. She’d had plenty of those over the years, and Celeste was forced to admit that the closest she’d ever come to more was when she’d been involved with Cooper. Maybe she’d have had a real chance there. But she’d tossed him and the idea of more away in favor of an old man with a title and a few more zeroes in his bank accounts. For all the good that had done her.
Her count had died two months before their wedding and his grown children hadn’t even waited until after the funeral to show her the door. And since he hadn’t changed his will, she’d been left nothing.
Now she was an aging supermodel with a limited number of years to build up her own bank accounts—or to find a man who could give her all of that and more. Was that man Cooper? She couldn’t be sure, but until she got rid of Terri, she’d never know.
Terri was younger than Celeste and it was a barb in the throat to realize that she looked it, as well. In her sunshine-yellow dress, Terri looked fresh, innocent almost. While only that morning, Celeste had found a few tiny lines at the corners of her eyes. Lines. Not wrinkles. She would never be wrinkled and lines could be dealt with.
But it was lowering to admit that time was finally catching up with her. Since she’d begun her modeling career fifteen years ago at seventeen, Celeste had been a star. People around the world knew her name and face. Feeling that power slowly coming to an end was something she hated to think about, let alone acknowledge. Men around the world had thrown themselves at her feet and she’d walked across them like rocks in a river, to get where she wanted to be.
Which was one reason she’d come back to Vegas.
Soon, her modeling career would end—either that or she’d be relegated to B-list jobs, which she wouldn’t tolerate. So she’d come to Vegas to take Cooper back. She’d planned to come in another month or so, but when Dave called to tell her about the new woman Cooper was interested in, Celeste had advanced her arrival.
Now it was time to make Cooper see that Terri would never truly belong in his world. Forcing a smile, she walked across the lobby, loving the slide of her black silk pants across her skin.
At the long, marble-topped counter, she caught Terri’s eye and motioned for her to come over.
“Celeste, hi. What’re you doing here?”
Around them, people noticed her, whispering, and Celeste instinctively posed for them, tossing her hair back from her face.
“I’ve come to take you shopping,” she said. “The hotel limo is waiting for us outside.”
“Oh. I can’t go now. I’m really busy here and—”
“Terri,” Celeste sighed a little. Was the woman really this earnest? “You are the owner. You may come and go as you please. And as the owner, you need to go shopping. You have a responsibility to look the part you’re living.”
Terri looked down at her simple yellow dress and then to Celeste. “I could use some new things, I suppose. I’m going to dinner with Cooper tonight and—”
Celeste used every ounce of her legendary self-control to hide the irritation she felt at Terri’s statement. A dinner date with Cooper. To be followed, no doubt, by simple Utah sex.
All the better, she told herself. This was the plan. Celeste Vega was an experienced, wildly inventive lover. Once Cooper had slept with Terri, and indulged in vanilla sex, the pretty blonde would never hold up in comparison to Celeste.
“Excellent. Let’s go, then.” Celeste started walking, fully expecting Terri to follow her. The quick click of heels against the glimmering floor tiles behind her, told Celeste she was right. “I thought we’d start at the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian.”
“We have shops here in the StarFire, too.”
“Yes, but we can’t ride in the limo to these shops. Or drink the champagne waiting for us.”
Terri laughed a little at that, then said, “But I need my purse. My credit cards...”
“You must start thinking like the owner of the StarFire,” Celeste ordered, threading her arm through Terri’s just to keep her walking. “You’ll charge everything to the hotel and have it delivered to your suite.”
“Oh, but—”
“In this,” Celeste commanded, “trust me.”
Two hours later Celeste had to admit that she’d enjoyed herself more than she had expected to. Usually, the people Celeste was with had their own agendas. Terri didn’t. She didn’t want anything from her. Wasn’t trying to use her to advance her career. She was...nice. Sweet, even.
And that in itself was enough to make Celeste feel off balance.
“Is it always like this for you?” Terri asked.
“What do you mean?” Leaving the Grand Canal Shoppes, where cobblestone paths wended past tidy shops where flowers spilled in bright splashes of color, they walked across one of the stone bridges that spanned a canal where gondolas sailed. October sunshine was warm, but not hot, and a soft wind blew in from the desert.
“People have been taking pictures of you for the past couple of hours.”
“Oh.” Strange, she’d hardly noticed. Was it that Celeste was just so used to the attention? Or had she been having such a good time, it hadn’t registered? “Yes, it’s one of the downsides of celebrity. You can’t even leave your house without makeup on or you’re on the front page of a tabloid looking like the wrath of God.”
“It’s gotta be weird to live like that, isn’t it? You can’t even go shopping without being watched.” Terri smiled tightly at a woman aiming her phone at them. “It’s like you’re never really alone.”
“You get used to it.”
“I don’t think I could.”
“I didn’t either, once,” Celeste admitted, remembering a younger version of herself who had railed against every tiny dig into her privacy. “And now I don’t remember what it was like to be invisible.”
Terri shifted one of her shopping bags to her right hand. Celeste noticed. “You could have had those bags delivered to the hotel along with the rest.”
Smiling, Terri said, “I know, but I just wanted to carry the red dress and shoes with me. I’ve never owned anything so gorgeous and you know, I wouldn’t have bought that dress if you weren’t there. Incredible how expensive it was considering there’s so little fabric to it.”
Celeste laughed. “It looked wonderful on you.” Too good, actually, but if she was to get Cooper’s attention back on her, then she needed him to get Terri into his bed so he could be bored.
Hmm. Perhaps Dave was right after all. Her plan did sound wildly convoluted. But she was committed now.
“Do you like it?” Terri asked. “The attention?”
Celeste looked at her and saw genuine interest in Terri’s eyes. She couldn’t remember the last time she and one of her “friends” had had a real conversation. Usually, it was about
this man or that party. But Terri had been talking to her for two solid hours, asking questions and actually listening to the answers.
And Celeste wasn’t sure what to do with that. Terri wasn’t really her friend. Celeste didn’t have friends anymore. She had air-kissed strangers flitting in and out of her life and she’d become so accustomed to that superficial life, Celeste hardly knew how to respond to reality.
“If I didn’t like being noticed,” she finally said, “I went into the wrong business.”
“I suppose.” Terri lifted the bags she held and changed the subject. “Anyway, I appreciate you taking me shopping.”
“It was fun,” Celeste said, again surprising herself with the admission. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d enjoyed herself so much. Terri talked to everyone. Salespeople, tourists, other shoppers. The barista who’d prepared their cappuccinos had been half in love with her by the time they left.
Celeste had signed autographs for a couple of people and then laughed with Terri over some truly hideous fashion offerings in the shops. She’d told her about growing up in San Diego, California, and how she’d been “discovered” by a modeling agent while she was playing volleyball at the beach. Terri had told her all about growing up in Utah and had made it sound lovely enough that Celeste was tempted to go and see it for herself.
All in all, it had been a very different kind of afternoon for Celeste. Spending time with another woman without the inherent jealousy and backbiting of her profession had been...fun. And there was that word again.
Yes. She was definitely unsettled.
The StarFire limo was waiting for them and within fifteen minutes, the two women had been whisked back to the hotel. In the lobby, Terri gave her a tight hug. “Thanks so much, Celeste. It was good to get out of the hotel and feel a little normal—even if this is a brand-new kind of normal. I’m still sort of having a heart attack over the prices of these things.”
Tempt Me in Vegas Page 10
