Knight in Cowboy Boots: International Billionaires X: The Latinos
Page 7
“You searched for me, though, didn’t you?” When she flashed him a wary look, he knew he had at least one of her secrets. “Liked what you found?”
“No, not at all.” She tried to bluster like her father and Nick thought it infinitely adorable. “I came here this morning on a mission, and it’s easy enough to get by security if you know what to say, bucko.”
A surprised laugh burst from him. He hadn’t been called that since he was a gangly kid learning how to ride a horse. “What did you call me?”
A warm flush rose from her neck, turning her cheeks rosy. Her amber freckles glowed like little flecks of starlight. Unwillingly, grudgingly, he was enchanted by her.
The awareness made him rear back and let her hand go.
“Thanks.” Sarcasm ripened her tone and those long legs of hers carried her away.
Although the enchantment with her continued to roar through his blood, he couldn’t afford to lose this opportunity. If his instincts were correct, Clyde McDowell had only months to live, and according to the contract he’d signed, he had to have this woman as his wife before that happened. “Wait.”
Her straight shoulders gave him a stiff shrug and her pace didn’t slow.
Everything in him rose. His pride, a pride he’d resurrected out of the shadows of his childhood. His arrogance, an arrogance he’d cultivated as he ascended the ladders of success and wealth. Lastly, to his stunned surprise, his cock.
¿Qué demonios?
He hadn’t experienced a sudden erection in the middle of a conversation in years. Not since he’d been a randy teenager had he suffered such a violent, immediate need for a female. He was attracted to this woman. Sincerely and seriously.
He didn’t do sincere.
He also didn’t do serious.
But he had to follow her and catch her. Win her.
Throwing open his door, she strode through his secretary’s office into the empty hall leading to the stairs going to the main lobby.
An idea shot through him. It was early in the morning, still, there was never a bad time to play a game. He charged behind her and caught up just as she reached the security station. Ignoring him, she sailed past the puzzled guard and started toward the wide, carpeted stairs.
Nick stopped to give his security guy a hard look. Although Jessica was an exception, this man didn’t know it. And security was of the highest importance.
“Sorry, sir.” The guard shuffled in place. “But she had your business card with your writing—”
“On the back of it giving access.” He’d forgotten. There’d been the meeting with Clyde when he’d understood where the old man was going. He’d been so excited, he’d handed over direct entry. The wily man must have given the card to his daughter. Both McDowells were smart. He needed to remember that. “Just her. Got it? No one else.”
“Right, sir. Got it.”
Before he lost her, Nick raced down the stairs, following the bobbing head of red hair. She was easy to spot, not only because of the lack of crowds, but by the way she moved. She loped into the casino as if she were the winner of the Kentucky Derby taking a winning stroll across the racetrack. Those long legs of hers swung like a filly who’d learned to run and was liking how it felt.
He caught her again just before she hit the elevators going up to the suites.
He grabbed her hand tight.
Stopping short, she turned another of her patented glares on him. “I’m going to have breakfast with my father.”
“How about playing a game first?” He laced his fingers through hers and was fascinated to realize hers were almost as long as his. His lusty brain immediately flashed an image of their legs entwining together. Would they also fit as well as their fingers?
His cock roared its need and a line of sweat popped up along his spine.
He wanted to know. Badly.
“What?” A frown crossed her brow. “What do you mean?”
“Do you know how to play poker?”
“Poker?” Her frown deepened. “At seven-thirty in the morning?”
“Yep.” Tugging her, he moved toward the private room he’d designed for the high rollers who regularly came to town to participate in Devil Skye’s monthly competitions. “Come and see.”
“No one’s going to want to play poker at this time of the day,” she grumbled behind him. Yet, she came with him, like she was as intrigued with him as he was with her.
The thought made the excitement in his blood soar.
“Here we are.” Swiping his security card, he swung sleek double doors open to the casino’s masterpiece. A room he was entirely responsible for.
He flicked on the lights.
A gasp whispered from behind him.
The giant square chandelier sported hundreds of glass tubes, long slices of crystal hanging down into the room like otherworldly teardrops. The light glistened off the barreled ceiling lined with alternating slabs of platinum and silver. In the center of the room lay a wide, oblong table of black onyx with ten chairs circling it. There was no other furniture to distract the eye.
Nick flipped another light on.
A shot of LED lights rippled around the underside of the table like a neon wave of blue.
“Wow. That’s an amazing effect.” Her voice finally held something more than disgust or frustration. It held true admiration.
He felt like he’d climbed a mountain. There were more challenges in front of him before winning this woman, he knew that. He’d learned, though, to take a victory and savor. Turning, he flashed her a delighted grin. “It’s pretty cool, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” A reluctant smile, but a smile nevertheless, crossed her wide mouth. “It’s very cool.”
Pulling her into the room, he closed the door behind them, shutting off the low roar of the one-armed bandits and the lingering crowds. “This is reserved for only the most important guests.”
“I’m an important guest, huh?” The flick of a tease mixed with disbelief lined her words.
“Yeah.” He stopped at the edge of the table and pulled out a chair for her. “Sit.”
Her expression grew frosty. “I don’t take orders well. Especially from a stranger.”
He met her challenge face-on. “We’re not really strangers, are we? We’ve met now…three times?”
“Strangers.” The label came from her, stout and sure.
“Naw.” Not letting her hand go because he wasn’t sure of what she would do if he did, he slipped his other hand into his pocket and pulled out his cell. He needed reinforcements to distract her. “I’ll admit, we don’t know each other well—”
“At all.”
“Yet.” He slid his finger across the surface of his phone. “Maggie.”
“Where are you?” his PA said, bewilderment in her voice. “You’re always in your office at this time of day.”
Nick wouldn’t characterize himself as predictable. In fact, he was anything but in most areas of his life. Still, he was businesslike in his habits. He’d learned to be to achieve success. He learned to do his numbers and projections in the morning when his mind was fresh. Things like wheeling and dealing came later. He could do those things in his sleep. So it was no surprise that Maggie was surprised. “I’m in the private poker room.”
“What?” His assistant’s bewilderment turned to bafflement.
“With Jessica.”
“Is that true?” Instantly, she turned curious. “What are you both doing in there?”
He laughed as his imagination prodded his cock. He had an instant image of lifting this woman next to him onto the table and doing. Knowing he was nowhere near making that happen at this point only made him more determined. First steps, however. “Want to play poker with us?”
Before Maggie could respond, another phone jingled in the room. Jessica made a face before attempting to tug her hand from his. “Do you mind?”
“Use your other hand like I did.” He wasn’t letting her go. His gut told him she’d fly.
“Invite him here.”
“Huh?”
“We need four to play a good hand of poker,” he explained. “Is this the bodyguard who was with you at the bookstore?”
“Yes,” she said slowly.
“The one that glared at me like he’d enjoy cutting off my legs at the knees?”
Her eyes widened.
Then, she laughed. A clear, cool, pure peal of delight that shot through him like a splash of clean water, washing away the hot desert inside.
“Nicky,” Maggie’s voice rolled into his ear. “I like her already.”
Sí. That was the trouble.
So did he.
Chapter 7
“You’re cheating,” Jessica accused.
“He’s really not.” His assistant, an older lady who she’d liked immediately, sighed. “He does this all the time.”
Peter slapped his hand of cards on the table with a sniff. “I don’t know why I’ve just spent two hours of my day losing money to this guy.”
This guy smiled, a cunning grin meant to lure them farther into his trap. “You might win the next hand. You never know.”
“How do you do it?” She narrowed her eyes at him and his smile. “What are you doing to win most of the time?”
Nick slid back in his seat, a casual, nonchalant pose that was at odds with his white silk shirt, gray linen suit, and navy Brooks Brothers tie. He looked like a banker or a financier. But a vital energy poured from him, making her think dirty, dangerous thoughts about seeing him naked.
“I count the cards,” he flipped the answer at her with a careless spin.
“What does that mean?” she asked.
“You never told me you did that.” Maggie’s face creased in surprise. “Isn’t that cheating?”
“No, it’s not. It’s taking an advantage where you can get it.”
Peter snorted. “I say it’s cheating.”
Jessica swung her head around to stare at her guard. “You know what counting the cards means?”
“I wasn’t born yesterday.” He flashed a grim look at the other man sitting at the table, reminding her of his view of Nick Townsend.
Her bodyguard and friend had good instincts. Hell, she had good instincts and she knew Nick was trouble. Notice how he’d so easily sidetracked her in his office when she’d been determined to dig to the bottom of whatever pit her father and this man had dug. She’d walked into that room sure she’d figure how to ferret the information out of Nick Townsend.
Except within minutes his laughter and teasing had driven her away, flustered.
Then, he compounded her confusion by luring her into this splendid room, blinding her with his brilliant smile and gorgeous poker table. She should have gone to her room, but she’d ended up here with him. He continually drew her attention and continually got around her will and made her do things she shouldn’t do.
Like play poker in the morning.
Like ignore her father.
“I should go.” She stood with an abrupt jerk. “My dad is probably wondering where I am.”
“I told him where you were before I came here,” Peter said, his words edged with disgust. “He isn’t worried.”
He didn’t say it, though he didn’t have to. Her friend thought her father should be worried about her being around Nick. He hadn’t liked the guy the moment he’d seen him, and apparently, two hours of contact hadn’t changed his mind.
“There, you see?” Her tempter threw her another of his charming smiles. “Nothing to worry about.”
“I still think—”
“If you sit down again, I’ll show you how to count the cards,” he purred his allure across the table; a subtle, silky taunt. “Come on. I know you want to know.”
She did want to know. Her curiosity always bloomed when she was confronted with something she couldn’t instantly puzzle out. It was one of the characteristics that most irritated her father. Perhaps at one point, he’d been more willing to explore and change, but she’d arrived in his life when he’d been forty. The subsequent years had only solidified Clyde McDowell’s need for comfort and predictability.
“Jessie.” The devilish man on the other side of the poker table cradled the nickname. Softened the beginning with his accent and then slowly hissed the S out in a long, light swipe at her pride.
“All right.” Going against every one of her good intentions, she plopped onto the chair and gave him a scowl. “Tell me.”
Leaning forward, he slid the deck toward her. “You deal this time.”
She dutifully dealt two cards to the four of them and then looked at him once more. “Now what?”
“Deal the flop,” he commanded.
The tone of his voice made her arch her brows at him, but she did as she was told.
“Okay.” He eyed the three cards before glancing her way. That blue gaze of his seemed to glow as much as the LED lights circling the table. “Show me your cards.”
He said the words with a provoking curl, like he was asking her to show him her body instead of some measly cards.
Slapping her hand on the table, she flipped the cards over.
“Excellent.” His lips firmed as he surveyed the five cards. “At this point, what you have to do is understand your outs.”
“Outs?” Jessica frowned at the cards herself.
“Any card that comes which will give you the best hand, Ginger Snap,” Peter spoke up.
“Ginger Snap?” Nick’s head swiveled to stare at her bodyguard.
“A nickname.”
The snarled reply didn’t appear to faze the younger man, because his smile went wider. “That’s excellent. Mind if I borrow that?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do.” The older man crossed his arms in front of him and frowned.
“It appears this is going to turn into a card lesson. Since we both know about counting cards, why don’t you and I go have a tour of the hotel security?” Maggie stood, pushing back her chair and focusing her concentration on Peter. “I would think you’d want to know the particulars, so you can coordinate your patrols with ours.”
He grumbled under his breath. Clearly, leaving her alone with Nick didn’t appeal. The realization made Jessica bristle. She was an adult and she also wasn’t stupid. There wasn’t anything she was going to fall for here. Not even if this Lothario put on his best show. “You can go, Peter. I’m fine.”
With another grumble, he stood and followed the older woman out of the room. The door thumped behind them and a quiver of excitement mixed with nerves ran through her.
“Ginger Snap?”
“Bucko?”
His eyes instantly glowed an unearthly blue. “You’re fast, aren’t you? Fast and sharp.”
“I guess it depends on what you mean by both terms.”
He met her determined look with one of his smiles. “I mean fast in the sense of keeping up with me, and smart in the sense of intelligence.”
“Oh,” she murmured sinking into her chair, surprised at how comfortable it was and how comfortable she was. With him. “I thought you meant fast as in I’m going to let you into my bed, and smart as in a wisecracker.”
It swamped her suddenly. She was flirting with this man. Alluding to beds and returning his sallies without a thought. That wasn’t something she was used to doing. Ever. A warm flush of surprise threatened to make her blush. And she didn’t want to do that with this man. He’d see it as a weakness.
Like she was new at this.
Which she was.
Like she hardly had any experience with men in this kind of context.
Which was true.
“You know what, Ginger Snap?” Pushing back his chair, he rose, that irritating smile still on his face.
“What, bucko?”
He chuckled as he rounded the long table and came to her side. “First, let’s clear
up something about that nickname.”
“Yeah? If you can call me one, I can call you one.” She threw him a look, and instant astonishment went through her again.
He froze. His eyes turned bright with intent and interest. His whole being appeared to vibrate with enthrallment.
Because of her one look. Her first flirty glance at a man.
Reaching out, he tugged a strand of her hair from the bun and fiddled with it like it was a filament of gold. Every inch of her skin went tight—with wonder and fear and an ache she couldn’t define. “Nick—”
“Bucko is a nickname for a youngster, someone wet behind the ears.”
“Really?” Her curiosity bloomed, wrapping around her mixed emotions. “How do you know that?”
His fingers tightened on her hair. “I just do. So from now on, if you want to call me something, you can call me cowboy.”
Staring at him, she saw something skim across his face like a ghost.
Then, it was gone. Replaced by his signature smile. “Onto the second thing.”
Something in the deep center of her heart twisted. She didn’t know this man well or rather, she didn’t know him at all. But something about the way he jumped away from bucko and cowboy, hurt her heart. By the look in his eye, however, he’d retreated and she didn’t have the skill to draw him. Even if that’s what she wanted to do, which she didn’t. “What is that?”
“I’m tired of playing poker.” His words were lined with nonchalance and by his lazy pose, a woman would never guess he was upset.
Except he was. She’d bet on that fact.
Still, she’d play along. This man didn’t mean anything to her in the great scheme of things, so why should she bother with his pain? “I suppose if you constantly win it can get tiring.”
Another chuckle came from above her. “Why don’t I give you a high-end tour of Devil Skye, instead?”
“You were going to tell me about outs and cheating at cards.”
“I don’t cheat.” A tough tone entered his voice. “No matter what anyone says.”
Glancing up at him, she caught a flash of another ugly emotion in his eyes before he shielded them with his long lashes. What emotion had that been? Her immediate guess would be some sort of anger, but there’d been vulnerability too.