Raising the Stakes

The women grinned at each other. “Okay.” Becky tapped a finger against her lips. “Other than that… Oh, yeah. The woman from that balloon place stopped by.” She dug into a pile of papers and dredged out a brochure. “She dropped this off.”

“What is it?”

“Info about something they’re calling their ‘Breakfast for Lovers’ package… Yeah, here it is. `See the desert with your beloved from a gondola high in the sky,’ blah, blah, blah. ‘Greet the day with champagne and caviar in a balloon operated by one of our very discreet pilots…’ Dawn? Are you with me?”

Dawn wasn’t. Her attention was focused on a dark-haired man who had just emerged from the bank of elevators. Her heartbeat quickened. Was it the man who had helped her yesterday? He hadn’t struck her as the type who would check into a Vegas hotel. Well, that was stupid, of course. This was Vegas; he was from New York. He’d told her that. A person wouldn’t come all the way from New York and not check into a hotel, but he didn’t look as if he’d come to gamble. There were always conventions in town. There was one taking place right now, something to do with computer software—but he was a lawyer. As far as she knew, there weren’t any legal conventions or conferences or—

“Dawn?”

Dawn looked at Becky. “Yes,” she said briskly, “I’ve got it all. Brisbane. Sheep stations. Jewels, Aussie beer and ewe’s milk cheese. Possible hanky-panky in the balloon gondolas. Right?”

“Right.” Becky smothered a yawn. “I’m off, then. I promised my mom I’d stop by on my way home. She’s back on that should she or shouldn’t she get a perm thing. Whatever I say will be a mistake anyway, but I have to—”

Dawn’s gaze drifted to the man. It was hard to make out details at this distance. Besides the dark hair, all she could really tell was that he was tall. That he had a long-legged, self-confident stride… Her pulse rocketed. Yes. Oh yes, it was definitely—

“…whatever she wanted to do in the first place. Dawn?”

She didn’t want to see him again. She didn’t want to deal with him, feel that breathless rush of fear or anything else unnamed and unwanted…

“Dawn?”

“Yes?” She looked at Becky. “Oh. The perm. Uh, I like your hair the way it is, Beck. I don’t think you actually need—”

“Dawn,” Becky said gently, “are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I’m just—just thinking about the day’s schedule.”

She could see that Becky wasn’t buying the story and now—now the man was looking toward her, a little frown puckering his forehead, and she could almost hear him thinking the equivalent of what she’d been wondering a moment ago.

Is that the woman?

“Good morning, ladies.”

Dawn dragged her gaze from the man and looked at her boss.

Keir smiled. “I had a call from Prince Ahmat. He says you are both jewels beyond price and if this were not America he would marry you both.”

“Did he mention anything about a bonus spin through the jewelry shop?” Becky said, her eyes wide and innocent. “‘Cause I might just consider it if the price was right.”

Keir chuckled. “He also asked if you’d send up more beluga.”

“Heck. I should have known he had an ulterior motive.” Becky smiled. “That’s Dawn’s department. I’m off. See you guys tomorrow.”

“Take care, Beck.” Keir smiled at Dawn. “How’s it going?”

Dawn glanced across the lobby. The man was gone. “Fine,” she said. He really was gone. Maybe he wasn’t the man who had helped her yesterday. There were probably ten thousand tall men with dark hair in town at any given moment. Maybe he hadn’t even been looking at her. Why would he? She was nothing special to look at. “Nobody’s complained,” she said with a quick smile. “Not yet, anyway.”

“A sure sign of success. How’s the car?”

She lifted her eyebrows and tapped on the desk’s shiny wood surface. “Like new. Keir, I can’t thank you enough for—”

“Forget it. Hey, I was protecting the Song’s interests. We spent time and money training you. The last thing we want is to have you unable to get to work because you don’t have transportation.”

“Well, thank you anyway. Really. I don’t know what I’d have done without your—”

Her voice trailed away. Keir frowned and glanced over his shoulder. “Something going on behind me I should know about?”

“No. Nothing. Sorry. I just…” The man was there again, closer than before. And yes. It was him. There was no pretending. “I just… That man.”