Raising the Stakes

A muscle flickered in his jaw.

She’d stood him up. It was a first unless you counted the time he was, what, fifteen, and he’d let his cousins drag him to a party where he’d spent the night gawking at a girl visiting from Chicago. Finally he’d worked up enough courage to go over and ask her to dance, and after that he’d taken his life in his hands and asked her if she wanted to go to the movies the next night. Yes, she’d said, that would be fun, except she’d never shown up in front of the Prairie Theater and he’d waited and paced and waited some more and gone from puzzled to embarrassed to out and out humiliated…

He wasn’t fifteen anymore; he wasn’t embarrassed or humiliated or puzzled. He was just pissed because he’d only asked her out because of his obligation to Jonas. Hell, even if she showed up now, full of apologies, he’d tell her—

“Hi.”

She was coming toward him, smiling hesitantly, wearing some kind of silky-looking T-shirt and white jeans; her hair was loose and swinging against her shoulders, and he felt like he’d been sucker-punched. His anger drained away and he smiled and held out the gift he’d purchased at the shop in the lobby. He’d planned on flowers until he saw the little teddy bear holding a silk rose in its paw.

Perfect, he’d thought, and from the look on her face, he knew he’d figured right.

“Hi,” he said. “You look beautiful.”

She took the bear and stared at it. For one crazy minute, he was afraid she was going to cry.

“Oh,” she said softly, “he’s wonderful. Thank you. I never dreamed—I mean, I just never imagined…” She blushed, and it occurred to him that she did that a lot, and that blushing was something women didn’t do much anymore. “Sorry. I’m babbling. I love my bear.”

“He needs a name.”

“Of course he does,” she said, and laughed. “And I’ll give him one, after I get to know him.” She hesitated. “Gray. I know I’m terribly late. I tried to call you…”

“That’s okay. I’m just glad you finally got here. Did you have car trouble again?”

“No. I—I just—”

“You don’t have to explain.” Gray took her hand and wove his fingers through hers. Her skin was cool and at first he thought she was going to pull away. Then, very slowly, he felt her relax. “You’re here now. That’s what matters.”

“Actually, I just came to tell you that—that—”

“That you’d changed your mind?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Well, I can respect that but, since you’re already here, why not have one drink with me?”

She stared at him, her eyes wide. A moment passed, and then she gave a soft laugh. “You’re a very determined man, Mr. Baron.”

“And a very thirsty one, Miss Carter. So, how about it? One drink? I asked the concierge to name a quiet place. He said there’s a little bar in the hotel just across the Strip—”

She nodded. “The Oasis.”

“Right. Is that okay?”

“I’ve never been there, but I’ve heard it’s very nice.”

“You’ve never been there, huh?” He knew it was stupid, but that pleased him. “Well.” Gray tugged her toward him. “Let’s see if what the experts say is true.”

* * *

It was.

The Oasis was small, dark and surprisingly quiet except for the soft sound of the piano playing in the background and the discreet murmur of voices drifting from the round oak bar in the center of the room.

They took a corner booth. Dawn slid in across the soft leather banquette, sat her teddy bear on the table and watched as Gray sat down across from her and picked up the wine list. He was dressed casually in chinos and a black cotton shirt with a banded collar. He’d rolled up the sleeves and she could see that his forearms were muscled and lightly dusted with black hair. He was as handsome as she’d remembered, but very masculine-looking, and he had a smile that she could feel, straight down to her toes each time he flashed it.

She knew she was blushing and she picked up the teddy bear and buried her face in the scented silk rose in its paw. The bear was beautiful and expensive. She knew the price of virtually everything in the Song’s flower shop. That Gray would have bought the bear for her, that he’d have recalled their first meeting and somehow known this gift would mean more to her than all the flowers in the world, struck her as—

“…wonderful.”