At Odds With the Heiress (Las Vegas Nights 1)

The teenager’s earnest declaration made Scarlett’s heart bump. “I’m happy to do it. You only turn eighteen once.”

As her gaze followed Trent and his two companions across the pool deck, Scarlett thought about her own eighteenth birthday. She’d been doing some pretty hard partying in the year leading up to it. The crowd she ran with in Hollywood had been wealthy and wild, hitting clubs, doing whatever they felt like. She stood watching Madison’s friends and tried to remember when she’d last known such innocuous delight.

“Don’t worry, Scarlett,” the bouncer told her, misinterpreting her melancholy as concern. Dave had biceps the size of full-grown trees and a nose that looked as if it had been broken a few times. “We’ll keep an eye on the kids. Everyone knows that Madison is Logan’s niece.”

“Thanks, Dave.” She touched his arm to show her appreciation. “I can’t have anything go wrong today.”

Four more kids showed up before the birthday girl made an appearance. Scarlett directed them to their friends and wondered what could be keeping Madison. Logan had to know his niece was super excited about her birthday party. Why would he delay her? Knowing Logan, he was probably lecturing Madison on all the things she wasn’t supposed to do for the next twelve hours.

Scarlett unlocked her phone’s screen, preparing to call Logan, when it began to ring. It was her assistant calling.

Sandy’s voice was an octave higher than normal as she explained the reason for her call. “Chase Reynolds was here.” Although the words were professional enough, Sandy sounded more like an infatuated teenager than her usual unflappable self.

Scarlett couldn’t stop herself from smiling. The six-foot-three-inch action hero turned director could electrify the most jaded starlets in Hollywood. Sandy wouldn’t have a chance. Then her assistant’s words sank in.

“He was there? You mean he left? Where did he go?”

“Logan and Madison stopped by to find you and he left with them.”

Her stomach clenched. “Was anyone else with Chase?

“An older man. Balding. Bobby something.”

Chase must have really turned on the charm. This was not the efficient way Sandy normally functioned.

“Bobby McDermott.” Scarlett didn’t wait for Sandy to confirm. “Did Chase and Bobby say where they were heading?”

“To find you.”

Several unladylike curses raced through Scarlett’s mind. She should have known that dodging Bobby’s calls was a bad idea, but she thought he’d realize she was serious about her disinterest in the project and move on. Sure, she was perfect for the part, but there were a dozen other actresses that would fit the bill just as well.

Anxiety rushed to fill the space where contentment had been only minutes earlier. Bobby and Chase couldn’t have appeared at a worse time. In the past two weeks, she and Logan had begun to form a connection, but he still didn’t fully trust her. If he thought she’d been lying about returning to acting, it might damage the tentative rapport growing between them.

“Thanks for the heads-up,” she told Sandy before disconnecting the phone.

She imagined Bobby filling in Logan on the reason for his visit and the TV series they wanted her to do. Her muscles tensed as she contemplated how disappointed Logan would be in her. Of course he would assume the worst—that she’d lied when she’d told him she wasn’t interested in the part.

She’d worked herself into quite a panic by the time Madison stepped off the elevator, her gaze glued on Chase Reynolds’s handsome face. Despite her grim, chaotic emotions, Scarlett’s amusement flared. Chase’s good looks and charisma were a forceful thing. What made him completely irresistible, however, was that beneath the larger-than-life movie star lurked a genuinely nice guy.

Scarlett’s focus shifted from the movie hero to the real-life hero and her mood plummeted. Logan looked like an advancing army intent on total annihilation. When he caught sight of her standing at the entrance to the club, she decided she’d seen attacking pit bulls that looked friendlier.

Tearing her gaze from Logan’s stony expression, she greeted Bobby. “Hi. What are you doing here?” Twenty years of acting wasn’t enough to keep the tension from her voice, but only Logan seemed to notice.

“Well, if Mohammed won’t come to the mountain...” Bobby boomed, his eyes crinkling as he left the rest of the idiom hanging. “You look fabulous as always.” He leaned in to kiss her cheek.

From the corner of her eye, Scarlett caught Logan’s expression shift into a glower. She ignored the hollow in her stomach and pulled back to smile at Chase. “Hello, Chase. Nice to see you again.”

Chase nodded, sweeping her into a very tight, very friendly hug. “Been a while. And Bobby’s right, you look great.”

“Vegas agrees with me.” She meant the remark for Logan, but when her eyes met his, they were hard and flat. His disapproval wasn’t a surprise, but her anxious reaction to it was. Feeling this vulnerable with a man was a miserable sensation, but if she raised her defenses she might push Logan away. And that would be so much worse. “I see you’ve met Logan Wolfe and his niece, Madison.”

“Yes,” Bobby said. “She’s been telling us that it’s her eighteenth birthday today and you’ve planned a fun-filled day for her and her friends.”

“Yes, and they’re all waiting for her in the club.” Scarlett wasn’t sure if Madison heard her because the birthday girl’s attention remained fixed on Chase. His blinding white smile and the glint in his light brown eyes had mesmerized her. “You shouldn’t keep them waiting.”

“Oh, I’m sure they won’t mind.”

“But you’re the guest of honor.” Scarlett’s speaking glance was wasted on Madison, but Chase noticed. “Logan, why don’t you escort Madison to cabana four and make sure you’re happy with all the arrangements.”