A Taste of Temptation (Las Vegas Nights 3)

“I think so. Unless something comes up.” Rarely was she this indecisive. “I’ll call you and let you know.”

The walk to Scarlett’s office at Fontaine Richesse through the connecting skyways took longer than her usual ten minutes of brisk walking. To maximize the all-inclusive feel of the three hotels, a variety of high-end stores lined the second floor route. The only reason Harper normally paid attention to the boutiques was to eyeball the number of customers and gauge what worked and what didn’t. Today, she found herself window-shopping.

A particularly sexy black dress in a front display caught her eye, causing Harper to stop. She didn’t need to glance at her watch to know she was running behind schedule, but the need to try on the dress drew her into the store. It wasn’t her usual style, but Harper imagined Ashton’s eyes lighting up on Batouri’s opening night and knew she had to have it. She directed the sales clerk to send it to her office at Fontaine Ciel and made arrangements for payment. She’d need a sexy pair of black stilettos to complete the look, but those would have to wait until later. She was really late for lunch.

Her sisters wore matching expressions of concern as Harper entered Scarlett’s organized, roomy office.

“Sorry I’m late.”

“It’s fine,” Violet said. “I love your hair down. You should wear it that way more often.”

Harper self-consciously brushed the fine strands away from her face. “I was in a hurry this morning.” That wasn’t exactly true. She’d been reliving the pleasure of Ashton’s fingers playing in her hair. Her skin had tingled as the ends had swept her shoulder and caressed her cheek.

“So it has nothing to do with your canoodling with Ashton last night?” Scarlett queried, her expression knowing and smug.

Violet’s eyes went wide. “Canoodling?”

“Hardly,” Harper said. “We simply went for a walk.”

“Sweetie, after my night manager mentioned he’d caught sight of you with a man last night, I watched video of that walk,” Scarlett teased. “You might not have been touching, but that was big-time canoodling for you.”

The delight fluttering in Harper’s stomach was messing with her head. She tried to shoot her sister a repressive glare, but felt the corner of her mouth tilted upward. “We talked until almost four this morning.”

“Talked?”

Harper stared Scarlett down. “Talked.”

“You mean to tell me Ashton Croft didn’t put the moves on you?”

“He tried.” Harper was both relieved and disappointed that he hadn’t put more effort into persuading her to have that drink in his suite. “I’m not going to hop into bed with him that fast.”

Scarlett made a disgusted noise. “That fast? You two have been flirting for nine months.”

“Flirting? No. We’ve been politely fighting.”

“For you that’s flirting.”

Harper threw up her hand to block any more of her sister’s crazy notions. “Is there a particular reason there’s a bottle of champagne chilling over there?”

“We have a lot to celebrate, starting with Violet,” Scarlett explained. She poured the sparkling liquid into three flutes and motioned her sisters over.

“You were able to help JT get his company back, weren’t you,” Harper guessed, delighted.

The smirk on Violet’s face was priceless. “And Preston has been arrested. He was dragged out of Cobalt in handcuffs.”

“I would have loved to see the look on his face as he was escorted out of his hotel by the FBI,” said Harper.

Violet nodded. “It was pretty satisfying.”

“And things between you and JT?” Scarlett prompted.

“Perfect.”

Harper’s heart lifted at the joy on her sister’s face. “You’re not separating then.”

“Not a chance.” Fierce and romantic, Violet beamed. “He loves me.”

“I’m happy for you,” Harper said, but already she was worrying about how this would change things between the three of them. “Have you figured out what’s going to happen when JT takes over Stone Properties?”