A Taste of Temptation (Las Vegas Nights 3)

“I found out something today.” She pressed her lips together, knowing she shouldn’t talk about her secret. If the truth about her paternity got out, she’d never become the CEO of Fontaine Hotels and Resorts. “Something that has changed everything I thought I ever knew about myself.”

“That sounds troubling.” He stroked her cheek with the tips of his fingers. “What are you going to do?”

Most people would have asked what she’d discovered. With what she’d learned about him in these past few days, Harper understood why he didn’t pry. He had a past he wanted to keep private. Things he wasn’t proud of.

“I don’t know,” she told him. “I haven’t been thinking too clearly these past few hours.” She gave him a wry grin. “I mean, look at me. Twenty-four hours earlier, would I have slept with you?”

“I like to think you were heading down that road.”

And she probably had been. “Maybe I’m just making excuses for doing something I’ve wanted all along.”

“Why do you have to make excuses?”

“I don’t take sex lightly. For me it’s something that comes out of a relationship that has the chance of lasting.”

“And you don’t think ours will?”

“I think our business relationship will be a lasting one.”

He kissed her lightly on the mouth. “I hope so. As for the other, I think we are good for each other. Let’s hold on to that for the time being.”

As promises went, it wasn’t much, but Harper reasoned that for Ashton it was major. She snuggled against his body and let the rhythmic thump of his heart mesmerize her into complete relaxation. The shock of earlier revelations faded as did her ambivalence about what the future held. In Ashton’s arms she knew exactly who she was. More than that could wait until the next day.

Seven

Ashton was on his second cup of coffee when the sound of a knock at the door of his suite made him smile. So, after sneaking off while he slept at some point during the wee hours, she’d decided to come back for round four. Smirking, Ashton went to let her in. Only, it wasn’t Harper standing in the hall, but Vince.

“What’s going on?” he asked his manager, not liking the grim expression Vince wore. “How come you’re here?”

“The Lifestyle people have moved up the taping date on your pilot. They want you to come to New York and do it tomorrow.”

Ashton cursed, disliking that they were making him jump through hoops. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. We might have dug our heels in a little too hard. I heard they may be looking at other chefs.”

And he was going to lose this fantastic opportunity if he didn’t move quickly. “What can we do?”

“I’d suggest that we show them how committed we are to Lifestyle Network.”

“You want me to quit The Culinary Wanderer.”

“You’re not happy with the direction they intend to take the show next year. I think it’s a good time to cut ties.”

His gut told him this was the wrong thing to do, but he’d hired Vince because his gut wasn’t right 100 percent of the time. Nor was Ashton convinced he could make decisions about the show he’d worked on for so many years without letting his emotions get the better of him.

“Call Phillips and tell them I’m not going to continue with The Culinary Wanderer.” Harper’s face flashed before his eyes as he said this. She would be disappointed. And that bothered him more than it should. But this was business. In the end she’d accept that.

“I have things to do before I can head to New York.” Chef Cole had not yet arrived from Chicago to take up his duties. Ashton would brief Dae on all the things that needed to be done in the next few days. The kid was smart and resourceful. “How did you get here?”

“Commercial. The network is sending their plane to pick us up tonight.”

Well, at least that was one thing he didn’t have to worry about. The biggest challenge was going to be telling Harper that he was leaving ten days before Batouri was due to open. That was a conversation he’d better have sooner than later.

* * *

After leaving Ashton slumbering peacefully in his bed, Harper had spent the rest of the night on her couch, burrowed beneath a cotton throw, watching one episode after another of The Culinary Wanderer. She’d stared at Ashton’s image on the screen, unable to believe she’d fulfilled the only sexual fantasy she’d ever had.

Reality had far exceeded anything she could have dreamed up. She’d expected Ashton would be a skilled and masterful lover, but he’d demonstrated a level of caring and consideration of her pleasure that had far surpassed any intimacy she’d ever known. Even now, after several rounds of lovemaking, her body throbbed with desire for him.