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Wyatt was on his way to his penthouse apartment late in the day when he turned a corner and nearly ran over Alex. She’d been walking while looking at a map and she bumped up against him, the map crumpling and tearing.
Instantly he caught her, stopping her forward momentum, heat branding him as his palms closed around the bare skin of her upper arms. Fragrant skin. Smooth skin.
Stop it, he ordered himself, glancing down. She was looking a bit dazed.
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I wasn’t even looking where I was going.” For two seconds they stood there, connected, as Wyatt tried to ignore how she felt…and how she looked, with those big, startled blue eyes.
Then reality kicked in and she took a step backward, gathering the crumpled, crinkling paper and trying to smooth it into something resembling a map again as he released her.
Walk away, he told himself. Treat this situation the way you would with any other employee.
But Alex wasn’t like any other employee he’d ever hired. There was something about her that was difficult to ignore. Which was unfortunate. Ignoring people, not letting them get to him, was what enabled him to be who he was. It was how he had managed to survive a brutal childhood.
“Do you need directions?” he asked, ignoring his own good advice.
She smiled, that brilliant, room-brightening smile that his customers seemed to warm to. “I’m just having a little trouble figuring out where to start.”
“Start?”
“Memorizing the city. I realized that if I’m going to be effective I need to know Las Vegas almost as well as I know San Diego. I have to be able to envision a place when someone asks me a question, so I’m trying to experience as much of the city as I can. Last night was easy. A cabdriver took me past a few of the popular restaurants for a survey of what’s available. But what I really want is to totally lose myself in the whole Las Vegas scene. I thought I’d walk this time and surround myself with the city, but I’m having trouble deciding where to begin.”
“Alexandra, you don’t have to put in extra hours.” He expected loyalty from his employees, but not servitude. He was the last man who would ever ask for that.
She frowned. “I’m not asking you to pay me for this. It’s something I need to do for me. Tomorrow will be my third day on the job, and I’m determined to close the gaps in my knowledge.”
“You’re doing a good job.”
She tilted her head. “Thank you. I’m not doubting myself. The past two days have been good. I’m starting to feel more settled. I just want to push myself a little harder, learn more. I have goals. By the end of this week I intend to be a winner at the ‘totally invisible concierge’ game.” She gave him a dazzling conspiratorial smile that made his pulse leap.
Wyatt didn’t have the heart to tell her that she was never going to be invisible. She was too darned electric, attractive, alive. But he knew what she meant. She didn’t want anyone to be able to notice that she was still learning her job, so here she was with her map and her determination. And, yes, her good idea. Well, almost a good idea.
“I applaud your dedication,” he said, “but wandering the streets alone with your head buried in a map? I don’t think so.”
Her chin lifted slightly. “I’m fully capable of taking care of myself. I know self-defense, and I have hairspray, a lighter and sharp keys in my purse.”
“And if you’re distracted, you’ll never even get to them. You’re not doing this.”
Ah, the pretty sky eyes could flash angry sparks. Wyatt knew he shouldn’t allow himself to be intrigued by her mercurial spirit, but what man wouldn’t be? The woman was like an erratic fire, burning low and warm one minute, then leaping to an eager flame when something entranced or challenged her.
“Let me rephrase that in a less condescending way,” he said. “You’re off the clock now, and that means you’re not answerable to me, but if my presence won’t be unwelcome, I’ll show you Las Vegas up close.”
Alex hesitated. Then she raised one brow. “Do you really expect me to tell my boss that his presence would be unwelcome?”
He fought the urge to smile…and then he lost the battle. “Actually, yes, I do. As I mentioned, you’re on Alexandra time now. You call the shots.”
She studied him. “You don’t have to be my bodyguard.”
Bad choice of words. It made him far too aware of how attracted he was to her curves and her pretty long legs. None of that changed the fact that sending Alex out with nothing but a map, a smile, innocent blue eyes and a can of hairspray buried in her purse would be an invitation to men with the wrong things on their minds. Men like him…except he was not going to touch her. And that’s an order, McKendrick.
“If I’m asking you to point out the sights of my city, then it’s only right that I should show you that city.”
She opened her mouth, no doubt to give him another out.
“Alexandra,” he said, “let’s go.”
“Is that an order from my boss?”
He frowned. “That’s a request from an impatient…”
Man, he’d been going to say. “Tour guide,” he finished a bit lamely. He could not begin to think of them as man and woman.
“Well, then,” she said with a wide smile. “Lead on, tour guide. And make it good.”
Wyatt wanted to groan. He glared down at her fiercely.
Immediately she looked contrite. “Too much? Out of line?”
He slowly shook his head. “It’s your night.”
She nodded. “I’ll make it up to you tomorrow.”
He couldn’t help himself. He arched an eyebrow.
A pretty trace of rose suffused her cheekbones. “I meant that since I’ll be more comfortable in my job tomorrow, it will pay off with the customers.”
“You’ve been…uncomfortable?”
“Just a little—and only because I’m still getting my bearings and learning both the city and the hotel. I know you said that you’d handle any difficulties, but I need to handle things myself, you know?”
A loner like him? He understood the drive to be self-sufficient all too well.
“All right. We’ll take care of that.”
She smiled, and they left the building. He had his car brought around. “We’ll walk part of the way later,” he promised, handing her inside.
For several minutes they rode in silence.
“This awards situation,” Alex suddenly said. “Now that I’ve been on the job a couple of days I’m curious. You played it down the other day, but obviously McKendrick’s means a great deal to you. Do you really not care if you win or not?”
Her question caught him off guard. He thought back to all the times when he’d been told that he was less than nothing and that he would never be worth anything.
“I want to win,” he admitted.
“A lot?”
He didn’t want to think how much he needed to win. Thinking about it made him think of times he didn’t want to remember.
“Wyatt?”
“A lot. Too much. It’s just a meaningless award.” But it was more than that to him.
“Okay. We’ll win,” she said.
“You say that as if it’s that simple.”
“Maybe it is, if we treat it as if it is. I’m a big believer in affirmations, at least where the obstacles aren’t impossible to overcome.” For a second, a tiny shadow seemed to turn those sky eyes darker. Or maybe he’d been mistaken. Her smile held.
He gave her an incredulous look. “Were you always this…optimistic?”
“You meant to say naive, didn’t you?”
Wyatt studied her. “I meant to say that I appreciate your enthusiasm for the task.” The sparkling smile she gave him warmed him more than was safe.
“All right, enough about awards. I’m going to give you a whirlwind tour. Las Vegas in a night,” he said, trying to turn his thoughts from Alex.
He began with a quick tour of some of the major hotels that would have left experienced speed-daters short of breath. Walking her around the grounds of each hotel, he pointed out the things that would appeal to visitors. They visited the Eiffel Tower, the waterfalls at the Mirage. Alex gazed up at the black glass pyramid at the Luxor.
“I feel like a tourist,” she said, taking a picture.
“You are a tourist.” He tried not to smile, but lost the battle when she turned mock-indignant eyes on him.
“Not for long. With this great tour I can feel myself turning into Super Concierge already.”
And when he took her to see the canals and gondolas and strolling performers at the Venetian, she touched his sleeve. “It’s wonderful,” she said.
Her eyes shone, and Wyatt found himself wanting to find ways to bring her smile out in full force, which would be…amazing…exciting…too much, he reminded himself. Back off, McKendrick, he ordered. Getting too close to Alex wouldn’t be good for either of them.
“The vintage cars here belonged to celebrities and historic figures, heads of state,” he said, pointing out the auto collection at the Imperial Palace, his voice droning on as if he wasn’t totally aware of the woman at his side in a way that was perfectly…physical.
“It’s a museum,” she said.
He could tell by the way she automatically looked toward her little pink purse that she wanted her notepad, but then she shook her head and gave all her attention to the cars.
“Of sorts,” he agreed. “But the cars are actually for sale to those who have enough money, and people do pull out their millions and buy them every day.”
She laughed. “I’ll start saving my millions tomorrow. Just as soon as I have my shop paid for.”
Wyatt was glad she’d said that. It was good to be reminded how temporary she was.
“Last hotel,” he said, leading the way. “One of the finest in the world.”
“It’s beautiful,” she agreed, as they paused before the fountains of the Bellagio. “But you said it was one of the finest, and I know that’s a title you covet for McKendrick’s…So I guess I don’t understand tonight’s tour. You have a totally gorgeous and amazing hotel. Why show me the ones I won’t be sending people to?”
He held out his hands, as if to concede her point. “But you might send them here for some things—a restaurant, a view, a good photo op. It may not make sense to promote a competitor’s wares, but it’s all about giving the customer the perfect experience. No one hotel does it all. If a customer is looking for something we don’t have, I’ll provide it by sending them elsewhere during their stay with us. In the end it pays off. They tend to remember that we were willing to bend over backward, including letting them escape our clutches for a few hours, to ensure their satisfaction, and they return to us. It works. Besides, placing too many restrictions on people tends to backfire.”
His mouth was set in a hard line. This was obviously something he felt strongly about.
She wondered if that was why he was a loner. Because relationships placed too many restrictions on him? But of course Wyatt’s personal life was none of her business, was it?
Wyatt followed up the hotel tour with trips to a few of the local sights. An amusement park, a quick drive past a museum.
“There are also helicopter tours. The city is something else, all lit up and seen from above. The colors against the dark sky are intense.”
“I never knew Las Vegas had this much to offer,” she said.
Her enthusiasm made him want to show her more…which was a definite sign that he should end the tour.
“One more thing this evening,” he said, and then wished he hadn’t said it. It made it sound as if there would be other nights, which wasn’t wise. He was here tonight only because he’d been concerned for Alex’s safety.
At least he hoped that was true. This had to be a one-night show. He didn’t fraternize with many people, and certainly not with his employees. People could get hurt. Then there would be regrets attached to his home and his business.
“So…are we going to a mystery destination?” Alex asked, her voice breaking the silence at last.
“We’re almost there. The sun is at just the right angle at this time of day.”
She chuckled. “Is this like one of those movies where the sun shines through a break in the rocks, bounces off something, and magically opens the entrance to a secret cave? We certainly seem to be out in the middle of nowhere.”
“Not exactly nowhere,” Wyatt said, wishing Alex’s little chuckle wasn’t so low and sexy. “We’ll only be an hour outside of the city. I promise this will be special, Alex.”
Within minutes he heard her gasp as the sun hit the stark ancient red rocks that stretched out before them. The stone was gold and crimson and deep orange where the sun’s rays caressed the rock, and shadowy black where the rays couldn’t reach. “It’s—that’s so beautiful. What’s it called?”
“It’s the Valley of Fire, the oldest state park in Nevada and my favorite day-trip.”
“It’s wonderful. A good place to recommend to people who want to get away. Is that why you brought me here?”
Her question caught him off guard. He didn’t have a clue why he had brought her here. Originally he’d told himself that he was trying to show her as many sights as he could, but now he suspected that he’d been hoping for that gasp at the first sight of his favorite retreat. Which had nothing to do with work.
That made it personal and unacceptable. She was his employee, in his care. What was more, she’d been so hurt by men that she’d given them up, and he certainly had nothing to offer her. Still, they were here, so he drove to some of the more scenic areas along the road.
“Look, people are getting married,” she said, gesturing to a woman in a white wedding dress, her groom slipping a ring on her finger.
Alex’s comment almost made Wyatt smile. “People are always getting married everywhere in Las Vegas, and in every way imaginable,” he reminded her. “But, yes, this is a well-known wedding destination.”
“Do you have many weddings at McKendrick’s? I saw a picture of the hotel on the Internet last night. Before it was yours it was a sad little place. No one would have gotten married there.”
“They do now. It just needed some tweaking.”
She laughed.
“What?”
“Tweaking is far too tame a word for what you’ve done with the hotel. It’s unique and beautiful.”
Okay, how could he not smile at that? “Are you sure you’re not a bit biased?”
“I’m totally biased in some ways,” she conceded, “but not in every way. I try never to let my personal feelings overshadow my common sense.”
It was, Wyatt thought, something that should have made him feel better. Instead it intrigued him. He wanted to know her better. That could be dangerous. Already he was doing things with her that he never did with any woman.
Like smiling, teasing, wanting to get closer than was wise.
And when they returned to the hotel, and he took her hand to help her out of the car, he had an aching desire to raise her hand, place his mouth on her palm, kiss her fingertips and pull her into his arms.
Instead he merely held her hand a second too long, and she looked as if he’d burned her.
That was a warning. He could hurt Alex. He didn’t want to hurt her. He wanted to kiss her.
“Good night, Alexandra.” He forced himself to walk away.
But somewhere in the night he woke remembering her smile, her scent, her soft skin…which was totally unacceptable. Alex Lowell wasn’t for him. She was an employee, an emotional woman, and he had ripped that kind of thing from his life years ago. He needed and wanted no one.
Still, the thought of Alex’s soft voice seduced him. He stepped out onto the balcony of the penthouse, hoping for distraction in the night scene below. Clamping his hands on the railing, he stared into the darkness for a very long time.
Working with Alexandra Lowell was going to be a challenge.
CHAPTER SEVEN
ALEX’S mind was a torrent of activity. She tried not to remember Wyatt’s rare smile last night, how it had felt to be alone with him as the sun’s rays hit the red rocks, what his touch had been like.
Grr. He’d merely been helping her from the car. It had simply been two hands touching…and this was the second time she’d had this reaction. What was wrong with her?
Nothing. Ignore those absurd longings. That’s guaranteed heartbreak. Don’t throw common sense away. You know what’s happened before when you’ve got involved with men you were trying to help, so back away from Wyatt. Don’t think of him as a man. Concentrate only on what Wyatt wants for McKendrick’s.
“Easy,” she muttered. “Tweaking, positive change, winning a National Travel Award and total hotel domination.”
A passing guest gave her a strange look. “What did you say?” the woman asked.
Alex blinked. She was losing it. She’d really said those words out loud, hadn’t she? She could only hope that she hadn’t also mumbled any of that stuff about Wyatt. If she had, Randy would be raising his bets, gambling that she would fall in love with Wyatt.
“I said that anyone who wants a tour should sign up on this sheet,” Alex improvised, pulling some McKendrick’s stationery from the desk. “Hotel Tour,” she scribbled at the top.
“Oh, I didn’t know they gave tours,” the woman said. “I haven’t seen half of what’s here. Who’s leading the tour? Are you?”
Uh-oh. Alex hadn’t thought that far ahead. She just hadn’t wanted the woman to think that Wyatt had hired a strange woman who talked to herself, so she’d simply blurted out that announcement. If she’d had time, she would have found someone better informed than she was to handle the task.As it was…
“Yes. I hope you’ll consider coming along. This hotel has some amazing nooks and crannies,” she said, even as she cringed at what she was saying. McKendrick’s private spaces that weren’t on the hotel map were a testament to the hotel’s very private owner, but Alex hadn’t yet located everything.
Time to pick Randy’s brain. If she was promising a tour, then she was darn well going to do it right.
“I wouldn’t miss it,” the woman said, scribbling down her name. “You should put up a sign.”
“That’s an excellent idea,” Alex said, and she set about making a temporary sign.
Within the next hour five more people signed up. Another couple was just putting their names down when Alex felt Wyatt’s presence behind her. She didn’t even question how she knew it was him. There was a change in the atmosphere, as if the air was supercharged. She turned around to find him examining her in that slightly distant, arch, bemused way he had.
Immediately her nerve-endings started to hum. It was a warning. Dangerous man ahead.
Wyatt looked at the sign, and when the couple moved away, he leaned in and put his name on the signup sheet.
“You don’t need a tour,” she said.
“No, but I’m interested in seeing what this one is like.”
“I’m going to keep it simple. At least this first time. Later, I’ll explore every inch of McKendrick’s I’ve missed.”
“Simple and safe can be good, but from what little I’ve seen, that doesn’t appear to be your style. And you’d miss the private solarium.” He grabbed a map and a pen and circled an unmarked place on the map. “It’s a bit difficult to find, but worth the trip. And you wouldn’t want to pass up the private dining rooms that are perfect for the man who wants a place to propose to the woman of his dreams.” His voice had dropped low. “Would you?” he asked.
She slowly shook her head. “No, but I might need some help finding those.”
“That won’t be a problem.”
“I don’t understand.”
He looked confused. “I do know my way around my own hotel.”
“No. I meant that I don’t understand why you went to so much bother about the romantic dining rooms. You don’t believe in happily ever after.”
“Not for me, no. But my customers find such touches appealing, and I try to give them what they want.”
Alex hoped Wyatt never tried to give her what she wanted, because right now she wanted him to move closer.
As if he had read her mind, he did just that. “I’ll meet you here at five,” he said.
“I’ll count on that.”
He raised one eyebrow.
“I really might need some serious help. I don’t even want to explain to you how this whole tour idea came about.”
“Then I won’t ask. But I will be there.”
Alex felt like a moth trying to stay away from the seductive flame and knowing that she was losing the battle. She was going to be spending more time with Wyatt when only minutes ago she had determined to keep her distance.
And yet five o’clock suddenly seemed too far away. She was starting to show definite signs of “Wyatt fascination.”
Randy would tell her that he’d told her so if she gave in. He might even actually win some money in the betting pool.
No, he won’t, Alex thought. She might be fascinated by Wyatt, but that was as far as this woman was going to go. She’d walked into heartbreak before, but there had been justification then. This time there was absolutely none. It would be like taking a knife and intentionally stabbing herself. She just couldn’t do it.
Just to make sure she remembered that, Alex grabbed a calendar from her drawer. Belinda had called to confirm that two months would be enough maternity leave. And with three days already gone, that left only fifty-seven.
Alex crossed a day off and wrote “57” on today’s date.
There—she was back in charge of herself. But when the clock struck five, butterflies began an intense dance in her stomach. She turned to see Wyatt walking toward her.
I am totally betting against myself, she thought.
Wyatt was enjoying himself more than was wise. Alex had made a full confession about how the tour idea had been born. And now she was being completely charming with the guests.
“This is the Blue Ballroom,” she said with a sweep of one arm. “It’s named, I assume, for obvious reasons.” She looked at Wyatt, a “hmm” expression in her eyes. “Maybe you could hire someone to choose a more imaginative name. Or have a contest to rename the room, with tickets to a local show as a prize.”
“Oh, that would be fun! I have some great romantic ideas. Something to do with hearts or beating hearts or blues in the night,” a woman said, followed by several other people agreeing.
And suddenly, McKendrick’s was running a “Rename the Blue Ballroom” contest.
“I love your enthusiasm,” Alex said, “and since this is a ballroom, well…if anyone feels like dancing, we’ll stop here for a song or two. Pete, can you hit the music and the lights, please?” she called out to the custodian. Suddenly the crystalline chandeliers descended from the ceiling, their lights set to a perfect glow. Alex reached for Wyatt’s hand as a low, sultry tune began to stream from the speakers. “I’m sorry, but we have to be the ones to start,” she whispered.
He nodded. “Not a problem.” Although, in fact, it was.
Touching Alex was like juggling flaming swords. Sooner or later a man was bound to set the curtains on fire and start something he couldn’t stop. That wasn’t allowed, but…what could he do? She had clearly gotten into this tour without thinking, and now she was improvising and treading water. Only someone with no heart at all would desert her now. He, it seemed, still had a heart…or something that vaguely resembled one. It had withered because he chose not to use it. With good reason, he reminded himself. Still, he would dance with her.
“How did this happen? The speakers and the music?” he asked, trying to keep his mind on the situation and off the woman.
She looked down at their joined hands as if she hadn’t realized that she had taken his hand and was regretting the intimate connection. “I threw myself on Pete’s mercy. I had to do something to give the tour a little oomph,” she said. “Even if this whole event was…accidental, the guests signed up for a tour, and they deserve something special.”