LITMIR.BIZ

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approached the table and noticed that Rodney, one of his best dealers and longest employees, was the dealer. “Evening, Rodney. You treating my lady nicely?”

      “I am, sir, but the cards…not so much.”

      Shelby laughed a tinkling sound that lit the dark places of his soul and made him want to keep her happy always. “I am the worst player ever. Isn’t that right, Rodney?”

      He shook his head. “I’ve seen worse.”

      “I think he’s just being nice.”

      “Maybe you need some expert help,” Hayden said. He took some chips from his pocket and placed them on the table in front of Shelby. She sat perched on the high stool but was still shorter than his six-two frame. Two other players joined the game, but Hayden scarcely noticed them.

      He wrapped his arms around Shelby and looked over her shoulder as she picked up her cards. She had the queen of diamonds and a two of spades.

      Hayden signaled Rodney for one card, which he dealt faceup. The card was a nine of diamonds. Shelby won.

      She squealed and turned in his arms to kiss him. She won the following three hands, still with Hayden standing behind her. “Thank you. I think you’re my good-luck charm.”

      “Ready to try it on your own?” he asked. He wanted to be more than her good-luck charm. He wanted her to move into his house. To sleep with her every night in his bed and wake up with her every morning. He doubted winning a few hands of blackjack was going to sway her.

      “Yes. I think I’ve got it now.”

      Hayden grabbed an empty stool from a nearby table and joined the play. Shelby lost the first and second hands. Finally she tossed her cards on the table and picked up her winnings.

      “Giving up?”

      “I don’t want to lose all your money,” she said, handing the chips back to him.

      “They’re just chips.”

      “No, they aren’t. I know that you’re going to think—I just can’t take money from you.” She picked up her big leather bag and the small gold lingerie shopping bag.

      Hayden pocketed the chips and nodded goodbye to Rodney. This wasn’t what he’d planned. He wasn’t the most sensitive guy in the world, but he knew that Shelby was telling him something that had to do with more than gambling.

      Suddenly all the pieces came together. He realized that while he was dealing with the fact that she’d taken the money and left, she was dealing with the fact that his money, any of it, represented paying her off again.

      “Come on.” He took her hand and led her out of the casino.

      “Where are we going?”

      “I wanted to take you to see Roxy’s show tonight. We never do anything that’s really Vegas.”

      “Everything with you is Vegas, Hayden.”

      He tucked his hand under her arm and led her to the theater where Roxy performed. Hayden had a private box where they sat and watched the show. Shelby seemed to really enjoy it, but afterward she was still quiet and he knew that money was still an issue between them. That he’d been insensitive earlier. He still had no idea how to fix it.

      “What’s next?” she asked.

      He had nothing else planned. But he knew that he had to get her away from the casino and taking her back to his penthouse didn’t seem right. He needed to get her out of here, to find a way to take that melancholy from her. Somehow he was responsible for it and didn’t really know why.

      “Let’s go someplace a little quieter so we can talk.”

      “About what?” she asked, but stood and grabbed her shoulder bag once again. He handed her the small gold lingerie bag, not willing to let her leave that behind.

      “Luck and Vegas.”

      “Well, I think we’ve established I’m not lucky.”

      “Not at cards,” he said, draping his arm around her waist and pulling her into the curve of his body. He shortened his stride to match her shorter one and used his body to protect her from the throng rushing to get to shows or casinos.

      He led her out of the casino into the night. The pool and waterfalls were off to the left, but to the right was a small box-hedge maze, and nestled in the far back corner was a padded bench and gazebo.

      “Where are we going?” she asked. Her eyes were weary and he knew he didn’t want to stare into them anymore.

      “It’s a surprise,” he said, taking from his pocket the black silk mask she’d used on him days earlier. He’d been carrying that damn thing around, tormenting himself with the different ways he wanted to use it with her.

      She laughed as he slid the mask over her eyes, fastening it in the back. Leaning down, he brushed his lips over hers. She sighed and opened her mouth for him. She snaked her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest right over his heart. And he could do nothing but hold her. To make this moment an oasis in two lives that had seen too much chaos and hurt.

      The sensation of being blindfolded was difficult to adjust to. Shelby already felt vulnerable from realizing that she was losing Hayden’s money in the casino. Sure, she knew it wasn’t a lot of money, but still it was the principle of the matter. She’d vowed before she left Atlanta that this time she wasn’t taking any money from Hayden. She meant to keep her word—even if it was only given to herself.

      After trading herself so cheaply to Alan MacKenzie, Shelby had taken a hard look at herself and her life and she’d promised to never be in that position again. To never be vulnerable to any man. So how exactly had she ended up here—blindfolded with only Hayden’s warm hand in hers to guide her through an unfamiliar world?

      Panic raced through her. She heard people moving around her and felt as if she was ten again at Meredith Nelson’s birthday party. Meredith and the other girls had all disappeared when Shelby had donned the pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey mask. When she’d pulled it off, she’d been left all alone. Standing there in the secondhand dress her mother had purchased on the way to the party. Tears burning her eyes, secure in the knowledge that she wasn’t like other kids and would never fit in.

      She felt that way again. Being back in Vegas brought all the old insecurities to the surface. It had to be the money thing. Money always triggered that same gut reaction. The blindfold was too much. She reached for the mask.

      He caught her fingers, holding both of her hands easily in his grip. “Shh, baby. Don’t panic. I’m right here.”

      “I know I did this to you, but I don’t think I like it,” she said.

      He leaned down and whispered into her ear, “You look so sweet and sexy. I like the fact that I’m responsible for you. I have to protect you. Will you let me do this?”

      “I’m a grown woman, Hayden. I don’t need a man to protect me.”

      “Do this for me, please.”

      He never said please. She nodded her head. She’d try for him, because he’d done it for her without any complaints. But then she doubted he’d ever been in any situation where he wasn’t comfortable.

      “Are you still upset from the blackjack table earlier?”

      She had no response to that. No idea how to respond and still preserve what she now knew was her own illusion that she’d fooled him. The show had been nice but all she felt while she’d been sitting there in the dark was that once again she was in the land of make-believe. Surrounded by people who were pretending their real lives didn’t exist.

      She felt the warmth of his fingers feathering up her arm, rubbing gently against her skin, wanting her to relax.

      “What is going on tonight?” he asked, murmuring his words against the top of her head.

      “I

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