Stephanie accused.
“They deserved it. So, who is she?”
“She’s the princess of the circuit. Her father owns a stable of jumping horses.”
“Big deal. So do you.”
Stephanie snorted out a laugh. “Not like he does.”
Alec drew her into his arms and swung her into the latest song in a Duke Ellington tribute. “You’re not intimidated are you?”
“By Rene?” Stephanie easily followed his lead.
“Yes.” He waited. He’d learned to recognize it when she was stalling.
She paused. “Maybe once. She’s been glamorous since she was twelve.”
“You’re glamorous now.”
Stephanie coughed out a laugh. “Not like her.”
Alec let his hand trail along the smooth silk of Stephanie’s dress, letting the tactile memory remind him of exactly how gorgeous she’d looked walking out of her hotel bedroom earlier. She’d positively taken his breath away.
Now, his voice went husky. “Better than her.”
She didn’t answer, but she seemed to mold slightly closer against him. He gathered her tight, ignoring the warning that was sounding in his brain.
“Besides,” he forced himself to joke. “She’s obviously jealous of your husband.”
“Ego, Alec?”
“A man can tell these things.”
“Because she was flirting with you?”
“Exactly.”
Stephanie chuckled. “She flirts with everyone.”
“I’m quite a catch,” he protested, telling himself to put a little distance between their bodies.
He ignored himself.
“You have quite the ego.”
“Part of my charm.”
“You have charm?”
He didn’t answer. Instead he savored the feel of her in his arms, inhaling the scent of her hair, letting the haunting strains of a saxophone solo carry them away.
“I suppose you do,” she said softly.
“What?”
“Have charm.”
He drew back. “You’re conceding a point?”
“You also have looks,” she continued. “But you already know that. Every woman in the room is envious of me right now.”
“You mean every man is envious of me.” He drew a breath. “How is it,” he struggled to frame the question that had been nagging at him for weeks. “That you stayed a virgin all those years?”
“I don’t get out much.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
“Stephanie?”
She shrugged against him. “I honestly never had any offers.”
Now that was ridiculous. He chuckled low. “Maybe there weren’t any verbal offers. But, trust me, there were offers. You’ve had at least two dozen since you walked into this room.”
She pulled back. “Where?”
“Never mind.”
“You’re crazy.”
“I’m just smarter than you.”
She rolled her eyes.
“More observant,” he amended.
“You have a vivid imagination.”
“And you have a sexy rear end.”
“You keep your mind off my-
Alec didn’t know whether to resent the interruption or be grateful Royce had arrived so promptly.
Before he could make up his mind, Stephanie was out of his arms and heading off the dance floor.
Alec followed closely behind.
She glanced from her brother to Amber. “Where did you guys come from?”
Amber grinned, but her quick glance at Alec told him she knew they were here about Stanton.
“We were in Chicago,” she told Stephanie. “But you know your brother. I mentioned you might need moral support, and the next thing I knew we were taxiing down the tarmac.”
Stephanie’s brows knit together. “But I’m not even riding.”
“Exactly,” said Amber, drawing Stephanie a small distance away from Alec and Royce.
Royce gave him a nod. “I got your voice mail.”
“Damien has news,” Alec returned. “Amber knows?”
Royce stepped closer and kept his voice low. “Amber’s the brains of the outfit. She was the one that noticed the resemblance between Frank’s sister and Stephanie.”
Alec nodded. “You have an intelligent fiancee.”
“I have an amazing fiancee.”
Alec’s gaze strayed to Amber’s black and red costume. The women were drawing more than their share of appreciative male glances. “You might want to hurry up and marry her.”
Royce looked around, clearly making the same observation as Alec. “She’s having trouble deciding on the wedding location.” His shoulders squared. “But we might have to make a detour through Nevada on the way home.”
Alec gave a chopped chuckle, while Royce took a half step toward Stephanie and Amber to stare a man down.
The man moved on, and Royce drew back. “What time’s the meeting?”
“Wesley has a warm-up scheduled at three. Stephanie has to be there. I told Damien I’d call when the coast was clear.”
“He’s here?”
“On his way.” It would be good news. Alec might not have heard the details yet, but if Damien was finished in Spain, Norman Stanton was no longer going to be a threat to the Ryders.
“How do we know Stanton won’t go back on his word?” Royce asked Damien.
Alec had waited until Stephanie was occupied in the arena with Wesley and Rosie-Jo, then he’d given the all clear signal to Damien, Jared, Royce, Melissa and Amber. The group had assembled in the hotel suite’s living room.
Jared nodded to back up his brother’s question. “The man’s a blackmailer and a thief.”
Damien cast a fleeting glance to Alec. He wasn’t used to having his situational assessment questioned. But he was also a consummate professional, so he wouldn’t make an issue.
“Norman knows we can reach out and touch him in Morocco,” he answered simply.
Alec straightened from where he’d propped his shoulder against the arched entryway to the dining area. “There aren’t a lot of places left for him to hide.”
“He must be pretty ticked off,” Melissa put in. “What’s to stop him from calling a tabloid and exposing it to the world?”
“Arrest and incarceration,” said Alec.
Jared elaborated. “Stanton must have thought he was safe in Morocco. Yet Damien tracked him down and lured him to Spain. He knows we’re tenacious, and he has to be feeling like there aren’t a lot of places left to hide.”
