“Then it’s not prostitution, is it? Lighten up, Emma. We’ll go to Saks.”
“Oh, yeah. Saks will solve the problem.” Because as long as Emma had the right wardrobe, she could easily prance through uptown Manhattan casting mooning looks in Alex’s direction.
She shuddered.
“Oh my,” Katie muttered, her attention shifting to a spot over Emma’s shoulder.
“Oh my, what?”
“He’s here.”
“Who’s here?” Emma twisted her neck, trying to get a look.
“Alex,” said Katie.
Emma froze.
“Alex is here.”
She turned to face Katie. “He’s not a member.”
“Maybe not.”
“It’s a private club.”
“Like the desk clerk’s going to tell Alex Garrison he can’t have a day pass.”
Emma’s chest tightened to a tingle. “What’s he doing?”
“Coming this way.”
Katie nodded. “Yes.” Then she smiled broadly. “Hello, Alex.”
Emma felt a warm palm come to rest on her bare, sweaty shoulder. Her muscles hummed beneath the touch, jumping to some bizarre rhythm. Like she’d never been touched by a man before.
She resisted the urge to shrug him off.
“Hi, sweetheart,” Alex’s voice rumbled in her ear.
Then his lips branded her temple, and the breath whooshed right out of her body. In fact, it was a light, insubstantial touch, but it jump-started her pulse and sent her nerve endings into a frenzy.
She had to tell herself in no uncertain terms to
Giving her shoulder a final squeeze, he eased his big body into the vacant chair next to her and casually helped himself to a bottle of water. “So, how was the game?”
He was wearing a white polo shirt with a single blue stripe over one shoulder. The open collar showed off his strong neck and tanned skin, while the knit weave delineated his broad shoulders and well-defined pecs.
When Emma didn’t answer, he raised a dark brow in her direction.
“Fine,” she ground out. Now that she was starting to recover, her anger was bubbling up. A kiss at Club Connecticut was almost as bad as the JumboTron. And Alex knew it. The stares from the surrounding table were penetrating.
He nodded easily. “Good.”
“I took her in straight sets,” said Katie, her tone far too friendly for Emma’s liking.
Emma leaned closer to Alex. “I thought we were going to
He draped an arm casually over the back of her chair. “I’m through talking,” he said.
“Well, I’m not.”
“Really? That’s unfortunate.” He glanced around. “Because I think it’s too late.”
“Cheat,” Emma muttered, knowing he’d won through brute force. At least a dozen people had seen that
Alex laughed. Then he raised his voice and looked at Katie. “Congratulations on the win.”
Katie grinned in return. “Emma seemed to be having trouble concentrating this morning.”
“Really?” Alex gave her shoulder another annoying squeeze, and her body responded with another annoying crackle. She didn’t like it. She refused to like it. It had to be revulsion, because it couldn’t be anything else.
“Have anything to do with last night?” he asked her loud and clear.
Two tables away, Marion Thurston’s stenciled eyebrows shot to her dyed hairline. It seemed to take the woman a moment to gather her wits, but then she reached for a cell phone and hit a speed dial button. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who she’d called. It was a very poorly kept secret that Marion Thurston fed stories to society columnist Leanne Height.
Emma leaned close to Alex again. “I am definitely going to kill you.”
“You’re still not in the will.”
“I no longer care.”
Alex laughed again. “Are you busy tomorrow night?” He looked at Katie. “You, too. I booked a table for the Teddybear Trust casino event.”
“I don’t gamble,” said Emma.
“Well, it’s time you learned,” he said easily.
“I’m in,” said Katie. “Is there room for David?”
“Ahhh. The elusive David.”
“I don’t want to learn,” Emma grumbled.
“Blackjack,” said Alex. “I’ll bankroll you.”
“You’re not going to-”
His voice turned steely. “I’ll bankroll you.”
“Fine. You want to put a tattoo on my forehead while you’re at it?”
He lifted her hand for a fleeting kiss, his gentle voice at odds with the steely look in his eyes. “No. Just a diamond on your finger.”
“We’ve got trouble on the wedding front,” said Ryan, plunking down in a guest chair in Alex’s office.
Alex looked up from the McKinley Inns prospectus. “What kind of trouble?”
“The kind that starts with one archrival DreamLodge and ends with Kayven Island.”
An adrenaline shot hit Alex’s system. “Old man Murdoch knows about Kayven?”
“He has to,” said Ryan, sitting forward in the leather chair. “There’s no other explanation.”
Dread crept through Alex’s system. “For what?”
“He’s putting together a bid for McKinley.”
“Son of a bitch.” Alex rocked to his feet, the possibilities winging through his mind. “The whole chain?”
Ryan stood with him. “Just the Kayven property.”
Alex closed his eyes for a split second, wrapping his hand around the back of his neck and squeezing hard. “And the women would keep the rest?” It was a dream come true for Emma.
“Yeah,” said Ryan.
“How long’ve we got?”
“He’s presenting the offer start of business Monday.”
“Who’s your source?”
“Adam down in accounting mentioned that his brother-in-law over at Williamson Smythe was looking at the same geologicals as we were.”
“He put it together from
Ryan shook his head. “Adam doesn’t know a thing. I pieced it together myself from six different sources. We’re still the only player with the big picture.”
Alex’s mind clicked through potential scenarios. All of them ended with a DreamLodge win and a Garrison loss. “I can’t let him make that offer.”
Ryan nodded.
Alex had to shut Murdoch down. So how did he shut Murdoch down before Monday morning? Marry Emma was the obvious answer. “I wonder how she feels about Vegas…”
“You can’t marry Emma in the next forty-eight hours.”
Alex snorted. “The jet’s at JFK-I could marry her in less than five.”
“You don’t think a quickie Vegas wedding would look
Alex’s voice rose. “I’d rather look opportunistic than screw the whole deal.”
“And what happens when Murdoch talks to her?”
“By the time Murdoch talks to her, she’ll be Mrs. Alex Garrison.”
