“Wait here. I’ll fix it,” I say. I go up to the desk and flash a smile at the receptionist there. “My name’s Chance Hunter. I have two adjacent rooms booked for this evening and tomorrow evening. My assistant has just tried to check into hers and she was told there’s no record of her having a room booked here.”
“Let me check that for you, sir. Chance Hunter you said?”
I nod.
She starts clicking on her keyboard. She gives me a professional smile. “I see the booking here.” She makes another few clicks. “Oh, I see the problem. Because you had already checked in when your assistant arrived, the booking moved to another part of the system. I’m sorry. My colleague is new and wouldn’t have known to check there.”
“No worries,” I say.
She hands me a key card and wishes me a pleasant stay.
If only she knew. I turn back to Sierra.
Rick is talking to her and as I get closer, I hear their conversation.
“So yeah. I’m in room 217 if you want some company later,” Rick says.
I see Sierra tense up as she shakes her head. “As I said, I’m here for work. And I don’t know if that line has ever worked for you before, but I can assure you it wouldn’t work on me even if I was here for pleasure.”
I shake my head and shove Rick away from her.
He frowns at me. “What? I can’t talk to women now?”
“You can talk to women all you want, just quit harassing this one. This is Sierra, my assistant,” I say.
“Oh. Sorry,” he says. He winks at Sierra. “You can’t blame a guy for trying, can you?”
She smiles and shakes her head.
Rick wanders over to join Mark.
“Sorry about that.” I hand her the key for her room. “Your room is 1124. It’s next door to mine, so if you need anything, you know where to find me. Did you bring the Bramer files like I asked?”
She nods her head.
“Good,” I say. “He has some rather bizarre requests as you’ll see. It could take weeks to source some of that stuff, so if you can make a start on going through it all, that would be great. I also need you to arrange a meeting with Vince Falcrow. Oh, and can you send Dennis Rogers something. An apology for Sebastian cutting off our call earlier. I’ve spoken to him since and he’s fine about it, but it won’t hurt.”
“Got it,” Sierra says. “And what do you want me to do about Millicent Burroughs? She’s been calling non-stop since you pushed her meeting back.”
“I’ll get back to you on that one,” I say. When I remember who the hell she is, I don’t add.
“Okay, well if that’s it then, I’ll go and make a start,” Sierra says.
“Wait,” Rick says.
I hadn’t noticed him sidling back over.
“Seriously, Chance? You’ve dragged the poor woman all the way out here and you’re not even letting her take a night to herself to see the sights?” he asks.
“And that’s your business because?” I ask.
He shrugs and wanders back away again.
He makes it sound like slave labor. I mean it’s not like I’ve dragged Sierra out here against her will and her bonus will more than make up for any inconvenience. But he does have a point though. I mean it is Vegas. I smile at Sierra. “He’s right,” I say. “Take the night off and take in the sights. There’s plenty of time tomorrow for work.”
“Thank you Mr. Hunter,” she says with a smile.
I return her smile and go to find the others in the bar.
Chapter Three
Sierra
As I head up to my room, I find that I can’t get Chance out of my head. He looked so different in his jeans and t-shirt. Trendy. It’s funny because he’s two years younger than me, but I always think of him as older. Out of the three Hunter brothers, if I didn’t know them, I would say Chance was the oldest. There’s a maturity about him and he’s always so well presented. But tonight he looked… different.
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve always thought he was good looking. He has a strong jaw, full lips and beautiful blue eyes. His fair hair is always just the right amount of mussed up and he’s tall and muscular. But I’ve never looked at him and felt myself respond to his looks like I did tonight.
Not that it matters. I mean nothing can ever happen between us. Chance is my boss and I’m not someone who acts unprofessional. Plus, he’s a total workaholic and I could never be with someone who didn’t have time for our relationship.
Our relationship. God, listen to me. You’d think he’d asked me out or something. All he did was give me a night off, and it’s a night I would normally have had off anyway. I shake my head, pushing away my silly daydreams as I step out of the elevator and go to find my room.
I find it easily and step inside. It’s nice, better than nice, luxurious. I knew it would be though. Chance had never been one to stay somewhere nice and put me somewhere cheap when we’ve been to conferences and stuff.
I unpack my things and take my suit off. I look at the clothes I’ve brought, wondering what to wear now I’ve got the night off. I settle on a knee length black dress and heels. I get dressed and look at myself in the mirror.
I sit down on the end of the bed. I really do want to go out and explore Vegas, but where would I go on my own? I’m kind of hungry, but sitting alone in a restaurant in Vegas is just too pathetic for words.
I decide to go for a walk along the strip and go to one of the casinos. Loads of people go to those alone, so I won’t look out of place. And then
