I barely noticed as Joseph mentioned amenities to Kade and the valet placed our luggage in the bedrooms, my nose just inches from the glass as I tried to take it all in. A few minutes later I heard the door click shut and realized they were gone.

It occurred to me that rooms like this didn’t come cheap. I turned to Kade, who was standing nearby, watching me.

“This has to cost a fortune,” I said. “I won’t be able to pay you back.” Which I knew to be true. There was no way I could afford even my share of a place like this.

“No worries,” Kade said with a shrug. “You’re my plus-one. Besides, I don’t pay for this.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I did a favor for a certain friend a year or so ago. He was very grateful, and he offers accommodations when I’m in town.”

“That must have been some favor,” I said, wondering how illegal it had been to deserve free, luxurious accommodations. It must be nice to have “friends” like Kade’s, I mused.

Kade just smirked at my thinly veiled fishing expedition. “It was.”

“So… now what?” I asked.

“Now you’re going to the spa for a while to relax, then you’re going shopping,” he said, heading to a nearby table to pick up the phone.

Alarm shot through me. “Kade, I can’t afford—”

“Yes, can I get a spa appointment for my guest?”

I listened while Kade made spa and salon appointments for me, and when he hung up the phone I was all up in his business.

“Kade, I can’t afford to do any of that and I’m not having you pay for it,” I said. Even though it all sounded divine—a massage, facial, mani/pedi, the works—I wasn’t about to be anyone’s charity case.

Kade barely glanced at me as he fixed two drinks at the wet bar. When he had finished, he walked over and handed me one of them.

“Why not?” he asked, taking a sip of the clear liquid.

“Because,” I insisted, “it’s just… wrong.”

“Consider it a belated birthday present.”

I gave him a look. His lips twisted and he turned to go sit on the couch, an arm stretched along its back.

“I want to. I can afford it. So enough already.” He cocked an eyebrow. “Unless you’re ethically opposed to being pampered?”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Good,” he said. “Besides, I wasn’t kidding about the plus-one thing. I need you to look your best.”

“Why?”

Kade smiled. “This is a business trip, princess. You can help enhance the image. Because in Vegas, image is everything.”

He finished his drink and stood. “And get some new clothes. Swimsuits, a dress or two, something for clubbing—whatever you need. Charge it to the room.”

I bristled. “What’s wrong with my clothes?”

“I didn’t bring you any.”

And with that, he disappeared into one of the bedrooms. A few minutes later, I heard the shower running.

Sure enough, when I opened my suitcase I found toiletries, lingerie, and my peacock-blue stilettos. That was all. For a man who’d rejected my tentative advance last night, it was an odd assembly of items.

I chose not to analyze that. It was time to leave for the spa, and I couldn’t help being excited. So I could either ruin my pleasure at the unexpected luxuries Kade wanted me to have by worrying about the cost, or I could just roll with it.

It took only a moment to decide on the latter.

* * *

The massage was divine, once I got over the uncomfortably awkward feeling of a complete stranger touching me. Then there was another awkward moment when the woman giving me the massage got an eyeful of the bruises darkening my skin.

“I got hit by a car,” I tried to explain, but my voice was muffled by the headrest and I wasn’t sure she understood me. She said a few words under her breath and carefully skirted the bruised area. The scent of eucalyptus was heavy in the air, the sounds of the ocean drifted over me, and I nearly fell asleep, I became so relaxed.

After I dressed, the woman brought me some water and I thanked her. She nodded politely and then said, “If you’re having problems with your boyfriend, there are places you can go, people who can help you.”

It took me a minute to cotton on to what she was implying. “Oh no, it’s nothing like that,” I said, my face burning as I realized she thought my boyfriend had beat me. “I really did get hit by a car.”

Her smile was a little sad and I could tell she didn’t believe me. “They never mess up the face, you know,” she said. “Certain kind of men. Just where people won’t see.”

I didn’t know what to say, how to convince her, or if it was worth the bother. It made me a little sad, though, to realize she saw enough women with bruises to know that sort of thing.

My mood a little darker, I went next to the salon where I was waxed and buffed and primped to within an inch of my life. Wax was put in places that had never before had it, and after today I was sure I wouldn’t want it there again. I tried to argue with the tiny Japanese lady, but she was firm in her mantra: “Must do. Vegas. Bikini. Everyone do.”

Speaking of bikini, my eyes nearly bulged from their sockets when a selection of swimwear was presented to me. I’d never in my life owned a swimsuit as daring as the ones I now tried on.

“Mr. Dennon said to come to the pool once you are finished shopping,” the lady assisting me said. She’d popped in while I was half-naked, but didn’t bat an eye, just held up the top for me.

“Um, okay, thanks.”

So Kade was at the pool and I was supposed to “enhance” his image. And spend his money doing it. Okay, how did a woman enhance a man’s image while in Vegas? Only one way that I could think of.

“I’ll take that one,” I said, pointing to a suit I’d previously ruled out.

An hour later I’d set Kade back several thousand dollars and was trying to ignore the niggle of guilt I felt. I’d seen some other women in the spa and salon. I figured I could hold my own with any of them, given enough money to dress the part. Lucky for me, Kade had the money. At least, I hoped he did.

When I walked from the hotel to the pool, I held my head high and pulled my shoulders back. I added a little extra sway in my hips and I could see heads turning as I passed. The sky-high stiletto sandals I wore were held to my feet by a thin strap of leather that snaked between my newly painted toes and then inched up to circle my ankles. I had on oversized mirrored sunglasses and my hair was left in expensively tousled waves down my back. But it was the bikini that seemed to seal the deal.

At least losing my day job had left me time to lay out some this summer, so my tanned skin contrasted nicely against the white bikini. The top was a demi-cup bra that pushed my rather ample assets up and together for the best possible display. Two ties kept it in place around my neck and back. The string bikini bottom was tiny and I was glad now for the Japanese lady’s insistence on waxing. I carried a beach bag that held the matching white lace cover-up, a sleeveless dress that came to mid-thigh. I’d had the salon girl smear makeup over my bruises, so they were invisible against my skin.

I spotted Kade from some distance away—it was a big pool—and stiffened. He was sitting on a daybed under an umbrella, which was fine.

It was the topless woman sitting next to him that set my teeth on edge.

Kade didn’t appear to be paying her much attention, which mollified me somewhat as I made my way toward him, my heels click-clacking on the concrete. He lazily sipped the drink in his hand as the woman talked to him, her hand moving to rest on his thigh. My grip tightened on my beach bag.

I moved closer and could tell when Kade spotted me. His body went still for a moment. He slid his glasses down his nose to peer over the tops. Even from a distance, it seemed I could feel the touch of his gaze as it raked me from head to toe. His lips moved as he said something to the woman and he didn’t even glance her way as she abruptly got to her feet and whirled, marching away in an obvious huff.

She spied me and made right for me. I stopped when she blocked my path.

“I guess you are zee something better,” she sneered. Her accent was thick.

“Pardon me?”

“Ee say to ‘beat it,’ ” she huffed. “Zat something better had come along.”

My smile was thin lipped, the green monster digging its claws in deep. “He’s right.”

She cursed fast and fluently in another language. I assumed it was cursing, anyway. I’d heard plenty of cursing in English and thought I could tell when it was being done in another language, especially when I was the target.

I’d had enough by now and interrupted her tirade. “Move along,” I said. “We’re done here.” The steel in my voice shut her up and I stepped around her, dismissing her entirely as I approached Kade.

“This spot taken?” I asked, lifting an eyebrow.

“It is now.”

I hid a satisfied smile as I arranged myself on the daybed. Kade watched me unabashedly as I reclined with a sigh. A beat passed.

“You’re staring,” I said. “Am I not helping to enhance your image?”

“Well, you’ve certainly drawn attention,” he said dryly.

I tipped my head so I could see him. “Is that a bad thing?”

“No, but how the fuck am I supposed to concentrate with you wearing that?”

His obvious irritation made me laugh outright. “Just trying to do my job, boss,” I teased. I was rewarded with a half smile, the corner of his lips tipping upward. I took the chance now that my eyes were hidden behind sunglasses to take him in. He’d obviously been in the pool, as his hair was still damp. Kade wore dark blue swim trunks and had thrown on a thin, white linen shirt. The shirt was unbuttoned, with the cuffs rolled up.

Kade raised a hand and signaled a waiter, who hurried over. “What do you want to drink, princess?” he asked.

“Just water,” I said.

The waiter turned to go, but Kade halted him with a word before turning back to me.

“Water? Are you kidding me?”

I hesitated. “I’ve been… trying to watch my carbs.”

Kade made a disgusted noise. “Bring the lady a mai tai,” he said. After the waiter had departed, Kade said, “Spill it. What’s going on?”

I resolutely refused to look at him when I replied. “I’ve just been drinking a lot lately, that’s all. Trying to cut back.” Blane’s condemnations rang in my ears.

A moment passed. “Well, one mai tai isn’t going to knock you on your ass, so I think you’re safe. Now on to more important things.” He grabbed a brown plastic bottle from the nearby table and handed it to me. “I need sunscreen.” His grin was wicked and I couldn’t help the small smile tugging at my lips.

“Fine,” I said, rearranging so I sat back on my knees. “Turn around and take your shirt off.”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

Kade’s teasing bothered me. After last night, I didn’t really want to be reminded of the attraction between us, especially when it seemed nothing was going to come of it. I’d been fighting the draw I felt for Kade for months now and the one moment I’d tentatively made a move, he’d shut me down.

My mood worsened as I spread the sunscreen on his back. His nicely muscled, broad-shouldered, naked back. Even the scars from the abuse he’d endured as a child appealed to me. It had been months since I’d had sex and my libido was throwing a cranky fit.

I finished my task and snapped the lid back on the bottle. “Done,” I said curtly, flinging myself back on my side and taking a long gulp of the mai tai the waiter had left for me.

“Your turn,” Kade said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

I smiled sweetly. “I can do it myself, thanks anyway.” My tone was pure bitch, but I didn’t care.

Kade’s eyebrow lifted, but he made no comment, simply lying back in the bed and folding his arms behind his head. I couldn’t tell whether his eyes were open or closed behind the sunglasses.

I took my sweet time applying the sunscreen, some not-so-nice part of me wanting to get back at Kade for his unrelenting sexual teasing. And perhaps I achieved my goal because after a good five minutes or so, Kade snapped, “Are you done yet?”

“Don’t want to get burned,” I said breezily, swinging my hair to the side so I could apply the lotion to one shoulder. “The sun here is more potent than back home, you know.”

Kade muttered a curse and abruptly got up, tossed aside his sunglasses, walked to the pool, and dove in.

I smiled.

The sun was hot, even in the shade of the umbrella, and I was glad for my cold drink. I sighed, perfectly content and relaxed, and feeling better than I had in weeks. I didn’t think about Blane. I didn’t think about the bills waiting for me. I didn’t think about Gage wanting to kill me. I didn’t think about anything, and it was wonderful.