Stealing Cupid's Bow (3 page)

“What is it?” he asked.

Darn, her thought must have shown in her expression! “I was just noticing the flight attendant seems rather taken with you,” she said casually.

He chuckled. “Although that’s a flattering observation, I think her boyfriend might get a little upset if I asked her for her phone number.”

“Boyfriend?” Raine’s eyebrows rose.

He pointed and she followed the direction his finger led in time to see a pair of hands wrap around the flight attendant’s waist from behind the curtain in the back. A light giggle reached Raine’s ears as she disappeared behind it.

“Oh.” She lifted the tea and sipped at it, feeling embarrassed. She should have just kept her big mouth shut.

“People seem to have a certain glow to them when they think they’re in love, don’t they?”

She nodded in agreement, certain her glow was gone.

They sat in comfortable silence for a while and she distracted herself with the in-flight shopping magazine. It was better than nothing. As the minutes ticked by her physical attraction to him grew. Despite her less-than-perky mood, she could feel her body warm with an awareness of him. The light, clean scent of him tickled her nose awakening a chain of reactions beneath her skin. It was like inhaling a fresh breeze mixed with the creamy smell of shaving cream and a hint of cologne warmed just right by the heat of his skin. What was wrong with her? It was as if he were a magnet. She would have loved to run her fingers up his arm. The fabric of his shirt looked fine and soft and very promising of a large, firm biceps. She tried harder to focus on the pages of the airline magazine she’d pulled from the pocket.

A while later he touched his fingertips to her arm lightly.

A jolt of electricity shot up through her from the contact. Thankfully, he was gazing out the window.

“Look, you can see the Strip.”

She leaned in closer. Below, the pyramid of the Luxor Hotel, the Eiffel Tower of the Paris Hotel, and the glimmering gold of the Palazzo Hotel, were in view.

“So, where are you headed when we land? Are you here for fun?” she asked.

“No, I live here,” he said. “The Palazzo is my home.”

“It is?”

“Can you think of anywhere better?” he said with a grin.

“Actually I can’t.” Did the hotels really have permanent residents in them? It would be like living in a giant mansion complete with round-the-clock fine dining and entertainment. She wondered what line of work he was in that enabled him to live in one of the most luxurious hotels on the Strip. “How long have you lived there?”

“Quite a while now. Have you ever been?”

“Just for dinner once or twice with my parents. It’s a beautiful place.”

“Sin City….” he said quietly. “It’s how most of the world will be soon.”

He continued to gaze out the window, a distant look in his eye.

She huffed out a breath but decided to ignore his cynicism. It wasn’t her business to change his thinking.

“What’s it like living there?” she asked.

“It’s great. I have everything I could need just seconds away from my rooms.”

“It doesn’t get lonely?”

He shook his head. “Quite the opposite. I know everyone that works there by name. It’s like being surrounded by family. In addition to that, new guests arrive at the hotel every day. I find it interesting to see the variety of people that come through and chatting with them at the bar on occasion.”

“I never thought of it that way.” The way he described it made it sound wonderful.

Together they continued to look out the window. Alexander pointed out sites where new hotels were in progress or others were planned.

Before she knew it, they had landed and were walking off the plane. He carried her bag to the front of the plane for her but then had to wait for his own. The flight attendant had stowed it for him in a separate closet. There was simply no space for her to wait for him in the shuffle of people getting off the plane. So they said a brief good-bye, and she headed down the gangway.

She made her way through the terminal past slot machines and people who looked exhausted from partying as they waited for planes to take them home. In baggage claim, her beige suitcase was one of the first to pop out, unfortunately. Now she had no reason to wait around and talk to Alexander a little more.

She was heading to the sidewalk to get a cab when she noticed her purse was missing.

Panic filled her mind. Everything was in that bag! She took a breath to steady herself. It couldn’t be far. She scanned the floor around her through the people as well as she could.

Nothing.

In this town, it wouldn’t have stayed on the floor for more than a second. It was a Prada bag.
Great! Just the most perfect end to a long and stressful morning
, she thought, suppressing the urge to tear her hair out.

The door leading to the baggage claim was the exit point, and there was no getting back into the terminal now so she could find lost and found. Her cell phone was gone along with the bag. Ugh. She would just have to wait until she made it home to start making phone calls to cancel everything.

She approached an attendant pulling lone bags from the next carousel over, not knowing what else to do. Thankfully, he took down her information and told her he would take it straight to the lost-and-found desk for her.

She prayed some good Samaritan would get it to security so she could get it back. Hopefully one of her parents would be home to pay for the cab ride.

She exited through the sliding glass doors and was heading to the cab line when two men in sunglasses blocked her path. Both were wearing expensive suits in a light tan, almost white color. They looked like models on their way to a photo shoot.

“Excuse me, ma’am. We need to speak with you for a moment,” said the one with light brown hair as he removed his sunglasses.

“What? What about?” She tried to continue around them, toward the taxi line, but they moved with her.

“We just need to ask you a couple of questions,” he said.

“Why don’t you just step over here near our car, away from the door,” said the other man. He was serious-looking and had black hair and dark skin. He gestured in the direction of the curb where a chic white limo was parked.

Hair stood up on the back of her neck. Her immediate thought was that she was not about to get anywhere near their car no matter what it was. She backed away from it in the opposite direction, to the side of the building, which looked safer. At least now the stream of people coming out were between her and the limo. But it was slow going with both a suitcase and carry-on in her hands. The men followed her closely. The dark one started to put a hand on her arm and she yanked it away.

“Who are you guys?” she demanded. “You don’t look like cops.”

“No, ma’am, we’re not,” said the first one, smiling. He had a gentle expression about his hazel eyes. “We just need to speak with you for a minute. It’s not a big deal I’m sure,” he said, giving his cohort a stern look.

The dark-haired man folded his arms across his chest. She decided to call him Number Two.

Both of them were quite tall and, standing in front of her, they blocked her view of the people coming out of the terminal. She felt her neck tighten with worry. What kinds of questions could they possibly have for her?

“We really don’t want to take up too much of your time, ma’am,” Hazel Eyes continued. “You see, we work as bodyguards for a very important man. Anytime there is a threat against him we look into it to ensure there’s no real malice behind it.”

She gaped at them for a moment. “But…you must have the wrong person. I haven’t threatened anyone.”

Number Two removed a notepad from his pocket. “Is your name Raine Daniels?”

She frowned. “Yes…but, how did you know that?” Were they with homeland security maybe? Some kind of secret branch?

Instead of answering, he glanced at his notepad and continued, “Did you make the following statement not an hour ago? ‘He’s probably sitting somewhere on his lazy ass slacking off on his job. I tell you, if I ever meet him, I’m going to give it to him. And then I’m going to give him a piece of my mind.’” He looked back up at her, one brow lifting over the edge of his sunglasses.

Astonishment froze her in place. How could they have possibly heard her say that? She’d been on the airplane for crying out loud. Shaking her head, she said, “There must be some kind of mistake. I don’t have a clue how you heard me say that. And I don’t know who you think I was talking about, but it definitely was not…not…whoever you seem to think I was ‘threatening,’” she said, using air quotes. “I was having a casual conversation with someone on the plane about Cupid. You know, the ancient god?”

“Exactly, ma’am.” Hazel Eyes nodded.

“What did you have in mind when you said ‘give it to him’?” asked Number Two.

She could only blink at them. Was this a joke? Would laughter possibly be appropriate at this point? But no, they looked serious.

Suddenly a hand patted Number Two’s shoulder.

“Are we ready to be off?” said a familiar voice.

The two bodyguards turned to greet him. The
him
being Alexander. Relief flooded through her.

Alexander had a bag slung over one shoulder. Almost like a long duffel. In his other hand, he held a Louis Vuitton suitcase. The two men relieved him of his burden right away.

“We meet again,” he said to Raine. “I see you’ve met my drivers.”

“Your drivers?”

“Well, they do a bit more than drive. This is Cole,” he said, motioning to Hazel Eyes, “and Donovan,” he said with a nod at Number Two. He paused for a moment while Donovan leaned in to mutter something in his ear. Alexander grinned, looking from Raine back to Donovan, and said, “No, no she’s fine. You boys can let this one go.” He waved them away, and they headed off to the limo with his bags.

“Sorry, they’re just…very meticulous in their job. A quality I value highly in my employees. I hope they didn’t bother you,” he said.

She stared as her brain tried to catch up, although she wasn’t sure she wanted to at this very moment, with the bewilderment she was feeling.

He cocked his head at her, looking amused. “Is someone picking you up, or can I give you a lift somewhere?”

His blond hair was radiant in the sunlight. The rich waves looked soft. What would it be like to slide her fingers through it? She looked down at the ground for a moment to gather her thoughts because Alexander in the direct light of day was entirely too distracting. Had she imagined the whole incident with his bodyguards?

He put a hand on her arm. “Raine? Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine. This has really got to be the most unusual day ever. I think the sleeping pill I took last night is having some weird side effect on me. Your drivers were just questioning me about having threatened someone….”

He waved a hand. “Oh don’t mind them. Like I said, they’re just a little enthusiastic in their work. Come on, you really should let me give you a ride. I can’t leave a damsel stranded here who, by the way, looks clearly in distress.”

A bemused laugh escaped her. He was right. She deliberated between the long taxi line, with its crowd of people snaking back and forth through chain barriers, and the cool white limo parked on the curb. It would be chancy to take one of those cabs with no assurance there would be anybody at home to pay for it. Las Vegas cab drivers took crap from no one and nonpayment would result in the police being called.

She decided on the limo.

For some reason she trusted Alexander. He had a generosity about him that put her at ease. Finally a bright spot in her day. Meeting his eyes, she said, “Sure, that would be great. Thank you so much.”

It was the first limo ride of her entire life. From the second she set foot inside, she felt like royalty. The tinted windows faded the outside world away, turning the car into a private haven. The soft, cream-white leather seats were supple. There was a bar of smooth wood and glass along one side fully stocked with ice, and several kinds of liquor. Tiny pinpoints of light in the ceiling and a thin band along its perimeter gave the interior a soothing ambiance.

Alexander settled in next to her and flipped on the radio from the discreet control panel overhead. He lowered the volume to a level where it was only background noise.

“Where to?” he asked.

She gave him the address, and he repeated it to the men up front.

Donovan peered back at Alexander. “By the way, boss, the Sawyer account is going to need your personal touch later. The new trainee hasn’t been able to wrap things up while you were gone. Cole and I tried to assist, but there’s something going on.”

“No problem,” Alexander said. “Let’s talk about it later.”

Donovan nodded.

Alexander pushed a button in the panel overhead and a barrier rose, closing the small opening between the drivers and them, giving them total privacy.

“Would you like something to drink? A mimosa maybe?”

“Sure,” she said. Thoughts of being drugged and attacked briefly crossed her mind, but she really couldn’t imagine Alexander harming a single hair on her head. The muscles of his shoulders and back lightly rippled under his shirt as he leaned forward to make her drink, making her wonder what it looked like without the shirt.

“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the ride,” she said. “I hope it’s not too far out of your way.”

“It’s my pleasure,” he said, handing her the drink. He held up a glass of his own in a toast. “To good company.”

They clinked glasses and sipped.

“Don’t you have family here? How come no one picked you up?” he asked.

“Well, my mom was going to but I missed my flight this morning and was on standby. I didn’t want to ruin her day by making her wait around, so I told her I would take a cab.”

“Considerate of you.”

“Your timing couldn’t have been better, by the way. I just realized I lost my purse after I grabbed my suitcase from the carousel. I wasn’t sure how I was going to pay the cab driver.”