At Odds With the Heiress (10 page)

He slowed as he neared Madison’s room. “You’re home early,” he remarked, spying her facedown on her bed, feet kicking the air in slow sweeps.

She looked up from her reading, her gaze slow to focus on him. “Scarlett gave me the night off. Said she needed to take care of something.” Madison’s smile grew sly. “Are you planning on staying out all night again?”

He ignored her question and asked one of his own. “What are you reading?”

“A script for a brand-new TV show. It’s terrific. There’s a part in here I’d be perfect for.”

“Where did you get it?”

Madison’s expression settled into worried lines. “I took it from Scarlett’s office. I’ll get it back before she even notices it’s missing.”

So Scarlett was reading scripts. And not just any scripts but ones featuring teenage girls. Surely she didn’t think tempting the seventeen-year-old with juicy acting jobs that would never materialize was a good way to convince Madison to go to college? Did Scarlett think that once he’d given her his trust, she could go and do what she thought was right where Madison was concerned?

He prowled into the room. “Give me the script.” His tone brooked no argument and he received none.

Madison sat up and handed him the bound pages. “I know I should have told her I wanted to read it, but she sounded so distracted when we spoke I didn’t think she’d even notice.”

To her credit, his niece sounded more apprehensive than argumentative. That was a change from the sullen teenager who’d appeared on his doorstep two weeks ago. Ten minutes ago he’d have been happy to give Scarlett credit for the transformation. That was before he found out she was looking at television projects.

“I’m sure if you’d asked her, she’d have let you read the script.”

“You’re right. I should have asked.” Madison crossed her legs and gave him her most solemn expression. “When you give it back to her tell her I’m sorry.”

Giving Madison’s repentant attitude a distracted nod, Logan continued toward his room. He finished showering and dressing in record time and was back on the road before his hair had a chance to dry. The script on the passenger seat beside him kept his irritation fueled. Scarlett had assured him she was done with Hollywood. So why was she bothering with a script?

Before leaving the house, he’d texted her and found out she was heading back to her office after meeting with Violet. He had twenty minutes to ponder what had passed between the sisters as he navigated the traffic between his house and the Strip.

The floor containing the executive offices at Fontaine Richesse was still active at seven o’clock. He nodded brusquely at the employees he passed as he strode the hall to Scarlett’s large corner office. She was behind her desk, attention focused on the computer, when he entered. In the split second it took her to notice him, his heart bumped powerfully in his chest.

She was as beautiful in her gold silk blouse as she’d been last night wrapped in nothing but his arms. With her hair scraped back in a low ponytail and simple gold jewelry at her ears and throat, she looked every inch the successful executive. And nothing at all like the passionate temptress who’d unraveled his control.

“Logan.” Her smile drew him across the room to her. “I didn’t expect to see you tonight.”

Instead of circling the desk and snatching her into his arms, he sat down in her guest chair and dropped the script onto the uncluttered surface between them. Her fingers slid off the keyboard and onto her lap.

She frowned. “Where’d you get that?”

“Madison had it.”

“Madison?” Acting as if it was of little importance, Scarlett picked up the pages and dropped them into the trash. “She must have come by while I was meeting with Violet.”

“Why do you have a script, Scarlett?”

She got up from her desk and circled around to lean against the front. “A producer friend of mine sent it to me.”

“Let me guess, you know a teenager who would be perfect for his new TV show.”

“What?” Her eyes went wide as his accusation sunk in. “No. Of course not. Is that what you think?”

“What else should I think?”

“That maybe I was offered a part. A good part. Something I would be perfect for.” Her tone was insistent, defensive.

“I thought you were done with Hollywood.”

She hesitated slightly before saying, “I am.” But it was a telling pause.

What happened to all her protestations about how difficult her life as an actor had been? Was all of that merely a defense mechanism to keep disappointment at bay? When the opportunity came along to resume her acting career, would she jump at it?

“Of course I am,” she insisted, her voice gaining conviction. “I have a life here in Las Vegas.”

“But if this opportunity had come along five years ago and you had to choose, which life would you have picked?”

“That’s not a fair question.”

Her protest told him her answer was not to his liking. “You’d have chosen to stay in L.A.”

“Probably. But only because acting was all I knew. Moving to Las Vegas and taking over the running of this hotel wasn’t an easy decision for me to make. I had no experience. Frankly, I was terrified of making a mistake.”

“Everyone makes mistakes.”

“Yes, but do everyone’s mistakes mean millions of dollars are at risk?” With a deep breath she clamped down on her escalating aggravation until her composure returned. “All this speculation is a waste of time. What I might have chosen to do five years ago has no bearing on what I do today.”

Relief washed over him. She wasn’t going to leave Las Vegas. Leave him. “I guess I jumped to the wrong conclusion.”

She widened her eyes dramatically. “Was that an apology?”

“No.” He pulled her onto his lap. “This is.”

His kiss let her feel all his frustration and longing. The emotions she aroused troubled him. How could he mistrust her and still want her this much? Saying it was simple lust didn’t ring true. She’d become his last thought at night and his first one in the morning. He was mesmerized by her beauty and intrigued by the layers she kept hidden.

“Feel like ordering room service in my suite?” she asked him once he’d let her come up for air.

“Maybe later. I want to check out the files in the storage unit.”

“They’re not there.”

“Where are they?”

“I had them moved to a secure records storage unit this morning.”

“I wish you’d told me that’s what you were doing.”

“Why? They’re perfectly safe. Grady was eager to get to work and I feel better with them someplace secure.”

“I’m not convinced keeping the files is a good idea.”

“I can’t part with them until someone I trust goes through everything. Plus, their historic value can’t be measured until we know what’s there.”

“Wasn’t last night proof of how dangerous they could be for you? Tiberius lived awfully well for a man whose casino was barely staying out of the red.”

“What are you saying?”

“If it was a plot for a TV series, what would you deduce?”

“That Tiberius was blackmailing people?”

“That may have been what got him killed.”

“Even if I had a clue what to look for, I’m not planning on blackmailing anyone.”

“Maybe not—”

“Maybe not?” She interrupted in mock outrage. “Definitely not.”

“Very well, then. Definitely not. But just because you and I know that doesn’t mean Tiberius’s victims know that.”

Nonplussed, she stared at him for several seconds. “Then I guess the smartest thing for me to do is get with a lawyer and make certain that if anything happens to me, the files go public.”

Her calm determination impressed the hell out of him. This was no scared female in need of rescue. She was a woman who survived by her wits as well as her beauty.

Logan tightened his hold around her waist. “Then I guess until you meet with an attorney, I should plan on sticking with you.”

“Twenty-four/seven?”

“Whatever it takes.”

Eight

S
carlett had chosen to have Madison’s birthday party at Fontaine Chic’s
poolside nightclub, Caprice. During the day, the pool offered a sexy Mediterranean beach-lounge vibe. At night when the well-dressed young crowd showed up, it became an extension of the club.

With all of Madison’s Las Vegas friends too young to drink, Logan had voiced concerns that the eight teenagers would get into trouble, but Scarlett had met the kids and knew that even if they partied on a regular basis, they understood that abusing her trust would lead to all sorts of misfortune in their future.

Everything would go smoothly. It had to. She’d given Logan her word that Madison’s party would be as safe as it was fun. Nothing could get in the way of that. It was the reason she was double-checking her arrangements prior to showtime. She wanted to make sure all the waitstaff knew the kids were underage and shouldn’t be served alcohol no matter what sort of identification they produced.

After an afternoon at the pool, Scarlett had arranged for them to enjoy a suite at Fontaine Richesse. There would be fabulous food, a birthday cake at ten, and later the boys would be escorted home in a limo while the girls enjoyed a slumber party.

Madison had been over the moon with the arrangements, cementing Scarlett’s status as the coolest boss ever. Logan had accused her of buying Madison’s good favor, but his street cred had risen significantly when he’d agreed to Scarlett’s plans.

Scarlett was standing at the entrance to the club when the first of Madison’s guests arrived. Two girls and the boy Madison had been dating for the past couple of weeks. Trent was tall and lean with serious eyes. He had been captain of the basketball team in high school and third in his class. Under his influence, Madison had begun talking more and more about going to college in the fall.

“You all look like you’re ready to have fun,” she said, nodding to the doorman to let them through the velvet rope. “I booked you into cabana four.”

“Is Madison here?” Trent asked.

“She’s having lunch with her uncle,” Scarlett answered. “I expect her any minute.”

“She thinks you’re the best to do all this for her birthday.”

The teenager’s earnest declaration made Scarlett’s heart bump. “I’m happy to do it. You only turn eighteen once.”

As her gaze followed Trent and his two companions across the pool deck, Scarlett thought about her own eighteenth birthday. She’d been doing some pretty hard partying in the year leading up to it. The crowd she ran with in Hollywood had been wealthy and wild, hitting clubs, doing whatever they felt like. She stood watching Madison’s friends and tried to remember when she’d last known such innocuous delight.

“Don’t worry, Scarlett,” the bouncer told her, misinterpreting her melancholy as concern. Dave had biceps the size of full-grown trees and a nose that looked as if it had been broken a few times. “We’ll keep an eye on the kids. Everyone knows that Madison is Logan’s niece.”

“Thanks, Dave.” She touched his arm to show her appreciation. “I can’t have anything go wrong today.”

Four more kids showed up before the birthday girl made an appearance. Scarlett directed them to their friends and wondered what could be keeping Madison. Logan had to know his niece was super excited about her birthday party. Why would he delay her? Knowing Logan, he was probably lecturing Madison on all the things she wasn’t supposed to do for the next twelve hours.

Scarlett unlocked her phone’s screen, preparing to call Logan, when it began to ring. It was her assistant calling.

Sandy’s voice was an octave higher than normal as she explained the reason for her call. “Chase Reynolds was here.” Although the words were professional enough, Sandy sounded more like an infatuated teenager than her usual unflappable self.

Scarlett couldn’t stop herself from smiling. The six-foot-three-inch action hero turned director could electrify the most jaded starlets in Hollywood. Sandy wouldn’t have a chance. Then her assistant’s words sank in.

“He
was
there? You mean he left? Where did he go?”

“Logan and Madison stopped by to find you and he left with them.”

Her stomach clenched. “Was anyone else with Chase?

“An older man. Balding. Bobby something.”

Chase must have really turned on the charm. This was not the efficient way Sandy normally functioned.

“Bobby McDermott.” Scarlett didn’t wait for Sandy to confirm. “Did Chase and Bobby say where they were heading?”

“To find you.”

Several unladylike curses raced through Scarlett’s mind. She should have known that dodging Bobby’s calls was a bad idea, but she thought he’d realize she was serious about her disinterest in the project and move on. Sure, she was perfect for the part, but there were a dozen other actresses that would fit the bill just as well.

Anxiety rushed to fill the space where contentment had been only minutes earlier. Bobby and Chase couldn’t have appeared at a worse time. In the past two weeks, she and Logan had begun to form a connection, but he still didn’t fully trust her. If he thought she’d been lying about returning to acting, it might damage the tentative rapport growing between them.

“Thanks for the heads-up,” she told Sandy before disconnecting the phone.

She imagined Bobby filling in Logan on the reason for his visit and the TV series they wanted her to do. Her muscles tensed as she contemplated how disappointed Logan would be in her. Of course he would assume the worst—that she’d lied when she’d told him she wasn’t interested in the part.

She’d worked herself into quite a panic by the time Madison stepped off the elevator, her gaze glued on Chase Reynolds’s handsome face. Despite her grim, chaotic emotions, Scarlett’s amusement flared. Chase’s good looks and charisma were a forceful thing. What made him completely irresistible, however, was that beneath the larger-than-life movie star lurked a genuinely nice guy.

Scarlett’s focus shifted from the movie hero to the real-life hero and her mood plummeted. Logan looked like an advancing army intent on total annihilation. When he caught sight of her standing at the entrance to the club, she decided she’d seen attacking pit bulls that looked friendlier.

Tearing her gaze from Logan’s stony expression, she greeted Bobby. “Hi. What are you doing here?” Twenty years of acting wasn’t enough to keep the tension from her voice, but only Logan seemed to notice.

“Well, if Mohammed won’t come to the mountain...” Bobby boomed, his eyes crinkling as he left the rest of the idiom hanging. “You look fabulous as always.” He leaned in to kiss her cheek.

From the corner of her eye, Scarlett caught Logan’s expression shift into a glower. She ignored the hollow in her stomach and pulled back to smile at Chase. “Hello, Chase. Nice to see you again.”

Chase nodded, sweeping her into a very tight, very friendly hug. “Been a while. And Bobby’s right, you look great.”

“Vegas agrees with me.” She meant the remark for Logan, but when her eyes met his, they were hard and flat. His disapproval wasn’t a surprise, but her anxious reaction to it was. Feeling this vulnerable with a man was a miserable sensation, but if she raised her defenses she might push Logan away. And that would be so much worse. “I see you’ve met Logan Wolfe and his niece, Madison.”

“Yes,” Bobby said. “She’s been telling us that it’s her eighteenth birthday today and you’ve planned a fun-filled day for her and her friends.”

“Yes, and they’re all waiting for her in the club.” Scarlett wasn’t sure if Madison heard her because the birthday girl’s attention remained fixed on Chase. His blinding white smile and the glint in his light brown eyes had mesmerized her. “You shouldn’t keep them waiting.”

“Oh, I’m sure they won’t mind.”

“But you’re the guest of honor.” Scarlett’s speaking glance was wasted on Madison, but Chase noticed. “Logan, why don’t you escort Madison to cabana four and make sure you’re happy with all the arrangements.”

She put a slight emphasis on the final word, hoping he’d understand her message. To appease Logan she’d agreed to let four of his security people—two men and two women—hang out with the party. To keep them unobtrusive, Logan had caved to them guarding in bathing suits. The kids would be kept under observation and never know it.

“But...” Madison looked as if she’d rather die than have her uncle show up at her party, but before she could protest, Chase spoke up.

“I’ll come, too,” the actor said. “I’ve heard that Caprice is a terrific club.”

“It’s fabulous,” Madison agreed, catching him by the arm and turning him toward the pool.

While the teenager practically floated into the club between Logan and Chase, Bobby said, “Beautiful girl. She told me she’s an actress.”

Scarlett recognized the look in Bobby’s eye. “It’s not what her parents want for her.”

“She seems pretty headstrong.”

“You don’t know the half of it.”

Bobby laughed at her tone. “You know, she might work as our main character’s daughter.”

Seeing that the producer wasn’t kidding, Scarlett grabbed his arm. “Oh, please don’t put that idea in her head. I’m supposed to be spending the summer convincing her to go to college. If she heads off to Hollywood instead and her uncle thinks I had anything to do with it, he’ll kill me.”

Her vehemence made Bobby’s eyebrows go up. “Well, if it’s that important to you, of course I won’t say a word.”

“Thank you.”

Her gaze shot across the pool deck to where the four teenage girls had clustered around Chase. As handsome and perfect as he was, her attention was drawn to where Logan stood, conversing with one of his employees. He possessed a charismatic pull as potent as the movie star’s, but was too serious-minded to let it shine. Scarlett experienced a delicious thrill as he caught her watching him. He looked powerful and dangerous as his eyes promised her they were going to have a long and intense conversation.

“Looks like you have your hands full at the moment,” Bobby said. “And I’m feeling lucky. Perhaps we should catch up over drinks later.”

She shifted her attention to the producer and smiled in relief. “That would be great. I’ll have my assistant get you and Chase set up in a suite.” As she called Sandy, Scarlett spotted Logan and Chase heading her way. Whatever they were talking about wasn’t improving Logan’s mood.

He practically vibrated with annoyance as he stopped beside her. “Chase here tells me that you two are doing a TV series together.”

“Ah...” Scarlett felt off balance, as if she’d been struck by a rogue wave. This was not the time or place for this conversation. “That’s not exactly true.”

“No?” Logan demanded, his hard voice low. “So what is exactly true?”

“I told Bobby no.” She shot the producer an apologetic look.

“If that’s true, then why are they here?”

“To talk her into changing her mind,” Chase explained. “The part could have been written specifically for her and she knows it.”

“Then maybe she should move back to Hollywood and take it.” His congenial tone didn’t match the tightness around his mouth.

Stung by Logan’s negative assumption about her, Scarlett hastened to correct him. “I’m not going anywhere. My life is here. I love what I’m doing.” Why wouldn’t he give her the benefit of the doubt?

“But you’re an actress,” Bobby insisted. “And a damn good one.”

“Will you all stop ganging up on me?” Scarlett took Bobby and Chase by the arms and turned them toward the door. “You two run along and win some money. I’ll see you in a couple hours.”

With those two taken care of for the moment, Scarlett turned to her next problem, but before she could defend herself against the recriminations in Logan’s eyes, a pair of slim arms slipped around her neck in a gleeful chokehold.

“You are the best. I can’t believe Chase Reynolds came to meet my friends. He’s so amazing.”

“That’s Chase for you. Always ready to make new friends.” Released from the exuberant hug, Scarlett turned to smile at Madison.

“I can’t believe you two used to date.”

Scarlett’s gaze shot to Logan. He had his phone out and was texting someone. She could only pray he hadn’t heard. “Yes, well. It was a long time ago. Now, I hope the rest of the day isn’t a letdown. I don’t have anything to top that.”

“No worries. Everything is fabulous. I’m so glad Uncle Logan let me hang with you this summer.” She winked at Logan.

Scarlett patted Madison’s arm. “You can show your gratitude by going to college this fall.”

Madison rolled her eyes, but her smile was bright as she blew Logan a flirty kiss and returned to her guests.

“I’ll be back around five to escort you to Richesse,” Scarlett called after her. Then she turned her attention back to Logan. “You can stop looking all annoyed with me. No matter how perfect the part is, I’m not taking it.”

* * *

Logan hated to feel her slip away from him bit by bit, but he didn’t want to invest his heart only to have it crushed when she went back to her life in L.A. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? If those two came all this way to meet with you in person, they must really want to work with you. Perhaps you’re making a mistake by turning them down.”

“You seem pretty eager to get rid of me,” Scarlett pointed out. “What’s the matter, Logan? Are you afraid you’ll get used to having me around?”

Her remark hit way too close to home, but Logan had spent enough time with her these past few days to recognize the uncertainty she was trying to hide. Glimpsing her vulnerability took the edge off his irritation.

He took her hand and began pulling her out of the club. “I’m already used to having you around,” he told her, his voice rough and unhappy.

“Then why...?”

“What do you want me to tell you?” he demanded. “That I don’t want you to go?”

“That would be nice.”

She looked resolute and yet hopeful at the same time. Was she really that clueless about how strongly she moved him? After the past few evenings they’d spent together, how was that possible? Making love with her had turned him inside out. He wanted her with a fierceness he’d never known before.

“I can’t tell you that.”

He didn’t want to care one way or another what she did with her life. What they were doing wasn’t serious or life-changing. They were simply indulging in some good old-fashioned lust. So what if he couldn’t stop thinking about her? Or that he missed her whenever she wasn’t around? When she returned to L.A., he’d have no further need to make up reasons to visit Fontaine Richesse. He could stop acting like a smitten fool and recommit his attention to the business.