The Billionaire's Gamble

Chapter 1

 

It was time, Sid Matthews thought.

The woman crossed the elegantly decorated lobby and his eyes watched, his body instantly reacting to her lovely, innocent looking face and lush body. His eyes continued to follow her as he watched the computer screen which was connected to the security cameras all over the Solara Resort and Casino. His dark, intense eyes never left the image of the petite, red haired woman who was currently crossing the lavish lobby of the resort, the sophisticated cameras catching even the flash of fire that sparked through her hair as the light glinted off the fiery strands. It had been six months since she’d started working here. Six months since he’d sat in this very office, interviewing the woman and being distracted by her long, sexy legs the whole time. He’d known as soon as she’d walked into his office what his plans were for her. And it wasn’t as the Special Events Coordinator for which he’d hired her.

She was going to be his. Sabrina Charmichael was everything he knew he wanted in a wife.

As she continued her elegant, purposeful walk across the lobby, she fell out of site in one camera. He pressed a few more buttons on the computer keyboard and the next camera picked her up. Crossing his arms over his chest, he considered the way she moved, with grace and style. She was unlike any other woman he’d ever known and Sid had known many. Too many, he thought dismissively. With Sabrina, Sid had discovered she was more than just looks. Behind that beautiful façade, the woman was smart, compassionate and friendly with everyone and her staff raved about her ideas.

Sid couldn’t argue with them on the smart and creative side of the equation. Her ideas had increased room bookings at the resort by twenty five percent in the short period of time she’d been working here. Before her arrival, the Solara Resort and Casino had already been one of the most successful establishments on the Las Vegas strip. Sid had seen to that through unrelenting ambition and nursing his plan, overcoming the harsh opposition and beating the impossible odds. At the age of thirty five, he sometimes looked back at his beginnings on the dirty streets of Las Vegas and …but he rarely had time to look back. The future was much more interesting.

Sabrina Charmichael, the petite and vivacious woman with a figure that made him forget to think at times, had energized his staff behind her ideas and had created a buzz around the strip unlike anything Vegas had seen in a long time.

Sabrina Charmichael had been working for him for six months. The moment he’d interviewed her, he’d known that he was going to make her his wife. He took a deep breath and gazed through the one way mirrors that looked out onto the main casino floor. The lavish casino and resort was all his doing and he was proud. It was now time to make a queen to help him with his empire. And that queen was going to be none other than Sabrina.

He smiled as he saw her wave to someone in the lobby. His smile was almost harsh as he considered the battle ahead of him. She’d fight it. He knew that. She was afraid of him for some reason. But he also knew that she was attracted to him, just as much as he was to her. He was glad for that. He suspected that he and Sabrina would probably set fire to each other once she got over her initial inhibitions and he would be more than happy to teach her how to light that spark. He didn’t want a cold wife to grace his table and raise his children. He wanted Sabrina with all of her energy and fire.

He pressed another button on his desk and his secretary immediately answered. “Yes, Mr. Matthews?” Liz Walters asked efficiently.

Sid’s normal decisiveness came through in his voice. “Call Sabrina and ask her to meet me here in fifteen minutes,” he said then released the button to disconnect the call. He hadn’t waited for Liz to agree. Sid knew that all his requests were immediately taken care of with the maximum amount of professionalism. He’d expect nothing less from anyone on his staff.

He turned back to the security cameras and watched as Sabrina answered her cell phone. She listened intently and Sid imagined that she was listening to Liz convey his instructions. He saw Sabrina nod her head and hang up her phone. then waited another fraction of a second before he saw what he was waiting for. He wasn’t disappointed; there was the sign, he chuckled. Sabrina hung up her phone and immediately ran a hand along her hair and smoothed her jacket. He’d seen it every time he’d had Liz call Sabrina to his office for various conferences. He suspected it was only when she was about to meet him that she primped slightly. He’d seen her answer her phone for others and rush off but she never cared about her appearance. In fact, once she entered the hotel each day, he never noticed her caring about her appearance in any way. Except when she was about to see him.

He liked that about her. He didn’t like the fact that other men turned to stare at her lovely face or spectacular figure as she made her way through the casino toward the management offices. Sid sighed deeply. He supposed he would have to get used to that feeling. If he was going to marry someone as stunning as Sabrina, he would have to allow that others felt the same way he did each time she came into view.

As long as they didn’t do anything about it, he could deal with it. But she was his, he thought to himself with deadly determination. And he protected what was his.

Moments later, Liz buzzed through to inform him that Sabrina was waiting for him. Sid pressed several buttons which turned off the monitors of the security cameras in his office. “Send her in,” he said and turned to watch his future wife walk through the double doors.

Sid could feel his body harden in anticipation and he enjoyed the gentle sway of her slim hips. Would he ever get used to her bright, trusting smile and sexy, graceful walk? He hoped not.

“Good morning, Mr. Matthews. I was going to brief you about the details for the car show later today,” she said and walked efficiently toward him.

“I thought I told you to call me Sid. Have a seat,” Sid said and waited until she was seated in one of the chairs in front of his desk before he sat down. “Tell me what’s going on,” he said. He already knew everything he needed to know about the car show. He’d gone over everything with her on several occasions and knew that she was in control of the situation. The car show would showcase one hundred and fifty cars from different periods in history. The cars would be parked in various places within the resort or casino, encouraging people to wander through the numerous areas of the resort and see the cars. There would be car races and various competitions, and of course betting on the races. The show would start in two days, the day after Christmas and he had every confidence that it would be yet another huge success.

This was usually a slow week for bookings until New Year’s Eve but because of her plan, they were completely booked and he expected guests from other hotels to flock to the car show as well.

Sabrina went through all the details of the show and rattled off the issues that might come up and how she was planning on taking care of each.

 

“It sounds great. I think you have everything under control,” he said and was rewarded by her flush of pleasure and another shy yet bright smile.

 

“Thank you, Mr. Matthews. I think it will be well worth all the trouble we’ve been having with the car owners,” she said.

“I think so as well,” Sid nodded, then moved on to the next subject. “What are your plans for tomorrow?” he asked. Tomorrow was Christmas Day and he knew she’d moved out here from the East Coast in order to take this job so he wondered if she had family she was spending the day with. Personally, he considered it just another day but he suspected that Sabrina might have more sentimentality attached to the date.

He watched as her eyes took on a glow of excitement, his suspicions confirmed. “Oh, I love Christmas,” Sabrina said enthusiastically. “My sister and I will spend the day together, opening presents and laughing about previous years. Then later, I’m having my neighbors over for dinner and it will be wonderful. Everyone brings something different, something to contribute so no one has the whole responsibility for the meal just to make it a little easier. My neighbors are a lot of fun, very silly and irreverent at times but good people. What about you?” she asked.

“I have some work to do,” he said tersely, hiding his frustration. His plans to initiate their personal relationship would have to wait one more day, he thought with a flash of irritation.

A light in her eyes that had been sparkling a moment before dimmed slightly with his news. She nodded and stood up. Sabrina turned and started to walk uncertainly toward the door, but she stopped and turned back to him, facing him hesitatingly, as if she wanted to say something more but wasn’t sure if she should. Her eyes darted to her file and then to his face, before settling on the file again.

Sabrina hated the idea of this incredibly handsome and fascinating man sitting in this sterile office on one of the happiest and holiest days of the year. No one should spend Christmas alone. It just wasn’t right. Christmas was a joyful time of the year but how could one celebrate while doing work? And what work could he be doing on Christmas that couldn’t wait one more day?

Should she invite him over? She felt silly just thinking about it. What if he was only being polite about his plans for tomorrow and he actually had something wonderful to go to and just didn’t want to make her jealous? No, that wasn’t his way. Sid was brilliant and creative and handsome and all those other extreme adjectives used to describe successful and gorgeous business men. But she knew she could also add in the term “harsh” to that list. He never beat around the bush so if he was doing something interesting, he would have made a vague reference to it and he certainly wouldn’t care if she was jealous or not. The idea was almost laughable. Why would he care what she thought of him? She was just projecting her own sensibilities onto someone else.

Would he want to join her and her neighbors? Sabrina’s heart raced at the idea and her skin tingled with excitement. Sid Matthews, in her house, sitting across the table from her where she could look at him until her heart’s content. That would be the ultimate Christmas present, she thought.

The idea was ridiculous and she tossed it aside. He was probably spending the day with some glamorous, talented actress or model. Someone charming and intelligent who could make witty remarks about all the movers and shakers. Sid wasn’t really the type to spend an evening with down to earth people with normal jobs who laughed about the difficulties of getting their children to eat broccoli or picking them up after school for soccer practice.

Dismissing the idea as silly and wishful thinking, she smiled and turned slightly back to the door to his office. “Well, if there isn’t any other information you need, I’ll get back to work,” she said, again turning slowly and moving toward the door. She walked across the vast expanse of Sid’s overwhelmingly masculine office, nervously aware of him watching her. Her hand was on the door knob when she stopped once again, tense and biting her lower lip in indecision.

But what if he wasn’t with someone else? She turned and looked back at the forceful man sitting behind his large, polished desk. He looked so elegant and powerful. The man radiated sexuality in a way she’d only read about in books. He was the epitome of tall, dark and handsome but those words just seemed completely inadequate to describe Sid Matthews, owner of Solara. Incredibly tall at well over six feet, enigmatic, dizzyingly handsome, charming and extremely dangerous were all words she had applied to the man either in her descriptions to her sister or in her mind as she wondered what he was like personally.

Machine was another applicable word that would adequately describe the man so she didn’t understand why she was about to act on the thought that popped into her head. She twisted the corner of the file folder, worried that what she was thinking would make her look silly or foolish. Should she? Could she? Sabrina looked into the man’s eyes and saw the flash of something she didn’t understand. With that one look, her heart melted as it always did whenever she was around him. She knew he would turn her down flat, but she wanted to offer the suggestion just in case.

Stilling her fidgeting hands, she squared her shoulders and faced him with the small amount of confidence she had built up inside her over the past six months. “Excuse me, Mr. Mathews, I know you’re incredibly busy running the Solara but if you could spare a few hours and don’t have anything better to do, why don’t you stop by my house for dinner tomorrow night?” she suggested. “It will be simple, probably not anything you’re used to,” she said, shrugging her shoulders and almost brushing off the suggestion as soon as she uttered the invitation. She felt silly. He probably had some beautiful woman waiting in the wings ready to while the hours away in bed.

Sid watched her for a long moment, a feeling of deep satisfaction entering his body and mind. He liked the way she glanced up at him shyly, as if she were hoping for acceptance, but bracing herself for rejection. “What time?” he asked, leaning back in his big leather chair.

Sabrina’s eyes widened in shock and pleasure. A bright smile spread across her face as she replied, “How about six o’clock? I know it isn’t sophisticated to dine that early but most of my friends need to get up early for work the next day.”