Weekend in Vegas!: Saving Cinderella!

He wondered if she’d been “overly involved” with any of those jerks who had made her swear off men. But of course she had. Even from the short time he’d known her, Wyatt could see that Alex was the type to jump in and help total strangers. How much more would she give to those she cared about? And how deeply would she have been hurt when those men she’d cared for disappointed her?

That, he realized, was hitting too close to home. He’d disappointed women. He didn’t want Alex to be one of them.

“That won’t happen here, though,” she told him. “I won’t get…overzealous. I’m just trying to help the hotel.”

She would have heard the stories about him and women. He knew about the bets. He ignored them.

“I’m glad you’re here helping,” he said, wanting to reassure her, to tell her that he wouldn’t disappoint her.

“I’m glad, too. McKendrick’s is so special.”

At that husky comment about the place that he had poured himself into, Wyatt couldn’t seem to stop the rush of sensation sluicing through him. “Thank you.” He reached down, took her chin in his hand and lowered his head to taste her lips.

She was soft…warm…yielding. And when she angled her head and placed her hand on his chest, all reason fled. He pulled her to him, deepening the kiss. His senses were spinning.

She looped her arms around his neck. Her fingertips slid into his hair.

That small move nearly undid him completely, even as he realized that they were standing in the damned hallway!

As if he’d said something—had he whispered something against her lips?—Alex turned statue-still. She pushed back lightly against his chest with both palms. Immediately she stepped away.

“I’m sorry. I can’t do this. I—”

Instantly, regret and anger at himself assaulted him. He reached out and took both her hands in his. “Shh, Alex. Don’t apologize when I’m the one at fault. You’ve told me that you’re on a break from men, so this was all on me. I should never have touched you.”

“It wasn’t just you,” she insisted. “Although…yes, I do have a bad history with men. And I don’t want to repeat that bad history. I’m absolutely not doing that anymore.”

“You shouldn’t.”

“I won’t.”

“Good.” He tipped her chin up with one finger. “If I ever step out of line, I want you to tell me. Don’t let the fact that I’m your boss stop you. I’ve had enough vindictive people in my life to ever want to be one, so you’re safe. All right? You’ll tell me?”

He was expecting her to do something meek. She was clearly vulnerable right now. Instead she looked up, a mischievous expression lit her eyes, and she laughed. “You have got to be kidding. I can’t think of too many women who would think you were getting out of line for merely kissing them.”

He frowned. “I went from dancing with you straight to kissing you, and it was turning rather…fiery.”

Her smile froze. “Yes, it was.”

“I was on the verge of taking it further.”

Alex looked to the side. “Um, well, yes, I was on the verge, too. And that’s my point,” she said, taking a visible breath and looking at him again. She reached out and tapped him on the chest with her index finger. Actually poked him. “This isn’t about what you were doing. This is about me being in control of myself and knowing my limits. I am and I do.”

“Of course.”

“I mean it. I’m not doing something stupid with you.”

She sounded so incensed and miffed that he couldn’t help smiling. “Understood.”

“Under no circumstances am I kissing you again or getting all hot and bothered or…”

“Yes.”

Alex looked directly into his eyes. She crossed her arms. “Well, I think it’s been a very full day, Mr. McKendrick, with more to do tomorrow. I think I’d better go inside now.”

“Of course,” he said. “I agree. Good night, Alexandra.” His tone was totally calm. He sounded as if he had been completely unaffected by what had just happened here. He wanted to be unaffected, had to be. But as he left her, heat still pulsed through him. He wanted to kiss her again.

Alex was trying her best not to think about what had happened last night, but every time she tried not to think about Wyatt, her lips burned, her arms ached, her whole body…yearned.

“Stupid,” she muttered.

“Something wrong?” Randy asked.

“Nothing,” she lied. If her body had been a building, flames would have been shooting through the roof.

“I just heard through the grapevine that the owners of Champagne are upgrading all of their furnishings and offering a complimentary chocolate dessert buffet for their guests every night. They’re determined to win the award.”

“Does Wyatt know?”

“Wyatt knows everything, but if it matters to him he’s not showing it.”

But Alex knew that it mattered. McKendrick’s was his creation, a wonderful creation. Why shouldn’t he care?

“You stupid kid! You idiot!”

The yell came from across the lobby. A harried-looking mother with a baby and two little ones cried out as a man rose up above a small boy of maybe five. The little boy looked up in fear. An empty soda cup lay at his feet, a puddle of liquid pooling over a stack of papers. “This is my work. Lady, your stupid kid has ruined days of work, and I—”

The cords on the man’s neck stood out. The boy cowered against his mother, who tried to reach out to him, but she was hampered by having her arms full with her other children.

“It’s okay, Denny,” she said, trying to substitute soothing words.

“It’s not okay,” the man said, bending over to get into the child’s face. “You’re an idiot, you know that? It’s going to take me weeks to replace all of this.”

Alex could hear the boy whispering loudly, “Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.” Teary, desperate puffs of words. Her heart cracked. Anger rose up within her.

There was someone heading straight toward the concierge desk, obviously in need of assistance, but Alex didn’t even stop to see who it was. She flew across the lobby toward the little boy, squeezing herself between the man and the child and jostling them both in the process.

“Don’t listen, sweetheart,” she told the boy in a soft, low voice. “I’m sure it was just an accident. They happen. To all of us.”

“Butt out, lady,” the man said. “It’s not just an accident to me. I want somebody to fix this. Now. And I want his parents to pay me for what this little jerk did.”

She felt the man’s big, hard hand close around her bicep, but she didn’t turn to look at him, even though her heart was beating fast. The little boy looked as if he was going to faint. His mother was starting to cry and desperately trying to find someplace safe to put her younger ones so she could get to her son.

Alex heard a woman gasp. Turning to look, she saw Wyatt moving toward her, his eyes like missiles targeted on the man.

“If you don’t get your hand off her right now and back away from that child, you’re going to find yourself in police custody very quickly. Almost immediately. I can guarantee that.”

Wyatt’s low but deadly voice cut through the crowd and a silence fell over the room. His expression was dark and fierce, his eyes narrowed. They flickered only slightly as he took in Alex and the boy and seemed to decide that they were all right. Then, as she quickly took the little boy by the hand and led the mother and her children over to a nearby couch, Wyatt turned his attention fully to the red-faced man.