The bubble of laughter rose up in his throat. He couldn’t contain it. The pent-up frustration and disappointment and confusion of the last three years all pooled together at once and exploded out of him in a roar of laughter. His whole body shook with the power of it. Nate actually bowed over, his hands braced on his knees as he chuckled until tears started gathering in the corners of his eyes.
He looked up to see the laughter had doubled Annie’s irritation. Her expression only made it harder for him to breathe. Nate stood up, attempting to calm himself and wiping his face with the back of his hand. It was incredibly therapeutic—more so than the glasses of scotch or hours angrily lifting weights in the hotel gym.
“That’s it, I’m leaving!” she announced, turning and marching away from the restricted area, shoes in hand.
“Annie, come back here.” Nate jogged after her, reaching out to grasp her wrist and jerk her to a stop.
“Let go of me,” she whined, her anger doused by the champagne and reducing her to childish behavior.
Nate tightened his grip. “I will not. You’re going the wrong way. The elevator upstairs is over there.” He pointed.
Annie looked around her, confused, and then recognized her mistake. She started walking in the correct direction but was once again tugged to a stop by Nate. “Would you
please
let go of me?” she asked, exasperated.
Nate shook his head. “Not until you put your shoes back on.”
“Are you going to make me?” Annie taunted, tugging away again.
That was the wrong thing to say. Nate couldn’t take any more of this. If she wanted to make a scene in his casino, so be it, but he wouldn’t be the one everyone whispered about tomorrow. In one quick motion, he bent and scooped Annie up, tossing her over his shoulder like a kicking, screaming sack of potatoes.
“What the...?” she cried in surprise, but it was already too late.
Nate marched through the casino, his arms tightly gripping her legs to his chest to keep her from kicking him. Her free fists were already pounding at his back, but that was easy to ignore.
“Put me down, Nathan Reed! Put me down this instant,” Annie wailed.
Nate chuckled and disregarded her, walking through the casino as though it were his dry cleaning over his shoulder instead of his wife. Eyes were glued to him from every side, but he didn’t care. He nodded politely to the staff as he passed, just as he did every day.
“Nathan!” she howled.
“You’re only drawing more attention to yourself by yelling, Annie.”
The squirming mass on his shoulder quieted at once, although she still attempted a kick every few feet for good measure. Nate looked up at one of the domed ceiling cameras. He had no doubt that Gabe was watching them and laughing hysterically in the security office. He’d have to remember to save this tape for posterity. Or future blackmail.
Nate swiped his badge and ducked through the doorway to the restricted area. Once safely enclosed, Annie began kicking and screaming anew.
“Put me down!”
“Nope.” Nate called his private elevator and ignored the stiletto heels being pummeled against him. Instead, he held her legs more tightly. He enjoyed the feel of her in his arms, even in the less than ideal circumstance. The warm scent of her perfume was instantly familiar, stirring a heat in his veins. He couldn’t resist letting his fingertips softly stroke the smooth skin of her legs. Her skirt was long enough to protect her virtue as he’d walked through the casino, but it still provided him an excellent view of the firm thighs he’d missed all these years.
When the doors opened, he stepped inside the elevator. Now that they were out of the public view, he could put her down, even though he didn’t want to. Nate wrapped one arm behind her legs and another across the small of her back, slowly easing her to the floor. She clung to him, their bodies in full contact as she slid, inch by inch, to the ground. The simple motion caused a delicious friction as he felt her every curve press into him.
When her feet finally touched the ground, Annie looked up at him, her eyes blazing with blue fire. But not from desire. The impact of the powerful moment was overshadowed by his stunt. Either that or it just made her angrier that she reacted to him.
“You jackass,” she screeched as she swung her purse to strike him. Nate reached out and grabbed hold of her wrist before she could make contact. It only fueled her irritation. “How dare you manhandle me like that? I...I am not one of your employees you can shuffle around at will! I—”
Nate interrupted her tirade by capturing her mouth with his. He wasn’t about to let her poisonous words ruin this moment. Annie fought it for only a moment before succumbing to her desires and wrapping her arms around his neck to tug him closer. The kiss was hard and almost desperate as they came together for their first real kiss in three years.
He backed her up until she was pinned against the brass doors of the elevator. With the heavy thud of their bodies against the cold metal, it was as though the floodgates had opened. Nate could feel the intensity of their touches start to build, their hands feverishly dancing over their bodies as their mouths threatened to devour each other. He’d waited three long years to touch her body again and at last, he could.
His palm cupped her breast through the silky fabric of her shirt. She moaned, her body arching to press against him. “Oh, Nate,” she whispered.
The elevator came to a stop. Nate pulled her to him as the doors slid open behind her. He knew that he should let her go. This was not part of his plan, but he just couldn’t make himself do it. It felt right to have Annie in his arms again, even if she’d done nothing but aggravate him all evening.
He let his thumb gently trace the line of her jaw and relished the feel of her soft skin. Her eyes closed and lips parted slightly with a soft intake of breath. Her whole body relaxed into him, her anger a distant memory.
Annie opened her eyes and looked up at him. There was an obvious invitation in her blue gaze. Despite her earlier protests, too much champagne and not enough kissing had changed her mind. It had changed his, too. No matter what happened after they married, the times they’d spent in one another’s arms had always been fantastic. Every nerve in his body urged him to indulge it. If he stepped off this elevator with her, he would have her naked and in his bed in minutes. Exactly what he’d told Gabe he wouldn’t do.
So what the hell was he doing?
Nate straightened up and gently grasped Annie’s shoulders. “Good night, Annie.”
She frowned for a moment before he gave her a firm but gentle push. The movement was enough to send her stumbling backward out of the elevator and into the foyer of his suite. He quickly hit the button, closing the doors and sending him back to the casino, leaving them both aroused and alone.
Four
A
nnie was awakened the next morning by the sound of the shower running. She pushed herself up in bed, eyeing the pristine blankets on Nate’s side. He must have slept on the couch.
She hoped he had a crick in his neck from it. After he’d wound her up then dropped her like a rock last night, he deserved it. When he’d kissed her so fiercely, she’d thought that perhaps he was as attracted to her as she still was to him. But when she stumbled back onto the landing and watched the cold, impassive expression on his face as the elevator doors closed, she’d known she was wrong.
Nate hated her. Anything and everything he could do to make her miserable—including turning her on and leaving her unsatisfied—was on the table for the next week. He’d lured her back to Las Vegas with this poker tournament just so he could slowly torture her. It was a devious plot, and a part of her knew she deserved it for leaving the way she had, but that didn’t mean she was just going to sit back and take it.
If Nate thought he could use their physical connection to manipulate her, he had another think coming. Two could play at that game. He’d desired her once; she could make him want her again. Silently seducing and manipulating men was at least half of her poker strategy. That’s why her sweaters were so low cut and her skirts were so tight. Poker required concentration, and she’d learned early on that being attractive was one of her biggest advantages in a game dominated by men.
The water turned off and Annie heard the glass door of the shower stall open and close. She quickly smoothed her hands over her hair and wished she was wearing pajamas with more seductive appeal. Her thin cotton shorts didn’t quite fit the bill, so she tugged up the sheets so only her skimpy matching tank top would show.
The door opened a moment later to reveal a wet and steamy Nate. He had a dark blue towel wrapped low on his hips that drew the eye down his hard belly to the line of darkening hair that disappeared beneath the terry cloth. His golden curls were damp, his face freshly shaved. Annie tried to focus on looking alluring, but it was hard when she was face-to-face with a body like his. Every inch was hard-carved muscle.
Nate paused in the doorway. His glance flicked briefly to the snug fit of her top over her breasts and returned to her eyes. “Good, you’re up. You need to get ready. Gabe will be here in about an hour to brief you on our strategy.”
Annie abandoned her attempt at alluring Nate and frowned. “Strategy?”
“For you snitching, as you’ve called it.”
Annie had been so distracted by last night’s events that she’d forgotten about the deal she’d made. She wasn’t just posing as his happy bride in public and feuding with him in private. She was supposed to be spying. Cracking the ring. Earning her freedom. The tournament officially started tomorrow, but everyone would be arriving today for the kickoff, registration and the cocktail party.
“Okay.” She sighed. “As long as you promise to keep Gabe on his leash. Putting up with his crap was not part of the agreement.”
Nate nodded and disappeared into the closet. “I’ll do my best.” He came back out with a blue pin-striped shirt and a navy suit. He laid them across his side of the bed and went back toward the bathroom. The towel fell away as he tugged on it, giving her a glimpse of his tight, bare rear end as he disappeared out of sight.
Annie immediately averted her eyes and took a deep breath, wishing away the warm stirring of desire in her belly. Her attraction to Nate was counterproductive. She needed to get her body and brain on the same page, and fast. She flung back the sheets and slipped quietly from the bedroom. If he was going to parade around naked while he got ready, it was probably a good idea for her to go get some coffee in the kitchen.
She was sitting at the granite-topped breakfast bar, taking her first tentative sips of the hot drink, when Nate strode into the kitchen, fully dressed and handsome as ever. He poured his own mug and turned to face her.
“What do you have on your agenda today?”
Annie frowned. She didn’t like having to report her every move. She didn’t have any firm plans, but she didn’t care for him knowing each step of her day, either. He’d been that way after they got married. He didn’t have the ability to be with her every moment while he ran the casino, but he checked in with her enough to make her thankful she had an unlimited texting plan. “I don’t know yet. Is there something we have to do?”
“I don’t think so. After we meet with Gabe, you’ll probably have most of the afternoon free until the cocktail party. Do you have a dress for tonight?”
Annie arched her eyebrow at him over her mug. Yes, she had a dress. She had two, in fact. She’d been planning to wear the more elegant and tasteful of the two dresses, but as punishment for his behavior last night, she was going to wear the sexier, more scandalous one. If she was successful, tonight
he
would be the one tossing and turning with unfulfilled fantasies. “Yes,” was all she replied.
“Good. Most of the players start arriving today and will be registering. Perhaps this afternoon you can make some headway in your investigation by socializing with them.”
Annie hated the idea of turning her social time with friends into a manhunt. “My sister comes in today. I’ll probably have dinner with her and meet you at the party.”
“I forgot you have a sister. What’s her name again?”
“Tessa. She’s playing in the tournament, too.”
“Good. I’ll be happy to finally meet her.”
Annie swallowed a large gulp of coffee and tried not to choke on it. “Yeah, I’m going to have to talk to her before we play happy family and do formal introductions.”
“You’re not telling her what we’re really doing, are you?”
Annie shook her head. “No, but the cover story will raise enough questions. Commitmentphobia runs in our bloodline, and she’s even more firmly entrenched in our family traditions than I am.”
“She disapproves of us?”
“Tessa certainly did the first time, especially after I left and she got to rub it in my face. I have no doubt she’ll give me hell for getting mixed up with you twice.”
“What did your mother think about us?”
“I come from a long line of independent, distrustful women,” she explained.
“Ahh...” Nate said. “Our marriage was not their favorite dinnertime subject.”
“I don’t suppose so. We’re really not that close. I haven’t seen my mother in several years. She’s in Brazil at the moment. She was in Portugal before that.” Annie at least tried to travel with a purpose and had found a career to soothe the itch to move. She had a condo in Miami as her home base between tournaments. Her mother just wandered to wherever the wind blew her. Annie had seen her four times in the ten years since she’d moved out on her own. “Are you close with your family?”
“Define close.” He laughed. “It depends. I’ve always been pretty close with my father and my grandfather before he died. Dad got a wild haircut and bought a ranch in Texas a few years ago, but until then, almost my whole family lived here in Vegas. The Reeds have been here since 1964, when my grandfather decided to relocate from Los Angeles and open a hotel.”
Annie knew her mother couldn’t even tell her where she
was
in 1964, much less every place she’d been since then. “A family legacy, then.”
“Yes.” He straightened up, a smile of pride curling his lips. “I was happy to be able to make the Sapphire everything it could be. I pretty much grew up running the halls and doing my homework in my father’s office. When the hotel was passed on to me, I knew it was important to keep my grandfather’s dream alive.”
“What about your mother?”
The light of pride in Nate’s eyes dimmed, his smile fading just slightly enough for her to notice. “I haven’t seen my mother since I was twelve.” His words were cold and matter-of-fact. “She got tired of the casino life and took off one night.”
Annie felt a sharp pang of guilt stab her in the gut like a knife. He spoke impassively on the topic, but she could tell it was a sore subject, having happened to him so young. No wonder he seemed to be so focused on punishing Annie for abandoning their marriage. She’d not only left him, but she’d jabbed him in his most tender spot. Hit his Achilles without aiming.
She swallowed hard and shifted her guilty gaze down into her coffee cup. “I didn’t know that.” Would it have kept her from leaving? Probably not. But she might have handled it differently if she’d known about his mother. That was just one more reason why marrying a stranger was so treacherous. You had no idea how badly you could really hurt someone and not even know it.
“How could you know? I don’t talk about it.”
“I know, but...” she began, but couldn’t think of what else to say other than the most overdue words of all. “I’m sorry I left like she did. It was cowardly of me not to talk to you about the anxiety I was having. If I had known about your mother, I—”
“Don’t,” Nate interrupted, his jaw tight. “Don’t handle me with kid gloves like I’m damaged somehow, because I’m not. You didn’t hurt me, Annie. I wouldn’t let you.”
He turned his back to her and put his empty mug in the sink. Glancing quickly at his watch, he said, “Go get dressed. Gabe will be here soon.”
* * *
Nate was already in a bad mood, brought on by an uncomfortable night’s rest and the miserable and near-constant ache in his groin from being so near to Annie. Talking about his mother had been the damned cherry on his day so far. But even then, he couldn’t help but be amused by the animosity between Gabe and Annie. They were glaring at each other across the table as though
they
were the feuding couple. They’d been silent and still for the past few minutes as Nate gathered paperwork from his desk and brought it over to the conference table.
“We’re on the same team,” he reminded them.
His words did little to unwind the tension in Gabe’s shoulders. He was suspicious of Annie, and nothing Nate said or did was going to change it. Gabe was good at reading people. Nate tried not to ask him too much about the things he’d done when serving in the military, but he knew Gabe’s instincts were always spot-on. He hoped his friend’s suspicion of Annie was just residual distrust from years ago, but there was no way to know for certain. Annie was a stranger. His wife...his past lover...but still a stranger.
Gabe opened his portfolio and focused on the task at hand. “I’ve done quite a bit of recon. Talked to a few of my sources. Here’s a short list of our most likely candidates.” He slid the paper with ten or twelve names on it across the table to Annie. “These might be your best bets to start with.”
Nate watched Annie review the names, her face betraying none of her opinions. She had one of the best poker faces in the game. “If I had to put my money on one of them,” he said, “I’d bet on Eddie Walker. He reeks of it, but he’s slippery.”
Annie nodded but again didn’t offer any information she might have on him. Nate was certain she’d heard something about Walker over the years. He was practically notorious for never getting caught red-handed. It had always confused Nate because, to be honest, he didn’t seem that bright. But apparently he had a mind for dirty dealing. Or he had a silent partner who was the real brains behind the operation.
“You can go ahead and cross off Mike Stewart,” she said, her face still blank, as though they were perched in front of playing cards instead of paperwork. “And Bob Cooke.”
“How can you be so sure?” Gabe challenged.
Annie shot a lethal gaze at his head of security. “You brought me into this because I have inside knowledge of these people,” she said sharply. “If you contradict everything I tell you, this whole ruse is pointless. I’m telling you they’re not cheats.”
“
I
didn’t bring you into this, Nate did. Personally, I don’t think we can trust you. You say they’re on the level, but we’ve got no way of knowing you aren’t just protecting your friends. Or cohorts,” he added with an accusatory tone.
Annie sighed and shook her head. “Neither are friends. Or cohorts,
thankyouverymuch.
Here’s some honest inside information for you. Mike is actually a pervert who cheats on his wife. He comes on to me at every tournament, even when she’s with him. But he’s not a poker cheat. And neither is Bob. Bob is bipolar. His playing fluctuates wildly depending on whether or not he’s taken his medication. Recheck your sources,” she said, shoving the paper back at Gabe.
“What about Jason Devries?”
“Jason won the tournament two years ago and typically makes it to the final table.”
“So?” Gabe challenged.
“So,” Annie continued, “he doesn’t need the help. You’re looking for someone who improves suddenly or performs well inconsistently. If they’re smart, the people behind this will rarely take the grand prize. It’s too obvious. You’re looking for a lower-level player. Someone who will slink away with their eighth-place prize money and never rouse suspicion. These people aren’t stupid or someone would’ve caught them by now.”
Nate’s eyebrows went up at Annie’s bold words. Perhaps she wouldn’t hold back as much as they thought.
Gabe didn’t appear as impressed. “I want you to wear a wire.”
Even Nate was surprised at Gabe’s sudden declaration. They’d never discussed that possibility before. If they had, he would’ve eased her into the idea instead of bulldozing her like that. His friend knew how to handle suspects and terrorists but not a woman like Annie.
“Absolutely not.” Annie crossed her arms over her chest, her brow knitting together in a defiant frown. A bit of her facade crumbled at the challenge, and Nate noticed a very becoming blush rising to her cheeks. All the times they argued, he was too busy being upset to really appreciate how beautiful she was when she let emotion slip through. Annie was far more attractive than the Barracuda.
“I don’t trust her,” Gabe said, not caring that Annie was three feet away. Nate reluctantly returned to the conversation, taking in Gabe’s rapid explanation. “You think this is the only way, but I disagree. If you insist on involving her, the only way we can be certain, that we can know for sure she’s doing her part and not tipping anyone off, is if she wears a wire.”