Working on a Full House (3 page)

She was, like the low stakes game, completely unlike Roy's usual. And yet, he found he wanted to stick close.

So he laced his fingers with hers and acted like it was the most natural thing in the world for them to walk thusly joined as he steered her out of Mandalay Bay, as if they were great pals already. More cheating. She didn't really know him; she thought he was broke!

But Roy put that out of his mind as they walked out onto the sidewalk and into the chill February night. The black pyramid of the Luxor loomed ahead. "Have you been to ancient Egypt?" he asked.

"Have I — ? Oh, you mean the Luxor. No, I haven't gone through that one yet."

Her sweet, nervous smile twined around him as delicately as her fingers twined through his. He smiled back and curled their fingers more snugly together. "Good."

In the Luxor, she explored the Egyptian museum and laughed at the mummy robot who rolled up to her. The robot, remotely prompted by an electronics freak who knew Roy, warned Valerie to leave Roy, who was definitely poison, and stick by him instead.

She glanced over at Roy then, her dark eyes alight, the mischief in her like a fleeting, elusive butterfly.

Roy noted that, the potential for playfulness in her, and some primal compartment of his brain jumped. The sexual awareness that had been humming under the surface shot into the open. As he looked at her bright eyes, curving lips, and lithe body, he suddenly wondered what it would all be like against him, beneath him...playful.

Quickly, he cached the idea, hiding it somewhere private. He didn't want his secret musings to ruin their good time. She'd made it clear she was skittish. A good girl. And he wanted the full four hours.

He took her to visit the lions at the MGM. The animals were awake and prowling in their natural nocturnal rhythm. After that he made her wait on the castle walls to see the dragon emerge from his lair in the moat at Excalibur. By then, he was no longer surprised by her laugh of delight. The way she clutched his arm, though, almost pressing against him, bumped the sexual idea into the open again. Lord, she felt sweet.

Too sweet for the likes of him, no doubt. She was meant for guys in pinstriped suits with white picket fences on their minds. He was built for women with experience under their mini-skirts and dollar signs in their eyes. Half of him wanted to sweep her to him. The other half knew he ought to run the other direction. It was like the gas pedal and the brakes.

Roy did his best to use the brakes as they made their way up the Strip and he pointed her toward quaint, free amusements. She laughed and commented, clearly able to take joy in the little things in life. It made Roy want to laugh, too. Something deep inside of him felt tugged and drawn. It was a strange sensation, but a pleasurable one.

Before he knew it, it was eleven-thirty. Dismayed, Roy glanced away from his watch as they stood outside the lagoon at the Mirage, waiting for the volcano to blow. Only half an hour left to their bet and their allotted time together. Half an hour until he bid her goodbye.

Her warm, brown eyes glanced up at him. "Is something wrong?"

An expert at bluffing, he was surprised she'd been able to read his expression. "No, nothing's wrong, except...I can't believe you haven't already seen this."

"I haven't," she claimed, laughing. Over the course of the evening, her shyness had turned to ease. "I keep telling you. This is my first time in Las Vegas."

"That's right, that's right." He raised his chin, musing. "You've never before bothered to drive the few miles to Vegas from — what was the place again?"

She didn't even hesitate. "Palmwood. And I've only lived there about a year, so it isn't so terrible I haven't made it yet to Vegas. Not to mention it
is
a three hour drive."

Palmwood. Roy was pretty sure that was over the border in California. He'd been gleaning little bits like this all evening, though what he intended to do with them he didn't know: where she lived, where she worked, if there was a man in her life. The answers he had so far were Palmwood, a pediatric clinic he'd yet to get the name of, and no.

Though there'd been a man, she'd tossed out, as if it hadn't been very important. He'd recently become engaged to somebody else.

This last piece of information should not have bothered Roy at all. Her romantic history, no matter how recent, had nothing to do with him. He wasn't embarking on a relationship here. They were saying goodbye at midnight.

Yet he'd taken it in, processed it, and wondered just how much of the attention she'd been giving him was a reaction to her recent rejection.

She tilted her head. "And what about you? Do you live right here in Vegas?"

"I don't live anywhere."

Her eyebrows lifted.

"Nowhere permanent," Roy amended. "Right now I'm in Vegas. I could easily hop a plane tomorrow. I can find a good poker game almost anywhere in the world."

"Ah." She nodded. "A true roamer."

"Yeah, I'm a roamer." Roy resolved to sound and, indeed
be
, his true self. "As a matter of fact, everything I own, I can pack in one suitcase."

She laughed. "That would certainly make it easy to take off on a moment's impulse."

"Ah..." Impulsive. His trips had never been that. They'd always been carefully planned with the end goal in mind. Which venues stood him the best chance of making the most money? He had a lot to make in a relatively short amount of time. It hadn't even mattered when the reason for making all that money had up and died. Roy had felt the need to prove himself to his father, even posthumously.

He wrapped his hand more firmly around Valerie's. No, he wasn't impulsive, but for similar reasons he avoided responsibility. He didn't want to be bound by any kind of tie, even to material objects: houses, cars, stereos. He had to be free to drop everything in order to hustle to wherever the most lucrative game happened to be.

For some reason, he felt the need to explain this to her. "Haven't you ever wanted to do something — and not worry about the consequences because there wouldn't be any? That's what I do, make sure there aren't any consequences."

As her eyes gazed into his, her smile faded. It took Roy a minute to realize he'd just delivered a come on. He'd asked her to consider going forward with him — just because. No consequences.

And she was thinking about it.

The jump in his sexual readiness became a leap. His skin heated. She was thinking about it.

Or at least for a minute she was thinking about it. Then she turned abruptly, drawing her hand out of his. "So, what about this volcano?" She took hold of the iron rungs of the surrounding fence and squinted at the fake mountain. "Do you think it's ever going to blow?"

"Oh, sure." Roy cleared his throat. "Just you wait."

She turned.

Their eyes met. He could feel his inner conflict: want versus good sense. It now occurred to him the same conflict might be going on inside of her.

Then lights blazed, illuminating the concrete volcano. In a sudden, powerful burst, water began gushing forth. Valerie whirled back to watch.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, her eyes sparkling. "Look at that! Can you believe — " She broke off to laugh delightedly.

Her innocent joy was like a physical blow. Roy felt pummeled. Beaten. Needy.

Oh yes, he should keep his distance, stay out of any deeper involvement. But something other than caution warned he'd regret it forever if he let this get away without a taste.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Valerie slowly turned to look at him.

"Yes," Roy answered, looking back at her. "It's beautiful." There were twenty more minutes left until midnight. Twenty more minutes he'd promised to behave himself.

After that — Well, after that, for once in his life, he was not absolutely sure what he was going to do.

~~~

Valerie was certain he wanted to kiss her. As she stood there watching the gushing volcano instead of Roy, she could feel the desire in him like a physical thing.

All evening she'd been asking herself if it was merely her own desire she sensed buzzing in the air between them. But after catching the gleam in his eyes a moment ago, she knew this wasn't coming from her alone.

Her heart went beat, beat, beat as water splashed and streamed down the sides of the make-believe volcano. This handsome, desirable man wanted to kiss her, at the very least. Should she let him?

Of course not. They'd met in a bar! On the other hand, she'd been having a great time, better than any time she'd ever spent with Peter, to be frank. Roy was easy to talk to. He seemed to understand her and, oddly enough, she felt she understood him, too.

Valerie watched the waterfall and privately shook her head at herself. Roy probably knew how to make himself seem so understanding. It was part of his professional training to set another person at ease, preparatory to fleecing that person at the card table.

Was it naïve of Valerie to believe he wasn't going to fleece her, too?

Or would it be more accurate to say, was it naïve not to mind if he did?

Valerie's eyes widened at her own thoughts. Was she considering...letting him come on to her? Giving in if he did?

Oh, surely not. That would be reckless, and she was never reckless.

The last of the water drained down the concrete valleys and gullies of the 'volcano.' The other people who'd stood watching the show began to clap. Valerie clapped, too, if only to delay having to deal with Roy.

But then she couldn't clap any more. She had to turn.

He was looking down at her with a soft and dreamy expression, something she wouldn't have expected to see on his face. Yes, he almost looked...like
he
was the one being seduced.

In a low voice, he claimed, "I'm not done yet."

Valerie's breathing hitched. "What?"

"I know it's almost midnight, but I'm not done with the entertainment." He paused. "There are still the fountains at Bellagio."

Valerie swallowed down her nerves. He was only talking about the fountain show in the big lagoon in front of the Bellagio hotel. "Oh, yes." She cleared her throat. "We passed them on the way up here, but it wasn't the right time for the show."

"I happen to know the best place to see the thing." The lights above them shadowed the smiling crescent in one of his cheeks.

"Do you now?" Valerie tilted her head and smiled back at him, looking vaguely standoffish — she hoped. She wasn't feeling standoffish. In fact, she wanted more: more time, more sensation, just...more.

"The pool deck at the Paris hotel." Roy waved his hand in that direction. "It's the very best view."

And at night it would be deserted. For the first time all evening they'd be truly alone together. Valerie was stunned by her yearning to make it so. Did she
want
to sleep with him? Or did she simply want to prolong the possibility?

His eyes studied her carefully in the artificial half-light. "You'll be safe there," he said at last. "I told you I wouldn't come on to you, and I won't."

Oh...
yes
. That meant she wouldn't have to make a decision. She wouldn't — yet — have to give up this lovely dream.

"Okay." Her voice sounded very soft. "I'd like to see the fountains from the pool deck of the Paris hotel with you."

He took her hand, the way he'd been doing all night.

Valerie didn't add that the Paris hotel was where she had her room.

Now was that self-defense or self-destruct? She wasn't quite sure.

~~~

He said he wasn't going to come on to her, but he hadn't
promised
. That was Roy's escape hatch.

Not that he needed one, Roy assured himself as he led Valerie onto the deserted pool deck of the Paris Hotel. He wasn't going to seduce her. It would be a bad idea for about a thousand different reasons. Besides, she trusted him. He didn't want to betray that.

Hand-in-hand, Roy led Valerie to the edge of the deck that overlooked the street and, beyond that, the famous lagoon of the Bellagio hotel. They came to a stop by the guardrail.

Feeling like he deserved something for his self-sacrifice, Roy let go of Valerie's hand to slip his arm around her waist.

She stiffened momentarily, then seemed to make an effort to relax. "I think we're a little early."

"I guess. Do you mind waiting outside?"

She turned her face up. "No."

Her eyes were like deep, dark wells, quietly dangerous. No way to get out if you fell in. Roy felt like he was leaning too far over the edge. Off balance. Her body felt soft and delicate against the curve of his arm. Her trustfulness was the sweetest thing he'd ever experienced.

"It's cold," he said, an excuse to draw her closer.

"It's not so bad," she replied, but accepted the increased proximity and looked directly into his eyes.

He was falling, going over the edge. Scrambling for something to keep him grounded, he asked, "Why become a doctor?"

Her sober expression turned into a laugh. "Of all things. Do you really want to know?"

He kept his firm hold on her. The gas pedal and the brakes. "I asked, didn't I?"

Her eyes crinkled. "No. You go first this time. Why a card player?"

"Poker," Roy corrected.

She lifted her brows.

"Card games are one thing," Roy explained. "Poker is something else again."

"I hadn't realized."

"'S true." Roy gestured with his free hand. "Everything in life has two parts: a probability of happening and a value to that happening, how good or bad it is." Roy lowered his hand and shrugged. "That's how life works, and so does poker."

She looked at him the way most non-poker players did when he tried to explain: half amused and half understanding. "So you like poker because it resembles life."

"Exactly. You can figure it out, but only to a point. Probability doesn't mean definite. When you come right down to it, anything can happen."

The amusement half of her expression began to fade. "Yes," she said. "I think I know what you mean."

The look on her face was giving Roy too much of the gas pedal, so he prompted, "You were going to tell me about the doctor thing."