High Stakes (10 page)

“So, you gonna go home and get back
together with that son of a bitch?”

“No, it’s over. We’re over.”

“It better be.” His hand glided up and down
her bare back. “I’m gonna be keeping my eye on what’s going on in his camp now,
and if I hear so much as a whisper about you taking him back, I’m gonna fly to
Nashville and beat the hell out of him.”

Alisa smiled. “My hero.”

“Hey.” He slid a finger under her chin,
coaxing her to look at him. “You deserve so much better than him, sweetheart.
Promise me you won’t settle for anything less than you deserve.”

“I promise.”

Knowing that her lying, cheating ex still
had the power to hurt her this way ate Liam up inside. He wanted to believe
that this Nick guy wouldn’t be able to wear her down with charm and false
promises, but he knew there were no guarantees. The ring he’d bought for her
was burning a hole in his pocket, and he thought about John’s story.

Without thinking about the ramifications,
where they were, or who might be watching the scene unfold, he dropped to one
knee and pulled the ring out of his pocket. “Alisa, I’ve been a lot places and
met a lot of people, but no one has made me feel this way.”

The color drained from her face when he
held up the ring she’d admired. “Oh my God, what are you doing?”

“Following my heart… maybe for first time.
I’ve always been so guarded, because I never wanted to risk getting hurt, but,
baby, I’m giving you that power, right here, right now. You can make me the happiest
man alive, or you can destroy me. What’s it gonna be?”

She covered her face with her hands. “This
can’t be happening. You can’t be serious.”

“We go our separate ways and chances are,
we’ll never see each other again. Is that what you want?” He knew he was
over-selling when he should have sat back and let her make her own decision,
but he’d never been one to rest on his laurels and there had never been so much
riding on one little word. He knew if he lost her now, he’d be crushed.

“No, of course not, but my father… my
family. If I came home engaged to a complete stranger, what would they say?”

He knew Trey Turner would talk her out of
marrying him inside an hour. He couldn’t let that happen. “If it was a done
deal by the time you got home, there’s not a damn thing your dad or anyone else
could do about it.”

Her mouth fell open before she whispered,
“What are you…?”

“Marry me right now, here, tonight.”

“You’re insane.”

“Maybe, but I know what I want. You. As my
wife.”

“How can you possibly know that? You don’t
even know me.”

“I know what my heart’s telling me, and I
think you do too. If you’re willing to be honest with yourself?”

She looked from him to the ring and back
again. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Say yes. Not because I want you to, but
because you want to. Don’t think about what anyone else will say or think, just
do what’s right for you.” He took a deep breath. “Even if that means walking
away from me right now, Alisa. I’m willing to let you go, knowing that I did
everything I could, if that’s what you want.” His eyes fell to her hand.
“Either way, it has to be your call.”

She raised her left hand. “Shall we see if
it fits?”

His heart wouldn’t allow him to believe she
was saying yes until he heard it with his own ears. His hand trembled as she
slid the ring into place. “Is that a yes?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

He breathed a sigh of relief as his chin
fell to his chest. “Let me make the arrangements. It shouldn’t take long. We
routinely do weddings on-site at this hotel.”

She grabbed his hand when he would have
sprinted down the hall. “Liam, this is crazy. We’re not really gonna do this,
are we?”

Damn. He’d almost let himself believe having
everything he’d ever wanted was possible. His business, his daughter, and an
amazing woman to share his bed and his life. “We’re not gonna do anything you
don’t wanna do. If you need more time, I’ll wait.” He knew if he let her return
to Nashville without his ring on her finger, the chances of him seeing her again
were slim. She had an ex who wanted her back, an overprotective father who
would lose his mind if he found out she was seeing a much older man with a
teenage daughter, and a business to run. He would have no place in her life,
but if he were her husband, it wouldn’t be so easy to walk away.

He hated feeling desperate and uncertain.
It was so unlike him. Maybe it was knowing his brother was in
his
vacation home with the love of his life, or knowing that John, the blackjack
dealer, would give anything for one more day with his soul mate. Whatever it
was, he didn’t want to be alone for one more day, and he couldn’t risk letting
the woman of his dreams walk out on him. “So, are we doing this or not,
sweetheart?”

“Okay, let’s do it.”

Alisa wandered around the crowded hotel,
trying to make sense of what was happening. Had she really just agreed to marry
a man she’d just met? Was she losing her mind?

She wandered into the casino and sat down
at the blackjack table. “Hi,” she said to the gray-haired man behind the table.

He tipped his head to look at her. “Hey,
you’re the lady I saw coming out of the private dining room, aren’t you? Mr.
Bryson’s girlfriend?”

She held her left hand up and smiled,
deciding to try the word on for size. “It looks like I’m his fiancée now, soon
to be his wife.”

The man, whose nametag read John, chuckled
as he laid the cards out in front of her. “Well, don’t that just beat all? I
guess my story about my Mary made him stop and think.”

Alisa caught the attention of a passing
waiter. “Tequila.” She took a second to think about what lay ahead. “Better
make it a double.” She turned her attention back to John and smiled. “Sorry
about that. You were telling me about Mary?”

His eyes filled with tears as he looked
down at the narrow band of gold making an indent on his left ring finger. “We
met right here in Las Vegas almost forty years ago. Met her one day; made her
my wife the next.”

Alisa’s mouth fell open. “And you told Liam
this story earlier?”

“Sure did.” He smiled. “I was settin’ up
the table for you two when I got a call tellin’ me y’all had changed your mind
about playin’ blackjack tonight. Yet here you are, without him. You wanna talk
about it? I’m a pretty good listener.”

The waiter appeared with her drink and she
proceeded to take the salt and lime before downing the shot. She winced. “One
more, please.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

John raised a bushy gray eyebrow. “You sure
that’s such a good idea? I don’t think Mr. Bryson would like it too good.”

“You just let me worry about Liam. I’ll
handle him.” She wasn’t certain anyone had ever
handled
Liam before, but
she was willing to give it a shot if he chose to give her grief about having a
few drinks before her
wedding.
God, just thinking about it made her
break out in a cold sweat. What the hell was she thinking? Oh yeah, she was
thinking he was the sweetest, sexiest, most successful man she’d met in ages.
He loved his daughter, spoke highly of his mother, donated millions to charity,
didn’t sleep around… He was perfect, and she’d have to be crazy to let him go.

“So, you and Mary really made it work, huh?
Even though you barely knew each other when you got married?”

“Oh, I knew all I needed to know. I knew
she was the one.”

Alisa placed her bet and picked up two
cards. “Hit me.” She propped her chin in her hands as she watched him deal
another card. “Do you really believe you can know that quickly? I mean, I
believe in
lust
at first sight, I experienced that today, but love? Is
that even possible?”

He chuckled. “It must be, ’cause that’s the
way it was for me and Mary.”

The waiter returned and Alisa proceeded to
down her second shot. She cursed when her stomach started churning. Liam was
right; alcohol on a nearly empty stomach was a bad idea. “You still love her as
much today as you did back then?”

His eyes filled with tears as he looked at
the cards laying facedown in front of them. “I did what I promised I would on
the day we said ‘I do’… loved her ’til her dyin’ day. Just wish it had been the
other way around, ’cause I sure do miss her somethin’ fierce.”

Alisa covered his cold, arthritic hand with
her own as tears blurred her vision. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea you’d lost
her.”

Liam came up behind her. “There you are. I’ve
been looking everywhere for you.” He glanced at the dealer. “Hey, John.”

“I was just keepin’ your young lady here
company, Mr. Bryson.” He winked. “I can see why you wouldn’t want to let her
get away. She’s a real keeper, just like my Mary.”

Liam smiled down at her, pressing a chaste
kiss to her lips. “I think so, too.”

The waiter who’d been serving her returned.
“Another double tequila, ma’am?”

Liam all but growled. “You’ve been serving
her double shots of tequila?”

“Liam,” she said, grasping his arm. “It’s
not his fault. I ordered them.”

He turned his fury on her. “What the hell
were you thinking? You had the liqueur upstairs, the wine at dinner, you barely
touched your meal…” He held his hand up. “You know what, Alisa? Maybe this was
a bad idea. If you have to get drunk to marry me, I’m not the right guy for you
after all.”

Alisa watched, dumbfounded, as he walked
away. If she hadn’t believed in love at first sight before, she did now.

“Ma’am,” John said, flipping the card over,
“you win, congratulations.”

If that was true, why did she feel like
she’d just lost… the best thing that ever happened to her?

Alisa was the one who’d had too much to
drink, yet Liam was the one who felt sick. He’d put himself out there, for
once, and he’d been shot down. In front of dozens of his employees, no less. He
stalked past the private dining room he’d hastily arranged for the wedding that
was never going to happen and punched the button on the elevator repeatedly as
he cursed his stupidity.

“Liam, wait.”

He wanted to pretend he hadn’t heard her,
but he couldn’t.

She stopped in front of the dining room and
her mouth fell open.

He’d had huge floral bouquets delivered and
the table was set with their finest bottle of champagne, two glasses, and a
decorative white cake.

“You did all of this for me?”

“No, I did it for us. But I guess I was
just fooling myself, wasn’t I?” He glanced at her left hand. She was still
wearing the ring. He wondered if she would continue wearing it when she
returned home, and if so, would she think of him when she looked at it?

“I’m sorry.” She pressed a hand to her
stomach. “I did have too much to drink. I guess it’s kind of a coping
mechanism…. My father was right about that.”

The elevator doors opened and she rushed
forward to reach for his hand before he stepped on. “Can we talk for a minute?”

He had nothing left to lose. “Sure, why
not?”

She led him into the dining room and sat
down in the chair she’d occupied earlier while he remained standing. “What I
feel for you scares me,” she whispered. “I thought I was in love with Nick, but
I can see now that I wasn’t. Maybe what I’m feeling for you isn’t real,
either?”

“Nothing like kicking a guy when he’s
down,” he muttered, sticking his hands in his pockets, as he began to pace the
room.

“I’m sorry. I don’t want to hurt you; I’m
just scared. After what happened with Nick, I don’t know if I can trust my own
judgement anymore.”

Liam was getting sick and tired of hearing
that guy’s name, especially now that he knew he was the one thing standing
between him and the woman he wanted to make his wife. “I can’t make this
decision for you, Alisa. Either you want me or you don’t. It’s as simple as
that.”

“I do want you.”

The concierge appeared at the doorway with
a document in his hand. “Sir, if your bride would sign this, the officiant is
on his way down to marry you.”

Liam raised an eyebrow at Alisa. “Looks
like this is the moment of truth. What’s it gonna be?”

Alisa beckoned to the man standing in the
doorway. “I’ll sign that if you have a pen.”

“Of course, ma’am.” He walked toward her,
pen in hand. “If you could just fill out the remaining information and provide
us with a piece of identification.”

Alisa reached into her handbag and produced
her driver’s license as she scribbled her signature on the piece of paper Liam
had signed earlier.

His gut was telling him to put an end to
this now, before it went any further, but his heart was telling him to make her
his before she changed her mind.