Shelby paused, eyeing him. “She was a wealthy man’s mistress for about a year. I don’t know the details.”
She stared as if she expected a cutting comment, but Hayden had heard it all, living in Vegas.
Hayden was impressed with what she’d made of her life. He was also a little leery of getting involved with Shelby again because she had vulnerabilities that he’d never really explored before. And he didn’t want to hurt her again.
Shelby hadn’t meant for the evening to get so serious. This night was supposed to be about him not her. They’d had a light dinner and now were sitting on the bow of the boat. She’d removed her shoes, dangling her feet over the water.
“What did you do today?” she asked.
“Meetings and the like.”
“Just casino business all day?” she asked, because it sounded as if he was hedging.
“No. I also went to a children’s facility that Deacon and I set up.”
“What kind of facility? Something for sick kids?”
“No. It’s for kids whose parents work in casinos. A place for them to hang out and be safe. Kind of like day care, but for older kids.”
“What do you do there?”
“Usually I spend my time climbing on the rock wall. We have a scoreboard that tracks times up and down. A lot of the regular kids like to challenge me.”
“Do you let them win?”
“Hell, no. What kind of lesson does that send to kids if you let them win?”
He had a point. “You like it.”
He tipped his head and looked her straight in the eye. “I didn’t expect to. But yeah, I do.”
She’d learned more about Hayden in the forty minutes they’d spent on the water than she had in the weeks she’d spent with him before he’d asked her to marry him. He was a deeply complex man, and a part of her worried she’d never be able to fulfill all his needs.
But she was willing to try. She was falling in love with him all over again. Only this time she knew it was the real thing. Not just a chimera shimmering in the distance. But something real and substantial. An emotion that would last for all time.
Hayden leaned back on his elbows, like some potentate. He was too sexy for his own good. She was still hot and restless from his hands on her in the car. It amazed her how easily he turned everything into something sensual.
“Were there film people in the casino today?”
He arched one eyebrow at her. “Your source is very well connected.”
She had to be careful about revealing the things Alan had told her. She wasn’t cut out for the kind of intrigue that this type of deception entailed.
“That was the buzz in the buffet,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound as defensive as she felt.
“I was joking with you. Not accusing you of anything. They weren’t film people. The Celebrity Poker Showdown is coming to film here next month.”
“Sounds exciting.”
“Do you watch it?” he asked.
She didn’t really spend much time at home. She was a workaholic who took time for the occasional opera performance and that was about it. “No, I’m really not much on TV. You?”
He shrugged, pushing himself up. “Not too much. I try to watch when I know Scott will be on.”
She shook her head at this second reminder of the differences in their lifestyles. “I can’t believe you know Scott Rivers personally.”
“Should I worry about that? I don’t really think of him as anything other than my friend who’s very good at bluffing.” There was complete honesty in Hayden at that moment and she knew that he didn’t view Scott Rivers any differently than he did her. Well, perhaps a little differently.
In Hayden’s voice she heard the affection he had for the man. She knew from the past and from what she was learning about the man he was today that he had few friends. He was nice to many people but he let few know him.
“Why do you like coming out on the lake?” she asked. He was so at home in Vegas that seeing him out here was almost jarring.
“I don’t know. It’s just the only time I’m alone. I can kick back and not worry about any of the details I’d have to when I’m at the casino. Sometimes I fish, other times I just drift like we’re doing tonight.”
“What’s it like running the Chimera?”
“Exhilarating, frustrating, fun, a pain in the ass. It’s a million things at once but in the end I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
“I feel the same about my shops.”
He smiled at her. “Are we going to talk business all night? I thought you were supposed to do some wicked seducing.”
“Did I agree to that? I think that’s your fantasy.”
“Let’s not quibble about the details.”
“Well, I wish I’d planned better. I think swimming in the moonlight with you could be a lot of fun.”
“What didn’t you plan for?”
“No swimsuits.”
“We don’t need them.”
Skinny-dipping. Despite the fact that she was thirty-two, the thought of it was still forbidden…naughty somehow. And Shelby had spent her entire life following the rules in a game that had always seemed weighted against her.
She pushed to her feet and Hayden stood up next to her. “Did I shock you?”
“Did you want to?”
“Yes. You seem so self-contained, so…untouchable, sometimes I want to shake you up.”
He had no idea how much he did. She watched him carefully, her fingers going to the hem of her black shirt. “Will this count instead of the sexy dance?”
“You want to bargain now?”
“Yes.”
He scratched his chin. “I’m not giving up my dance, so we’ll have to bet on something else.”
“What? There’s nothing out here but the two of us.”
He studied her carefully, gliding forward until no space remained between them. He put his hands on her hips and pulled her fully against his rock-hard body. Each breath he took caused his chest to brush against her breasts, rubbing over her already sensitized nipples.
She struggled to keep him from noticing her reaction. But she could tell by the look in his eyes that he knew she wanted him. He knew she was his for the taking. She pushed against his chest.
He was too used to the power, too used to being in control. Shelby needed to be in charge. Just this once, she thought.
“Last one in is a rotten egg,” she said. She kicked off her sandals while tossing her shirt on the deck.
Hayden was a competitor who liked to win so he stripped out of his clothing as fast as he could. Watching Shelby’s curvy body emerge from under her clothing slowed him down, however. He knew the moment she realized that he was watching her.
She tipped her head to the side and ran her hands over her breasts and down the center of her stomach. Her fingers toyed with the button at her waistband. “Are you giving me a head start?”
Her voice was deeper than normal, husky almost, brushing over his aroused senses like the whisper of a win in a gambler’s ear. The lure was totally