At her feet her dog whimpered. The tiny affenpinscher had been a gift from Carl and she loved the little dog. King Kong pressed his tiny black nose against the mesh of his carrier. She reached down to gently stroke it.
“We’re here.” She kept her tone soothing and calm as she walked into the cool hotel, happy to be out of the heat while the bellhop trailed behind her hauling a trolley piled high with her luggage.
“Nina,” Kenzie called, waving.
“It is hot here.” Nina placed Kong’s carrier on the floor next to her feet.
“But you’re going to love it.” Kenzie laughed and reached over to hug Nina. “Welcome to Reno, Nevada, the biggest little city in the west. You look fabulous. That is an original Alexander McQueen.”
Nina smoothed a hand down the black-and-white houndstooth pattern of her silk dress. “You look pretty fab yourself.”
Kenzie wore a mint-green sheath with matching shoes that perfectly accented her dark brown eyes and mocha skin. Her long brown hair was swept up into a casual ponytail.
“What do you think?” Kenzie asked, spreading her arms wide.
“I’m still taking everything in.” Nina’s first impression of the Casa de Mariposa Hotel was one of sedate beauty of an old-world kind. It had good bones, but it needed something more. Something dramatic.
As she walked through the reception area into the casino she studied the clientele. She was struck by the lack of people under the age of thirty. Most of the stools in front of the slot machines were occupied by older men and women.
Nina tried to keep her mind open, but a stroll out to the pool showed only a couple families with young children, a few teenagers splashing in the deep end of the pool and older couples sunning themselves on the decks.
She strolled back inside, her thoughts churning, only half listening to Kenzie’s chatter.
After checking in and arranging for her luggage to be delivered to her suite, she allowed Kenzie to take her out to the pool. Nina parked herself on a stool at the bar. Kong whined from the depths of her tote bag. Nina absently patted him as she sipped the iced tea the bartender brought her. He also brought a small bowl of water for Kong.
“I know you haven’t unpacked yet, but...what do you see?” Kenzie parked herself on the stool next to Nina.
Nina took her time answering. “I see a lot of people in their forties, fifties and older, but not many younger. If you want to make this hotel casino attractive to young, hip people you need to offer the activities they want.”
“Which would be...?”
“You’re young and hip, what do you want?”
“To eat ice cream and not worry about my thighs.” Kenzie glanced down at her legs.
“I’ve seen your thighs,” Nina said with a laugh. “You don’t need to worry about them.”
“As a young woman racing toward thirty, I want to go to a nightclub. I want to have fun.” Kenzie frowned as she considered Nina’s question. “I want trendy shopping, high-energy shows with A-list celebrities, along with luxury, great food, glitz, glamour and cool.” Kenzie paused. “Everybody wants to be cool.”
“In other words, Miss E. wants to keep the elegance while attracting a younger crowd without losing her over-forty regulars. She wants to be the epicenter of Reno.”
“It needs glamour.” Kenzie pointed at Nina. “It needs you.”
“Stop.” Nina held up her hand. “You don’t need to flatter me. I’m all in. You’re my best friend and I adore your grandmother. She knows there’s a winner beneath the stodgy façade of this casino. I have a ton of ideas.”
“I know you are creative, but Miss E. did tell you that New Year’s Eve is the deadline. She wants to have the grand reopening then.”
“I have her notes. Once we decide on a theme, I’ll have a whole campaign worked out and ready to implement in a couple days.”
“The theme is the problem. Miss E. is having a difficult time thinking about a theme that will attract the guests she wants to attract.”
“I have several concepts in mind that I think will fit her idea of elegant and classy along with fun, glamorous and sexy.” She dug her tablet out of the tote. A half-unwrapped ball of yarn, a knitting needle trapped inside it, came with it.
“What are you knitting?” Kenzie asked curiously.
“Still knitting booties for my friends’ babies.” Nina had started knitting as a way to keep her fingers busy while she thought, and found it relaxing.
She rerolled the ball of yarn and tucked it back in her tote bag. She tapped her tablet where she’d already put together a couple slide shows. Nina had put together other campaigns in a shorter time with less to work with. She’d never done a casino before, but the structure of a campaign was generally the same. She came up with the ideas and found people to help her implement them.
Nina turned her tablet computer to Kenzie so she could see some of her ideas. “Let’s take a look. Las Vegas offers luxury, glamour and cool at a number of different levels. Caesar’s Palace, Bellagio, Luxor and the MGM Grand offer luxury, high-end dining, entertainment and shopping. Circus Circus, Treasure Island and Excalibur offer family fun and activities. Hard Rock offers trendy with great headliners in the rock-and-roll arena. But what they all provide is different ways to play. People go to Las Vegas to eat too much, drink too much, shop too much, and basically they went everything at a too much level.” Nina tapped the tablet. “Reno doesn’t draw the same international crowd. It’s more difficult to get to. It has less variety than Vegas. But these are things that can work in your favor. If you give people what they need here, they won’t go elsewhere to experience it.”
“What will we offer?”
Nina thought for a moment. “Exclusivity. What Robert Redford did for Park City with the Sundance Festival, I’m going to do for Miss E., but with all-year-long activities.”
“You are ambitious, girl,” Kenzie said, her eyes wide with amazement.
“‘Ambition bites the nails of success,’ according to Bono.” Nina grinned. The bartender brought her another iced tea and a platter of fruit. She picked at the fruit. “You know, if we weren’t working, we’d be drinking mimosas.”
Kenzie joined Nina in laughter.
Nina’s gaze was caught by a man skirting the pool area. He wore khaki cargo pants, a white polo shirt and military boots. “Wow.” He was hot.
“Hey, that’s Scott.” Kenzie waved vigorously, catching his attention.
When she’d first met Kenzie, he’d been out saving the world and somehow in between they’d never been on the same schedule.
She waved again, and the man veered toward them.
Kenzie jumped off her stool and ran to him, enveloping him in a huge hug. “You’re back.” She dragged him to the bar.
Nina couldn’t stop staring. She was used to being around pretty, good-looking guys, but this one looked fabulous without all the effort.
“This is Nina,” Kenzie said. “Nina, this is Scott.”
“The famous Nina Torres.” Scott’s voice was deep and authoritative.
“That would be me.” Her heart skipped a beat as she slipped off the stool and gazed up at him. He was tall and broad shouldered. Nina, at five-seven, felt dwarfed by him.
“Nice to finally meet you.” He held out a hand