He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “You’ll be fine.”
She wanted to believe him, but wasn’t sure she could. She kept a hold of his hand and studied the sights as they drove from the airport to the Vegas Strip.
Traffic was slow and it took a long time to get down to the Bellagio. Noelle recognized the beautiful lake in front of the massive hotel from scenes in television and the movies.
“I’ve never been here,” she murmured.
“At the Bellagio or in Las Vegas?”
“Both.”
“I think you’ll like it.”
The limo pulled around to the main entrance. A uniformed man opened the rear door and Dev stepped out. He waited for her to join him, gave his name to the bellman, tipped the driver, then led her inside.
The first thing she noticed was a beautiful art glass ceiling. Everywhere she looked she saw glass flowers in a rainbow of colors. The detail was incredible, as was the sheer mass of flowers. From there Dev led her to a conservatory decorated in celebration of the upcoming Fourth of July holiday.
Paths crisscrossed between gardens and clever displays of flowers and patriotic arrangements.
“I love it!” she said with a grin. “This is amazing.”
“They know how to impress,” he said. “Come on.”
He led her through part of the casino. Gaming tables stretched out for what looked like miles. There were tons of slot machines and a level of noise that surprised her.
“So many people are gambling,” she said. “Where do they get the money?”
“It’s entertainment. Plus, everyone is hoping to get lucky and hit the big one.”
She’d brought ten dollars to gamble with. Somehow that didn’t seem enough to hit the big one.
They made their way to the VIP check-in. Dev offered a credit card and signed a form. While the uniformed man was processing their keys, Dev turned to her.
“I meant to give this to you before we left,” he said.
He handed her a credit card. She glanced down and saw it was in her name.
“Unless you buy an expensive car,” he said, “You can’t reach the spending limit. Use it however you want.”
The clerk handed over a small folder containing their room keys and gave instructions to the elevator.
“I don’t need this,” she whispered as they walked away from registration.
“Yes, you do,” he told her. “How are you going to buy groceries or get gas or pick up things for the house? What if you want clothes or shoes or a puppy?”
She blinked at him. “I couldn’t really handle a puppy right now.”
“I know.” He took her hand. “Noelle, we’re getting married. A credit card comes with the ring.”
She wasn’t sure she could ever be comfortable spending his money, but if she weren’t working it wasn’t as if she were going to be supporting herself.
“I don’t think I like this part,” she said in a low voice.
“Didn’t you read the paperwork? I promised to support you for the length of our marriage.”
“Reading it and living it are very different.”
He pushed the Up button for the elevator. “Hadn’t you planned on being a stay-at-home mother?”
“Eventually,” she admitted. “I’d thought I’d go back to work when the kids were in school, but for the first few years…” Her voice trailed off as she saw him looking at her. She sighed. “This is different.”
“No. It’s not.”
They stepped into the elevator.
“While we’re at the hotel, you can charge anything you’d like to the room,” he said. “Just give them the room number and your name. We’re both listed.”
While she pondered that, they arrived on their floor. She hadn’t paid attention to their room number, so she didn’t know which way to turn. Fortunately, he kept hold of her hand and she simply followed him down a lovely hallway.
Their hotel room had double doors. Dev opened the one on the right and she stepped into a massive sitting room that was probably the size of the whole downstairs of her parents’ house.
There was a round table big enough for six, a wet bar, two sitting areas and a television nearly as big as a movie screen.
“We’ll have to discover it all ourselves,” Dev said, putting down the keys on a marble entry table. “Usually the manager comes up and explains all the amenities, but I wasn’t sure you could take one more thing.”
She tried to smile in gratitude, but she was too shocked by everything. Who on earth would get a room like this and how much could it cost?
He crossed the room and pulled the sheers aside. “Come look.”
She moved next to him and saw they had a view of the lake, along with several of the hotels around them.
“We’ll be able to see the water show,” he said. “You’ll enjoy that. Come on.”
He led her across the sitting room and into the biggest bedroom she’d ever seen. There was a bed that could easily sleep five, a small sofa, a desk, floor-to-ceiling windows and carpeting so plush she nearly sank to her ankles. All of which was lovely, but then she saw both their suitcases on a bench at the foot of the bed and her throat tightened.
Were they sharing? Logically the bed was plenty big enough. And once they were married, it wasn’t as if she could refuse Dev. He would be her husband. Marriage of convenience or not, if he had expectations, she wasn’t sure she could in good conscience say no.
She could ask for time, though, right? That was reasonable. He would have to understand that under the circumstances she couldn’t be expected to—
He stepped in front of her, cupped her face in his hands and said, “Stop. Whatever you’re thinking, just stop.”
She stared at him. “How did you know?”
“The sudden look of panic on your face.” He dropped his hands. “Noelle, I meant what I said. We’re doing this for the baby. I’m not trying to seduce you. I know they left both our suitcases here, but the suite has a second bedroom where I’ll be sleeping.”
Relief made her knees nearly give way. “Really?”
He smiled. “I promise. Look, as we just discussed, neither of us has been married before. This is going to be a big change. We’ll take it slow, okay?”
She nodded.
He touched her chin. “Hey, I’ve never even lived with a woman before.”
Really? She found the thought comforting. “But you’ve gone away for weekends with them,” she said.
He shrugged. “Once or twice.”
She smiled. “More than that. You have a reputation, Mr. Hunter.”
“Really. And what would that be?”
“That you have had a string of incredibly beautiful, exotic women in your life.”
“Huh. I never knew anyone was paying attention.”
“They were.”
She stared into his amused eyes and felt some of her fear ease. Maybe this was the strangest situation she’d ever been in, but they were in it together and somehow that made things easier.