Love's Wager Read online

  The way she smiled at him made him want to give her everything. “I’m willing to meet you halfway.” His steak was delicious. Cooked medium rare just the way he liked it.

  “Said with the conviction of a leaf in a hurricane,” she said between bites.

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “I’m not sure. It just popped into my head and sounded good.”

  The way she changed subjects, moved from one thought to another, was not only confusing, but charming in a way. He had to stay on his toes around her. The more time he spent with her, the more he realized why she was so good at her job. She was flexible and her zigzag way of thinking was probably the reason she was so good at multi-tasking. He’d never been good at that. When he took a job, he started with step one and followed each step until the job was concluded. He planned for contingencies, but knew that all the proper planning beforehand would result in an instinctive response if he faced something out of the ordinary.

  “You’re thinking so hard, I can almost hear you.” Nina had finished her food and sat back in the chair looking completely satisfied, like a woman who’d just had the best sex ever.

  That was way too sexy for his own good. He was going to have to watch himself around her. Nina was lethal. “You look content,” he said.

  “I am. That was the best meat loaf I’ve ever had. Just the right amount of seasoning to give it a delightful taste and just enough of other underlying flavors to make it feel like it just came out of grandma’s kitchen. We have to come back.”

  Scott definitely agreed. Before he could respond, his phone rang.

  “We have a problem here at the hotel,” Celia Grantham said when he answered the call. “Some teenagers are causing trouble. Your people aren’t handling the situation.”

  “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” He disconnected and raised a hand for the bill. “We’re out of here,” he told Nina as he handed money to the waitress.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Trouble at the hotel.”

  Chapter 5

  The loud sounds of a party reached Scott through the elevator before the doors even opened. The penthouse floor had four suites along with the presidential suite and the one Scott wanted was farthest from the elevator. The elevator doors opened and Scott emerged.

  Gary White and Celia Grantham waited in the hallway. She looked angry and worried.

  Two more guards waited farther down the hall and Belle Sampson, the only female on Scott’s staff, stood next to the door. She looked relieved when Scott nodded at her.

  “We got the party quieted down,” she said, “but the real problem is most of the kids are underage and the beer is flowing. That’s why I called you.”

  “We felt you needed to be the one to handle this,” Gary added. “You’re the boss and there are a couple VIP kids inside.”

  Scott opened the door to the suite. Two dozen teens, many carrying beer cans, crowded the living room, dancing and yelling. Scott pulled the plug on the stereo and the music abruptly ended. A few teens kept dancing, but those nearest Scott looked confused as they came to a stop.

  “Hey.” A boy who looked to be maybe eighteen approached. He had blond hair cut close to his head and wore leather pants pulled down around his thighs and white boxer shorts underneath. His T-shirt, with a Tyrannosaurus rex silk-screened on the front, was too baggy for his slender frame, and the red baseball cap, positioned backward on his head, told Scott he was nothing more than gangsta lite. “What do you think you’re doing? Turn the music back on.”

  Anastasia sidled up to Scott. Seeing her, Scott immediately understood why Celia insisted he be called. She wore a skin-tight black dress revealing too much cleavage. “Do you know who this is?” Her voice held a breathless quality. “That’s T-Rex, the rapper. You’re spoiling the best party I’ve been to in ages.”

  Even Scott had heard about the legendary exploits of the underage singer. He turned to Gary. “Start checking IDs. Have the under twenty-ones sit in that bedroom there, and start calling their parents. Anyone gives you trouble, cuff them.”

  A couple kids yelled at Scott, but he turned on them, a fierce look on his face. They subsided to angry mutters as Gary and Belle spread out and started checking IDs. A few girls sidled toward the open door, but Scott stepped in front of them and gestured at an empty sofa.

  “I don’t know who you think you are,” T-Rex snapped. “I want to talk to the owner.”

  Scott whipped out his cell phone. “I’ll call my grandmother.”

  T-Rex just stared at him.

  Scott’s eyebrows rose. “Nothing to say, son?”

  T-Rex muttered under his breath. Belle was speaking to several girls who shook their heads emphatically. She herded them to the second bedroom.

  Anastasia put a hand on Scott’s arm. “Come on. We’re just having fun.”

  “You realize,” Scott said, “you are over twenty-one at a party with underage teens drinking beer. You do realize you can be charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor times the number of minors.” He looked around. “I’ve eyeballed twenty-two so far.”

  Anastasia frowned. “It’s a little party.”

  “A loud, little party at two in the afternoon on Saturday.”

  “This is a hotel. We’re supposed to have fun.” She tilted her head coyly and gave him a fluttering sidelong glance.

  “Not with underage kids and alcohol.”

  “You know my daddy can get me out of any trouble.”

  “I know,” Scott replied. “But how quiet can this be kept? I don’t think your father’s reach extends all the way to Reno, Nevada.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Are you threatening me?”

  “I’m making a promise. This is Saturday afternoon and I can have you arrested and with the courts closed for the weekend, you won’t be arraigned until Monday morning. Think you can spend the next forty or so hours in jail?”

  Anastasia turned white. “You wouldn’t.”

  “I would. And I will personally call your father to tell him and apprise him of the situation. And after I talk to him, one of two things is going to happen. Either he’ll drop everything and get out here to get his little girl out of jail and run the risk of looking bad to his constituents for thinking his daughter gets special treatment, or he will leave you to rot in jail. This is an election year and he’s running a ‘tough on crime’ platform. Your father may love you, but he will eat his own young to stay in office.” And another reason why he refused to work for the senator. “So being as we’re in Reno, you can take a risk, or be as sweet as pie by cooperating with me and the Reno PD.”

  She crossed her arms over her breasts, a challenge in her eyes. “Go ahead. Call him. I don’t care.”

  He pulled his phone out of his pocket and smiled. “I have him on speed dial.” He paused, watching her out of the side of his eyes.

  Indecision warred with anger on her face. She didn’t totally believe him. He flipped through his contact list, lifted the phone to show her father’s photo and his private cell phone number with his thumb poised over the call icon.

  She grabbed at his phone. “Okay. Okay.”

  He pointed at the sofa. “Sit,” he ordered. He doubted she knew any of these kids except for T-Rex, but Scott never left a stone unturned.

  Scott spent the rest of the afternoon dealing with the situation. By the time the last parent picked up their errant child, he was almost too tired to go back to his office. When he finally got back to his office, Scott found Belle waiting for him.

  Belle Sampson was an attractive woman in her late thirties with light brown hair with reddish highlights and green eyes. He’d read her file and knew she’d been a cop in Chicago before taking the job in Reno. Her reason was that she was tired of cold and snow and wanted warmth and sun
shine. Scott suspected that wasn’t the real reason, but hadn’t pressed her for a better answer. If she wanted to confide in him, it would be on her terms. He was a stranger and hadn’t proved yet that he’d earned her trust.

  “That was a lot of beer and assorted alcohol,” he said. “I checked the room records and the hotel bar delivered it all and no one asked for an ID and T-Rex paid for everything with his manager’s credit card.”

  Disgust showed on her face. “Someone got paid off.”

  Scott already suspected that. “Who? The bartender?”

  She shrugged. “Possibly.”

  Since the Reno PD already had a sting operation going on in the bar, he would just notify the police liaison he was working with about the situation and let them handle it.

  For the first time since he’d agreed to take over the job, he had someone he thought he could trust. But how could he earn Belle’s trust?

  “You were very good dealing with the girls at the party.”

  “I worked juvenile detention for a couple years. Usually I dealt with the hardcore cases. These kids were being naughty, but underneath they’re pretty good. They just wanted to have fun.”

  “There’s no fun on my watch.”

  She chuckled. “You do realize you work in a casino. Fun is the buzzword on the casino floor.”

  “So I’ve been told.” He leaned back in his chair. “According to your file, you were passed over for two promotions. Care to tell me why?”

  “I’m not part of the fun crowd.”

  “Who’s the fun crowd?”

  “I have my suspicions.”

  “I’d like to schedule a more in-depth meeting to talk about your future at the Casa de Mariposa.”

  She tilted her head and studied him. “I’d like that, but not here. Off-site.”

  He nodded. “I know just the place. I’ll call you and leave the name on your voice mail.”

  She left and he stared at the closed door, thinking hard. A second later a knock sounded and Nina walked in.

  “You had a busy day. A morning of fun and an afternoon of work.” She sat down.

  “What can I help you with?”

  “I’m here to do some damage control.”

  He frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Anastasia called in a panic. She’s picturing herself in an orange jumpsuit with no spa service.”

  “The horror,” Scott said with a wry grin

  Nina rolled her eyes. “No kidding. I’ve seen her without makeup.”

  “So have I.”

  She chuckled. “Paint by numbers, right?”

  He wanted to laugh, but held it in. He always found himself pushing his control around her. This woman made him feel reckless and out of control, but the worst part of it was that he was okay with it.

  “Come on,” Nina said. “That was funny.”

  He shook his head and let the laughter out. “So what kind of spin did you have in mind?”

  “The last thing we need is for Anastasia to go to the press, mentioning this hotel and police brutality in the same sentence.” She paused.

  “But,” Scott coaxed.

  “I had a hard time explaining to her that you aren’t the police.”

  “Do you want me to brush her involvement underneath the rug?”

  Nina shook her head emphatically and gave him a sexy little pout. “Heavens, no. That would be breaking the law. I don’t have a lot of rules, but I only break them when I’m the one having fun.”

  “So,” Scott said carefully, “you want me to do what?” Because he would pretty much do anything to get her to smile at him. Weak, man, weak.

  “Make her the hero of this tale.”

  He felt his face scrunching up.

  “That is not an attractive look for you,” Nina said batting her eyelashes at him.

  Oh, she had his number all right. “Right now in my head, I’m going over the sentence where you said ‘make her the hero of this tale.’ How do I do that?”

  “She tried to get them to toss the beers and replace them with soda.”

  “Is that what she said to you?”

  “We’re co-authors of the tale.”

  “I’m not lying for her, but I will tell the press she was trying to calm things down since she is registered in the suite next door and knew about T-Rex’s reputation.”

  She waved her hands at him. “Allude all you need to.”

  “What she really wants is for me not to call her father.”

  “That would be considered a kindness on your part. Anastasia thanks you and has offered her services in helping me promote the hotel.”

  Oh, great. Politics added into the equation.

  “Then I can count on your cooperation?”

  “Does anyone ever tell you no?” This woman fascinated him. She had a way of getting whatever she wanted without being obvious. And yet he didn’t feel trapped or defensive.

  “My mother, when she’s promoting my moral well-being.” Nina laughed. “Which reminds me, I have to get down to the lobby. My parents said they’d be here around five or five-thirty and I want to be there to greet them.”

  “Me, too.” Scott rose. He could deal with things later. He was too curious about Nina’s parents to waste the moment to meet them.

  * * *

  The moment her parents entered the lobby, the air changed with a wave of energy that almost knocked Nina off her feet. Her father’s boisterous laugh turned heads, and her mother’s delicate beauty almost caused a riot. Half the people in the lobby recognized them for their music and started to converge on them as they walked to the reception desk to check in.

  Nina was deeply proud of her parents. They’d accomplished so much and their generosity touched so many people.

  “Nina,” her mother yelled.

  Her father grabbed her up in a huge hug and half swung her around. “Nina.” He planted a huge kiss on her cheek before setting her back on her feet. “It’s been forever since I last saw you.”

  Nina laughed. “Five days’ worth of forever.”

  He looked around and grinned at the guests who watched him. He swung his arms out and yelled, “This is my daughter.”

  Nina caught Scott grinning at her. “You’ll have to forgive them. They are unusually subdued today. Mom, Dad, this is Scott Russell, Miss E.’s grandson.”

  Her father pushed a hand out and grasped Scott’s in a firm shake. Her mother kissed him on the cheek. Scott greeted them, “Good evening, Mrs. Torres, Mr. Torres.”

  “I don’t know who Mr. Torres is.” Her father slapped Scott on the shoulder. “We are not so formal. Manny. Grace.”

  “Let’s get you checked in and up to your suite.” Nina herded them toward the reception desk.

  “I’m starving,” Manny said.

  Grace nudged him. “What else is new?”

  Nina laughed. Her parents gave her such joy she could hardly contain it. No one could be sad or melancholy around them. They had no time for anything but happiness and joy.

  Thirty minutes later they all stood in the half-empty restaurant. No matter how empty a room could be, her parents made if feel crowded.

  Celia had arranged for Manny to tour the kitchen before they ate. Nina tried not to think what would happen when he got there. Her father had a habit of taking over and angering kitchen staff.

  The kitchen was huge since its job was to feed the people of two restaurants, the bar and the snack shop as well as provide room service meals. Manny walked around, looking at each station, either nodding approval or frowning. Nina stood to the side knowing that at some point something would happen.

  A shout sounded. She twisted to see the line chef rushing to a sink to run water over a red burn on his wrist. The head chef lo
oked up from his station, frowning. “Get back to work, Rodriguez. You don’t have time to be burned.”

  Manny walked quickly to the station and turned to the head chef. “The flame is too high. No wonder the boy is burned.”

  The head chef just glared at Manny. “You are in my kitchen and I do not take orders from you.”

  Nina grabbed the first aid kit. At first glance it didn’t look too bad, but she ordered him to the infirmary to have it checked out.

  “I cannot leave.” Fear stood out on his face. “I need to get back to work.”

  Scott smiled at him. “Get your wrist checked out first. I’ll handle this.”

  The young man gratefully slipped away.

  Manny glanced around. “Look at these young people,” he said to the chef. “They are afraid of you.”

  “That’s the way I like it,” the head chef snarled, turning back to his station.

  “You cannot cook with fear. Food is about love, joy, passion. You cannot make these people afraid. No wonder the restaurant is almost empty.”

  “Dad,” Nina said soothingly.

  “Manny, this is not your kitchen.” Her mother put a hand on his arm.

  “Listen to the old broad,” the chef said with an oily smile.

  “Mi canário,” Manny said with a gentle smile at Grace and Nina. “I will handle this.”

  Celia looked poised to take flight. Nina gave the woman a nod, letting her know she could leave and that she and Scott could handle the situation.

  Scott stood next to Manny, looking intimidating. Which was really hot. Wow, she was never into big sexy commando men. What had she been missing?

  “First, I will apologize for storming into your kitchen. If you choose to run it like a cheap, petty dictator, that is your right.”

  The chef’s face grew into a huge scowl.

  “Second,” Manny continued, “you will apologize to my wife. She is a lady. For some reason she felt the need to defend you and your barbaric methods.”

  No, no, no, Nina thought. Her father cloaked his diplomacy in sarcasm and insults.

  “Thirdly,” Manny went on without taking a breath, “you will apologize to your workers for being an insensitive, uncaring leader.”