Chapter One

Six Months Prior

“Just go talk to that girl. You’re not going to get anywhere if you keep staring at the woman like a love-struck idiot.”

I shook my head at him seconds after guzzling the last of the beer in my hand. “Look at this woman. She’s deserves a man to love her. My career would just tear us apart anyway.”

Besides, she surely had to be dating or engaged to a doctor-type asshole by now.

This woman was purely too striking to not be married, if not engaged.

Just my luck too. I become intrigued by a woman at a nightclub, and she is—I assume—taken.

My eyes blinked a few times to recognize the guy talking to her.

Shit! No! He didn’t…wait a minute. It’s my brother we are referring to. Of course he did!

I felt my palms begin to perspire as he led her over to where I was standing.

She now stood a few paces away from me.

To my surprise, she didn’t look aggravated due to my brother’s forwardness.

She seemed rather pleased as she sweetly smiled. “Someone told me that I had an admirer over here.”

Great! Now she thinks I am a stalker. What a hell of a way to kick-off a first impression!

“Never listen to a word my brother says, no matter how convincing it sounds.”

Her smile grew wider as I spoke. She held out her ringless left hand.

“I’m Via. Your brother told me I would be missing out if I didn’t come introduce myself. He spoke highly of you. Should I ignore everything he told me?”

“The name is Ryan. It depends on what he said.” I sensed my heart rate slowing as it became easier to talk to her.

“Are you going to ask me to dance or what?”

I’m not sure what possessed me as I took a hold of her hand and escorted her to the dance floor.

She giggled as she danced around me to a techno and upbeat tune.

I tried keeping up with her. It was difficult since I hadn’t danced with a woman since prom night.

“Please tell me I have not worn you out already, Ryan.”

She stood frozen solid once the song switched to a slow ballad.

Here was my chance to hold this girl before our night’s end.

Strolling up to her, I politely held out a hand. “May I have this dance?”

“Well…since you asked nicely.” She grinned and placed a hand upon mine.

Twirling her into my arms, I led her deeper on the floor until we were dead-center.

I wanted everyone in the room to witness my dancing with this extraordinarily striking woman, not caring if it was for only five minutes.

“You are somewhat the dancer, Ryan.” She beamed her eyes only at me.

My smile grew as I whipped us across the dance floor similar to a professional.

She truly impressed me by being able to keep up with my fast pace.

It felt as if every single person in the joint had their eyes set on us. “I blame my mother for that one. You are the first girl I have danced with that has been able to keep up.”

“There are plenty of things I can do which may surprise you.” With that said, she startled me by taking the lead.

We soared through the crowd until the song concluded.

As everyone in the place clapped, we stood there, intently holding each other’s gaze.

Oh, what I would do to make this woman mine.

“Thank you for the dance, Ryan.”

I released my light grip on her and observed in amazement as she gracefully strolled away from me to rejoin her friends.

Pausing for a minute, she turned around to face me, making her way back to where I was standing.

She placed her hands upon my cheeks and pulled me in to connect our lips.

I never wanted a woman more than I wanted her…

* * * *

Last night was the best night of my life.

I met and instantly fell for a remarkable woman.

While we were dancing, my brother was kind enough to drag information from a couple of her friends.

This wasn’t too difficult since he has the baffling traits of an A-list actor to make women swoon in his presence.

Her name was Olivia (Via) Johnson. She was twenty-five, single, and living alone in her apartment in Aspen, Colorado.

She and her friends came to Vegas approximately once a month, something they had done since turning twenty-one.

My brother glared at me as if he knew what had been going through my head.

“Are you going to stalk this girl now?”

I shook my head. “No, I’m not going to stalk her. I would like to see her again though.”

He gazed at me with a dumb look in his eyes. “Good. She will be coming over for dinner tonight. Be sure to wear something presentable.”

“Wait…what?”

The thought of seeing this woman again ignited a small spark in the pit of my darkened soul.

“It wasn’t my idea. She was the one who badgered me for your address, threatening me with a wedgie if I did not comply. Don’t let the woman’s innocence fool you.”

I found myself grinning at the image of this girl half the size of my brother, tugging his undergarments until he could taste the cotton.

As funny as it may seem, it would make me very jealous, seeing her with her fingers on my brother’s waistline.

* * * *

My heart pounded against my chest as the time drew nearer for her to arrive.

I showered, shaved, and dressed a couple of hours early. I had to keep myself busy to distract the nerves in some way.

My brother glared at me. “You really like this girl, don’t you?”

I stared at him, smoothing out my jacket. “How can you tell?”

“For one, your forehead is sweating crazily, and second, your breathing has become heavier. Calm yourself, bro. Don’t let this woman get to you so easily.”

Before I had the chance to rebut, there was a light tapping on the front door and my heart jumped to my throat.

My enthusiastic brother jumped up. “Allow me.”

He opened the door and smiled at the woman I have wanted to make mine since I first saw her.

“Via, it’s so good to see you again.”

Her footsteps were drawing closer as my heart thumped louder.

I politely smiled when she came into view. “Hello Via.”

She smiled with her eyes dancing on me. “There he is, my favorite dance partner. I hope you don’t mind my coming over this soon. I just had to see you again before I head back home.”

“How far do you live from here?” I knew the answer to the question, but I wasn’t about to admit it.

“My apartment is in Aspen. Where do you live, Ryan?”

I stood there for a few seconds. If I told her of my many homes in various places of the entire continent, how would she react?

Surely resembling everyone else with their eyes lighting up brightly as if they figured out who to bum money off of.

Shit! May as well get this over-with now.

“I live in Seattle for the time-being. I have apartments in New York, California, and Hawaii. Before you ask why, the modest answer is because I can.”

She smiled to hide her slight blush. “I wasn’t going to ask why you have the need to have apartments scattered everywhere. It honestly isn’t any of my business. Besides, you made it very obvious that you don’t even want me here.”

My eyes nearly bulged out of my skull.

For one, she didn’t question me about my money. Two, why on earth would she think I did not want her here?

“If I didn’t want you here, Via, you wouldn’t be here. Why would you say that? Of course I want you here!”

She stared at me, blinking a few times before she spoke, tapping her right foot.

“Well, excuse a girl for being confused. I mean… You didn’t even ask me yourself. I had to torture it out of Jason.”

I shook my head, sensing she was royally pissed.

“It’s not as if I didn’t want to, trust me. Look at you, Via. You’re gorgeous. Why would you be interested in a man like me?”

Her foot tapping abruptly ceased.

She strolled up to me and I smelled the sweet aroma of her perfume.

To my astonishment, she lightly slapped me across the face.

Her hand connecting to my cheek suddenly jerked my heart and felt as if she had swiftly kicked my genitals.

Oh…what has this woman done to me?

“Ryan Rayner, I showed up here tonight because I admire you. You are definitely not going to ruin this night for us with your self-pity shit, do you understand me?”

My eyes widened after she spoke. The first instinct was to plant one on her. She was just too damn eye-catching when she was mad as hell.

My lips wanted to form a smile, but I wouldn’t dare let them. “I’m sorry.” Damn! Now she has me apologizing!

“Good. Are we going to stand here, staring at each other the rest of night, or shall we go to dinner?” she asked, a sly grin spreading upon her cheeks as she watched me.

Jason cracked up laughing. “I like her. Maybe she can actually keep you in line.”

What he said was absolutely true, but still didn’t stop me wanting to punch him in the face.

* * * *

After a few minutes of sitting in the back seat, I could tell she was beginning to grow anxious.

She had to have just about a billion questions swirling through her head from the look on her face alone.

“Alright, I have to know… Who’s the dude?” she asked, looking over at Matthew, who had been driving.

I couldn’t help but smile in amusement to her confusion. “That is Matthew. He is an employee of mine.”

He looked back at her through the rearview mirror with a polite smile before focusing on the road.

“He’s your chauffeur?”

“He drives me where I need to go at times, yes. He is more of a bodyguard.”

I was trying to explain everything in the best way. I never had to elaborate on my life before to a female.

Via stared at me without blinking an eye.

Oh, what I would give to hear her thoughts at the moment.

“What lines of work are you in that need you to need a human shield? Oh no! Please don’t tell me you are a mobster.”

I couldn’t hide my smile any longer after her little comment.

She was so eager to know what I did for a living, most likely thinking I was a chief executive.

To give her a sense of relief, I shook my head.

“No. Definitely not a mobster. No worries, you won’t end up on the ID channel or anything.”

“What is it that you do, then?”

Should I allow this woman to know so much? We haven’t even known each other a full twenty-four hours yet.

Before I answered her question, I decided to tease her a little.

I angled my body to face her. “What do you do for a living, Olivia Johnson?”

She blinked at me, her eyes wide as if she were a deer caught in a pair of headlights. .

She took a deep breath in and released it.

“I graduated from college last year at the top of my class. I have degrees in both Culinary and Pastry Arts. I spent six years in college, so I finished every course offered. My dad would have preferred me to be a doctor of some sort, but wearing scrubs and treating the ill just wasn’t what I wanted.” She smiled. “My main goal is to own and run a restaurant, and, in order to fulfill that dream, I started working full-time at a local restaurant in Aspen.”

“A woman who cooks and bakes for a living… I couldn’t get much luckier even if I tried,” I said, trying to lighten the mood. “Do you want to open up your restaurant in Aspen?”

“Not actually. I want to move somewhere else and start my business there sooner or later. The lack of money is in the way, but I’m getting there, bit by bit.”

She rose up as if to say she had been proud of herself for coming a long way.

I wanted to offer what she needed, but I knew her stubbornness would force her to reject me.

“To answer your earlier question, I am a full-time lawyer in Seattle, but I do own and run other businesses as well. I don’t want to talk about myself. I would prefer to talk about you. We can chat about me later.”

Matthew had pulled into the hotel before she opened her mouth to speak.

She stared out the window and her jaw almost hit my leg. “Whoa… We’re having dinner here, at the MGM? What? How is this even possible?”

Realizing she had her hand positioned on my knee, she rapidly removed it to glare at me.

I saw the hunger for knowledge overwhelming her eyes.

I had to smirk as Matthew opened the door on my side. “I wanted this to be something you would remember. I wasn’t about to allow our first date to be lounging on my couch and eating take-out. Besides, a woman like you needs to be taken out every so often so a guy can show her off.”

I observed as her cheeks flushed a light shade of pink.

Holding my hand out to her, I assisted her out of the car.

I didn’t release my grip on her until we were escorted to our table by the overly friendly hostess.

Like a proper gentleman, I did not take my seat until Via sat.

“This is pretty fancy. Something I am not used to.”

Shrugging my shoulders, I politely smiled at her.

“You will get used to it, trust me.”

She stared at me, appearing to be intrigued and contemplating what to ask first.

“You mean to tell me you have grown accustomed to this—the constant staring and the faker-than-silicone-boobs smiling from strangers? I’m not certain if I would be able to… With a straight face that is.”