Chapter Eight

She hadn’t been on a date in a long time. At least, not one like this. Nicholas picked her up in a sports car that had an open T-top. She was glad she’d decided to wear her hair in a chignon so it wouldn’t whip around her head as they drove. As usual, he was dressed in pants that were slim-fitting and a dress shirt that hugged his muscles. And he wore a pair of aviator-style sunglasses with reflective lenses, so each time he glanced at her she could only see her own reflection.

She’d felt another zing of sexual awareness go through her when he’d kissed her at her door, but she was trying to keep it in check. She really was! It was hard to analyze a man when all she could think about was getting his shirt off or wondering if it would cling to his chest if they got caught in the rain. That would look so good. Not that it rained much in Vegas…

Ugh. She groaned inwardly. Her thoughts were out of control. “Stop it.”

“What?”

“Nothing. I was just talking to myself.” She shook her head, then decided to change the subject. “I wasn’t sure you would show up for dinner. Rumor has it that you are behind on rehearsing your show,” she said.

“There’s no need to ask where you heard that,” he said. “I haven’t been as focused as the team would like, but that’s mainly due to my efforts to retrieve my water chest.”

“Why is it so important to you?” she asked. “It’s a nice memory of your granddad—and I think that’s sweet of you—but surely you can find it at any time. Why is it so important now?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think of it as sweet… Do I come across as sweet?”

She just smiled at him. “Yes, it does. And sentimental.”

“Hmm…I hadn’t realized that. Well, the reason I need the chest is that I have been using it since I first started performing for an audience. It’s been in every show I’ve ever done, and the one time I didn’t use it, I was off my game, and the show bombed. It’s my…”

“Good luck charm,” she said.

“I was going to say talisman, but that works,” he said.

“So not having it is making you superstitious.”

“When you say it like that, it seems irrational. But regardless, the chest makes a huge difference to me.”

“I don’t see it as irrational at all. It’s all down to the mindset you have when you are performing. I know the police are looking for your chest, but would you like me to ask in some of the forums I frequent? They are usually pretty good for coming up with leads,” she said.

“Would you mind?” he asked.

“Not at all,” she said, though she’d pretty much decided that very afternoon to get away from Nicholas and the damned Houdini water chest. Obviously, there weren’t that many of them in existence, so finding it shouldn’t be too difficult. “Does anyone know that you think it’s a good luck—talisman?”

“No, but most people who move in the elite magic circles have something that is their version of a rabbit’s foot,” he said. “When I was younger, I made it the centerpiece of every show I did. I guess that some other magicians might have worked it out. But it’s not something I normally talk about.”

“Is there anyone who would benefit from seeing your show fail?” she asked. “Is magic that cutthroat?”

“There are rivalries, of course, but my show is unique, and most of the time I’m not directly competing with anyone else. And in Vegas, everyone wants the quality of the illusion shows to be high. It’s a benefit to all of us if there are a lot of good shows instead of just one. We all sell more tickets.”

“That makes sense. So, no rivalries?” she asked, trying to figure out who could possibly be behind the theft. It wasn’t the kind of item that could be pawned easily, and it made no sense to take it…unless the culprit knew its worth to Nicholas.

“Well, there is Jade.”

“Jade?”

“That’s a story better suited for another time,” he said. He pulled into the parking lot of an upscale restaurant and drove up to the valet station. “Let’s just say we were once partners, and it ended badly.”

She got out when the door was opened for her and then moved to stand aside while Nicholas handed his keys over and took the claim ticket. He pulled on his dinner jacket as he walked toward her, and she couldn’t help but notice the way women’s eyes were drawn to him. He put his hand on the small of her back as he came to her side, and they started to walk into the restaurant.

She liked the feel of his hand on her back, the heat of it even through the fabric of her dress. Within moments, they were escorted to a table in a small alcove toward the back of the restaurant that had a drawn curtain around it to give them complete privacy.

“I wanted to bring you to my home, but I wasn’t sure that was the best idea for a first date. But this will give us some privacy. Since the posters went up for my show, I’m being recognized more often. And tonight, I just want to be with you.”

She smiled. It was a thoughtful gesture, and if she wasn’t already enchanted by him, this would have done it. She took her seat, and Nicholas shrugged out of his jacket, handing it to one of the waiters to be hung before sitting down.

They placed their order, and then they were alone. Even though they’d had sex, she was suddenly shy and unsure of herself. He was an illusionist. He had come into her life on the heels of an object that she’d hoped would finally bring her closure with her past. But instead, he was awakening so many memories and feelings that she’d never experienced.

For the first time in her life, she wasn’t stuck in the past and hiding from her present. Instead, she was fully aware of where she was. She liked it, but it scared her.

…

Zelda was breathtaking tonight. She had her hair up in that sophisticated chignon, and it made him realize there was more to this woman than the sexy, quirky, magic antiques dealer he’d known so far. Her questions had been probing, and he suspected that she wanted to know more about him. The attraction between them felt different to him, too. Of course, he wanted to hope it was the same for her.

No one wanted to be a booty call to the person they were obsessed with, so he could be making allowances that he shouldn’t be. He hoped not. Even telling himself that there had to be more to her than met the eye, he still couldn’t keep his guard up. Maybe it was those chocolaty brown eyes of hers or the fact that she seemed to have no filter. But he wanted to trust her.

Maybe it was time to put Jade and her betrayal firmly behind him. Sure, he made a big show of making it clear that everyone knew he’d moved on. But a part of him was still scarred, so deeply betrayed by the woman he’d shared so much of himself with that there were times when he still hated Jade.

“So, you said there was one woman who might hate you enough to steal the chest,” Zelda said as if reading his mind.

Of course she would remember that.

“Yes. Jade. She and I were partners for about five years, just before I made it big,” he said.

“But she might have stolen your chest? I’m guessing things didn’t end well,” she said.

“They didn’t,” Nicholas admitted. “But that was years ago.”

“Still, you think she might have stolen your talisman?” Zelda asked.

“I don’t know. She knows how important it is to me. It’s the kind of thing she would do just to mess with me.”

“You must have really hurt her,” Zelda said.

Hurt her? “I doubt it. She’s not that kind of woman. She’s pretty cold when it comes to men.”

“Ah,” Zelda said.

What the hell did that mean?

“I have been researching your old shows, checking out options for the exhibit, and I really liked your first big show…the televised one. I noticed you used the straitjacket escape, which might be a challenge to find. There are tons of knockoffs, but I’d love to have an original one. I know it hasn’t been that long, but you looked really young there,” she said.

She changed the subject, so he couldn’t keep talking about Jade or find out what she meant, but he was happy enough for that. “Yeah. I was so nervous. Could you tell?”

“No,” she said. “I didn’t plan to watch the entire show, but I ended up doing it anyway. You are really good.”

He remembered that show, he tried to project confidence but he had been on edge during that performance and he’d had to draw on all of his skills as a showman while he was in front of the camera.

“Thanks. I try,” he said trying to sound humble, but he was proud of his abilities.

“I know Trixie is my point of contact, but I’m trying to put into context any old tricks or illusions you use and create different moments along the hallway. I think I have something like eight alcoves to fill.”

“I don’t want to talk about work,” he said. “I want to know about you, Zelda. You said you grew up on the east coast. What brought you to Vegas?”

“Escape,” she said. “That and my car broke down just outside of town. Molly stopped to help me. She was about six months pregnant with Stetson. We hit it off, and she offered to rent me a room in her place. She needed extra money because her ex was off rodeoing. I took her up on it, and things started working out. I took a job at Touch of Magic—Edna Stevens used to run it. She trained me and then offered to let me buy the place two years ago.”

“Did you know anything about antiques before that?” he asked. “Was that what you did back east?”

She shook her head. “No. I mean, I like antiques, but it turns out I have an eye for replicas and junk.”

She laughed at herself when she said it, and a shaft of desire went through him. “I’m sure that’s not true.”

“It is. Edna was in stitches when I went to the first antiques fair with her. She told me to walk around and find some pieces that we should have in the shop. Everything I chose was a modern version of an older piece. The only things I didn’t completely screw up were some specialty items. She gave me tons of books to read, and I started to learn what was what,” Zelda said.

“Where is Edna now?”

“She retired. She lives in the Glen Valley retirement village.”

“I have a friend whose grandmother lives there, too,” Nicholas said. “She’s part of a group that call themselves the Sexy Seniors.”

“I love it. How much fun those ladies must be. I hope I’m that cool when I’m older. I like that Edna is so close. We have dinner once a month. She sort of treats me like a daughter. I tried to keep the relationship more businesslike, but she wouldn’t allow it. She dotes on Stetson and is constantly trying to fix Molly up.”

“But not you?”

“She tried, but I’m not… I really wasn’t sure I’d be staying for the first few years. And I’ve got baggage, so… Well, that’s probably not something to bring up on a first date.”

“We all have baggage,” he reassured her.

She smiled at him, tipping her head to the side. “Molly says it’s what makes us interesting.”

“It’s what makes you who you are,” Nicholas said. He had learned that the hard way. He’d tried pretending that the lies he’d been told as a child hadn’t affected him, but they had shaped the man he was today. Thinking he was his grandparents’ biological relation and finding out later they’d adopted him and pretended he was their grandchild had shattered that.

“It is,” she said. “I like the man you are, Nicholas.”

He liked her, too. But emotion made him uncomfortable, so instead he snapped his fingers and presented a single rose to her. “Thank you.”

…

The rose was a simple trick, but he did it with panache and flair. And when he handed her the rose, she noticed the scent and that all the thorns had been removed.

“Was I getting too personal?” she asked.

“Yes. Sorry. I didn’t want to be rude, and I had the flower for you anyway,” he said.

“That’s all right. I like it. Did you use magic in school?” she asked.

She’d always thought that doing tricks was fun and harmless, until she was thirteen and someone at school had accused her of being a con. She had been hurt and upset. Her twin had gotten into a fight with the accuser, and they’d both been sent to detention. That had been the first time that magic had become tinged with something else for her, something that wasn’t otherworldly and special.

He leaned back in the chair. “Sometimes I’d hustle kids at lunch for money. I’m not proud, but I used to do the I-can-name-your-card trick pretty much every day in middle school, until a teacher caught me.”

She shook her head. “You said hustle. Did you deliberately get some of them wrong?”

“Yeah,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck, clearly not comfortable with his disreputable past. “Some of those kids couldn’t afford to lose their lunch money, so I would always flub their card. But if someone was an asshole, I took them for all I could get.”

“I don’t blame you,” she said. “I hated school. I was never happier than the day I dropped out.”

“You dropped out?”

“Yeah. I hope that’s not a big deal to you,” she said.

“Why would it be? You’re smart and funny and sexy as hell. You don’t need a degree to prove that to me,” he said.

That warm feeling started in her stomach and spread throughout her body. He seemed to accept her as she was—something she hadn’t needed for a long time, but in the past, it had been an issue. Maybe it was his connection to magic, but, as she’d noted before, he was stirring up things she hadn’t let bother her in a long time. When she was with him, magic felt closer. She was tempted to produce a coin out of thin air, just to see if it would throw him.

She wondered how he’d react if he knew that she was part of the famous Waterstone family. They had been performing magic tricks since the nineteenth century, so when tragedy had struck, people heard about it. Everyone knew the Waterstones. But today, living in Vegas under her grandmother’s maiden name, Zelda was obscure.

She’d liked that, but now, in front of Nicholas with his cut chest and easy use of magic, she wanted to do a trick. To show off and see if he’d be impressed. But she didn’t. She wasn’t going back to that life. It was only the novelty of being this close to someone of Nicholas’s caliber that was tempting her.

“I like the way you put that,” she said. “What about you?”

“I had a private education while my grandparents were alive and then public education when my guardian had control of my trust,” Nicholas said. “That’s when I hustled for lunch money.”

“I bet that was a shock,” she said. “I remember when we went from a small rural school to a high school in Boston. It was so big, and there were so many kids. I both loved and hated it.”

“Did you? What was it that made you feel that way?” he asked.

“The same thing,” she said, smiling at the memory. “It was so loud, and there were so many kids with different stories. I liked the cacophony of it, but then at times I missed the quiet. It was hard to make a solid friend with so many people around. Plus, I was…”

“Quirky.”

She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Yeah, I guess you could say that. So I irritated a few people. Who knows why? What about you? Popular?”

“Not after I was busted for hustling lunch money. I ended up in juvie. That’s where I met Dare and Casey.”

“Okay, that’s a lot of information for one sentence. How did you end up in juvie, and who are Dare and Casey? Wait, Casey Waltham and Darien Mitchell?”

“The very same. As I mentioned, I had a guardian who wasn’t interested in being a guardian, so I started hanging out on the streets, doing tricks and hustling for real money, not just pocket change. I got busted, and the judge sent me to juvie first and then I transitioned to a halfway house. Dare was there for stealing a car and taking it for a joyride, and Casey had been caught hustling. We just sort of bonded,” he said. He stopped talking, but she could see behind his eyes that he was still thinking about those men.

She sensed that his relationship with them was like hers and Molly’s. Closer than siblings, the kind of friends who had one another’s back through anything. “And now you own a casino together. How did that come about?”

“We made some blood oath back then that we’d go out and make our fortunes and come back to Vegas and open the biggest badass casino. I figured I’d have access to my trust fund by then.” He smiled and shook his head. “We were just punks, but we were determined to be more than that.”

“I love that. Then you started doing shows?” she asked.

“Yeah, I got serious about magic and was doing some street magic—legit this time. That’s when I met Leo—he works for me now. And he helped me polish my act. From there, we just kept getting bigger and better,” he said.

He told her more stories of his time building his career over coffee and dessert, and when everything was cleared away, he leaned back in his chair and looked at her with a very intent stare.

“So that’s it,” he said. “We all ended up back here. I was trying out the new finale trick for the show here in Vegas when the chest was stolen from my house.”

“And that led me to you,” Zelda said.