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“Come on, stop this.”
The grin on his face was replaced with a frown. “Stop what?”
“This isn’t how we are. We’re more like siblings who fight a lot, but deep down, we care about each other. Don’t get all ‘I want you to be happy’ on me.” I waited for him to respond, and when he didn’t, I rested my hand on his arm. “Beau?”
“Since my mum…” He shook his head, then donned a smile that looked as fake as I’d ever seen. “Don’t worry, I’m sure it will pass. So, Vegas? Any requests?”
“Food.”
“Right. We’ve lost sight of finding somewhere to stop on the way. We might as well wait at this point.”
I was starving, but he was right. Vegas food, regardless of where we went, would be better than anything we got along the way—or at least that’s what I’d heard. “We need to find a place that will allow Wanda to stay in the room. Oh, and not too expensive. I’m not the heiress you think I’ll be yet.”
“I don’t know why you insist on bringing up money. You know how I feel about it,” he snapped.
My eyes opened wide, and I struggled with what to say in response. After a few seconds, Beau laughed.
“Siblings who fight a lot. That’s what you said, did you not? Just bringing things back into your comfort zone.”
Who cared about each other. I’d said that too. Except, I loved Beau. I could never tell him, though. He’d take it the wrong way and assume I was after him to whisk me away from a life I didn’t like and make me his bride, like every other woman on the face of the earth who’d ever met him. Idefinitelydidn’t love him that way. As I’d said, we were like siblings. Right?
“God, I’d love to know what you’re thinking right now.”
I shook my head. “No. You don’t.”
“You can’t be serious,”I said later when he pulled into one of the swankiest hotels on the Strip.
“Why not?”
“Wanda? My bank account?”
“Welcome back, Mr. Barrett,” the valet who opened his door said. The one who opened mine just offered his hand to help me get out.
“Thank you, my good man,” Beau responded, shaking his hand. “We’ve precious cargo in the back, so if you’ll be so kind as to let me secure her first, I’d appreciate it.”
I stood by the rear of the SUV, waiting for either valet to react to the species of our “precious cargo,” but neither did other than to ask if Beau wanted everything delivered to the room. Which he said he did.
Over the years, I’d witnessed the excesses of his life, but none to this extent. “How often do you come here?” I asked once we’d walked past the lobby and directly into the elevator.
He was studying something on his phone but glanced at me. “Rarely.” He scowled when I rolled my eyes.
“Yet they know your name?”
“Well, that’s more a matter of ownership.”
My eyes opened wide. “You own this hotel?”
“Not entirely.”
I shook my head. I didn’t want to know what that meant. Until I ate, I couldn’t think about anything other than how hungry I was. Maybe that’s why Beau consumed so much in one sitting. That way, he didn’t have to eat again for several hours.
“I’m getting hangry,” I grumbled as much to Wanda, who I knelt down to let out of the soft-sided carrier Beau had put her in, as to myself.
“I’ve taken care of it,” he mumbled, still looking at his phone when the elevator came to a stop.
“Is everything okay?”
Beau raised his head. “Yes. Fine. It’s just, um, some side work I’ve been doing.”
