reawakening her anger and resolution.
She wasn’t her mother and never would be. But she knew from experience that people, especially men, treated her differently when they found out about her childhood. Their attitudes changed. Their words changed. Above all, their eyes changed.
Vivian would definitely change if Ziara’s past found the light of day.
Abruptly Sloan stood, grasping her hand to pull her to her feet, then guide her up the aisle to the muted lighting of the foyer. As he paused outside the auditorium doors, she turned to him, acutely conscious of his hand still wrapped around hers. She blinked, her vision adjusting to the faint light, bright after the darkness of the theater.
“What is it?” she asked, withdrawing slightly as he studied her with uncomfortable intensity. That gaze didn’t miss much, and she felt as vulnerable as an open book right now.
“You seemed to have lost interest, so I thought it was time to go,” Sloan said, a question in his voice.
She shifted, firmly drawing her hand from his grasp. “What makes you say that?”
Stupid! Her defensiveness would surely make him even more curious. Too bad she didn’t have a real zipper in her mouth like she’d pretended to as a child, then she could zip her lips shut so nothing incriminating could leak out.
He stepped closer, as if to regain any ground lost by letting go of her hand. She checked the urge to retreat. “You kept wiggling. You seemed uncomfortable and weren’t watching the stage despite the excellent performances.”
He reached out and pushed an errant strand of hair back behind her ear. Her flesh tingled at the contact, speeding up her heartbeat.
“Was it the performance or the content?”
Now her heart pounded in her chest, drowning out any sound around her. She made the mistake of meeting his gaze; those cool, steady eyes coaxing her to spill her secrets. But if he knew, knew what her mother had been, those eyes would change. They would glitter, hard as ice, as he condemned her just like her classmates and the townspeople of good ol’ Macon, Georgia. Only this time, the life she’d built would be at stake, not just her heart.
“We’ve got somewhere to be,” he said, turning away without waiting for an answer. Had he drawn his own conclusions?
As she followed him down several hallways, she pulled herself back into professional mode, sharp and on alert around Sloan’s prying eyes.
Her first inkling that all was not as she suspected came when Sloan led her through a nondescript door that opened into a back corridor near the theater. After several minutes of walking, they came to a door marked Backstage with a doorman keeping a close eye on things. Sloan pulled something from his jacket pocket and the man waved him in.
Going through that door was like entering another dimension. Whereas earlier Ziara had been dazzled by the lights, sounds and effortless flow of the production, now she was amazed that such beauty came from such chaos.
Performers stood in groups chatting or rushing to and from who knows where. Stagehands attended to curtains, props and other mysterious tasks, sidestepping anyone or anything in their way. But it was nearly silent chaos, for the tone of the noise remained low and soft, ever aware of the audience and performance not too far away.
Sloan led her deeper into the backstage area, through rooms containing waiting performers. Here the noise level rose, protected from the stage by distance. Finally they came to a long, narrow room lined with dressing tables. Sloan didn’t even blink at the number of women—very toned, well-built women—in various stages of undress, though several certainly noticed him.
He made a beeline to the far end of the room with Ziara cautiously following, awkward under the eyes tracking their progress. Finally Sloan stopped, moving slightly to one side so that Ziara came up even with him. Before them stood one of the performers, a showgirl decked out in a wisp of spandex and sequins. Ziara’s gaze trailed down the outfit to catch sight of a man crouched behind the girl, one hand inside the bottom of her outfit and a needle and thread in the other. His spiky blond hair was just level with her rear end, as he leaned close to repair a seam.
“Ziara,” Sloan said, “I’d like you to meet Patrick Vinalay, my roommate from college.”
* * *
Ziara’s heart stopped at the shock, then resumed beating again triple time.
This would definitely not go over well. Vivian would throw a true hissy fit if Sloan hired this man to design her wedding dresses. Ziara managed a sickly smile as Sloan introduced her to Patrick’s assistant, who was standing nearby.
“Welcome to the drudgery behind the glamour,” Patrick said, waving a hand around them at the glittering chaos.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she murmured, at a loss for anything else to say. Fortunately he turned to Sloan, relieving her of the need for small talk. Her brain couldn’t form a coherent sentence; she was still shell-shocked by the bomb Sloan had dropped on her.
What had he been thinking, to offer a man with this background first chance to modernize their line? Patrick was probably great at what he did, but that was the problem. What bride wanted to look like a Vegas showgirl on her wedding day? Eternity Designs was known for its elegance, subtle beauty...not tacky sequins.
Patrick stood, dropping the needle and thread on a table behind him. “So what brings you to Vegas, Sloan? I guess if you brought your assistant, you aren’t here for a little wink-wink.” Patrick accompanied the words with the matching motion. Then his eyes widened. “Or are you?”
The sound of distress—all Ziara could manage—had both men turning toward her. Patrick quickly backtracked. “I’m just kidding! A little off-color college humor between buddies. I’ll try to remember my audience in the future.”
But the serious consideration she caught lurking in Sloan’s gaze sent heat rushing to her face. And the knowledge that some physical recreation hadn’t been far from her mind from the moment she’d laid eyes on Sloan Creighton.
Moving closer, he cupped a hand on Patrick’s shoulder. “I’m actually here on business.”
A knowing, exasperated look crossed Patrick’s face. “This wouldn’t be about the design position, would it?”
“Of course. Why else would I take time out of my busy schedule to come to Sin City?”
“Oh, how about the glamour? The excitement?”
“Do I look like I have time for all that?” Sloan asked without a change of expression.
Patrick prodded some more. “Sexy women and high-stakes gambling?”
As a waiting showgirl called to Patrick, Sloan laughed. “I don’t need all that. I just need a designer.”
Shaking his head, Patrick gestured toward the girl in front of him. “Look, I’ve got to get this done before she has to be onstage for the final number. We’ll talk after the curtain falls. Now get out of here,” he said with a stern look around the dressing room. “You’re distracting the girls.”
Patrick’s assistant peeked around his boss’s shoulder. “And the boys,” he said, his tone flirty.
Ziara
