a man who could feed her fantasies forever.
Two
Dave Carey watched the security footage from his office. He’d gotten a text alert the moment Terri Ferguson’s name had been entered into the hotel computers. She was here and now he had to find a way to get her gone.
He watched her now on the screen, a cold fist in the pit of his stomach. From his computer he could tap into any camera in the hotel. As executive assistant to Cooper Hayes, Dave pretty much had the run of the place. And it paid to always be on top of whatever was happening in the casino.
“She’s hotter than I expected,” he muttered, studying the footage of Terri Ferguson as she spoke to Cooper. “That’s not good.”
Cooper might think of himself as having a great poker face, but Dave had known the man since college. He could tell in a blink that Cooper was intrigued by his new partner. And that wasn’t good for Dave.
Hell, none of this was.
He tossed a pen onto his desk, leaned back in his black leather chair and kept his gaze locked on the tall blonde who had ruined his plans. Why couldn’t she have been short and ugly with an overbite and a dragging limp or something? No, she had to look like a damn goddess. Who would have guessed that women in a wilderness like Utah could look that good? He watched her smile at Cooper and more important, watched Cooper give her that hungry-lion-looking-at-a-gazelle expression.
“Damn it.” After years of putting in the time, helping Cooper build the Hayes Corporation into a global power, Dave had been on the cusp of finally getting what he deserved. Cooper had promised Dave that soon his loyalty would finally be rewarded.
And now some country-bumpkin blonde with great legs and a spectacular rack put it all in jeopardy.
Standing, Dave walked away from the image of Cooper staring at Terri Ferguson as if he were trying to keep from taking a bite of her. Moving across his office, Dave didn’t notice the high-end furniture, the thick carpets strewn across hardwood floors. He didn’t even see the wide windows giving him an awesome view of Vegas and the desert and mountains beyond. Instead, his mind was dredging up a meeting with Cooper nearly two years ago.
“Jacob’s not getting any younger, you know. And when he dies, the company comes to me. Once I’m fully in charge,” Cooper had said, lifting a glass of scotch in a toast, “I’ll see to it that you get a major chunk of Hayes Corp.”
Pleased, Dave had instantly wanted to know exactly how much they were talking about. But he came at the question subtly. “I appreciate it, Coop,” he said, “but what are you really saying?”
“I’m saying that you’ve had nearly as big a hand as I have, turning the company into what it is today,” Cooper said and Dave silently agreed. He was the one, after all, who ran around setting up meetings, taking care of minor issues before they became big ones and in general doing whatever Cooper didn’t have the time to handle.
“I couldn’t have accomplished so much so quickly if I hadn’t been able to count on you.” Cooper took a sip of his Scotch, then set it down again.
“That’s good to hear,” Dave said, nodding. Lifting his own glass, he took a sip and gave a quick glance around Cooper’s private suite. It was palatial and, as always, Dave felt a swift, hard stab of envy that he was just barely able to disguise. He was paid very well and still he couldn’t come close to living as Cooper did.
And damn it, he wanted to.
Dave’s parents had worked hard all their lives and never got anywhere. They hadn’t been able to help him with college. He’d put himself through and getting Cooper Hayes as a roommate had just been a damn bonus. Dave had gotten close to Cooper and slowly cut ties with his blue-collar family as he began to move in higher, glossier circles. By the time he graduated and went to work at Hayes along with Cooper, Dave had turned his back on his own past completely, in favor of his future.
Hell, he hadn’t seen his family in more than ten years and if anyone asked about them, Dave kept it simple and told people they were all dead. Easier that way.
“I’m going to want to make some changes once I have unilateral power. Jacob doesn’t see things the way I do. He thinks one hotel in London is sufficient. But why have one when you can have two or three?”
Musing aloud, Cooper said again, “Once I’m in charge, everything will change.”
“Well, that turned out to be true, anyway,” Dave muttered, slapping one hand to the window glass, warm from the October sun. This woman’s arrival had ruined everything. Now Cooper had a partner again. He wasn’t completely in charge and wouldn’t be unless they could get rid of Terri Ferguson. And until that happened, Dave wouldn’t get what he’d been working toward for more than ten years.
Oh, he knew that Cooper’s plan was to get little Miss Utah out of Vegas as quickly as possible. But Dave wasn’t fooling himself about this. He’d seen the interest on Cooper’s face as he looked at Terri Ferguson. And if Cooper was that attracted, the urgency to chase the woman off would fade. Pretty soon she’d be settled in, making plans, and Dave’s plans would be completely obliterated.
Pushing away from the window, he stalked back to his desk and sat down to stare at the image of the blonde who had, just by being here, become his enemy. As Cooper and Terri disappeared into the elevator, Dave shut down the surveillance feed. There were no cameras in the private elevator or the owner’s floor so there was no point in trying to track them.
Alone with his thoughts again, Dave’s mind raced with plans, possibilities. He had to find a way to get rid of Terri Ferguson and make it look like leaving was her own idea. He had to convince the gorgeous blonde that she was out of her depth. It wouldn’t be easy, of course. But Dave had handled tough assignments for years.
He could handle this, too.
But first, he told himself, it was time to call out the Big Guns, and he reached for the phone.
* * *
She wasn’t what Cooper had expected.
His own fault, really. He could have done research on her. He’d handed that off to Dave and then never followed up. Mainly because he hadn’t wanted to even think about having to deal with a new partner, for God’s sake. If he had done due diligence, he might have been prepared for his first sight of her.
The world he traveled in was populated by celebrities, wealthy business people and other so-called “elites.” When he’d heard that his new partner, Terri Ferguson, was a bank teller from Utah, somehow he’d expected...less. He wasn’t even sure what, really. Only that Terri was more—much more—than he’d imagined.
She filled his vision to the point of shutting out everything else. She was tall, which he appreciated. He’d always hated bending nearly in half to look a woman in the eye or to kiss her senseless. This woman probably stood five feet eight inches without the three-inch black heels she wore. Her dress was a deep, rich blue that hugged curves designed to drive a man crazy. The swirling hem of her dress stopped well above her knees, displaying long, shapely legs that were toned and tanned. The bodice was cut low enough to be tempting and she wore a black shrug sweater against the October chill.
Her long blond hair tumbled across her shoulders and down her back in thick, heavy waves and
