with her, the heart of the equally shy girl who’d loved him from afar for years had been breaking. Far worse than that, though, was what she’d inadvertently done to little Mia. Assuming that she and her most recent ex, Michael, had a future, she’d allowed herself to get close to Michael’s daughter, and the child had been heartbroken when things had fallen apart. The fact that she’d harmed a child in much the same way she had been harmed, scalded her. It was something she couldn’t forgive herself for. It was a reminder that there was a high price for some mistakes.
“Randy says you’re competing against another Las Vegas hotel for the award.”
He maintained an expression that told her nothing. “Champagne will be tough to beat. They’ll keep upping the ante right until the end.”
So the competition was a big deal. “What are the odds that you’ll win?”
“Winning isn’t guaranteed,” Wyatt said, his tone cool. But she could tell by the way his jaw tightened that the award meant something to him.
And why not? He’d designed the hotel himself. That made the award important, whether he wanted to admit it or not. It seemed he didn’t want to admit it to her. And why should he? She was an employee. A stranger.
“You’re the boss,” she said. “I’ll do my best to be as mistake-free as possible while I get acclimated.”
“I’m not anticipating lots of mistakes.”
She shrugged. “Neither am I, but everyone makes them. I’ve made my share.”
“Are we talking about the film crew and the CPR incident?”
“Among other things.”
Wyatt raised an eyebrow. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“That I might go through some rough patches the first few days?”
He studied her, his expression unreadable. “That you know CPR. And that you didn’t hesitate to help.” He held her gaze to make his point. There was something fierce and commanding about the man. Heat seemed to radiate off him, despite the fact that he seemed so outwardly cool.
Disregarding her warnings to behave, Alex’s heart-rate sped up. Warmth spread through her. She tried to ignore it, even though the man had eyes that could make a woman forget to be smart. “Well…” Somehow she managed to find her voice. “As embarrassing as it was, I’d do it again. But for now I’d better start learning the ropes if we’re going to win that award. I’ll just read the reference material that Randy tells me is in the cabinets, and surf the Internet for interesting factoids about Las Vegas.”
“Wyatt, there you are! I’ve been looking everywhere.”
The husky female voice came from Alex’s right, and she turned to see a gorgeous blonde woman moving toward them. She wore a sand-colored sheath dress that fit her perfectly. Her bare legs and arms were smoothly toned and tanned, and her megawatt smile was focused on Wyatt.
Alex instinctively took a step back. The woman knew Wyatt, and Wyatt was Alex’s boss, not her friend.
Wyatt, however, drew her forward. “Katrina, this is Alexandra, my new concierge. Alex, Katrina owns Gendarmes, a restaurant down the street.”
“Ah, one of your colleagues,” Alex said with a smile.
The woman’s smile dimmed. “Oh, yes,” she said, her tone clear. Alex didn’t rank. “We both have a shared interest in Las Vegas and…other things. Come on, Wyatt, we’re going to be late.”
A frown line appeared between his brows. “Alex, I’ll be at a meeting of some of the local hoteliers and restaurants most of the rest of the day. We’re coordinating some functions and we’ll be at Gendarmes, but if there’s an emergency I can be interrupted.”
Alex almost thought she heard Katrina hiss.
“Thank you, but I’m not expecting any emergencies,” Alex said.
Still, after the two of them had gone Alex admitted that she’d felt the telling sting of jealousy when Katrina had walked away with Wyatt at her side. Allowing herself to feel that way would rank as an emergency. Not to mention how incredibly stupid it would be. Developing an infatuation for one’s boss was such a cliché and just…wrong. Besides, while she’d pursued love with reckless abandon and lost before, she’d at least had good reason to expect success in those cases. Wyatt McKendrick was a sure ticket to heartbreak. She just couldn’t allow herself to fall for someone incapable of loving her. Never again.
Love, Alex had discovered, was a lethal weapon in the hands of the wrong person. She was the wrong person and always had been. Her current dreams were within reach, and she wouldn’t cheapen them by setting them aside to covet the impossible. Fantasizing about Wyatt wasn’t allowed, and she was just going to have to nip that trip to Jealous Town in the bud.
So she devoted herself to learning the ropes. She read everything on the desk, thumbing through pamphlets and cruising Internet travel sites. She answered basic questions, made reservations for people and directed them to where they wanted to go. In a slow moment she wandered over to Randy’s desk and picked his brain.
He looked at her suspiciously, but then told her what she needed to know. “You’re really throwing yourself into this, aren’t you?” he asked.
“I agreed to take the job. I’m going to do it right.”
“Could I give you a word of advice?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t do it to please Wyatt. Women always fall in love with him, but he’s a guy who likes his personal space. He doesn’t get close to anyone, male or female. And while he occasionally escorts a woman for both business and…other obvious reasons, he doesn’t stay.”
“Grr.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve already fallen?”
“No, but you must be the tenth person who’s told me that. So, for the tenth time, I’m never going to fall in love with Wyatt. I’m safe.”
“You say that as if you’re trying to convince yourself, but I’ve seen it happen before.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Good. But if the unexpected should happen and your ‘never ever’ turns to ‘maybe’, will Wyatt be fine?”
She blinked.
“Look, none of us know Wyatt that well. He keeps his personal life to himself. But he treats his employees well, even if he asks a lot in return. I know that better than anyone. I’m here today because Wyatt caught me trying to pick his pocket when my mother died and left me and my younger brother destitute. He grabbed me by my shirt, lectured me, and then gave me a job with the understanding that I would keep out of trouble. Because he’s fair, those of us who work for him pay attention, and what we’ve seen is that he takes everything that concerns McKendrick’s seriously. If he chose you to work here and you somehow got hurt, he would brood over that.
“The truth is that whenever a woman shows up here with stars in her eyes, and he has to tell her no, he retreats into
