and set up a time the two of you can meet.”
“That will be fine.”
“Also, I’ll see that Darlene has a check ready for you tomorrow, to cover any early expenses you incur. Set up accounts with any stores or suppliers you’ll be using regularly. They can bill the Bravo Group. Again, talk to Darlene. She’ll tell you what you need to know and answer any questions that come up.”
“I will. Don’t worry….”
He actually laughed then. It was a warm, wry sound and it made her wish she could …
But no. Nothing was going to happen between them. She was happy with Danny, with her life as it was.
He said, “I’m not worried, Cleopatra. Not worried in the least.”
“Well, okay, then. Good.”
“One more thing and I’ll let you go.”
She clutched the phone a little tighter, realized she was doing it and consciously relaxed her grip. “Sure.”
“Ashlyn’s birthday party is on Saturday, the fifth. From noon to five at Circus Circus, the Adventuredome.” He added drily, “No one can ever say I don’t support the competition.”
Ashlyn’s birthday. She’d almost forgotten. Or, to be honest, she’d let herself forget. Because contact with Ashlyn meant contact with Fletcher, and she was seriously conflicted about that.
And yet, she had promised the solemn-eyed little girl….
And come on. Really. She was essentially in business with Fletcher now. She would be running into him now and then. There was no avoiding it.
And even if she never had a reason to talk shop with him again, even if she always went through Darlene in HR from here on out, he’d be showing up at KinderWay every day to drop off his daughter, for crying out loud.
Fletcher said, “I hope we’ll see you there.”
“Of course I’ll be at Ashlyn’s party,” she replied. “Please thank her for inviting me and tell her I’ll see her at the Adventuredome.”
“I’ll do that. Goodbye, then.”
“Goodbye, Fletcher.”
The line went dead. Cleo hung up and told herself she didn’t feel the least bit sad or at all let down.
When Fletcher finished the unsatisfying call to Cleo, he had another call waiting. He took it without checking to see who it was.
“Fletcher? There you are, at last.”
“Andrea.” Andrea Raye was a featured dancer in the erotic revue, Cancan du Bal, which had been playing at Impresario to sell-out audiences for the past six months.
Andrea laughed, a charming sound, one that was only a little bit forced. “Where have you been? I haven’t seen you in weeks.”
He supposed he should have a talk with her. “How about lunch tomorrow?”
“I would love lunch. Or you could just come by after the show tonight.” She pitched her voice lower and suggested seductively, “We’ll have breakfast—eventually.”
He spoke gently. “Thanks, but that’s not going to work.”
“Ah,” she said after a lengthy pause. “I get it.” There was a deep sigh. “So this is it, huh?”
“Andrea …” He never knew what to say at this point.
She laughed again, the sound more brittle than before. “Oh, please. We’re both adults, now aren’t we?”
He knew that whatever he said next was bound to sound lame. And it did. “Yes. We are.”
“I’m thinking that lunch will be a little too … after the fact, if you know what I mean.”
“I understand.”
“Will you send me something pretty, to remember you by?”
“Absolutely.”
“Diamonds. I really like diamonds….”
Andrea’s out-front request didn’t surprise him in the least. When his half brother Aaron had been single, before Celia had turned him into a die-hard family man, there had been a lot of women. The story went that Aaron would always give them diamonds when he said goodbye. Word had probably gotten around. Vegas, in a lot of ways, was a very small town.
Hell. He could almost hear the women whispering, I got diamonds from Aaron. What did Fletcher give you?
“Fletcher? Is … that okay?”
“Diamonds it is.”
“Oh, thank you—and Fletcher?”
“Yeah?”
“I have to tell you. I’m gonna miss you….”
He wished her well and said goodbye.
Then he buzzed Marla and told her to see that Andrea got her diamonds. After that, he called Darlene in HR and briefed her on her new responsibilities with the KinderWay project.
He didn’t like having to do that—didn’t like giving up the various opportunities for contact with Cleo that holding on to the KinderWay connection would provide.
But Fletcher Bravo knew when to fold ‘em. He knew that a better hand would come his way eventually. Cleo had been as much attracted to him as he was to her. There was no denying heat like that.
Not forever.
All he had to do right now was wait. Lady Luck would find him in her own good time.
She always did.
Chapter Five
Danny took Cleo to Black Angus that night. Right after the waitress served their prime rib dinners, he asked if something was wrong.
For a moment she couldn’t quite meet his eyes. She stared down at her huge baked potato and the mound of sour cream exploding from it. “Good thing I’m not dancing anymore. After a dinner like this one, I’d get kicked off the show at the next weigh-in.”
Danny refused to let her change the subject. He asked softly, “You gonna answer my question, Cleo?”
She made herself look at him. “Oh, really. Nothing’s wrong. Nothing at all. Why?”
“You seem … I don’t know. Kind of sad.”
“But I’m not sad. Not in the least.” It came out sounding way too vehement. She smiled to show him it was no big deal.
He shrugged. “Maybe just
