Page 10 of Vegas Baby

Howler inspected the inside of the ring. “Looks like we have a match here. What are the odds you picked up Brenda’s ring?”

“No way.” She snatched the ring from him before she met his eyes, glaring in mock outrage.

“Made you look.” He retrieved the ring once more and held it between his thumb and finger. Clasping Raina’s hand, he began to slip it on to her finger.

“You’re such an asshole.” The teasing lightness in her tone belayed the insult.

“You called me a cute asshole the other night.” Why had he said that? He wasn’t supposed to be flirting with her. This entire endeavor was serious business yet he liked the lighter side of Raina.

“Are you fishing for compliments?” She asked, blue eyes flashing.

“Never, I—” The sheer magnitude of what he was doing hit close to him and he halted shy of sliding the ring past her knuckle. Fuck. He was putting a ring on a woman’s finger, but not any woman, his wife. Had the air conditioner kicked off and somebody turned up the heat? His shirt collar felt tight against his throat, choking him.

“Does it not fit?” the clerk asked.

Frowning, Raina withdrew her hand and pushed the ring over her knuckle. “No, it’s a perfect size and fit. How much?”

Howler watched her lips moving but he couldn’t focus on her words. Buying the ring drove home the enormity of what they’d done. He pulled at his tie and swallowed, wanting to get out of there and fast.

“Let’s look at something less expensive.” Raina started to remove the ring.

“No, we’ll take it.” Howler withdrew a credit card from his wallet and threw it onto the counter.

Raina slapped her palm over the card and glared at him. “I can’t let you buy this for me, I—”

“We’re getting the damn ring,” he said through clenched teeth, impatient to get on the road. And be stuck with her for two hours. Two hours of being trapped in a car with a wife he didn’t want.

Except he did want her.

Correction, desired her.

Big difference.

“I think it would behoove us to exchange some personal information,” Howler said.

“You’re right.” Raina gripped the pull strap above the passenger door and tried not to stare as the speedometer climbed well beyond the speed limit. The farther from Vegas they went, the fewer the cars were on the road. An hour out with nothing in the distance but desert. Brown terrain, brown mountains and flat blue sky. While the car proved comfortable, she wasn’t. Since she’d arrived in town, Raina had given up control to one person, the man driving the car. “If we’re going to act like we’re in love, we need to be convincing.”

“Where should we start?” Howler glanced over at her but she couldn’t see his eyes because of his sunglasses. He’d been quiet since they’d left the pawnshop. Was he upset with her over the cost of the ring? This was business and she had every intention of expensing it. Screw Miller. Her siblings lived in mansions while she owned a condo in Freemont she’d bought with her own money. She’d never asked for anything from Miller. He’d abandoned her as a child, then twenty years later, approached her about working for the team. In the ensuing years, he’d made himself clear where he stood with her on money and her pride wouldn’t let her ever forget it.

“I say we start from the beginning. Keeping as close to the truth as possible will stop Patel from seeing through our ruse.” Raina spun the wedding ring on her finger, seeking out the intricate filigree surrounding the diamond, a stunning design. She was thrilled with the ring, especially when he’d slipped it on her finger. Like a real bride and groom. Except in her dream wedding, she wouldn’t be married to a stranger after a drunken night in bed. Nor one she’d manipulated into marrying her. There was no doubt in Raina’s mind she’d lied about her name on purpose. Not because she wanted to trap Howler into marriage but because her need to win far outweighed her common sense.

“Good call.”

She extracted a small notepad and pen from her purse and flipped the page, anything to distract from her shameful behavior. “Let’s start with how we met. Obviously, it was over the contract renewal negotiations with Sam.”

“No, we met before then. In the coffee shop downstairs. You cut the line in front of me and then pretended like you didn’t see me.”

“No, I didn’t.” Liar. She’d noticed him, but he wasn’t her target. Sam was her client, Howler, her opponent. The best way to distract an opponent? Put him on the defensive. She’d not be sharing that little fact with him. He assumed the worst and it wasn’t in her best interest to correct him at this point. There was still the matter of cementing Veer’s contract.

“Yes, you did. You wore a beige skirt with a slit up the back and some lethal looking shoes. You were on your phone bitching out some poor sap until you ran into Sam then you got all flirty.”

Contempt rested below the surface of his comment and she bit her lip. Like every other woman on the planet, she’d thought Sam was perfect. Attractive and successful; every girl’s dream. Except it became apparent to Raina early on that it would never work out between them. He was perfect and she wasn’t. “I never slept with him.”

He whipped his head around at her admission. “What’s that got to do with anything?” he asked but the tightness around his jaw loosened.

“Nothing. I thought I’d set the record straight. He and I were never serious.” He’d been on the road for most of the three weeks they’d dated. She’d learned the hard way absence didn’t make the heart grow fonder. Quite the opposite. The second the magazine cover came out with Sam and a Brazilian model she’d started to obsess over him having an affair. Another residual side effect of having a degenerate as a father. Her trust in men was sadly lacking.

“All right, we met in the coffee shop, a nice, inauspicious meeting place. Let’s stick with that. And the whole skirt, shoe thing? A nice touch, although I couldn’t tell you what I wore and will have to trust your memory.”

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