Page 48 of Sin City Lights

“Outside. You don’t get to hear the ocean, living in Vegas.”

There were two patio chairs on the balcony, plus one cushioned lounge chair, big enough for two. Grabbing a blanket off one of the chairs, Adam settled himself in the chaise, stretched out his long legs, and patted the space beside him.

It seemed only natural to accept his invitation and lounge next to him. He draped the blanket over the both of them.

For a while, they sat there sipping warm milk and listening to the ocean.

She marveled at his solid strength. For such an intense man, he was capable of being a calming presence, soothing her so completely.

He set down his empty mug and draped his arm around her, pulling her close. She rested her head on his shoulder. It felt good.

“Shall we do the last installment of the twenty questions?” he murmured against her hair.

She inhaled the calming scent of his cologne.“I forgot whose turn it was.”

“Me too. You go ahead.”

“OK.” She pondered for a moment.“You said you were born in Alaska. Did you grow up there too?”

“Yes. Lived there until it was time to go to college. My dad had a small airline transport business. Float and bush planes. We flew supplies to people who lived in remote areas and who didn’t have access to resources any other way. Also took up tourists who wanted to hunt.”

“Did you fly, back then?”

“Oh, yes. I was behind the yoke at thirteen.” She felt his smile.“My dad would take me up with him and get me on the controls. I guess the bug stuck.”

“What did you do after college?”

She’d tried to search online, but it was almost as if he didn’t exist, aside from his company website and a few business magazine articles. Not even a LinkedIn page. She’d seen this before with some clients who’d hired companies to scrub as much information as possible about them off the internet.

“I worked as a flight instructor until I could get in the right seat at the airlines. Then, I hit pay dirt with an app I developed with a college buddy. We sold that and opened LarsAir with two planes. Both used, but they were ours.” He shook his head.“Those were some interesting times, to say the least.”

And now here he was, owner of a billion-dollar company, preparing to launch the first supersonic passenger jet since 2003.

“Your classmate owns part of the business?”

“Yeah. You know him.” His arm tightened around her.“Devon.”

“Oh!” She’d had no idea. Devon had never mentioned it.

“Yeah, not many people know. He wants to stay low-key, fly, and just be one of the guys. Wants nothing to do with daily operations.”

Wow. Full of secrets and surprises, these men.

“You didn’t grow up in Vegas,” he said.

The subject of Devon was closed, she sensed.“Is that a question?”

“It’s an assumption, but yes, I’d like to know where you grew up.”

“Port Canaveral.”

“Ah. The Sunshine State. I should have figured since you’re aGator.”

“It was an atypical childhood, I guess. My mother worked on cruise ships, as you already know, and she wasn’t home most of the year. I had a lot of freedom. Now that I think of it, I could have gotten into serious trouble.”

“Ah, but you were a good little girl.”

He had no idea how right he was. As a child, she never broke the rules and spent her time daydreaming about someone big and strong charging in on a white steed to take her away from all the misery.

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