As she served his drink, she made sure to give him an eyeful of her cleavage. She was so close Griffin could smell her perfume, an exotic musky scent, applied a bit too heavily for his taste but what the hell. He could live with it.
She whispered, “I’m off at two.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
The dealer dealt the next hand and Griffin turned his attention back to the game, his blood rushing with adrenaline when he glimpsed his cards. He schooled his expression to stay neutral after seeing his hand. Finally! He’d been dealt a pair of aces. Hallelujah!
The familiar sounds of chips being stacked and cards being shuffled faded into the background as he concentrated. He loved the rush of gambling. It was almost the same high he experienced skiing down a black diamond slope or jumping out of an airplane. He’d be the first to admit that he was a thrill seeker. He had no fear and loved adventure.
Since moving back to his hometown in North Carolina last year, things had been on the sedate side, and he thought he’d been adjusting to the slower pace. Sitting in the electrified energy of the casino, he realized that he’d been feeling restless lately.
“I’ll raise you,” Griffin said.
The two players still left in the game decided to fold. Griffins eyes sparkled as the pile of chips were placed in front of him. After a few more winning hands, he was almost back to where he’d started.
“You’re going to pull a hit and run?” one of the players asked as Griffin picked up his chips.
“Hardly—I’m breaking even, barely,” Griffin replied good-naturedly. He didn’t consider it rude to quit since he hadn’t really won anything. He tipped the dealer and servers generously and headed to the bar for one more drink before retiring.
It was half past two and Griffin was surprised to see the cocktail waitress waiting for him at the bar. He’d forgotten all about her. He veered quickly toward the elevator before she had a chance to see him, then rode it up to his suite.
He walked outside onto the terrace overlooking a spectacular view of the Vegas strip. The lights glittered like colorful jewels in the night sky. A city that never sleeps. He thought of the beautiful bombshell he’d just left sitting at the bar and shook his head in disgust. What the hell is wrong with me?
Must be losing it. He felt a twinge of regret. He could be lying in bed with a warm luscious body next to him right now…dammit. He went back inside and stripped off his clothes, crawling naked under the sheets he was asleep soon after his head touched the pillow.
3
Penelope took off her silk eye mask and moved her seat to the upright position in preparation for landing. The flight attendant was picking up empty glasses and trash from her colleagues’ trays. The film company had chartered a private jet for the actors and a few of the production crew that weren’t already on location. She’d cut short her Montana retreat to catch the flight from LA.
She had dozed for much of the five-hour flight. She peeked in at Archie, who lay contentedly snoring in his soft crate. He was quite the savvy traveler, having been toted around since he was a puppy.
She unzipped the top of the carrier and scratched him behind his ears. “Hey Archie, we’re here.” He looked at her groggily. Noah Davis took that moment to grab the seat on the other side of Archie and buckled himself in.
“How’s my little buddy?” he asked, reaching down to pet him.
Penelope rolled her eyes. “Like you care.”
His dark eyes pierced her. “I do. Is this how it’s going to be? If so, we’re in for a very long shoot.”
“That goes without saying, I’m afraid.”
“Really Penny? I’d think with your experience you could show a little professionalism.”
“Oh, I intend to, but we’re not working at the moment…unless I missed something?” She arched one brow.
His lips twisted. “You’re such a bitch.”
“Nice, now we’ve already progressed to name calling,” she hissed.
“I’ll play nice if you do. Rumor mill has it that the studio wants to make us an item in the public eye. Good for PR.”
“Over my dead body.”
He laughed dryly, “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“Who did you hear that from anyway?”
“My manager. He said the public is still grieving the loss of their favorite couple, Winoah.” He mimed quotation marks as he referenced the moniker the tabloids had christened them with.
Her mouth tightened as she glared at him. “How sweet. Constance already reminded me of that as well.”
Noah’s eyes softened for a moment with something that looked a lot like regret. “We were good once, Penelope.”
She unbuckled her seat belt and stood as the pilot and attendant waited by the exit for the passengers to disembark. “That was then, this is now.” Putting on her sunglasses, she grabbed the dog carrier and walked swiftly to the exit.
The sun warmed her skin as she stepped onto the tarmac. A large SUV with tinted glass waited to whisk her and Noah to their temporary private seaside homes. She wasn’t pleased that they were going to be next-door neighbors, and after hearing about the studio’s desire to use their relationship as bait, she wondered if it was an intentional setup.
The driver opened the door for Penelope and before sliding in she asked, “Will it take long to get there?”
He smiled shyly, looking a little starstruck. “No ma’am, about twenty minutes.”
She ducked into the cool Mercedes. “Thanks.” Unzipping the carrier, she took Archie out. His whole body wiggled as he enthusiastically checked out his surroundings. Noah sulked as Penelope did her best to pretend that he wasn’t there.
“Since we’re going to be neighbors, I guess you won’t be able to avoid me.”
Silence.
Noah’s voice softened and he said, “Penelope, the baby wasn’t mine.”
Her lips twisted. “Isn’t the point that it could have been, and it took a paternity test to find out?”
“Baby, you know damn well we weren’t getting along. It’s on me, but it’s not like we weren’t having troubles already.”
“Yeah and sleeping around always improves on any existing problems. Why didn’t I think of it first? You’re brilliant Noah. Bonus, you got to fuck her whenever you wanted in between takes. God, how blind and stupid could I have been? Right under my nose the whole time.”
“We can talk about that later, but right now I want to find a way to work together peacefully.”
“On set it will be fine. Off set, skip it. There’s nothing to talk about.”
“Good thing our script calls for a contentious relationship. We won’t have to do much acting,” he said dryly.
“There are a few scenes I hope to get cut.”
He stroked his chin squinting, “Hmm let me guess. The rough sex scenes?”
“You’ve always had a keen eye for the obvious.”
“Lighten up, for fuck’s sake. You won’t get them to change the script this late, even if you are Penelope Winters. You’ve already agreed to the terms; the sex scenes were spelled out, signed, sealed, delivered.”