The hostess seated them and Reed ordered coffee for them both.
Clare glanced anxiously around her. “Do you think we should place this in a safety deposit box? I remember reading something about the hotel having one when we registered. Nine hundred dollars…oh, my goodness, that doesn’t even include the two hundred I won earlier at the blackjack table. Oh…I won at roulette, too. If we didn’t have to leave in the morning, I’d be rich.”
Reed enjoyed listening to her enthusiasm. He enjoyed everything about Clare Gilroy. He fully intended to savor every minute, knowing it would need to last him all his life.
“Let’s go for a walk,” he suggested once they’d finished. He needed the fresh air, and the crowds were beginning to get to him. Clare would enjoy walking the Strip and it would do them both good.
She followed him outside, keeping her handbag close to her body, conscious, he was sure, of the large amount of cash she was carrying with her.
Reed had never known a time when the Strip wasn’t clogged with traffic. Horns honked with impatience, and cars raced through yellow lights. Although it was well after the sun had set, the streets were bright with the flickering lights of the casinos. The sidewalks were crowded with gamblers aimlessly wandering from one casino to another like robots.
It seemed natural for Reed to slip his arm around Clare’s waist and keep her close to his side. She might believe he was doing so to protect her from pickpockets, but Reed knew better. If he was to have only this one night with her to treasure, then he wanted to make the most of every minute. He wasn’t fool enough to believe she wouldn’t return to Jack Kingston the minute they were back in Tullue.
The evening was bright and clear and the stars were out in an abundant display. A hum of excitement filled the streets as they strolled along, their arms wrapped around each other. Neither one of them seemed to be in a rush. Reed had lost track of the time, but he imagined it was still early.
“I love Las Vegas,” Clare said, looking up at him with wide-eyed wonder. “I never knew there was any place in the world like this.”
Reed loved Vegas too, but for none of the reasons Clare would understand. For the first time he could hold and kiss the woman he loved.
“Where are we going?” she asked, after a moment.
Reed smiled to himself, then unable to resist, bent down and kissed her nose. I’m taking you to my favorite volcano.”
Reed hadn’t been kidding. He did take her to see a volcano. It was the most amazing thing Clare had ever seen in her life. They’d stood outside The Mirage, a huge hotel and casino, in front of a large waterfall adorned with dozens of palm trees in what resembled a tropical paradise. After a few moments Clare heard a low rumbling sound that was followed by a loud roar. Fire shot into the sky, and she gasped as the flames raced down the rushing waterfall and formed a lake of fire in the pool in front of where they were standing. It was the most extraordinary thing Clare had ever seen.
Speechless to explain all she was feeling, Clare looked up to Reed and was surprised when she felt twin tears roll down her cheeks. She wasn’t a woman given easily to emotion. One moment she was agog with wonder, and the next she was unexplainably weeping.
Reed studied her, and a frown slowly formed. She wished she knew what to tell him, how to explain, but she was at a loss to put all she was feeling into words. “It’s just all so beautiful,” she whispered.
Reed’s eyes darkened before he slowly lowered his mouth to hers. She wanted him to kiss her again from the moment he had earlier. She needed him to kiss her so she’d know if what she’d experienced had been real. Nothing had ever been so good.
The instant his mouth, so warm and wet, met hers, she had her answer. It didn’t get any more real than this. Any more potent, either.
Clare couldn’t very well claim she’d never been kissed, but no one had ever done it the way Reed did. No one had ever evoked the wealth of sensation he did. She felt as though she were the volcano at The Mirage just moments before it erupted, just before the rumblings began. If he continued, she’d soon be on fire, too, the heat spilling over into a fiery pool.
His mouth moved over hers, molding her lips to his with a heat and need that seared her senses.
A frightening kind of excitement took hold of her, yet she wasn’t afraid. Far from it. In Reed she found the man her heart had hungered to meet all these years. A man who generated romantic dreams. In her heart she knew Reed was a man of honor and he would never purposely do anything to hurt her. Nor would he take advantage of her.
She opened her mouth to him, pressing her tongue forward, wanting to participate in the delicious things they’d done earlier. Their tongues met and touched, and she responded shyly at first, then after gaining confidence, more boldly. Their mouths twisted and angled against each other, as they sought a deeper contact.
Reed’s breathing came hard and fast as the kiss deepened and demanded more of her. She gave freely, unable to deny him anything. Clare’s heart was banging like a huge fist against her ribs. Her own breathing was becoming more labored and needy.
“Clare…” Reed groaned and broke away from her as if he needed to put some distance between them.
“I’m…sorry,” she whispered, burying her head against his shoulder. She’d never been so brazen with a man, and she couldn’t account for her actions now. It was as if she were living in a dream world, and none of this was real.
His breathing was harsh as it had been earlier, his hands buried deep in her hair.
“Say something,” she whispered desperately. “I need to know I’m not making an idiot of myself. Tell me you’re not sorry…I need to know that.”
“Sorry,” he repeated gruffly. “Never…there’ll be plenty of time for regrets later.” With that he kissed her again with a hunger that left her stunned.
They were kissing on a busy sidewalk and no one seemed to notice, no one seemed to care. People walked around them without comment.
Clare’s shoulders were heaving when they broke apart. She raised her hand and her fingers traced the warm, moist seam of his lips. “I’ll never regret this, I promise.”
His gaze narrowed as though he wasn’t sure he could believe her. Not until then did Clare realize that he assumed she was still involved with Jack. A cold chill rushed over her arms as she thought of the other man. He seemed a million years removed from where she was now. It seemed impossible that she’d been involved with him. Reed was everything she’d ever wanted Jack to be.
“It’s over between Jack and me. I told him before we left that I didn’t want to have anything more to do with him again, and I meant it.”
Reed’s eyes hardened.
“I’ve squandered three years on him, and it was a waste of precious time. I’m never going back…the only way for me to move now is forward.” She looped her arms around Reed’s neck, unwilling to waste another moment talking about Jack. She was in his arms and nothing had ever felt more right.
“Clare, then this is all because of your argument with Jack. You’re…”
“No. This is because of you. I can’t believe you were there all along and I was so blind. Kiss me again. Please, just kiss me.”
His hands gripped her wrists as though he intended to break away from her, but he hesitated when their gazes met. “It’s true? It’s over with Jack?”
She nodded. “Completely.”
“Then that explains it.”
“Explains what?”
He didn’t answer her question with words. Everything she’d ever heard about Reed claimed he was a man of deed, and in this case the rumors were right. He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her from the ground until their faces were level with each other. Clare met his gaze evenly, confidently.
Clare had anticipated several reactions from him, but not the one he gave her. He closed his eyes, and she noticed how tense his jaw went, as though he were terribly angry. Before she could ask, he set her firmly on the ground and backed away from her.
r />
“What’s wrong?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
He stared at her for several seconds.
“Reed?”
His shoulders slumped as though he were admitting defeat before he gently took her in his arms and rubbed his chin across the top of her head. “You don’t want to know.”
“But I do,” she countered, not understanding him. At first he appeared angry and then relieved. Wanting to reassure him, she locked her arms around his waist and squeezed. The sweet pleasure she received from being in his arms was worth the risk of his rejection.
“Clare…”
“Tell me,” she pleaded.
“All right,” he said, bracing his hands against her shoulders and easing himself away from her. “Since you’re so keen to know, then I’ll tell you. You tempt me too much.” He said the words as though he were confessing a crime, as though he hated himself for even having admitted it. Having said that, he turned and moved away from her.
“But I want you, too,” she said as she rushed after him. She blushed as she said it, knowing it was true, but desperate not to have him block her out. She’d never admitted such a thing to a man in her life. Reed had stirred awake dormant needs, and she wasn’t going to allow him to walk away from her. Not now. Not when they’d found each other.
Reed hesitated and glanced down on her. Before, she’d been so confident he was experiencing everything she was, now she wasn’t certain of anything. This feeling of separation was intolerable. She couldn’t bear it.
“What is it you want from me?” he demanded, his jaw tight and proud.
Clare hadn’t had time to give the matter thought. “I…I don’t know.”
“I do.”
“Good,” she said, sighing, “you can tell me. All I know is I feel incredible…better than I have in years. I’m not the same person I was a few hours ago and I like the new me. I’ve always been so practical and so proper, and when we’re together I don’t feel the need for any of that.”
“If I didn’t know better I’d swear you were drunk.”
“But I’m not.”
“I know.”
He didn’t sound pleased. If anything, he was weary, as if he weren’t sure he could trust her, let alone himself. To Clare’s way of thinking, paradise beckoned and nothing blocked the path but their own doubts and inhibitions.
Then it dawned on her, and the weight of her discovery was so heavy that she nearly sank to the cement. She’d always been the good girl. Reed didn’t want to become involved with someone like her, not when he could have his pick of any woman in town. She was dowdy compared to women he’d known. Dowdy and plain.
“Whatever you’re thinking is wrong,” he commented with his uncanny ability to read her thoughts. “Tell me what it is, Clare.”
She could feel his frown even with her eyes lowered. “I know what’s really wrong…only you didn’t want to tell me. I’m…I’m nothing like the women you’re accustomed to being with. I’m the bookworm, the do-gooder.”
His scoffing laugh effectively denied that.
“Then why are you looking at me like that?” she demanded
“We have nothing in common,” he said, once his sharp laughter faded away.
“We share everything,” she countered. “We’re close in age…we were raised in the same town.”
“Different school, different cultures.”
Clare wasn’t about to let him negate her argument. “We both like to read.”
“You live in the city, I’m miles out in the country.”
“So? It’s a small town. You make Tullue sound like a suburb of New York. We know the same people, and share friends.”
“Gary is my only Anglo friend.”
“What about Erin? What about me?”
He grinned as though he found her argument silly, and that irritated Clare.
“You’re talented and sensitive,” she continued.
“You don’t know that?”
“Ah, but I do.”
And he was talented and sensitive. He’d known she was suffering from a headache, and been gentle and concerned. He’d been aware of her pain when no one else was aware she was suffering. As for the talented part, she didn’t want to admit she hadn’t seen any of the totem poles he’d carved, but Erin had told her he was exceptionally talented, and she was willing to trust her friend’s assessment.
Reed’s eyes, so dark and clear, remained expressionless, and Clare knew that he’d already made up his mind about them, and it wasn’t likely he’d budge. To Reed, they were worlds apart and would always remain so. He was right, she supposed, but in this time together, in this town, they’d managed to bridge those differences. If it happened in Vegas, they could make it happen in Tullue.
There was something else, something she hadn’t considered, something Reed hadn’t said but insinuated. Her heart started to beat heavily. Her cheeks filled with color so hot her skin burned.
“Clare?”
She whirled away from him and pressed her hands to her face, unable to bear looking at him. Never had she been more embarrassed.
“What is it?”
“You think…” She couldn’t make herself say it.
“What?” he demanded gruffly.
Dear heaven, it was too humiliating to say out loud. Reed guided her away from the pedestrians, and they stood in the shadow of a streetlight next to one of the casino’s massive parking lots.
“Clare,” he repeated impatiently.
“You think…I’m looking for casual sex…that I’m after a one-night stand.” It made her sick to her stomach to voice the words. Even worse it seemed that all the evidence was stacked against her. She’d been nothing less than wanton.
It had started earlier at Gary and Erin’s wedding ceremony. Clare hadn’t been able to take her eyes off Reed. Later when they’d first gambled, she’d practically thrown herself into his arms. She kissed him back, seeking more and more of him until she experienced an achy restlessness.
After the things she’d done, after the things she’d said, Clare would never be able to look Reed in the eyes again. He must think terrible things of her, and she wouldn’t blame him.
“No, Clare,” he said softly, “I wasn’t thinking anything of the sort.”
She chanced to look in his direction, unsure if she could believe him. She suspected he was only saying that to be kind.
“You’re attracted to me?”
“I’d say it was a whole lot more than attracted,” she said, having trouble finding her voice, and even more trouble believing he was so amazed. “It isn’t just being a part of Erin’s wedding, either. I felt it when we were dancing…I knew then…you were going to be someone important in my life. I feel it now even stronger than before. I’ve been waiting for you all my life, Reed.”
“Clare, don’t.”
No one bothered to listen to her, no one bothered to allow her to voice her thoughts, and it angered her that Reed would be like all the rest. “Would you kindly stop interrupting me?” she said sharply.
He straightened as if caught unprepared for her small outburst of temper. “All right. Go ahead and finish what you want to say.”
Now that she had his full attention, she wasn’t sure she could. “You think that because I’m here for my best friend’s wedding that my head’s in the clouds and I don’t have the sense the Lord gave me, but you’re wrong.”
“I’d call it a temporary lack of good judgment.”
“I happen to believe otherwise…and my judgment’s sound, thank you very much,” she continued, fuming. “I’m as sane and sober as the next man.” No sooner had the words escaped her lips than a man stumbled out from between two bushes, obviously drunk. Clare blinked and shook her head.
“As sober as the next man?” Reed teased.
“You might think it’s because I’ve won all this money…I bet you do. You might even think I’ve lost touch with reality. I’m carrying over a thousand dollars in my purs
e and I’d hand it back to the casino in a heartbeat if you’d listen to me.”
“I don’t advise you to make the offer.”
She was amusing Reed, and that infuriated her. “Maybe we can talk when you take me seriously. I’m baring my soul here and you seem to find it amusing. Let me assure you, Reed Tonasket, I’m not pleased.”
He grinned then, and Clare swore she’d never seen a broader smile. He leaned forward and kissed her nose and edged away slowly, as if he wanted to kiss a whole lot more of her.
“My proper librarian is back,” he said.
“I’m serious, Reed. I’d gladly give all the money I won tonight if…” She hesitated.
“If what?” His eyes were dark and serious, and she was so enthralled with him that she sighed and held her hand against the side of his face.
“Never mind,” she said, turning away from him, walking purposely down the sidewalk. He wouldn’t understand, and she couldn’t bear to say it.
“Clare, tell me.” His long-legged stride quickly outdistanced her. Soon he was walking backward in front of her.
She lowered her eyes, close to tears because it was impossible to explain what she meant in mere words.
He stopped abruptly and caught her by the shoulders. His eyes, so dark and serious, studied her. “Tell me.”
Her teeth gnawed at her lower lip. “I waited three long years…thinking, hoping Jack was the one. I was so stupid, so blind to his faults, and all along you were there and I didn’t know. And now…” She stopped, unable to continue.
“Now what?” he coaxed.
“It sounds so crazy. You’ll think I’ve gone off the deep end, and maybe I have, but I don’t want to lose what we’ve found. I’m afraid everything will be different in the morning, and more so when we return home. I couldn’t bear that, and the only way I can think to keep hold of this is to…” She hesitated again.
Reed exhaled and brought her into the warm shelter of his arms. “I don’t want to lose this, either. If you know of a way for us to keep this feeling, tell me.”
Clare’s fingers caressed his jaw line, lingering there. “It’s crazy.”