think our security manager made a very fine choice. Welcome to the team.”
“Thank you, sir.”
They continued down the hall and past an opening where Lauren glimpsed a vast lobby filled with well-dressed women and expensively suited men. For many reasons, she was glad they’d come through a private entrance. The paparazzi seemed to live for Christian. A splashy spread announcing her whereabouts was the last thing she needed.
A few moments later, they reached an elevator that blended seamlessly with the wall, its doors boasting the same design. She watched him place his thumb on a scanner discreetly located above a chair rail. When the doors opened, Lauren slipped her arm around the one Christian offered and held on, taking in the landscape of neon lights as the elevator ascended to Zest, the Michelin-starred restaurant she’d read about that was housed on the one-hundredth floor.
The doors parted, and the view from the room took Lauren’s breath away. Beyond the semiprivate booths and massive crystal chandelier were floor-to-ceiling windows that gave the illusion that there were no walls, that one could walk to the edge of the floor and touch the sky. The atmosphere in the main dining room was fairly quiet, dim and understated. All of that changed when Christian opened the door to the private dining room.
“Happy birthday, Christian!”
“You’re the man, Chris!”
Other shouts and cheers filtered through the applause as those who were sitting got to their feet. Lauren looked at Christian, who’d stopped just inside the door, clearly surprised to see the large crowd that filled the room. Two men broke away from the group and approached them. Had she not known about the twins, Lauren may have thought the champagne had kicked in and caused her to see double. They were identical—tall, dark, handsome, sporting the Breedlove dimple in their left cheek and swagger in their stride.
“The dynamic duo,” Christian said once they’d reached him.
“Gotcha, old man!”
“We did it, huh?”
“He didn’t see it coming.”
“Had no idea!”
Lauren stood mesmerized at the twins’ rapid-fire delivery, sometimes finishing each other’s sentences without a pause in between. Her eyes shifted back and forth between them, trying to find a way to differentiate between the two. They had the same soft black curls as Christian, but while his were close-cropped, theirs were longer, wilder. Studying them reminded her of a favorite puzzle at the back of one of her popular fashion magazines, where two pictures that looked identical actually weren’t. The test was to find the differences. There were usually several. Here, she was just trying to find even one. Then she spotted it. The one on the left wore a tiny diamond stud in his ear. The one on the right didn’t. Bingo!
“The dyno duo strikes again!” The two men high-fived before executing an intricate handshake. Their joy and excitement was contagious. Christian was clearly enjoying their friendly verbal sparring match. Just being around them made Lauren smile.
“Where are your manners, Chris?” Diamond Stud asked.
“Yeah, Chris. Introduce us to this beautiful lady.”
“To do that you two will have to quit talking.”
“Whatever.”
Said in stereo. Cute.
“Lauren, meet my annoying younger brothers Nicholas Jr.” He motioned toward the twin who’d last spoken, the one not wearing an earring. “Called Nick to differentiate between him and my father.”
“Hello, Nick,” Lauren said, with outstretched hand.
“And Noah.”
“Hi, Noah.” Again, she offered her hand.
“Ah, no, Lauren. Shaking is for business. Hugging is for friends.”
Noah pulled Lauren into a bear hug.
Christian placed his hand on Noah’s shoulder. “Back off.”
Nick laughed. Christian looked over as a few others headed toward them.
“Tyson!”
Tyson, a striking blond with clear brown eyes, bore a mock scowl as he approached. “You going to stand here by the door all night?”
“You’re a trip,” Christian said. The two men enjoyed a hearty embrace. “I can’t believe how well you helped pull this off. You remembered everything, bro.”
“I’m good like that.” He looked at Lauren, clearly impressed. “Hello, I’m Tyson Ford.”
“Lauren Hart—”
“Hey there, birthday boy!”
Lauren found herself being pushed aside by a whirlwind of haughtiness wearing stilettos and cloaked in what smelled like an entire bottle of perfume. The woman threw her arms around Christian. Lauren looked on, more amused than annoyed. But if she read his expression correctly, for Christian the opposite was true. She watched as he deftly removed the brunette’s arms from around his neck, just as more and more of his friends came over to greet him. Soon he was swept into a circle of admirers, all clamoring for attention. From the corner of her eye, Lauren saw someone approach.
“Come, dear,” Victoria said, slipping her arm through Lauren’s and walking toward the head table. “That was Chloe, who grew up with Chris. I’ve seated you with the family, beside me, so that I can offer a play-by-play on this motley cast of characters. In order to do your job properly, you’ll need not only an in-depth grasp of the CANN conglomerate but also the ocean of high society here in Nevada and beyond...”
She paused and watched Chloe glide back to her table. “And the sharks who swim in those waters.”
The next hour was a blur of names and faces as during dinner Victoria pointed out the movers and shakers of metropolitan Las Vegas and the few who resided in Breedlove, the unincorporated Nevada town founded by Nicholas and a few others more than twenty years ago. Lauren was introduced to some of them, along with many of Christian’s friends from across the country who’d flown in for the occasion. Once the last dessert plate was removed, a few tables were rearranged to make room for a dance floor. A famous DJ from Miami fired up the crowd.
Nick walked over. “Come on, Lauren. Let’s dance.”
She waved him away. “It’s been a long day. I’d rather just relax and watch all of you.”
“Okay, but if you change your mind...”
“I’ll come find you.”
When Lauren got up a few minutes later, she didn’t head to the dance floor. She’d seen Victoria and Nicholas heading toward the exit and after getting their attention, made a beeline toward them to catch a ride to her new home. In the past forty-eight hours, her already-chaotic life had been thrown into further disarray, and she needed time to try to process everything and figure out what would come next.
She felt eyes following her as she crossed to the door, saw Chloe whispering to another girl as she neared the Breedloves and fell into step beside them. She could only imagine what Chloe and all the other socialites were wondering about the new girl, and whether or not she, too, was vying to become the missus of tonight’s birthday boy. They needn’t worry. While they may be in a footrace to catch a husband, Lauren had upended her life to avoid one.
Am I still dreaming?
Last night, Lauren swore that was true. After the driver dropped off Nicholas and Victoria, he’d continued on for about a mile until reaching a cul-de-sac lined with exquisite single-story homes, all different architecturally and uniquely beautiful. Her immediate favorite was the very first one on the corner lot, a Spanish-inspired design of tan stucco