Growing up in a hotel didn’t lend itself to pets. As a kid, that had bothered him. Apparently, it still did.
She grinned. “Yes. Daisy’s a cute mix of about a hundred and fifty different breeds, and she thinks she’s a Great Dane, so she needs a lot of attention and really doesn’t like being left alone. My mom loves her, so Daisy’s happy and—”
“What did your mom say about all of this?” Another interruption and he didn’t feel the slightest bit guilty about it. Until she spoke.
“You keep interrupting me. That’s rude, you know, but it’s okay for now.”
“Thanks so much,” he said wryly, but she apparently didn’t catch the sarcasm.
“Mom’s as freaked out by this as I am,” Terri continued. “Neither of us knew anything about my biological parents so we’re kind of shocked to find out my birth father even knew who I was, let alone where I was. Sorry. Rambling. The point is, I had a few things to take care of before I could come to Vegas.”
That bright, brilliant smile had knocked him back for a second but thankfully she hadn’t noticed. He felt off his game and that was something Cooper couldn’t afford. With that firmly in mind, he brushed aside her rambling. “Doesn’t matter. You’re here now.” Nodding, he slid a card into the slot of the stand-alone elevator. “This is a private elevator. It’s the one you’ll use to get to and from your suite. The other elevators stop at the nineteenth floor. This one goes directly to the top five floors and the roof.”
“Okay...” Another deep breath and he refused to notice how her breasts lifted with the action.
Focusing had never been an issue for Cooper. Until today, apparently.
“The waitstaff and housekeeping have their own elevators that will take them to the top floors for business purposes. The general public can’t access the higher floors.”
“Sounds very...secure.”
If she was joking he let her know by his tone that he didn’t find it funny. “As secure as technology can make it. Hayes Corporation offices are on the twentieth floor,” he said, turning his focus from her to the matter at hand. “And on twenty-one, two and three we have suites for special guests, dignitaries, celebrities...anyone whose security issues demand a safe, impregnable, luxury suite.”
“Impregnable. Right. Sounds cozy.” She nodded as the elevator doors whisked open.
“Our guests don’t come here for ‘cozy.’”
“Good thing,” she murmured.
He took that as a direct insult. “A cozy hotel is a B and B. A Hayes hotel offers luxury. Exclusivity.”
She blinked at him. “Wow. That sounds terrible.”
Surprised again, he said, “What about that is terrible?”
“Oh, just everything, but never mind...”
Cooper thought about arguing her ridiculous point but buried his irritation instead. Unknowingly, she was proving that he was right to want to buy her out of this partnership. If she didn’t understand the basics of the hotel industry, then she had no business being a partner. Certainly not his partner.
He took a breath. “The owners’ suites are on the twenty-fourth floor.” Cooper steered her inside the open elevator, slid his card into the slot again, pushed the right button and stood back, looking at her. With the mirrored wall behind her, he was able to take her all in at once. And he had to admit, every damn view he got of her was a good one.
Too bad she was such a pain in the ass.
The elevator swept up in a rush and she laughed, a rich, deep bubble of sound that whipped through the small, enclosed space and wrapped itself around his throat until Cooper felt like he couldn’t breathe. Pure enjoyment wreathed her features, when only a moment or two before, she’d been irritated, and damned if he wasn’t...captivated. Most women he knew were more guarded about their emotions. But Terri was honest and open and he found that intriguing.
She grabbed hold of the brass rail at her side, tossed her hair back and slanted him a delighted glance. “Well, that’s faster than I expected.”
“Express elevator.” His own voice sounded as tight as he felt. Cooper watched her staring up at the elevator roof and realized she was the first woman he’d been with in this elevator who didn’t turn and check herself out in the mirror. Every female he knew would fluff her hair or smooth her lipstick or simply give her appearance a mental thumbs-up. Terri Ferguson, though, was looking up at the digital midnight sky.
“That’s so fabulous. Like the lobby.” She shook her head. “I love the shooting stars. It looks so real.”
“I wouldn’t know. Living in a city with this much ambient light, you don’t see many stars.”
She leveled her gaze on him. “Now, that’s a shame.”
“I’ve never thought so.”
“Then you don’t know what you’re missing,” she said, looking at him with what could only be sympathy.
Well, Cooper Hayes didn’t need anyone to feel sorry for him. Especially over something as minor as not being a stargazer. Watching her, he figured this was just one example of how the two of them were from different worlds. She looked at the stars in the sky, and the only stars he was interested in were the celebrities who came to his hotels. Yeah, a partnership between them would be doomed. Best to end it as soon as possible.
She turned her gaze back to the ceiling, a soft smile on her face, when falling stars left trails of gold dust across a digital sky. Cooper didn’t bother looking at the illusion. Instead, he watched her pleased smile and wondered why the hell he was enjoying it.
Deliberately, he brushed it off and started talking. “We work with a company who designs and installs illusionist skies in the hallways, casino, the lobby. StarFire can follow you all over the hotel.”
“That’s amazing. I’m a little technologically challenged, so imagining people who can do that? Wow.” She looked at him. “It’s really great. I mean, everything I’ve seen since I walked in the door has been just beautiful.”
Her face was open and easy to read. So he saw her excitement, the touch of nerves in the way her teeth tugged at her bottom lip. The easy curve of that smile did things to him he really didn’t want to think about. Irritated, he snapped, “Glad you approve.”
And just like that, her smile wobbled and her eyes lost that sparkle.
Idiot.
Being charming with a beautiful woman had never been difficult for him. Before Terri Ferguson, apparently.
He spoke up again quickly. “The illusions are relatively new. Installed just a couple years ago, but everyone seems to like them.”
“I can see why.” She relaxed again, but her eyes still looked wary, as if she had walls up because she’d wandered into a hotbed of enemies. Which he really didn’t want her to be thinking. He needed her to see him not as an enemy, but rather as a man who was going to do her the favor of sparing her all the work necessary to keep a company like Hayes Corporation running.
“You said yourself this was a strange situation to be in,” he reminded her with a deliberately casual shrug. “Well, I only found out about you a few days ago, too.”
She blinked at him. “Jacob never said anything about me?”
“No. I didn’t find out the truth until a few hours before you did. So now we’re both surprised.” He tapped one finger on the key card folder she held. “Anyway, your card will take you to any of the top floors. Right now I’m showing you to your owner’s suite.”
She dragged in another breath, tossed her hair back over her shoulder and tightened her grip on the cold, brass rail. “Is that where my father