Ian's Ultimate Gamble - Brenda Jackson [17]
Brooke sighed deeply. She knew of only one way that could be accomplished, as well, and she wasn't going for it. It might get her out of his system, but it would only embed him deeper into hers.
She shook her head vehemently. "It won't work." "Trust me, it will."
She lifted her chin and glared at him, trying to ignore the way her inner muscles clenched in response to the huskiness of his voice. "It might work for you, but not for me."
Ian leaned in closer to her, his voice low and deep, his lips just a hair away from touching hers. "I'd love to prove you wrong, Brooke. Even now you feel it, the heat, the urge, the cravings. You remember how things used to be between us as much as I do. You remember our out-of-control hormones, wild nights when we couldn't wait to make love, going so far as to start stripping naked as soon as the door closed behind us."
"Ian."
"And how I would take you right then and there, wherever— on the wall, the floor, the sofa, giving you everything you wanted, whatever you needed. And how you would practically— "
"Stop it, Ian," she said sharply, stepping back away from him to halt the trembling that had begun in her stomach. "I won't let what you're suggesting happen."
She read his expression, saw the challenge in his eyes, the deep-rooted stubbornness. "Okay," he said with a smile that said he didn't believe her any more than she believed herself. "I'll be by to pick you up to go sailing at noon. See you later, Brooke."
Brooke tilted her head, watched him cross the room, open the door and walk out without looking back. She pulled the towel tighter around her body when a chill touched it. After spending so much time in the pool tonight she should be smelling of chlorine. But she smelled of Ian. His manly scent seemed to be all over her.
She dropped the towel and quickly moved toward her bathroom, needing a shower. She would send him a message, letting him know she had changed her mind about going sailing with him.
He might like the idea of playing with fire, but she did not.
We have reason to believe one of our guests is smoking in his room," Joanne Sutherlin, resort manager, said to the employees around the conference table during the resort's regular status meeting.
"We haven't been able to find any proof, but a housekeeper reports she's smelled smoke. It seems the guest has been trying to disguise his smoking by spraying heavy cologne in the air," she said.
"If we can prove he's breaking a hotel policy, then we can end his stay with us."
Everyone at the table nodded. They knew Ian had very low tolerance when it came to anyone not abiding by the Rolling Cascade's smoke-free policy.
The next item up for discussion by the management team was entertainment. The activities director confirmed that he had booked deals with top performers for the next eighteen months. Highlights of the upcoming schedule included a two-week billing for Mariah Carey in June, Michael MacDonald in September and Phil Collins in December. Smokey Robinson opened tonight in a two-week engagement that was already sold out for every night of the event. Nolen, the casino manager, indicated security had alerted him that a couple of prostitutes had tried peddling their wares in the casino. Although Nevada had legalized prostitution, it was only allowable within a licensed brothel. Unfortunately, casinos were a prime target for call girls looking for potential "dates." Ian was committed to keeping the Rolling Cascade prostitute free.
"We have the matter taken care of," Nolan assured him.
Ian nodded. That's what he wanted to hear. He glanced at his watch. He had ordered a picnic basket from one of the restaurants for his lunch date with Brooke. He had left a message for her that he would be picking her up at noon and couldn't wait to get her on his boat.
He remembered their conversation last night. He had deliberately walked out the door without looking back. To say he had ruffled a few of her feathers would be an understatement.