Sin City Vows. Zuri Day
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“Wonders never cease, bro,” Adam replied.
The pilot came out of the cockpit. Christian recognized him at once. “Not you, too,” Christian muttered, shaking the outstretched hand of the family friend who’d grown up with his father and now piloted the company plane. “Am I the only one who wasn’t in on this secret?”
Nicholas nodded. “Just about.”
“Allow me to show you around,” the pilot offered. “She’s a real beauty. Glad I got to fly her first.”
Once again, Christian held out his arm. “Care to join me on the tour?”
Adam hooked his muscular forearm through the one Christian offered. “I’d love to.”
Christian moved his brother aside and placed a hand on Lauren’s back. “Do you have brothers?”
“No.”
“Do you want one?” Her throaty chuckle was music to his ears. Nicholas and Victoria sat on the white leather sleeper sofa that anchored the right side of the cabin while Christian, Lauren and Adam checked out the accommodations. There was a granite bath with a full shower, a compact chef’s kitchen, two sleeping bunks along with a master bedroom, and an area set up as a small private office but that had padded flooring and workout equipment hidden behind the walls.
“How’d she do, Chris?” Nicholas asked when the group returned to the front of the cabin. He stood, then turned to help Victoria up. “Your mom get the design just about right?”
“It’s incredible,” Christian said, moved. “It’s everything I imagined and much more. Hard to wrap my brain around. Earlier this week, the promotion to president, I thought that was the gift.”
“Speaking of...” Nicholas turned and removed a thin layer of paper covering a platinum plaque with carved lettering: Christian Breedlove, President. CANN International Inc.
Christian took it in with the utmost pride. The acronym, CANN, stood for the names of him and his brothers—Christian, Adam, Noah and Nick—along with the family’s unwavering belief that while working together there was nothing they couldn’t do. That belief was the foundation of the Breedloves’ empire, an international chain of casino hotels and spas that were second to none.
“That’s...exquisite.” He smiled and swallowed hard. “Where are the twins? Since everyone knew about it, the dynamic duo should be here, too.”
“They’re handling the second half of the evening.” Victoria eyed her watch. “Dinner at the hotel, where we should be heading right about now. Hope you’re hungry. Holding in the secret all day left me with very little appetite. Now that it’s out, I’m starved.”
Christian hugged his dad and mom and kissed her on the cheek. He shook Adam’s hand before pulling him into a tight embrace.
“Jesse,” Nicholas called out to the pilot. “You’re welcome to join us.”
“I’ve got a hot date,” Jesse replied. “But thanks.”
The group headed down the stairs and over to where the drivers leaned against the gleaming black limousine. Christian placed a hand on Lauren’s arm until the others had taken several steps and created a bit of distance between them. He wanted to take a moment and properly thank her for participating in his birthday surprise. He knew with Adam in the limo he’d get in few words.
Adam saw the move and stopped, too. “I’ll catch a ride with Mom and Dad. You two can take the limo.”
“Thanks, bro,” Christian said.
“Only because it’s your birthday.” He threw a playful punch at his brother and headed to the SUV.
Moments later, Christian and Lauren entered the limo. The driver followed the SUV’s circuitous route out of the estate and across to Las Vegas Boulevard, where the CANN hotel anchored one end of the Strip.
“It appears I’m supposed to know you,” Christian whispered once they’d settled into the roomy seats. “But that’s impossible.”
A slight arch of Lauren’s manicured brow preceded her response. “Is it?”
“Absolutely. You look...ravishing. There’s no way I’d forget having met you.”
“Well, you did.”
He thought for a moment. “You’re Faye’s daughter? Faye Hart?”
Lauren nodded. “Yes.”
Christian liked Lauren’s voice, low and husky. He could imagine how it would sound in the throes of passion as he branded her as his.
“It’s been at least two years since I’ve seen her, so when did you and I meet?”
“When I was twelve, and just so you know, my inner child is wounded.”
Lauren feigned a pout. Christian’s eyes dropped to pursed lips now held tightly together. Even though he knew she was joking, he wanted to kiss her until the frown disappeared, and then kiss her some more.
Not sure he could touch those lips, though, and keep the kiss chaste, he reached out and squeezed her hand instead.
“Twelve?” Christian’s relieved laugh was genuine. “Did you look then the way you do now?”
“Not quite.” Lauren laughed, too. “I was four years younger than my sister, Renee. You were all into her. I was practically invisible.” Lauren delivered the last line with a whine appropriate for a jilted preteen.
Christian’s head fell back as more laughter erupted. “Renee Hart! Now it’s all coming back to me. You guys used to live in California but moved across the country to...”
“Maryland. My dad took a job in Washington, DC. They bought a home in nearby Brandywine.”
“Right. That was part of the excuse used for my being rejected. I think she had a boyfriend. I didn’t want to visit LA for a while after that. My sixteen-year-old ego was crushed.” He placed his hand over his heart. “In remembering my anguish then, I can very much relate to your inner child’s pain.”
The atmosphere shifted as comfortable interaction morphed into daunting attraction. Christian opened the door to an elaborate minibar. “Would you like a drink?”
“No, thanks. I’m good.”
“Come on, it’s my birthday. Don’t make me drink alone.”
“Okay, champagne then.”
Christian opened a bottle of pricey champagne and filled two flutes. He handed one to Lauren. Their fingers touched. Sparks. Heat. Did she feel that? He looked up. She glanced away.
Yes, she’d felt something.
“To what shall we toast?” he asked.
“You, of course. It’s your birthday, and given your gift, it’s obviously a big one.”
“For a second back there I thought the plane belonged to a friend of mine, Tyson, and had the foolish hope that you were my present.”
Her eyes narrowed in a face that became impossible to read. “A foolish hope, indeed.”
Christian moaned. “My second try for a Hart girl...rejected again.”
“You can handle it.” Lauren winked. “You’re an old man now.”
“Indeed. The big three-o.”
“Over the hill,” Lauren joked.
“Totally.”
“To your birthday,” she said.
“And beautiful gifts,” Christian added.
They clinked glasses and sipped.
“So...whatever happened to your sister and that